Chương 65: Apparently, this busted precognition power has limits

He had maybe ten or so seconds before he was turned into a splash of blood by an angry Sword. Or disintegrated by a magical explosion. It was a coin toss, really. His first thought was to try and get a way to regain the buff. He didn't have any savable targets, but he had a fuckton of banked skill expansion. Eight levels worth of it, to be precise. Now was definitely the time to use it.

Of course, the first thing he did was try and expand the buff in a way that would allow him to just fight without the need for a savable target. A big flat 'no' was the answer from his skill. There was nothing heroic in just fighting monsters, especially in a deserted city with no one to save. Who would he help if he killed them?

The straightforward approach just wouldn't work, he had to build a case for why it was a heroic thing to do, and while he had a nice budget, the foundation for an expansion like that just wasn't there. What was wrong with being a monster that they deserved to die just for being one? They were threatening other people? Which people? Abstract people in the future?

That Sword that was landing not that far away from him would maybe kill someone else in the future, though maybe it wouldn't, and he didn't know who or when or why? It wasn't even that likely that it would do that, he never saw Swords in the wild, just the Arms, and even Arms didn't just hunt people unless provoked, was it really that necessary to kill them?

And if he was allowed to kill the monsters because they had a potential to kill someone in the future, didn't that mean that he would be allowed to kill anyone for the potential to be dangerous? How was that even heroic? Anyone had a potential to become dangerous. Dennis wasn't sure that eight levels would be enough for an expansion like that. The basic building blocks just weren't there. It was essentially a skill near the end of a skill-tree, and he didn't unlock the prerequisites.

Maybe, with his budget, he could build such a case with careful planning and correct wording. The only thing that he knew for sure was that… He'd wasted two seconds. Not even from expanding his skill, but just by looking at the work ahead and figuring out what was required to make it possible. There was no way he would make it in time. Twenty Mind just wouldn't cut it. Right? If he tried to expand his skill like that right now, he would die. Fucking hell. He should've just asked before wasting the time.

A few hundred yards away a Sword landed, cracking the false-ground, and started to run at him. He had to cheat. If not for fighting, then for running away. Could he expand his skill so he had the superspeed to escape death? If he tried to do that, he would die. It was the same problem all over again, just from a different angle. There was nothing heroic in running away. At least, not in the definition of heroism that Heroic Dash had. The one that Dennis suspected that he made himself. The right one.

A true hero defied all odds and won. A case could be made that Dennis' survival meant that he would save more people in the future by the virtue of being alive, and that raised all the same questions. Which people? When? How would he know for sure that his survival would lead to saving those abstract people? Abstract people were a big wall for skill expansion. The thing required a target.

Circumventing that was possible, because almost everything was possible with enough godly-juice, but doing that in the heat of a battle just wouldn't work. Kriya saved him a bit of time because he knew not to look too deep into that option, but it didn't stop time from passing. Another second wasted. The Sword was speeding up. Two Arms landed nearby. A third one landed on the roof of a half-destroyed building and fell through. He chuckled. Okay, getting rid of the need for a target was not an option for now.

How about having more targets? He knew for a fact that there were people stuck in this world. Gareth, for one, and also the nerds. Surely there was someone who needed his help? He could use that to run away. Expanding Heroic Senses, which was a subskill, was an option. Just loosen the restriction on what it meant to 'need saving'. Use that superspeed to help a granny cross the road. Was that viable? To find a new target in order to escape? Maybe. Mana: 0 / 10 The fuck?!

Kriya ate all that remained of his mana for that? Another second passed. The Sword was getting concerningly close. About six left before he'd be a goner. Okay, sure. Vague questions and Kriya didn't really mix. There were so many ways for him to expand the definition of saving. Some of them would work now, some wouldn't. On a crossroad of hundreds of paths, the skill didn't have enough power to check all of them. It was even possible that there were none that would work. The skill just didn't know.

Didn't have enough mana. Squeeze. He didn't feel anything. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. No. He felt nothing. It was a familiar feeling. Warning: Stat decay detected. Soul: 0 (1) Mana: 10 / 10 Well, that explained where the mana was coming from. Two more seconds were wasted just staring at his stat screen. More monsters landed nearby and were running at him. He could see a few Voices casting.

A few translucent glyphs were appearing in front of a Whisper, combining into some kind of megaglyph. That was probably the explosion thing. Four or so seconds left in his self-imposed time-limit. He didn't know exactly when he would be killed, after all. Somehow, it didn't really worry him. His fear of death lessened. He didn't even realize that he was afraid to die until that feeling was almost gone. Wasn't this a fine place for a heroic last stand? Better than most, for sure.

Though he wasn't going to just stand there and take it. This was a genuine opportunity to win against inevitable odds, which was obviously the best way to win. It would be so fucking cool to do that. He didn't bother suppressing the grin on his face. Let them see it. It would help to establish dominance. No fucking way was he going to use eight fucking levels worth of upgrades to run away. Botching his build just to be a pussy? Yeah, no shot.

If he didn't have the time to properly figure out how to go the 'fighting' route, he'd just find another way. Maybe that was a bit reckless, but it was all about knowing your priorities. Having a good build was more important than something silly like higher chances of survival in the moment. He needed more time. Could he fight without the buff for a bit? Nah, no way. Could he hide? Run towards one of the destroyed buildings and bet that his scrying resistance would win him some extra seconds?

Could've been an option five seconds or so ago. Three seconds left. About a dozen or so monsters were already running at his position, getting close. Heroic Dash was trying to nibble at the upgrades he was holding, probably trying to find its own way to save him. Could be an option if all else fails. Eyes were watching from above, their pupils somehow showing the glee they felt from seeing his imminent death. Well, it was probably not them but the High Authority itself giddily watching through them. Hmm.

He had the High Authority's attention. It could see him. Could it hear him? Was there a way to… to bullshit his way out? Or just to stall for time? Some combination of words he could say? Mana: 4 / 10 Maybe. Lots of mana spent on that. Interesting. Spamming Kriya to find the right words probably wouldn't work. He had two simple predictions left before he would have to use the soul enforcement for more mana, and Dennis was pretty sure that if he did that he would lose the Soul point for good.

He was pretty sure he needed it to be a proper hero. Probably. Maybe. What did the Soul do again? Yeah, okay, now was not the time for introspection. He put 'disintegrating his Soul' into a 'maybe' pile and turned back to the survival plan. Asking nicely to not kill him probably wouldn't work. How about not nicely?

Simple threats wouldn't work either, he was already merrily killing thousands of its troops, going from that to 'stop or I'll fuck you up' was a sure way to admit that he'd lost the 'fuck you up' ability. Two seconds left. If he didn't have the power for a threat, he just needed to borrow someone else's.

"He knows I'm here!" he shouted, looking directly in the eye of… well, the Eye. Half a second later the monsters stopped. It seemed that someone had a mostly human-level thinking speed. Oh shit it worked. The battlefield was still. No one was moving. Why did it work? Dennis had just alluded to knowing someone important, but you didn't just stop killing someone if they shouted 'I know the president!'. Not unless you had a cause to believe them. Thoughts raced through his mind like a thousand tiny speedsters.

"The–" If he said 'Sword Saint', he would die.

"The Soul Devouring Sovereign," he said calmly to the Eye above.

"Will absolutely, totally fuck you up if you mess with me. Just so you know." The High Authority believed him. He knew that because as time passed, he was still alive. His bullshit was some-fucking-how working. Either the High Authority was really gullible, or it knew something that he didn't, which was concerning in its own way. Dennis promptly started figuring out how to upgrade his skill so that he would be able to continue his killing spree without the need for a savable target.

He didn't have much time to do that. The rain of monsters stopped falling almost immediately. Only one last crack appeared in the sky, out of which another Spine flew. Dennis didn't move, partially because he was wary that any sudden movement might, well, provoke all the monsters, but mostly because he was focused on finding the correct approach to make his skill work. The little shit was stubborn, insisting on having a savable target and not believing in abstractions almost on principle.

The dragon descended somewhat slowly. It slithered through the space like it was water, landing in front of him. On top of its head sat a dude. A man somewhere in his forties. Somewhat slim, with long silvery hair and purple eyes. He looked resigned. Grim. He was also a fucking elf.

"It's you," the man said. It sounded like an accusation.

"The Weapon."

"Yep," Dennis agreed.

"And you already met with Xin."

"Of course I did. Who do you think I am? We met, like–" If he said 'a month ago', he would die.

"–recently. Totally buddies now." He had no mana left for Kriya, unless he decided to destroy what was left of his Soul. Dennis was a bit wary of doing that. Getting it back would be a pain in the ass, and he supposedly needed it for… something. His recollection of the past few weeks was a bit weird. The memories were there, but it didn't feel like they were his. Like it was someone else who lived those memories. What was he thinking? He didn't fully realize the effect the Soul had until now.

It was like he was a different person, not at his core but in countless small ways. Still wasn't sure if it was worth having one. Life was certainly easier without it." How? Why didn't I know?" the elf asked, as if Dennis meeting with that Xin guy was pretty unlikely to happen. Which, sure, they didn't actually meet so it was probably true. A few more danger-sense tingles weren't worth a Soul. The elf looked pretty chill now, aside from the fact that he would kill Dennis if he said the wrong thing.

Dennis decided to just wing it. He just needed to stall until he figured out an upgrade.

"Well–"