Free Web NovelChapter 76: _I’m Finished
All the apparitions moved. Not one. Not a few.
ALL of them.
Some sprinted, movements glitching like a broken record. More moved—only to snap back... then move again. Others blinked right in front of him.
Ambrose’s face paled seeing all this.
He couldn’t fight them all.
Not like this.
With a roar, he slammed a palm on the ground in front of him. A simple fireball detonated, scattering sand and smoke around him.
’System, track their movements for me.’ he shifted backwards, narrowly dodging a slash aimed at his neck.
Others followed, one slicing into his chest and another cutting into his already wounded arm. He held back a scream, eyes watering as he fell back onto the sand.
The system showed him a screen with a rough map layout. The blue dot at the centre was him. The red dots closing in like wolves to prey were the apparitions.
’Sell aether core!’ he smashed his feet into the ground, rocketing himself backwards some more.
His back slammed onto a skeleton, making him gasp for breath.
[C-Rank Aether core sold!]
[500 seduction coins acquired.]
He got on his feet, squinting through the fog and smoke. Three apparitions crept toward him, their heads tilted and arms swaying like they were intoxicated.
One sent a punch at his head, the motion inching back for two or three seconds before reaching him. He ducked on time, his right palm splayed aside like a blade.
Blue flames licked his fingers as he swiped at the apparition’s neck. It dodged, sending a kick straight at his stomach.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he staggered back—then a thought crossed his mind. A pattern he noticed.
’Sometimes when it seems like they’re repeating movements, it’s just an illusion.’ he thought as he parried a delayed jab aimed at his chest. ’Other times... It’s not an illusion. They’re genuinely looping movements.’
Most people would find this confusing and pressuring. Like the apparitions were intentionally trying to get them to make the wrong move that would lead to their end.
Not Ambrose.
’I need to calculate the time window between when the loop is an illusion and when it’s not,’ he caught the wrist of one of the apparitions just then.
His eyes widened as he shifted his weight, lifting the thing off the ground and onto his shoulder. With one violent swing, he used the beast like a bat, slamming another one.
He twirled around, teeth gritted and eyes burning with determination. He yelled, flinging the beast until it rammed into a skeleton.
Ambrose shot a fist forward, sending a fireball that burned right through its chest, killing it.
[Two apparitions down.]
’This is taking too long.’ he willed the system screen to show him the shop bar. ’Aura, quickly show me items that can be useful for this mission based on the amount of coins I have.’
The screen blinked once, displaying a list of items under 1050 coins.
His eyes instantly locked on one.
[Aether energy boost: 5000 points.]
[Price: 800 seduction coins.]
[Boost lasts for two minutes.]
He was about to click on purchase when an arm whacked his chest with enough force to make him cough blood. He hurtled through the air, crashing onto a skull hard enough to make his ears ring.
Ambrose rasped, head swinging to the body of the last creature he killed. ’Automatically collect the Aether cores of any creatures I kill. Starting now!’
As the system extracted the core, he bought the aether energy boost.
The sudden wave of energy pouring through his cells, bones and blood made him jerk. His eyes glowed with a burning blue light, gaze sliding back to the beasts.
’I’m not dying here.’
He roared, moving like a monster sent to kill. Ambrose followed the movements of the apparitions, taking note of how long it took for the attack illusion loops to switch.
It was difficult to notice at first, but once he figured out the pattern, there was no turning back.
He burned through his aether energy, firing blast after blast and fireballs so hot they scotched the earth around them.
[6 apparitions killed.]
[Aether cores sold!]
[2500 seduction coins acquired!]
This went on and on, Ambrose ignoring the injuries he got along the way as he tore through the apparitions. A few times he almost got overwhelmed. Once his shoulder got grabbed but he punched through the chest of the apparition.
By the time the aether energy boost wore out—he was standing alone, body trembling and blood dripping out of different wounds.
[49 apparitions killed!]
[5000 seduction coins acquired.]
A strained exhale left him.
Only 5000...
One core was supposed to give him 500 coins. But he came to discover that the cores of most of the beasts got damaged during his crazed effort to kill them.
A low hum rippled through the air.
Ambrose’s head snapped up, breath catching in his throat.
The fog... shifted.
A silhouette emerged from within it—taller than the rest. Broader. Its limbs weren’t swaying or glitching either. Instead, they moved normally.
"...You’ve got to be kidding me," he rasped, forcing himself upright.
The pressure alone made his knees threaten to buckle.
’One more,’ he told himself, raising a trembling hand. Blue flames flickered weakly to life in his palm, gathering into the shape of a fireball. ’Just one more and I’m—’
[WARNING.] Aura’s voice cut through his thoughts.
[Host has only 1000 EP remaining.]
His breath stuttered.
[Body is under severe strain due to previous aether energy boost.]
The fireball flickered.
[Further purchases may result in physical collapse.]
"Great," Ambrose laughed dryly, the sound barely leaving his throat. "So I either fight it like this or die broke."
The creature stepped forward, sand sinking beneath its weight.
No loop. No delay.
Just fluid movement.
Ambrose’s eyes widened. ’Aura, show me—’
It vanished, a shadow looming above him the next second.
Instinct screamed.
He rolled.
BOOM!
The ground where he’d stood caved in, sand and bone exploding upward from the impact. The shockwave sent him skidding across the desert floor.
"Shit—!"
It was already on him again.
Another strike.
He barely twisted out of the way as its arm slammed into a giant rib cage behind him.
CRACK!
The entire skeleton shattered like glass.
Ambrose froze for half a second, heart slamming against his ribs.
That hit.
If that had landed on him...
His fingers twitched, body screaming in protest as he forced himself up.
"Yeah..." he muttered hoarsely, eyes locking onto the towering figure. A chill crept down his spine. "If even one of those hits me..."
His jaw tightened.
"I’m finished."
