225 Chapter 225
The enormous roar resonated loudly throughout the cave and off the walls, shaking the entire cave floor. Zavier and his clones were both propelled backwards and landed on their backs. Hansa was flung to the side, away from Zavier. As she rolled on the ground, she covered her ears and yelled in anguish. While this was going on, Zavier struggled to stay on his feet and watched in horror as the black goo's attack kept pushing the blood blade away.
In fact, the black goo began to expand and eventually engulfed all of the clones one by one, leaving only Hansa.
"Damnit! I'd completely lost control of my body!"
As the slime continued to attack him, he cursed and clenched his fists fiercely.
The black goo seemed to become more concentrated as he poured more energy into it, and it was slowly consuming him. They would never be able to escape if the black ooze continued to develop in this manner.
He was engulfed in a large pool of sticky liquid.
Hansa crawled on the ground, attempting to reach for her dagger. She slashed at the sludge surrounding her until she finally managed to grab it. The knife, however, did not seem to bother the goo; instead, it absorbed the knife and began to expand once more. It kept spreading in all directions, causing Hansa to flee. To avoid losing the dagger, she sliced at the ooze and had to drag herself backwards.
The ooze had spread much beyond what she had previously seen, and it now reached as far as her vision could see. It appeared to be hundreds of thousands of tentacles, each of which contained an entity. And when she focused her gaze, the beings seemed to come to life; all of these things were linked together, giving them the appearance of huge worms. However, there was something else about the creatures that stood out: they were not formed of flesh, but of an unknown black substance that was covered in a transparent layer.
"Oh my goodness! What in the world is this?"
The black slime tentacles moved around the black liquid, causing it to move faster and quicker, trapping both of them.
Hansa continued to cut at the tentacles that were encircling her, but the tentacles grew in size by the second. It would soon entrap all of her. She shouted in agony, as if she were being crushed and tortured. She could hear Zavier pushing against the power that couldn't be seen or touched, trying to pull the tentacles off but not being able to do so.
Zavier realized Hansa was in danger as well. He was nervous, but he couldn't think of a remedy right away.
"AHHHH~~"
At the same time, he heard his clones scream.
The memories retrieved from the feedbacks made it clear that his other four clones, who were unable to wield the blood blade, had been eaten by the black material that had been present.
The thought of dying made him extremely sick.
When the goop entered his clones' bloodstreams, it began to spread through every muscle fiber, bone, and organ inside his body. It entered his blood vessels. His entire body was swallowed and consumed.
Their cries tore up his heart as their voices were drowned out by the constant fighting noise. Their cries rang out throughout the dim cave. The sound was agonizing and filled him with anxiety. As he endured the great anguish, he longed to scream in agony.
He could feel his heart racing in his throat, sweat flowing from his brow, and his teeth clenched together in fear and hatred.
Zavier fought back with all his might, releasing a crimson blade to sever the tentacles that bound them. But before it could reach its target, the red blade was yanked abruptly and ripped to shreds.
The tendrils thickened and became more focused until the blades stopped moving. He attempted to utter a spell, but nothing came out. He couldn't even say anything. Instead, he was drawn backwards, like a moth swallowed up by a gaping mouth. It was as if his life was being sucked from him.
Zavier hurriedly looked about, hoping to locate a way out.
He was not concerned about his life because he had left a clone in the closet at home. But Hansa would almost certainly die here because of him. That was something he didn't want to happen.
He couldn't understand why the black substance was so invincible in the face of his blood blade. Even Kyouko's Yasakani no Magatama didn't have such a powerful contrast blood sword.
Something suddenly occurred to him. He then promptly took out the branch, which had most likely come from the sacred tree earlier, and attempted to combine it with blood and mana.
The branches soon made reaction. The branch blazed with a blinding brightness the moment blood dripped on it. Then a strong spiritual force passed from his hand to his arm and body. He could feel the energy coursing through his veins and spreading to his limbs and organs. The branches lit up again and became more brilliant after the blood was fully infused.
Zavier appeared to enter a state of egolessness at this point. He appeared to see everything and nothing at the same time. He felt like a long, long time had passed, although it had only been a second.
When he regained consciousness, his blood blade appeared to have evolved and become even more powerful.
Although it couldn't pierce the goo's surface, it had already sliced at least a few dozen strands, severing all of the goo and freeing the three of them.
Zavier ran up and held Hansa's shoulders as Hansa got up shakily.
"Are you hurt?" he inquired, his voice trembling.
As soon as he shouted those words, he realized that the blood that had soaked her body had vanished, as if it had evaporated off her flesh. Her back wounds were also mending quickly.
Except for the blood spot on her clothing, her physique appeared to be fully healthy. She didn't appear to be hurt in any way.
"How did you manage to recuperate so quickly? It was supposed to have taken us many days." Zavier spoke forward, taken aback.
"When my physical body was harmed, my bloodline ability was activated," Hansa simply explained."I'm fine, but you need therapy right now." She expressed concern as she examined the various wounds on Zavier's body.
"Not right now."
The black substance behind them reappeared at that same instant.
Zavier slashed at the tendrils once more with his blood blade. Instead of swiftly spreading, they did not move at all. The blood blade began to shine brightly with bright red light, illuminating Zavier's eyes, as his energy was constantly reinforced. His expression was determined. The power of the blood blade went up a lot, and the tentacles that were around them were completely cut off, turning into many pieces of darkness that fell to the ground.
The blood blade flashed brightly once more, and tendrils were unstoppable as well. The two kept crashing into each other violently in the small space, sending huge shockwaves through the cave again.
The tumbling rocks above began to fall regularly.
The stalactites that had previously fallen to the ground now formed a bridge between the ceiling above and the floor below. Every collision shook the cave, as debris landed on Zavier's arms and torso.
The bits of rock and dust shot over the cavern.
"This isn't looking good."
Zavier smirked.
"You go first! Leave me alone! "He asserted.
"No!" said Hansa emphatically. "I might not make it if you don't get help fast."
She took a deep breath and gazed up at him, her gaze locked on his blue eyes.
Her voice was weak but determined. Her stare was ferocious.
"Everything will be OK. We'll be fine... We're usually so fortunate, aren't we?"
She gave him a reassuring grin.
He wanted to cry at her words, but instead nodded slowly.
Zavier jumped towards her and gripped her waist without hesitation.
They leaped up together came to a stop in the center of the bridge.
A wave of dark stuff enveloped and coiled around them both not long after they landed. They were trapped there and couldn't get away because the black substance and its tentacles had them in their grip.
There was no more space on the ground for them to stand. It would take them too long to jump over to the opposite wall. Without any other options, Zavier chose to close his eyes and battle his way out.
His eyelids closed as he concentrated on defending himself.
When he reopens his eyes, his clone started "Crescent Flash."
With a great spiritual force, the crescent-shaped blood sword plunged inside the black sticky substance. However, an odd thing happened: the blood blade did not cut anything but instead melted in it like water.
It passed directly through the black substance and vanished, leaving no trace behind.
Zavier felt as if he had expended all of his strength at that point. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to trigger 'Crescent Flash' if he used up all of his energy.
Unexpectedly, a strange emotion overcame him. It was as if he imagined the dark substance in front of him to be his own blood, which he could manipulate.
[Congratulations to the host, who has successfully merged with the unidentified black substance.]
The voice of the system appeared in his thoughts at the appropriate time.
Zavier attempted to drive the black goo in order to confirm the system's results. The goo, as expected, reacted by migrating away.