Chương 17: Ghoul

The snakes shrank their gem-like eyes to a tenth of their size. A pity that their hasty defence was ineffective on the lacrimation caused by the hex. Fist-sized tears fell down continuously from their shrunken eyes, hindering their vision to a great degree.

'This is my limit.' Kayzen panted for breath upon the increased strain on his mind. Simultaneously targeting three fiend class monsters was the most he could handle. The fact that he could shape the hex upon them and even activate it was pushing his limits.

"I'll leave the rest to you." Vasser replied with her gauntlets rather than her words. The snakes whose vision was affected couldn't dodge her punch in time. But despite taking a blow straight on, the snake wasn't blasted apart. Most of the impact was taken by the crystalline barrier that was now crumbling apart. Kayzen and Vasser's faces became solemn at the new ability. Even within the same class there were differences in power.

Compared to the skinless monster who didn't have any particular ability except its size and brute strength, these snakes were different.

"They might have another one as well, but not anymore since this is supposed to be a fiend class rift." Kayzen muttered.

"Yeah, I'll keep attacking and draw it out," once again, Vasser crossed half of the zone and punched at the previous snake. She was almost bitten by another one in the way, if not for Kayzen's hex affecting their biological responses. She attacked again and again, and each time the damage was blocked by the crystalline barrier. The other snakes were also recovering from the hex since Kayzen was nearing his limits. Finally, the snake had enough and used its last ability.

Its body became bigger like an inflated balloon until it reached the length of 25 feet and the width of a drainage pipe. Kayzen heaved a sigh of relief seeing this sight. Compared to some strange abilities, gigantification was easy to deal with.

"In the name of Argia, CLEANSE!" Vasser used the divine law and punched at the head of the monster. Be it the crystal barrier or the dripping poison, everything vanished before the surge of golden light. Even the hex shaped by Kayzen was no exception. The snake finally became clear headed after all biological ailments were lifted off, but it was too late. Under the glowing gauntlets its head was crushed like an oversized watermelon.

Just like before, the flesh and blood turned to dust as soon as they landed on the floor. All that remained of the fiend was a broken shard. The remaining two monsters hissed in rage after their companion's death. Kayzen's hex had already lost its effect, but fortunately, Vasser was more than capable of handling two fiends on her own. The zone was cleared after two more flashes of golden light.

"This is getting difficult." Kayzen picked up the shards while Vasser sat cross legged and recovered. Unlike him, her consumption of energy was far greater. It wasn't easy to use divine laws while being an Eikon. Kayzen sat beside her and looked at the hourglass. They had about five minutes before the sand fell down, but that wasn't the most important thing. Unlike before, there was no selection of zones. Right beneath the hourglass was a portal adorned with deep purple arcs.

Even someone with no experience could tell that the next area would be even more dangerous. He opened his backpack and unwrapped two candies. Vasser wasn't a fan of sweets, but she didn't refuse since it was a good source of energy. Kayzen rummaged through the backpack in order to find something that would be of use. From the earlier fights he had a clearer understanding of what he lacked.

'If the next zone isn't big enough or if there are multiple enemies, then we're screwed.' He couldn't collect any part of the monster's body which significantly weakened the utility of his hex. The shards should be an even better alternative for hex, but right now, he didn't have the time to work on them. For the umpteenth time he was glad that he had prepared enough before Greenford was destroyed by that ravager ape. He placed the heavy stone mortar on the floor and threw in the roots of bitter cassava.

At the side were two empty flasks, some cotton wool, and a bottle of vinegar.

"What are you doing?" Vasser inched closer in curiosity. A minute was all she needed to get back on her feet.

"Making poison grenades. Sort of. Here, put this on first." Kayzen gave her a plague mask and wore one himself as well.

"Looks ugly."

"I'll have to disagree on that one. This is one of the coolest inventions. You have no idea how hard I had to look for them since most use those half masks." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Heh, it just proves I'm right. Anyway, how can I help?" Kayzen pointed to the cotton wool and told her to make lids that would close the flask's neck. It was easier said than done for a total novice, but still, she managed to do that in about two minutes. After sacrificing a third of the wool that is.

"Man, this is tiring. Better to just smash 'em all!"

"Yeah, so you do just that," Kayzen chuckled and inserted the paste in both of the flasks. He then dipped the wool plugs in vinegar and dropped some inside the flasks as well. After plugging them almost airtight, he now had two grenades of hydrogen cyanide. Wonderful. The two walked side by side and entered the portal. They thought they'd be sent to the next zone, but the scene that appeared before them was different. The same cellar, the same vats, and the same snake type monsters.

What was different was their numbers and the ones who were fighting them.

"Less than twenty." Kayzen muttered as he looked down on the projection of the zone. All around them was a gray area except for the ongoing battle.

"I told them. With their strength they'd be wiped out against the Rift knight. And I overestimated their ability." Vasser shook her head at the struggling humans. The mercenary who was arguing with her was nowhere to be seen. Rift knight was the temporary name given to the second strongest alien in these rifts. The strongest was called rift lord who lay at the last zone. Defeating it would mean clearing the rift.

"Judging from the dust and five alive snakes, I'm guessing they were up against seven." Kayzen calculated and found that it made sense if their records, or rather, shards were counted. Vasser had five shards while he himself had four. If a monster was present for every three shards, then their group of twenty should've encountered a total of seven monsters. What Vasser said about them was correct: Most of them only had a single ability.

"Who knows how exactly this works." Vasser shrugged and sat down to meditate some more. She had no interest in seeing the weaklings get devoured by the monsters. Kayzen, on the other hand, was in no mood to rest. The more he thought the less likely it seemed that the seven or the other progenitors from alien worlds were behind this. The rifts were a bit too organized for that to be the case. Events, rewards, zones… would someone like the progenitors have the time to design this?

not to mention that his gut was telling him that there was nothing artificial about this, at least not at the core of it.

'I'll have to focus more on the soul after this.' As someone who focused on the study of genetics, it was expected that he didn't pry too deep into the field of soul. The fact that it didn't have any standardized theory didn't help either. There had always been various beliefs regarding the soul, ether, and cycles of reincarnation. All of them were built around the idea of the Ether singularity of Erde.

'Perhaps in a not far off future, it won't be just a hypothesis.'

"Hey, it's over." Vasser jolted his shoulder and pointed at the projection. Indeed, while Kayzen was lost in his thoughts the fight was already concluded. Now, only twelve humans were left. Eight of whom were soldiers following Darrick, the ninth. The fate of mercenaries had been anything but pleasant. It looked like there was some sort of a rule preventing one party from clearing the rift on their own. Only after the fight was over did the scene around Vasser and Kayzen change. This time, they were on a terrace.

A huge one. Above them was a starry sky much brighter than that of Erde, while ahead were four enemies. Or to be precise, one huge creature and its three 'pets.'

"I'll take the big one this time," Kayzen spoke without hesitation after surveying the area. Just like before he didn't see anything that could be of advantage. This was going to be a straightforward fight since there existed nothing but tiled floor between him and the ghoul like creature. He placed his hands inside his pocket and strutted to the other side. For a moment, even Vasser was confused by his action. Compared to her and the ghoul who were able to think, the three pet dogs didn't care as much.

Well, calling them a dog would be a bit of a stretch since they didn't have a nose and their jaws spread all the way to their ears. They barked and rushed at Kayzen from all sides. There was no way for him to dodge with his physical prowess, nor did he need to. When else would he use phantom shift if not now? The dog's spiked teeth and ivory claws passed through his body just like that. His pace wasn't the least bit affected as he moved towards the two-meter-tall ghoul without batting an eye.

It was similar to the first fiend they had encountered in the sense that it had no skin. One of its arms was separated into three tentacles, one was made up of bone while the remaining two were metallic flesh. The other arm was normal up until elbow, after which it formed a meter long claw. The dogs became irritated after failing to attack Kayzen. Two of them charged at Vasser while the last one began burning green all over its body.

Kayzen sensed the change in Ether flow and spoke out loud, "It's corrosive, I'm guessing the bite will have some infective ability as well."

"Noted. Leave it to me." Vasser replied and punched straight at the dog's jaw. The best way to prevent infection was to break their skulls. That happened to solve a lot of issues. On the other side, Ghoul arrived at a similar conclusion after seeing the dogs fail to harm Kayzen. Green smoke fumed out from its mouth as it bared its fangs forward.

'Damn, even umbra wouldn't welcome it.' Kayzen ignored the urge to puke and ran towards the ghoul. The green fumes carried a nauseating stench that caused even his throat to burn. There was no way around it. Despite being ethereal he wasn't unaffected by sight, smell, sound, etc. And what he feared the most happened in the next instant: A glowing ball of green shot out from the ghoul's mouth and splashed him head on.

If it was Vasser then she might've dodged the attack due to the long preparation phase, but Kayzen had no such ability. Even if he sensed the attack his body wasn't trained enough to act on reflex. He also realized another limitation of the phantom shift. The corrosive attack had passed through his body, yet the same didn't happen to the stench around him. Still, thanks to the ghoul's slow attack he managed to reach it just in time.

"Have a taste," He plunged his hand right into the ghoul's chest and pulled it out right after, leaving behind the glass flask. Without even looking back to see the result he bolted back towards Vasser. Phantom shift didn't make him invincible. Each suffered attack placed a strain on his mind since it became harder and harder to shape the Ether around him. Especially when he placed his hand inside the ghoul; one mistake and he'd have lost his whole arm.

"Grooowlll!"

"Let's switch," Vasser grinned at Kayzen and jumped towards the ghoul which was coughing nonstop. Its mutated form had become even more grotesque due to blood vessels bulging out under its muscles. Under the effect of the hydrogen cyanide, the ghoul's cells were losing the ability to use oxygen. On the other side, the three dogs were drawn together which created a perfect opportunity for Kayzen to throw the remaining flask; and he did just that.