Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: Vile Lucy
Seeing the wolves charging toward him, Night again controlled his breath and heartbeat, entering a state of absolute calm state. This state allowed him be more aware of the surroundings as his perception increased beyond the normal limits.
As he sense the beasts reach the striking distance, he sprang into action.
He swung his knife with [Over-Sharpen] active and simultaneously sending a mental tug into his Nightmare Domain.
Three dark swirling portals instantly opened around the second wolf.
Death descended from above like a falling meteor, while Eve and Lilith flanked the beast from both sides.
At the exact same time, Lucy manipulated the shadows beneath the wolves, bringing the darkness to life as rigid tendrils that held the beasts firmly in place.
The first wolf died instantly as its head cleanly severed from its body by Night’s sharp blade in a single, fluid slash. Headless it fell to the ground with a thud.
The second wolf faced the overwhelming wrath of the three summons.
Death’s skeletal fist smashed into its skull which seemed his favourite weak point from above the moment she materialized.
Simultaneously, Eve slammed her metallic palm into its flank while releasing a violent electrical burst, while Lilith delivered a devastating punch fueled by the dark mana glowing around her fist.
The beast didn’t even get the chance to howl as Lucy emerged from the shadows and finished off the poor wolf with a swift brutal bite to its neck, sparing it from further torment at the hands of the trio’s brutal assult.
[You have slain Lvl. 4 Mountain Wolf (x2) | +80 EXP]
Level: 4 (EXP: 265/500)
"Two hundred and thirty-five more EXP for Level 5," Night muttered as the shadows extended from Lucy, quickly devouring the fresh corpses.
He retreated back to his hiding position while preparing to repeat the ambush.
Twenty minutes later, another stray wolf wandered by but it was swiftly dealt with in the exact same manner.
[You have slain Lvl. 4 Mountain Wolf | +40 EXP]
Level: 4 (EXP: 305/500)
After another twenty-five minutes, no more wolves came in their direction. However, this quiet downtime was just enough for the domain to finish digesting one of the earlier corpses.
[Ding!]
[Pack (Rare) (Lvl. 1) – Cost: 100 EV]
[Description: Allows the group to work as a pack when hunting together. Individuals recognized as pack members will deal increased damage to prey.]
[Purchase? Y/N]
Rare? Does that mean there are grades to skills as well? Night wondered.
Seeing the increased cost, he felt a slight pinch in his EV reserves but he still purchased it without hesitation; the synergy it provided was simply too useful to pass up.
After confirming the purchase, he didn’t feel any immediate physical changes.
He opened his status screen and saw the updates.
Status
Name: Night (Nightmare)
Race: Homunculus (Artificial Human)
Class: Unlocks at Lvl. 10
Level: 4 (EXP: 305/500)
Energy Value (EV): 686 (+10%)
Aspect: [Nightmare]
Skills: [Sensitive Nose (Common) (Lvl. 5)], [Beast Instinct (Common) (Lvl. 10)], [Basic Knife Proficiency (Common) (Lvl. 10)], [Pack (Rare) (Lvl. 1)]
Unique Skills: [Nightmare Domain]
Summons: [Eve], [Lilith], [Death], [Lucy]
Title: [Awakened]
"I just received a Rare skill," Night whispered to Lucy. "I didn’t know there were grades to skills."
He felt lucy should be aware of something this common.
Lucy poked just her head out of his shadow, placing one tiny paw under her chin in a comical, pondering gesture. "Yes, there are grades. It should be obvious, considering you already possess skills of a different grade: your Unique Skills."
She continued, "However, a higher grade doesn’t necessarily mean it is a better skill in every situation. The grades generally represent their rarity and complexity."
"But this new skill seems incredibly powerful," Night argued, quickly explaining the effects of [Pack] to her. Inwardly not liking her hiding things from him.
"This exact mindset is the reason I avoided sharing this information with you earlier," Lucy countered smoothly. "A mentality like that is dangerous if you wish to survive. Think about the boost you received from [Basic Knife Proficiency]."
"That is merely a Common skill. How was it? If you had known about grades beforehand, you might have neglected or looked down on it simply because of the ’Common’ tag."
"It was a massive boost," Night admitted, but his expression fell. "But it’s still not nice to hide information from me."
"I know you meant well, but if you had explained all of this, I would have stayed focused on enhancing the skills I already have, rather than daydreaming about higher-grade skills randomly falling into my lap."
He decided to explain what he thought. After saying this Night looked genuinely sad with his blue eyes dimming.
He felt betrayed that one of his first friends in this world didn’t fully trust him.
Seeing his crestfallen expression, a heavy wave of regret suddenly washed over Lucy.
[Death’s POV]
Inside the Nightmare Domain, Death cracked her skeletal knuckles. The ethereal flames in her eye sockets flared with a malevolent, bright blue intensity.
I knew it, Master
she thought viciously.
These weaklings are not trustworthy.
Finally, the gluttonous mutt reveals her true fangs.
I guess it is time to clean house.
She summoned her strength while preparing to step out of the domain and do a thorough clean-up job and briefly pondering whether she should use this golden opportunity to conveniently "dispose" of those two metallic bimbos as well.
But just as Death was about to emerge, she saw Lucy launch herself at Night with blinding speed moving entirely too fast for the skeleton to intercept.
Lucy widened her golden eyes making them look overly large, glassy, and filled with vile, puppy-like tears.
Death could only watch in seething fury as the gluttonous wolf clung to Night’s chest.
"I’m so sorry, Night. I didn’t want to hurt you," Lucy whimpered at an almost practiced, theatrical speed. "I just wanted to see you grow strong. I didn’t want you to slack off and get yourself killed because you were overwhelmed by too much information."
Nooo!
Death mentally screamed watching a soft, forgiving smile appear on Night’s face at those manipulative words.
She knew she had missed her chance.
Defeated by the power of weaponized cuteness she could only cross her bony arms and give up.
Next time...
noo...
there will be no next time... freewebnøvel.coɱ
She promised that should would catch them before they even got the chance to hurt Night.
[Night’s POV]
Night had been genuinely hurt. The thought that his bonded companion would actively hide things and manipulate him stung deeply.
But seeing Lucy suddenly drop her proud, ancient-beast attitude to apologize and desperately claim she only had his best interests at heart... he couldn’t stay mad.
He smiled gently.
"I will share all the information I have with you from now on," Lucy promised nuzzling into his chest. "I will be completely clear with you. I am sorry."
Night hugged the tiny scaled wolf and sat down, taking a brief moment to just breathe and appreciate the bond they shared.
Suddenly, Lucy’s ears twitched with a small frown. "Three wolves are heading in our direction." She said with annoyance at having the moment ruined by stupid the wolfs.
The heartwarming moment was over.
As the trio of wolves entered their ambush range the team sprang into action.
Lucy’s shadow tendrils lashed out, binding the beasts in place while Night immediately launched a sneak attack on the closest one.
Death erupted from the domain and jumped at the second wolf and started punching it with an absolute, terrifying passion. She seemed to be in a very nasty mood, taking out all her pent-up frustration on the poor beast’s skull.
Meanwhile, Eve and Lilith engaged the third wolf.
This fight was noticeably easier than the last; the [Pack] skill was already showing its immense worth as it organically increased the synergy and damage of their coordinated strikes.
After cleanly finishing off his bound opponent, Night rushed over to assist Eve and Lilith while Lucy darted off to aid the enraged Death.
Eve and Lilith systematically stalled and heavily damaged their target, creating the perfect opening.
Night attacked from behind aiming a lethal strike at the wolf’s neck. However, the beast dodged on pure survival instinct.
The frantic evasion saved its life for a split second but Night’s [Over-Sharpened] blade still cleaved through the air cleanly slicing off one of its rear legs and its tail.
The crippled beast collapsed to the cavern floor, becoming an incredibly easy target.
Just when the flow of battle seemed completely in their favor, the final wolf; the one currently being brutally beaten by Death realized its packmates had fallen.
Throwing its head back, it unleashed a deafening, desperate howl that echoed endlessly through the damp cave.
"Shit," Night cursed.
He quickly finished off the crippled wolf at his feet and immediately dashed toward the howling beast to silence it.
But he was a second too late.
From behind them, several more terrifying howls answered the call.
