Chapter 305 – Fighting Against Time

Chapter 305 – Fighting Against Time

Kai kicked the door behind him, shutting the only entrance to the chamber. Burnt flesh mixed with the stench of blood as the cultist was consumed by her own flames.

Two down, two to go.

“You— I’ll tear off your limbs before life leaves you!” The middle-aged man snarled, veins popping on his neck with a red tinge. Amidst the enraged swearing, a wave of Darkness surged toward Kea and fizzled against a curtain of water.

“I thought you were going to rip me apart?” Kai said. His spell was devoured by the inky blackness, but it bought his sister enough time to meld with the background. “Is this the best you can do?”

Darkness thickened around the cultist. His head snapped toward him. “You’ll get your turn. I’ll make sure you watch while I kill her.”

“And are you going to do that from across the chamber?” Kai mocked, looking at the distance where the man retreated. “Or are you scared to end up like your friends?”

Provocation was the best tool he had left. While they had cut down two cultists, he would have to face the remaining two without tricks.

Keep your eyes on me.

Since her Camouflage was revealed, Kea stood no chance in a direct confrontation. Without armor or magic of her own, any spell could prove lethal for her.

She crept near the edge of the chamber, among cabinets and desks filled with fraying tomes, bloodied tools and glass jars filled with fleshy contents. Five narrow cells completed the creepy decor—the openings too short for an adult man to stand. Two held occupants, the last auras Kai had perceived from outside.

You did your part well. Now’s my turn.

He gripped the hilt of the unfamiliar saber. Casting a volley of ice shards as a distraction, he dashed towards the cultist with the half-melted scalp—Kerril.

The thin man recovered more quickly from the death of his second companion. “What have you done?” His disbelieving grimace contorted into anger. “You’ve no idea who we are! Death’s too good for you.”

Uh… I was hoping you’d get more original with the insults, not less.

Three streams of inky water whipped at his neck. Kai swallowed a sarcastic reply and turned his charge into a sideways slide on the pale flooring. His back hit the engraved altar. Despite their losses, the cultists seemed reluctant to damage the runes.

Hold on a little longer, Niel.

Channeling mana into his muscles, Kai pushed against the altar and dove to the side. Tendrils of Darkness stretched like a skeletal hand over him, his body twisted to avoid the closing coils. A shapeless wisp brushed his forearm in midair. He jerked his hand away, but his skin already stung as if burned by acid.

Damn, it hurts.

“You’re not very good at aiming, are you?” Kai taunted through clenched teeth. It was like a swarm of insects gnawing on his arm. The pain barely lessened when Kahali’s Retribution turned his wound into a warm trickle of power.

“We’ll see if you keep laughing when your body melts,” the older cultist smiled grimly. “The chatty ones always scream the loudest.”

“Want to bet? You’re—” Kai bent backward to dodge a whip of water whistling above his nose. He nearly bit his tongue to interrupt his words.

That’s plain rude.

Throwing his left arm out, he flung an ice shard to disrupt Kerril and stabbed his saber in the groove of a rune with his right. The weapon gave him the leverage to pull himself in a side pivot, only to find wispy Darkness heading for his face.

There wasn’t space to evade. He condensed an ice sheet to slow the attack. Earth Magic increased the friction of his boots on the stone, helping him push his momentum in yet another direction.

Despite his ligaments protesting, he had to keep moving. The cultists would trap him against the tables on the outer wall if he hesitated.

“Run like a rat! I’ll still cut you into mincemeat.” Kerril spat.

Not wasting breath to repay the taunts, Kai concentrated on evading the inky streams. The murky water fizzled against anything it touched. He could have dealt with either cultist one-on-one—together, they were the problem. Distance helped him dodge their spells, but he also struggled to pierce their defenses.

Why couldn’t they be runesmiths with no combat skills? Or maybe they are…?

It was hard to judge mid-yellow professions. He had hoped cultists used to tinker with human flesh wouldn’t be proficient at fighting, but life was a series of disappointing discoveries.

The two men retreated to near opposite edges of the runic circle—fifteen meters apart—so he couldn’t attack one without exposing his back to the other.

“If you kneel and beg, I’ll consider keeping you alive.” The older cultist darkly chuckled. “Your pathetic existence could be part of something meaningful.”

“What… do you… mean?” Kai huffed between dodges. Death would be the preferable choice to what they did here.

C’mon, start monologuing about your evil plan.

The man didn’t elaborate on the details of his villainy. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Black tendrils cut Kai’s retreat while inky streams cracked the air in front of him. It wasn’t the most elegant pincer, but the cultists knew how to leverage their numbers.

I prefer incompetent villains. Kai cursed—forced into another awkward dodge.

All his acrobatic evasions didn’t get him closer to killing his enemies. Less than a minute since the fight started, his body already felt the strain of repeatedly flaring Body Augmentation. He aimed five icicles to disrupt his opponents’ casting instead of using sweeping spells. It conserved mana in exchange for a larger burden on his Mind.

I can’t let them strategize with a cool head.

Perhaps he could outlast the cultists’ mana reserves, or perhaps he’d mistime a dodge and weigh one head lighter.

The longer he waited, the higher the chance a new variable would appear. While he had to kill the cultists to survive, they just needed to buy time until another one noticed the commotion and raised the alarm.

Kea could also try something stupid if things go on much longer.

The Camouflage from her profession was good when her opponents weren’t aware of it. Knowing what to look for, Kai easily followed the cloudy flicker of her aura. The plan was for her to run if things went bad, but he didn’t want to test her commitment.

It’d be easier if I had my sword.

The saber made for a mediocre replacement. Just using Swordsmanship was a struggle, and from the first exchange, the scavenged weapon clearly couldn’t parry many spells head-on.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

What else can I use?

The middle of the chamber was empty of anything but the altar and runic circle. There were no plants to grow with Nature Magic, and the runic circle stopped him from shaping the stone beneath it.

“Stop running and face me!” Kerril summoned a fourth inky stream to strike him. “You’ve nowhere to go!”

It’s not like you’re coming at me either…

Kai cast a sphere of water to disperse the impact of the flail. A faint whisper tickled his mind—he stilled his dodge and ducked to the ground as a pitch-black bolt flew above.

That was quicker than the others.

“Slippery bastard,” the middle-aged cultist glared, narrowing his beady eyes. “You won’t get lucky again.”

“Try me.” Kai hid his concerns behind a cold smile for Kea’s sake.

The cultists were becoming more methodical and coordinated, though neither seemed willing to endanger themselves up close.

The maniacs on the Intrepid would have already charged me. Guess I am Lucky…

He dove through a cloud of Darkness, donned in a layer of ice. Landing in a roll, he hurled five frozen blades to intercept the inky streams.

I can’t let this drag on.

The cumbersome saber disappeared into his ring. He dashed to his right, curving a winding path toward the thinner man. With the cultists on the same line of sight, he could avoid getting flanked and hinder their attacks. They could reposition to keep him in the center, but from what he observed, most people couldn’t cast complex magic on the move. The duo had stood still for most of the battle—likely not an exception.

“Finally accepted your death?” Kerril licked his lips eagerly. “Come here, I promise to make it almost painless.”