Chapter 251: Acid Blood Arrow

Luke stood atop a stone structure, the cold afternoon wind cutting across his face. From up there, he could see them clearly: assassins spreading across the rooftops, forming a perfect ring around him. He was surrounded.

If he tried to escape over the rooftops, they would close in from every side. If he dropped into the streets, he’d be nothing more than a target for the archers and mages waiting below. And worse, he knew the Bastion soldiers would be arriving soon. Kruger was nowhere to be seen. Which meant only one thing: he was watching. Waiting for the exact moment to strike.

The situation should have felt hopeless. And yet… Luke didn’t feel pressed. Quite the opposite. Inside him, something absurd blossomed, a strange thrill, a sharp edge of happiness. The kind of exhilaration that only comes when facing an impossible challenge.

So he jumped. Chains whistled through the air, arrows streaked toward his body. At the last instant, Luke let himself dissolve, his form unraveling into mist. He poured through the cracks of a shattered window, reforming inside the building. By the time his boots touched the floor, he was already sprinting.

Behind him, glass exploded into shards. Bolts and arrows tore through walls, a fireball roared down the corridor, demolishing half of it. But Luke was already gone, that wild grin of battle carved into his face. Narrow hallways. Broken walls. Abandoned rooms. He moved like a predator in full hunt, his mind racing through possibilities.

Close-range assassins. Mid-range assassins. Maybe even long-range. And at least one mage.

He wasn’t about to fight them on the ground they chose. Not the rooftops. Not the streets. His hunt would be inside the buildings. Footsteps thundered behind him. Assassins dove through the windows in pursuit, wolves chasing him into the same den.

“Keep running, little rat!” one of them taunted.

For some reason, the insult drew a low laugh from Luke. He sprinted, yanking an arrow from his quiver and clamping it between his teeth. He had almost triggered his epic skill when the assassins first surrounded him, but canceled at the last second. He didn’t want to reveal that trump card yet, and besides, they were still too spread out. Luke wanted them as close together as possible.

He vaulted through another window, landing hard in the ruined husk of a neighboring building. Half-finished, walls broken, floors crumbling, perfect for an ambush. Throwing knives whistled toward him. Luke hit the ground in a slide, blades slicing the air inches above. He dashed forward, propelling himself down the corridor.

An assassin stepped from the corner, dagger raised to strike, only to find the hall empty. From a jagged hole in the wall, a wave of mist slipped out. Luke emerged behind him, kukri in hand. The blade opened the man’s throat in a clean sweep. He collapsed, gurgling blood.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

More footsteps thundered closer. Luke spat the arrow from his mouth into his hand, pulled his bow from the inventory, and swung around the corner. Another assassin appeared. The arrow was already flying. It pierced his eye and drove through the brain. The man staggered two steps, then fell lifeless at Luke’s feet.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

Luke pressed his back to the wall near a window, breathing steady. He risked a glance outside. More assassins were sprinting, fanning out to encircle the building.

“Where is he?!” one shouted.

Luke’s smile widened. And then he triggered his epic skill.

[Acid Blood Arrow (Epic)]: The Guardian Botanist sacrifices 100 HP to fuse the essence of [Dark Blood] with the [Corrupted Blood of Mother Freya]. From this unholy fusion, a [Rare]-tier arrow is formed, its shaft conjured from high-grade enchanted wood grown out of his own corrupted plant powers. Upon impact, the arrow releases a cloud of acidic mist that corrodes everything within its range. The cloud remains for some time, dealing continuous damage to all enemies who stay inside. Those who dare to challenge nature soon learn the price of defying its guardian.

The arrow began to take shape in his hand. A green glow flared, born from his Plant Growth skill, rising from his palm like a seed swelling with unnatural life. Then, streaks of crimson bled from his pores, weaving into the structure, hardening into dark wood that pulsed like it was alive. Dark Blood seeped out of him, staining the shaft until it was almost black.

At the back, fresh green leaves sprouted where the fletching should be, only to wither instantly, curling into dark, feather-like forms. The tip emerged last, honed by Thorn Mutation, wood sharpened into a deadly point as hard as iron. First red, then swallowed by a black so deep it looked bottomless.

Luke stared at it, fascinated. All of my plant powers… they all came together to forge this.

Three assassins sprinted across a nearby rooftop. Luke exhaled slowly, feeling the otherworldly weight of the arrow. It was cold, uneven, as if something alive squirmed inside it. The bowstring groaned under the draw, and for a heartbeat the entire world seemed to hold still.

The arrow hissed through the air, biting into the rooftop. A sharp crack followed, then a muffled whoosh, like a furnace door being flung open. From the split wood, a dense green cloud erupted, thick, heavy, crawling outward like a predator set loose.

The stench hit before the screams did. A caustic reek of burning metal and cooking flesh. The assassins vanished inside the veil, first coughing, then shrieking, their cries breaking into wet, choking gargles. One staggered out, his face sliding into ruin, flesh dripping like melted wax. Another clawed at his throat, eyes streaming as his skin sizzled.

Luke watched for only a second, long enough to etch it into memory. Then he drew a normal arrow, loosed, and the shaft buried itself in a man’s skull, silencing him with a sharp crack.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

He vaulted through the next window, activating Spider Jump. His body shot upward, cloak unfurling into leathery bat wings that carried him to another rooftop. He landed in stride, already running.

Behind him, the green fog thickened in the abandoned building, swallowing the screams. From the haze, one assassin staggered free, spitting blood, skin shredded raw.

“YOU BASTARD!” he roared, voice ragged with hate.

But Luke was already gone, forming another blood arrow. This time he poured in mana and stamina, feeding the weapon until it throbbed in his grip. The strain was brutal, the wood cracked, glowing fissures spreading down its length, white light pulsing through them.

He drew a deep breath. Now.

Spinning midair, he bent the bow to its limit, muscles coiled, body arched. He loosed. The arrow ripped forward like a bolt of lightning. The assassins below saw it coming, scattering instinctively. Luke’s smile cut across his face as the mana inside detonated. The blast rattled rooftops, shattering tiles and rattling glass. Then the second acid cloud unfurled, thicker and heavier, a rolling green tide that cascaded down and devoured everything in its path. The street drowned in screams, convulsing coughs, skin sizzling under the corrosive haze.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

Still midair, Luke nocked and released another arrow. It punched through the chest of a crawling assassin, pinning him to the cobblestones.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

He allowed no pause. Another acid arrow bloomed in his hand, drawn, fired. Mid-flight, he gave the command.

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Release!

The projectile obeyed, bursting apart before it struck, scattering its venomous fog across the struggling survivors.

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

[You have slain a Human…]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]

Luke ran. He only glanced back once, just long enough to see a body collapse, skin peeling away in slabs under the acid’s bite. He had needed to test it here, in the middle of chaos, and now he understood. The arrow obeyed because it wasn’t only magic. It was plant.

Botanical Bond of Mother Freya… The thought hit him between ragged breaths.

The arrow listened to him because it was alive, bound to him. Which meant he could detonate the acid cloud whenever he wanted, long before impact. A grin carved its way across his face, even as he sprinted. “Yeah… I like this skill.”

He began to summon another blood arrow. The green glow bloomed in his hand, then bled crimson, sinking into black. And then everything went wrong. Agony detonated in his chest. A violent cough tore through him, forcing the spell to collapse. His heart thundered like it was trying to claw its way out of his ribs.

He staggered, breath ragged, realization cutting fast and cold. The Dark Blood dwelled in his heart. Ripping pieces of it free to shape an arrow wasn’t just draining energy, it was tearing at the organ itself. Each shot carved away not just mana, but life.

He swallowed the pain, dismissed the bow into his inventory, and vaulted onto the nearest rooftop. No chance to breathe. A storm of bolts screamed toward him. Luke rolled, barely slipping past death. One skewered his thigh, tearing through flesh. He grit his teeth, yanking the shaft free, blood hot against his leg.