The World's Greatest Egoist

Chapter 62: Death.

Luca’s footsteps echoed against the thick walls of the narrow pathway.

His gaze focused ahead while the smell of decay and thick plant foliage assaulted his nostrils.

He had been walking in a straight line.

Unopposed and without conflict for what Luca had calculated was about ten minutes.

And although time was going by, Luca found the trek quite welcoming.

’Is it the quiet... or the impending storm that I know is ahead? I can’t help but enjoy this moment.’

He had always felt in tune with the Abyss.

The Trance was a test carried out in this very place, although, without the portal.

’Perhaps that’s why...’

He shook the thought away when he reached a turn. "My first turn." He muttered.

’All this time, I’ve been walking in a straight line... I even pondered turning back and trying one of the other pathways.’

There were no instructions. No riddles.

Just five paths. Unassuming in nature, to the point Luca felt nothing from them.

He walked past the corner and froze.

He narrowed his eyes and summoned his weapon– the Ego weapon almost instantly.

Then identified the creature ahead.

It was a long, thin, four-legged creature.

Their limbs stretched most of their length and their trunk revealed bones that pushed against its skins.

The creature walked around the area, and a low chitter escaped its jagged mouth that bit through the moss.

The sight was intriguing, and so was the creature.

[DAWNMOSS MARE– MODERATE RANK]

Luca dashed forward in the blink of an eye.

Even before the creature could react to his appearance.

It bellowed in shock, but Luca’s sword already came clawing through its neck.

In an instant, the wind surged as he landed on the other side, the mare collapsing in a gush of black blood as its head flew through the air and crashed into the ground in its own pool.

"Easy." He swept his longsword through the air with a grin.

’What was so dangerous about the Abyss anyway?’

He bent low, coiled his leg muscles and prepared his thoughts.

’I’ll dash through. If there is one of these then there’s more... I wonder what’s on the other side.’

In a burst of Ego, he ran forward in a blur.

The walls turned into a thin line by the corner of his vision as he swept through the area faster than the eyes could follow.

Just as he presumed, there were more Null Buds ahead which he quickly subjugated with his sword.

The once green, glowing walls were painted by dull, black arcs of oozing blood while the floor was littered with their dead bodies.

Corner after corner, he adjusted his stride.

Stomping his feet on the walls before blasting forward in the same motion.

Ego poured out of his body.

Dull golden shimmering with a deadly hue as many collapsed beneath his feet.

Moderate Null Buds were long since beneath his pay grade.

He could now face a severe rank with nearly equal if not higher standing.

’Weird.’

Luca finally came to a halt after his tenth kill.

His feet dragged against the concrete floor before coming to a final stop.

At the same time, the mare crashed on the floor in a pool of black ichor.

He turned away from the sight and continued along the same path by walking.

"I noticed it a while ago, but there’s only one path?"

Be it corners or turns, Luca had come to realise that this wasn’t a labyrinth as he had assumed from the beginning.

Other than the five paths, there were no other varieties in options.

Just one straight line with bends and curves.

There were occasional bends, but those led to dead ends, and could easily be noticed while deciding where next to go.

’This isn’t how your typical labyrinth works, right?’ freeweɓnovel.cѳm

He wasn’t certain.

Just then, the narrowed pathway opened into a larger, much brighter junction.

Like what he had witnessed from the beginning.

He arched his brow as he walked through, only to stop by a wall.

He peered further ahead and slowly, his face brightened.

’I guess the path ends here.’

Ahead of him was a much broader area than any he had seen so far.

The walls were much farther, the ceiling and ground were covered in crystallised fossils and mosses that glowed with much vigour.

Yet, the darkness that permeated from it was constant.

When Luca looked around, his thoughts came reeling in.

’It’s a cave.’

He wanted to walk into it, when his head turned in a specific direction, causing his entire body to freeze on the spot.

At the left corner, almost unperceivable if one wasn’t vigilant enough was a throw of glowing green light.

And what sat on it was something Luca would say was straight out of an E novel.

It was a Knight.

Or was it?

It was adorned in sharp, black armour with green networks that spread across it.

Pulsing as if alive.

Its helm was a living face. With orifices that bled with green fluid.

A cape ran down its shoulder to the floor beneath the throne. Dark as night.

Its shoulder pauldrons extended like living spears and its gauntlet fingers were sharp like claws.

By the side of the Throne was a great sword that rested there. At least six feet in size with both its blade and hilt taken into consideration.

The edges had two protruding curved extensions that made it resemble a saw... if not larger.

The being exuded a kind of dangerous, otherworldly presence that Luca didn’t want to mess with.

In fact, he had instinctively taken multiple steps backwards.

Though, enough so that he could continue to observe.

His identification talent kicked in almost instantly.

And then his entire body went into a panic mode.

[3RD TIER SPECTER IRONWRAITH- NULL BORN]

’Shit, shit, shit! I knew it was too good to be true.’

Null Borns were creatures of the Abyss with Egoists threat levels.

Simply put, they were the evil versions of Egoists.

Their ranks ranged from Wanderers, Spectres, Defiers, Devourers, Fracturers, Divergents and Oblivion.

Taking the opposite progression of Egoists.

And they possessed Archetypes– Corrupted versions of the real thing.

Ironwraiths were Knights, Witchbornes were Spell Casters, Deathseer were Snipers, Bonejaws were Brawlers, Voidstalkers were Shifters, Mournweavers were Healers and Veilwraiths were Rogues.

The reason Egoists consider them dangerous is that they were the same thing, but strengthened by the Abyss with a much vaster energy– Null Energy.

’Fighting that thing would be suicide.’

’I would have turned back immediately if it weren’t for that thing ahead.’

It was what made him hesitate.

Behind the Ironwraith was an uneven, dark pathway and beyond that was a door.

Luca didn’t need to think twice to reason that the door led to the outside and without his wrist watch, he presumed he would need to find his own direction to one of the Bases.

’Is it worth the risk? I can try using my Stealth Talent... perhaps my beam talent?’

Both were at the lowest mastery– Dormant.

It would be dumb to assume he could fool or injure a Spectre-ranked.

’My seven times has to amount to something... right?’

His title really had more disadvantages at the moment. It was inconvenient.

Luca shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.

’I’ll first check out another pathway. Maybe that way is better.’

As he turned, Luca felt a chill in the air.

His gaze sharpened while he slowed down.

’Don’t tell me.’

His head snapped back immediately– Nothing.

’I hid well. There’s no way it could have noticed me... right? What am I so unsure of? There’s no way.’

Then he shifted his gaze away– only to freeze on the spot.

His chest thumped loudly. A beat his heart skipped.

Blood pumped into his vessels in overdrive as adrenaline surged like heroin.

He wanted to move. He couldn’t– no, he could, but he didn’t.

’Ho– How?’

The Ironwraith stood in his presence. Its face was right in front of Luca’s.

Its sockets pulsing with such an eerie hue while the green liquid poured down like tears.

Its helm is tilted to the side.

It lifted its hand and stroked Luca’s face.

An eerie curiosity growing within that empty gaze.

Luca’s thoughts reeled.

’Do I jump? Do I run? Should I turn in the opposite– fuck, what do I do!’

This was too much.

The overwhelming pressure it exuded was enough to tell Luca that if he moved– his life would be gone.

This was worse than what he felt with the storage girl– in fact, not even the Agents could get him like this.

Luca gulped.

’Screw it! Run!’

He attempted to dash back as Ego burst out of his body.

The Ironwraith stretched its arm and gripped his shirt.

The momentum pushed Luca’s body forward, but he was already yanked. Stuck in the same position.

’Wha–

His thoughts were swallowed by motion as he was slammed against the wall with a solid impact.

The hardened earth shattered like clay into debris and chunks. Falling to the ground in a ray of mixed earth and blood.

A choked scream escaped Luca’s widened mouth as pain spread throughout his body.

The Ironwraith pulled him into the air then slammed him into the ground with the same equally drastic strike.

The earth broke and shattered.

Jagged arcs spread throughout from the impact while a crater formed beneath Luca’s body.

Bones snapped. Flesh cut fresh. Blood slid down.

The boy was picked up like a ragged doll.

Held firmly by his shirt while he hung limply in the air.

His eyes were white. Void of consciousness.

But his thoughts and brain seem to align perfectly.

’It didn’t even hit me.’

He watched as the Ironwraith lifted one arm towards his skull. Held it, and slowly hardened its grip over it.

Luca jerked. His mouth tore wide and an ear-wrenching scream forced its way out of his lungs.

His head dented like metal. Bones jutted out from the corners while blood siphoned out in small punctures.

His eyes turned red while blood rose out of his mouth.

He choked on his own bile while pain ran numbers throughout his body.

’No– freēwēbnovel.com

The Ironwraith smashed his head with a wet pop.

Blood and gore splashed over the cold floor.

_________

AUTHOR’S NOTE.

Unfortunately, I will be rounding up this novel by the ending of the month.

Sadly, reader retention hasn’t been good and I’ll have to do better in my next work.

Anyways, with that.

I bide you all an enjoyable reading session.

Thank you for enjoying The World’s Greatest Egoists up until now.