Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 245: La Borda

Chapter 245: La Borda

"La liga i bei babèn pu la i amazza—!"

Shit, he could feel his body weakening. Now that he was aware of it, he was able to fight it off to some extent. He could still hear her, so that meant she was in range. There was a range! Hidden in the mist, it was impossible to see or track her. Qi Sense was useless. Even his ears couldn’t seem to hone in on her location.

"Ninàn, ninàn, la Borda...!"

The world around him began to blur and twist once more. Colors swirled and melded together, forming the familiar landscape of the swamp illusion. Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, a sudden impact struck him in the head.

His skull was rattled.

Gritting his teeth, thinking, he came to a second conclusion. ’I get it now, this boss is intended to be defeated by a group. Everything about this gate screams of teamwork; of coming together as a team to destroy the redwood trees, kill the Will-o’-wisps, and even giving offers to the Witte Wieven. By yourself, this boss should be impossible. She marks you and you cannot fight back.’

His HP had dropped to the yellow zone. Two or three more dreams and he was dead. Going invisible was useless, finding the Borda was impossible, and he possessed no area of effect attacks in his arsenal. His finger went alight with flames—

"La liga i bei babèn cun una côrda,

Cun una côrda e cun una curdella."

But Dasha dropped to the ground, his body contorting in agony. He twisted and writhed, smoke rising from his wrist.

"Ninàn, ninàn, la Borda

la liga i bei babèn cun una côrda.

Cun una côrda e cun una curdella,

la liga i bei babèn pu la i asserra,

cun una côrda e cun una ligazza,

la liga i bei babèn pu la i amazza."

The full lullaby was sung. It described the woman’s tendency to wrap children in its rope to kill. A declaration of who it was and why it did. Dasha Pang was no different and was forced to listen and mangle from its bewitching voice.

Indeed, eventually, even Dasha Pang stopped moving.

From the dense shroud of mist that veiled the swamp, the Borda emerged. Its singing voice was a hum and its form was obscured by the swirling vapors that clung to its grotesque silhouette like a cloak. As it drew nearer, the mist seemed to part reluctantly. The singing hum became a low, guttural hum; a sound sending shivers down the spine of any who dared to listen, despite the lovely voice it could sing.

The Borda licked her lips, prepared for her feast, and put the rope away. She opened her mouth into a grin.

Squelch!

Her grin dropped.

While her gnarled fingers were reaching out hungrily, she had not come close to making contact. Yet somehow, in the blink of an eye, she tasted blood. The blood was not of her prey’s. It was her own. Lodged through her heart was the bloody arm of her prey, of the human know nas Dasha Pang. A strangled cry echoed through the mist as the Borda recoiled. But she could not escape. Her chest was pierced and she was slowly lifted off the ground.

"Gahh...ackkkhhh...!"

The vulnerable part of Dasha’s wrist, once imprinted with a magic circle, was burned. From his opposing index finger were the remnants of Fire Finger. "A magic circle’s biggest weakness is in its structure."

Throw a spear, a knife, or a rock, and a weak magic circle could crumble. Interrupt a magic circle and depending on the quality of the user it would either dissolve or linger. Melt the flesh of a magic circle implanted and the magic circle and all its effects would crumble too.

He ignored the woman’s desperate struggles, his gaze fixed on the dripping blood. He waited and waited until she stopped, until her death was certain and that this was no illusion. In a minute, it was as he predicted. The Borda was unmoving and dead.

He wrenched his arm free from the Borda’s chest, a spray of dark ichor splattering across the soil while the lifeless form of the Borda dropped.

[ You defeated Boss: The Borda! ]

[ Receive:

40,000 XP ]

His Qi Sense was deactivated. His nerves were jittery and accepting reality again.

Nothing should have been able to creep up on him, even in this mist.

Suddenly, with a sickening lurch, the Borda melted into the soil. That very same soil then gave way beneath Dasha’s feet and swallowed him into the hole.

This had caught him by surprise more than anything today. One moment he was standing and the next he was plummeting through darkness.

No wind, no whips of air as he faced the darkness.

No, Dasha Pang was consumed by darkness.