Chapter 81 Death
GGGGERRRRRGGR!
The growl grew louder. Isaac quickly put the egg into his inventory, then took out several item bottles filled with green liquid and gulped it down at once.
['Caecilian Egg (A)' added to inventory]
Ding!
[You consumed 'Haste Potion (B)'!]
[You consumed 'Receptor Stimulator (B)'!]
[Dexterity increased by 40% for 20 minutes.]
[Perception increased by 40% for 20 minutes.]
The vibration got bigger, and the cave ceiling slowly collapsed. The boulders fell. Isaac dodged every rubble in agile movements. He quickly ran away from the caecilian's lair. He passed through the darkness of the cave. The temporary increase in stat perception allowed him to see in complete darkness. Besides, his sixth sense helped him to figure out where to run.
His spine was getting colder and colder.
After running for two hours, Isaac managed to enter the middle of the cave that contained minerals. The light began to appear from the front.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The rocks crumbled, blocking the exit.
Instantly, Isaac's face turned pale.
"Damn it!"
At that very moment, from the ceiling, teeth shaped like giant thorns appeared and devoured the rocks. The head of a giant worm monster popped out. Isaac swallowed his saliva with difficulty.
He accessed the inventory, took out Black Jade, and put on Dark Fate. Luckily, the system sped up the process.
Ding!
[The effect of 'Dark Fate' is activated.]
[All player's stats are added by 30.]
[Artefact contains curses. If the player wears Dark Fate for too long, it will damage the user's soul.]
[The time limit of the item is 20 minutes. Adjusted to user level]
[ Strength : 50 (80) ]
[ Magic : 150 (180) ]
[ Constitution : 76 (96) ]
[ Dexterity : 83+33 (113+33) ]
[ Perception : 90+36 (120+36) ]
[ Unallocated stat points : 31]
Even if he had worn the Dark Fate, Isaac wasn't going to fight the monster. He just wanted to increase his chances of survival. He knew very well the difference in their current strength. Fighting a level 200 monster was a foolish choice.
GGGGGGRRRRRRR!
Caecilian screamed as hot steam hit its body. Isaac could feel the monster's anger and disappointment. The teeth in its mouth bloomed and aimed at Isaac. Not long after, thousands of teeth the size of a spear shot out like arrows.
Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The teeth destroyed the structure of the cave. Rocks and minerals crumbled. Meanwhile, Isaac withstood the teeth that came crashing down using Jade Black. The wind magic emanating from his blade helped him deflect each attack.
Even so, two or three teeth hit him. Luckily, there were no significant injuries thanks to the Dark Fate wrapping his body.
Caecilian was getting more and more furious that the one who stole its baby was still alive. The giant female worm monster immediately charged at him.
His sixth sense screamed. It told him that danger was approaching. Isaac quickly sped off, dodging caecilian's lunge.
THUD--! GGGGRRRRR
The monster devoured the cave floor, crushing it like a drill. Tremendous vibration occurred. Large cracks appeared and spread throughout the cave.
Isaac quickly turned around, but due to the tremendous vibration. A large boulder collapsed and blocked the other side of the tunnel.
However, he didn't give up. He tightly gripped his sword and drained a large amount of mana. A vortex of wind emerged from Black Jade, and he swung it towards the boulders blocking the tunnel.
SWOOOOSH!
A tornado emerged from the slash of the sword, pushing away anything in its path, including the rock blocking the tunnel. At least a quarter of Isaac's mana was used up on this.
Even though he managed to pave the way, unfortunately Isaac was too late.
The place he was standing on was crushed. Isaac was plunged into darkness with the rubble and ruins. For the first time in a long time, he felt nostalgic with death. Fear and horror crept over his body.
"NOOOO!!"
His eyes were spinning rapidly. He looked in various directions to catch all the information around him. Not far from him, a giant caecilian body was seen digging a tunnel.
Without thinking, he used the falling rocks as a foothold to shoot towards the giant worm's body. The sword plunged into its skin.
Then, he could only endure.
Isaac was being pulled by caecilian. His body was hit and stumbled against the tunnel wall. Dark Fate really helped protect him from physical damage, even though his body couldn't stop screaming in pain from the excruciating pain.
This was a situation that Isaac hated. Powerless against great powers. He wasn't going to lie that it terrified him, but he used the horror to stay alive.
"I'm getting out of here, alive!"
Hard rocks hit him more and more often. Isaac poured mana into Jade Black again. Not long after that, his sword created a windshield.
Until then, caecilian took him to a giant in the middle of the cave with brightly lit crystal stones. Without thinking, Isaac drew his sword and jumped.
Bam!
Isaac dove and landed, crushing the ground. He quickly ran away from the worm. Then, caecilian's screams boomed throughout the middle of the cave.
Isaac knew he wouldn't be able to run away from caecilian, but he had to keep moving if he wanted to survive. There were two ways for him to get out of this situation. First, looking for the remaining basilisk, and second, waiting until the timeout ran out.
The most reasonable option now was to wait for the timeout to run out. Because other monsters always ran away if they sensed a caecilian's presence.
It didn't matter if he failed this challenge as long as he survived. Repeating was not difficult.
No matter where Isaac ran, a tremendous vibration always followed him. Suddenly, the back of his neck felt a chill, his sixth sense screamed again. Caecilian approached. Just above his head, a giant mouth with millions of teeth smashed into the ceiling.
Isaac quickly shot off at high speed. If he was late by a split second, Isaac might have lost his leg. He ran again through the middle part of the cave, through the branches of the tunnel. The middle part of this cave was almost like a maze.
Until finally Isaac hit a dead end.
"Damn it!"
Isaac hit the cave wall. At the same time, a notification sound sounded in his head.
Ding!
[The use of Dark Fate takes more than 15 minutes.]
[The Side effect will activate if Dark Fate is not released.]
The Dark Fate buff was about to tan out. If he released it, his body would be vulnerable, and if he continued to wear it, the curse would damage his soul and mind. Meanwhile, the vibration was getting stronger. It was a sign that caecilian would soon come. Isaac was really desperate.
"Is there no other way?"
Shhheeeeesh!
Isaac heard a hissing sound. His eyes were wide open. He quickly looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Then, he found a small hole the size of a human body. His curiosity told him to enter it. He then went into the small hole.
The small size of the hole forced him to crawl. He continued to move forward, following the hissing sound that was getting closer and closer.
Then, Isaac arrived at a small alcove that contained two snakes. The snakes were no ordinary snakes; they were baby basilisks.
A smile bloomed on his face.
The baby basilisks hissed. They issued threats at Isaac. Unfortunately, they were dealing with the wrong people.
Slash! Splat!
Two baby basilisks were killed.
Ding!
[Basilsk successfully hunted: 99]
Isaac clicked his tongue. He needed one less.
GGGRRRRRR!
There was a tremendous vibration until the dust fell. The place where his feet stood shook.
"Damn it!"
Checkmate. That was what Isaac thought. He was trapped. There was no other way out but crawling back into the little tunnel earlier. However, he didn't have time for that.
"Damn it!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Isaac was mad. He had just realized he made a fatal mistake.
Shhhshshsh!
His eyes were wide open. There was a hissing sound.
There was still one more baby basilisk!
Isaac crawled quickly, checking through the rocks, then he found a baby basilisk hiding under a small rock.
"Found you!"
GGGG GRRRRRRRR
The ceiling fell, Isaac was crushed.
"Agggrrrjj!" 𝗳𝙧𝐞𝚎w𝗲𝚋n𝚘𝙫𝑒𝘭.𝑐om
His body felt crushed, as tons boulder crushed him. He was buried alive, unable to move his body. Then, his hand held something.
"Got you!"
Isaac managed to catch one last baby basilisk. Then, he squeezed it, feeling the baby monster snake's body crumble in his hands.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the 31st challenge!]
[You got the reward from the mission!]
[You got 10,000 zenny!]
[You got the 'Shamsir Blade (D)'!]
[The 32nd challenge is executed in a different dimension. Are you ready?]
[Yes/No]
"YES!!!!!"
Not long after, his body turned glowing and shattered into shards of light. Isaac was transferred to another dimension by the system. At the last moment, he managed to escape death.