Free Web NovelChapter 73: Beats & Vibrations
The demon looked angry and a little desperate. For someone who had never lost a single heart, losing two in a single day was like hanging on the edge of a deep precipice.
Gravisk gritted its teeth when Riggilo denied it and with a swift gesture of his staff, it launched a bolt of black energy towards Riggilo.
The beam was fast, and the resulting explosion shook the entire cave once again.
However, Riggilo was saved because Orie jumped towards his companion and threw himself to the ground.
At the same time, Elban, Victor and Pyaxu recovered from the distant impact of that powerful wave of Gravisk that had thrown them far away.
Victor and Pyaxu’s clothes were slightly torn, and their bodies ached, but Elban was intact, because when he let go of the sword he became intangible again.
"It’s getting stronger!" muttered Elban, flying quickly to where his sword had fallen. "We need to act fast!"
Victor agreed with his gaze fixed on the demon. "Attacking at the same time and using distractions has worked so far, but I think it’s hard for it to remain effective!"
They took advantage of Gravisk’s distraction to talk briefly and then split up. Victor went after Gravisk, while Elban went after the swords.
Pyaxu, although badly wounded because he wasn’t as tough as Victor, got up from the ground and leaned on the barrier wall with difficulty. "I don’t want to let... it hurt anyone else..."
When Gravisk saw that its attack had missed the cleric, its eyes went wide and it raised its staff for another attack.
However, he soon heard a buzzing sound coming from its right and when it looked, it saw Victor running towards him.
There were too many opponents for Gravisk to deal with on its own and it had already learned its lesson not to underestimate these humans, especially this white-haired man who was being such a nuisance.
So, for the first time, instead of Gravisk launching a magical attack to defend itself, it erected a barrier.
Victor collided with this magical barrier and started punching it with his bare hands.
Gravisk smiled. "Ah, if I had known that the easiest way to stop you would be with a simple magical barrier, a human with no magical talents, I would have used that before."
At that moment, Victor stopped hitting and raised his right arm high in the air. The demon didn’t understand this action for a few moments, but suddenly a sword flew into his hand and a scream echoed through the chamber.
"That’s what you wanted me to do, isn’t it?" Elban asked Victor after throwing Victor’s shiny pommel sword at him.
Victor didn’t say anything, just smiled, grabbed the handle of the sword with both hands and plunged it into the barrier. Immediately, the sword’s yellowish crystal-like pommel began to glow brightly, and the barrier slowly began to disintegrate, as if the sword was absorbing it.
Gravisk clenched its fists, frustrated that everything it had done had gone wrong against these insolent humans. "You’re deeply annoying when you decide to work together like this!" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Gravisk then raised its unoccupied hand high in the air, as if imitating the gesture Victor had just made, and slammed it against the ground. Gravisk’s hand hit the cavernous floor hard and the sound reverberated like a drumbeat.
The impact of the hand created a wave of dark energy that spread rapidly, enveloping the chamber in a morbid aura. This sinister aura began to emanate from the ground in a physical form, like a palpable darkness that extended from the ground like black fingers spreading.
Riggilo, Orie and Pyaxu, wounded and weary from the battle, felt a chill run down their spines as they witnessed the moment a humanoid shadow literally crawled out of the ground as if it were dragging itself out of somewhere.
However, that first shadow was not alone. One after another began to appear throughout the sealing chamber.
These figures were dark, with no visible faces, just black outlines and deep red glowing eyes. After rising from the ground, they stood and began to walk automatically towards the humans.
Pyaxu paled and ran a little staggering to his sword. "What are those things?" he shouted.
Elban frowned, realizing that he would soon be surrounded by these figures and that he couldn’t help Victor much in this situation.
"They’re the obsessors spirits! Gravisk summoned them to distract, divide and weaken us." Elban said.
Orie helped Riggilo to his feet and then shouted:
"Guys, is it just me or aren’t these things getting too numerous and too fast?"
Gravisk smiled mischievously as it saw the panic in its opponents’ eyes. "Did you think you could take me on so easily? I just didn’t have time to summon this army before. Now, face my obsessors. They are creatures that feed on every feeling and memory inside you humans, from happiness to despair, so don’t worry about dying quickly!"
"Don’t you think you’re getting too distracted for someone who’s already lost two hearts?" Victor shouted and, at that moment, a hole big enough for him to pass through Gravisk’s barrier finally appeared and he jumped in with his sword in hand.
Victor knew he couldn’t falter now; the battle had already reached a critical point and every move could be decisive.
At the same time, throughout the chamber, Victor’s companions began to directly confront the obsessors spirits, because although the humanoid shadows were slowly advancing, emitting this nefarious aura that filled the room with an icy terror, no one wanted to have all their feelings and memories sucked away.
Riggilo and Orie were practically surrounded on one side of the chamber, and Pyaxu was on the other side, alone.
Orie raised his bow, quickly knocked an arrow and fired. His arrow went through the head of an obsessors spirit and made it disappear.
"Physical attacks work on them!" Orie shouted loud enough for everyone in the chamber to hear.
However, all they could do was try to reduce the number of obsessors in the chamber a little and protect themselves, because every second more obsessors appeared from the ground, even to replace those who were ’killed’.
Riggilo, maintaining his concentration despite the pain, exclaimed:
"Save time for me... I’m going to try something I’ve... never tried: a simultaneous prayer with the barrier to purify the area."
"No! That’s too risky!" Elban said. "If the sacred barrier wavers for a second, Gravisk will run away and far away from here! Under no circumstances should a demon be free in this world!"
