Chapter 7 | The Strongest Assassin

His stomach contracted in pain; nothing was left to regurgitate in there, so he kept dry-heaving and belching on the ground. He had been slingshotted across space, all of his senses getting jumbled. He was not that far away. The titanic clashes between Leila and whoever that was could still be heard.

He wiped his teary eyes before taking a look around.

A dimly lit corridor stretched out around him, medieval in design. At least the part he was in was that way, with complete sets of plate armor and unlit candelabra placed evenly throughout. A few steps later, it was a wooden corridor like an over-architectured jungle hut. A couple more, and there were stone walls like the inside of a dungeon.

The corridor was completely disjointed, as if someone had taken many different buildings and places before smashing them together.

Neither John nor Miyamura was anywhere to be seen. Though, if they had no enhancements to their physiques like Theo did, the chances they survived was…

Damn it. The guys didn’t even get the chance to figure out their cheats, Theo gritted his teeth. His legs barely able to hold up his weight, he leaned against the wall and started walking away from the chaos.

I could have been like them too. The only reason I’m still alive is that my cheat was a bit more suitable for our situation. Are protagonists just cannon fodder in this world? How could Melvin die so easily?

With each step he took, the deafening reverberations of the two faded away more and more. The corridors slowly melted into each other, every part of his body aching from the previous events. Still, he was healing. He felt it in real time. Those stat points had done their work. In fact, even in this battered state, Theo felt more energy coursing through his body than ever.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the time to bother with his body. Leila had told him. He had to escape. He couldn’t even think of trying to help her. This was something way beyond him.

It’s not like I owe her or anything… Theo told himself. She had kidnapped him–his soul, held him hostage, and done weird things to him without his consent…

With a last look in her direction, Theo shook his head and picked up his pace. He had to leave the tower.

If I go in one direction long enough, I will leave, right?

He was apparently in the outer circle of this so-called Tower of Fracture. Considering it had whole circles of area signaled him that it was big. Very big. If he was going the wrong way…

He shook his head. No need to think about it. Not like I would have a solution.

The more he walked, the more he recovered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before his path was cut off.

Another faceless Leila clone. In the distance. Standing mindlessly, the entity looked around in what Theo presumed to be confusion before turning toward him.

What are these things? Why do they all look like her? Theo thought as he took out an arcane shot. Now that he had a way to deal with them, he didn’t feel as nervous. This creature had a different air to it, a more feral one, rather than eerie. It was also much faster. It was running on all fours, which was definitely something.

His heart slammed against his ribs, making it hard to breathe. His lungs filled with copious amounts of oxygen, making him both dizzy and revitalized.

The spell traveled through his arm. But he didn’t release it immediately. He had taken his lesson from the last time. The arcane shot could pick up speed as it coursed through his body, so he circulated the projectile in his forearm.

Four seconds to collision, he estimated. It inched ever closer. The spell ramped up in speed, but it wasn’t going to make it in time. He had to improvise.

Holding his breath, Theo brought forward the spell. As soon as it was about to leave his body, he thrust his palm forward, toward his target.

The silver-gray ball of pure mana launched forward. It obliterated the entity. With how its body was angled, the spell dug into its entire upper half, leaving a gaping hole of ghostly matter in its wake.

However, what remained of it kept hurtling toward Theo without stopping. Theo’s eyes widened in terror as he had to watch the ghost’s corpse phase through his left leg.

And as soon as it did so, a burning pain exploded from his lower half. His leg practically buckled under him as he lost his balance and fell down face-first.

“Ugh!” Theo groaned in pain. He dragged his face across the floor and grabbed his thigh with both hands. He tried to squeeze out the pain, to push it away. But to no avail. Whatever these apparition-like beings did to him, it was terrible. He could only hope that it wouldn’t leave lasting damage

Not knowing what to do, Theo got up. He got back to walking, supporting himself by the wall. The searing pain caused him to sweat. It blurred his vision, which made him stop every few steps and wipe his eyes. He had to drag his leg across the ground, but feeling was slowly coming back.

As he pulled himself together, he noticed the clashing noises to have already faded away.

I hope she is okay…

Theo had lost track of how many disjointed corridor pieces he had passed by. There was one with floating pottery, where all the walls were the image of a flowing cosmos. There was even one that resembled the cube room, with inscriptions covering the walls. He had found two “entrance” inscriptions there but refused to use them. After all, he didn’t know what he would find inside and didn’t want to endanger himself like an idiot. Especially while he was wounded.

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As his leg finally recovered enough to be stepped on, Theo came across a different location than the disjointed corridors of before. It was an opening, a dome-shaped room with pristine walls and, funnily enough, trees. There were trees and shrubbery scattered throughout. This dome was ever so slightly brighter than the other, dimmer parts of the tower. He could spot a couple of mushrooms and flowers emitting lights on a wide range of blues. Probably biofluorescent.

All in all, it was a breathtaking view. The type that would make one appreciate the fact that they were alive.

His shoulders relaxed, his brows slightly slanted. A small, bitter smile tugged on his lips as he took in the scenery. His heartbeat slowed to a gentler rhythm as he started walking through the forest carefully.

Then, Leila’s face flashed in his mind for a moment. Gratitude. That was what he felt. He didn’t know her. Not at all. Not who she was, nothing about her actual personality other than the fact that she was crazy.

However, she had tried to save him, didn’t she? He was living on borrowed time anyway. He should have met his end with that mugger’s blade. And she had protected his second chance.

Fuck. Is this what they call Stockholm Syndrome? It is, isn’t it? Still, knowing what he was experiencing didn’t quite help.

Not to mention, it also didn’t change the fact that there was a faceless entity jumping on his face at the moment.

Huh?

With a stumble, Theo fell down and rolled on the ground. The thing missed him by a hair’s breadth and skidded to a stop a couple of meters away. He pushed himself away, dragging himself across the ground.

But that wasn’t it. There were more. About five, all with the exact same appearance, wobbled out of the woods one by one. Theo’s breath hitched. He pushed himself up and tested his leg against the ground, he was ready to run. He looked around with a sharp gaze.

Two to the left. three to my right. One in the middle. Middle it is!

He took off into a maddened dash. He was running faster than he had ever done so in his life. Not because he was inhumanly fast or anything. But because he had never had to run for his life before. The heightened endurance and vitality also helped. An incredible amount of energy supplied his endeavors.