Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 90: Sky Wind

Chapter 90: Sky Wind

How can a single step decide the flow of everything?

The moment the duo decided their next course of action, they moved forward to face the towering silhouettes lurking in the distance.

Then, at that decisive movement, like a runner preparing for a long metre sprint, Adrian lowered his centre of gravity by crouching low, inhaled deeply, and with a sound reminiscent of a church bell, lunged forward!

’Shit! He’s fast!’

Klaus thought so in dumbfounded silence as he followed suit, keeping to the shadows of the black labyrinth while trying to keep up. However, the distance between them only kept increasing.

This wasn’t just Adrian’s running speed. He was manipulating the wind vectors around his body to improve his acceleration, reducing drag and allowing him to slip through the air unnaturally. Of course, several factors such as air friction and inertia were still at play, but Adrian had mastered the delicate balance between resistance and propulsion.

Was this the difference between Vestiges and normal Striders?

Swallowing his jealousy, Klaus gritted his teeth and continued to push his body forward. He was no amateur. After all, he was the strongest and fastest among the group physically, but against Adrian, it felt like chasing a phantom. Such a scene reminded him of the painful times when he had tried to reach for a long distant memory that continuously faded from his Memory Sea.

It didn’t take long before the Nightmare Carapaces ahead noticed their approach and turned toward them.

With a murderous glint flashing in their bioluminescent slits and viscous saliva dripping from their mandibles, the monsters screeched and lunged. But Adrian didn’t slow down. Instead, he suddenly picked up speed, as if planning to ram them head-on with nothing but his body.

Surely, he wasn’t actually thinking of doing that? Klaus thought worriedly.

Then, ahead, a flash of light. The blood strained creatures shot their scythe-like limbs into the air with terrifying speed like a sword.

Despite sensing the danger, Adrian maintained his constant sprint and at the last second, he suddenly leaped into the air, guided by a gush of wind, dodging the bone-crushing blow.

The Nightmare Carapaces screeched as their bladed limbs slicing through the empty space where he had been just moments before. The sheer force of their missed attack sent shockwaves through the ground, cracking the stone beneath them. But Adrian was already above them, twisting his body midair.

Klaus barely had time to process what happened next.

A violent burst of wind erupted from Adrian’s position, blasting downward like an invisible hammer. The air pressure alone sent the creatures stumbling on their clawed feet and struggling to find balance. Then, with gravity and momentum behind him, Adrian came crashing down, the blade of his spear connecting with the skull of the nearest Carapace.

With a loud crack, the Shadow Creature let out a piercing screech and stumbed back in pain. But the exoskeleton around its head wasn’t penetrated.

’Not as if that’s my concern, I have my own problems.’

Due to Adrian’s daring maneuver, the second armored monster fell slightly behind the first. It was just close enough for Klaus to finally launch his attack.

Seizing the opportunity, he sprinted up a narrow protrusion on the coral wall and leaped, aiming to crush the monster’s back from above. With both hands covered in the Fang of Wrath, he swung them downward, ready to deliver a devastating blow.

But it seemed the goddess of luck wasn’t on his side.

Much to his misfortune, at the last second, the Nightmare Carapace he was aiming for suddenly shifted its whole body to the side. In such a situation, instead of hitting the creature, his obsidian gauntlets struck nothing but empty air.

’Fuck!’

Klaus’s eyes widened as the natural gravitational forces took hold and yanked him downward. His momentum, meant for a crushing blow, now worked against him. He twisted midair, trying to reposition himself, but before he could react, the Nightmare Carapace lashed out.

A razor-sharp limb shot toward him like a spear.

Instinct screamed at him to move, but it was too fast. The bladed appendage grazed his side. Luckily, he had already equipped the Purgatory’s Shroud before the battle and the enormous scythe-like limb simply slid across its surface and produced white sparks.

In other words, he was completely unharmed.

Following that, he finally landed on the floor, rolled across the mud and quickly regained his stance. The impact sent a jolt up his spine, but he ignored it. He had no time to dwell on pain.

The Nightmare Carapace screeched and lunged again.

Klaus barely had time to raise his arms before the creature’s weight bore down on him. Its mandibles snapped inches from his face and then a putrid stench of decay entered his nose, causing him to recoil in disgust.

’Aww. What the hell?! Why does it smell so bad?!

Momentarily disoriented, he forced himself to focus, his instincts kicking in as he pushed back against the monstrous creature’s bulk. Gathering his strength, he dodged its gnashing mandibles with a desperate roll to the side, narrowly avoiding being torn apart.

It didn’t end there. Following his instincts, he ducked low as something tore past him, striking the wall with a deafening crash that sent pieces of black coral scattering through the air. At the same time, he was hurled into the air by the shockwave, tumbling backward.

But by then, he had already regained his senses.

Twisting his body, Klaus managed to land on his feet and take a few steps back without falling. In the next second, he raised gauntlet-covered fists in front of him, eyes locked on the rapidly approaching monstrosity with a menacing fire burning in its eyes.

He took a deep breath and let the creature enter his range.

Soon enough, the Nightmare Carapace entered his space and, without wasting a breath, launched its assault. One scythe flew at him from the right, while the other flew from the left. There was no time to retreat or dodge.

In such a situation, there was only one logical choice.

With the sound of the floor exploding beneath him, he kicked forward, closing the distance to the charging monster. At the same time, the scythes clashed together with a loud crack behind his back.

From an outside perspective, this was nothing but a suicidal move. Considering that he was using gauntlets, his range of attack would naturally be short, so he had no choice but to close the distance if he wanted to land a solid hit or perhaps a critical crushing blow.

The ground beneath Klaus’s feet cracked with the force of his charge, dust and debris scattering as he closed the gap between himself and the Nightmare Carapace.

Sensing his approach, the creature pulled its two scythes back to slash at him from both side. But Klaus’s focus sharpened. He had already committed to his path, and there was no turning back. As the scythes neared, he could feel the air move, a deadly whisper just inches from his skin.

In such a critical moment, he hurriedly shifted his entire body weight, following the rhythm of battle as he ducked under the right scythe with a swift lean. The other scythe came down with blinding speed, and Klaus didn’t have the luxury of dodging it. Instead, he swung upward, meeting the deadly limb with the full force of his gauntlet-covered fists.

The impact rang out like a hammer striking an anvil, sending shockwaves through his arms, but the scythe was knocked aside, the strike absorbing most of the blow. It didn’t stop there. Klaus pushed forward, thrusting his body into the Nightmare Carapace’s face with all the might he could muster.

In a split second, his gauntlets connected with the beast’s chitinous skull. The force of the blow reverberated through the creature’s body, with its eyes bulging in pain, but it wasn’t enough to finish it. The exoskeleton cracked, but it held much to his frustration, earning a click of his tongue.

Before Klaus could react, the Carapace retaliated. Its jaws snapped shut with terrifying speed, just inches from his face. Klaus leapt backward and skidded against the stone as he evaded the monstrous mandibles.

He landed a few paces away, barely maintaining his balance. The creature screeched in fury and rapidly shifted its massive form toward him, preparing for another strike.

Gritting his teeth, Klaus leaped out once more. This time, he didn’t hesitate. He moved with purpose, his fists clenched and with a low growl of determination to end the fight quickly.

The Carapace reacted, raising one of its scythe limbs to strike once more, but Klaus was already too close. He ducked under the attack, sliding beneath the creature’s defense with agility that seemed unnatural for a human.

With no time to waste, Klaus launched himself into the air, and shot his gauntlet-clenched fist toward the Nightmare Carapace’s vulnerable underbelly like a sniper shot. The following impact was thunderous!

The creature let out a final, agonized screech as Klaus’s blow shattered its exoskeleton, sending shards of bone and chitin flying in all directions. The monstrous beast staggered, and with one last desperate attempt, it flailed wildly, but the movement was utterly weak, pathetic and futile.

Klaus landed gracefully on his feet as the creature crumpled to the ground, defeated.

It was dead.

[You have slain an awakened ghoul, Nightmare Carapace.]

[Your hunger becomes stronger...]

There was no time to dwell on the cursed voice of Chaos. Klaus quickly turned around, intent on heading to assist Adrian. At least, that was his plan.

He paused.

It wasn’t anything particularly unusual. Adrian was locked in combat with the other Nightmare Carapace. The creature was wildly swinging its scythe-like limbs, aiming to tear him in two. But what happened next was enough to make Klaus stop in his tracks.

Seizing an opportunity created when the scythed limb completely missed his body, Adrian crouched low, then kicked the ground in a burst of speed and leaped forward, his spear poised for a strike.

In a situation where the creature couldn’t react in time, his spear drove directly towards its face, piercing through the mandibles and sinking deep into its mouth, drawing dark ichor. But it didn’t stop there.

Following that action, the creature’s body began to extend.

That wasn’t an illusion. Like a balloon slowly inflating, its form stretched unnaturally as it was being filled with air in its insides, expanding with a grotesque and horrifying speed. The spear remained lodged in the Nightmare Carapace’s mouth as its body twisted and inflated, with bulges forming under the pressure. The creature let out a deep, guttural screech and attempted to move its body in frantic desperation, but failed each time.

’No way. Could it be...’

Klaus’s eyes widened, realising the situation.

Just before the thought of taking cover entered his head, the air grew thick with the creature’s foul stench as it reached its breaking point.

A few seconds later, the Carapace truly became like an inflated balloon and then, with a loud ’pop’, it finally ruptured with a violent blast, sending fragments of chitin and dark ichor flying across the surrounding space.

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