Nightmare Mythos

Jeremiah and Klaus immediately grouped up with the rest as they continued running through the shade of the candelabra.

However, they weren't alone.

Halfway through approaching the group, a dozen shadow figures used the candelabra's bars and handle to swing themselves and follow the squad. At the same time, the two figures that Jeremiah and Klaus had supposedly killed started to stand up wriggly before dashing to the escaping group.

"Many at the top!"

Quentin informed loudly as his breath started to get ragged due to the relentless running. Because of his voice, the group gave a slight glance above, only to see moving shadows already lining themselves up to them as the chase continued.

The puppet's speed wasn't slowing down as they continued to assert their dominance to move ahead of the group, planning to eventually do the same thing as the other two leaving a couple of hundred away from their position.

They are going to fall.

Once they were slightly ahead of the group, one of the shadows willingly jumped to its high position without any worries.

It was two that came next.

Then it turned into seven.

Until the puppet shadows left from the candelabra's handle soared through the sky and fell through the solid floor of the ancient table.

Swooosh—!

They all descended through the air, intercepting the way the group ran into.

"Avoid them!"

Splash—!

Cesar had to avoid three shadows that came to grab him along the way. Adjusting his footwork just to evade being delayed by them, he successfully made out and continued running forward.

The others were successful as well.

Splash—!

As usual, the shadow puppets didn't wield the ability to properly land on the ancient table's cold surface turning them into a mushed and pasted shadow, splattering as if they were some scattered blood due to the impact.

If it was a normal human, they wouldn't be able to get up and suffer from major injuries right away.

However, they weren't.

The shadow puppets started to reconstruct themselves until they finally stood from their place and started to chase the group who was near them this time.

They were back in their top form, their speed wasn't slowing down, and they weren't just going to die because of some fall.

Swoosh—!

"Hey! Cedeit! I need help!"

Too early to be put in an all-brawn-out war with the shadow puppets that Cesar was considering to be the corrupted humans the voice had mentioned beforehand, he was desperately asking for help with Cedeit right now.

However, Cedeit remained unresponsive.

It was just active a moment ago but the moment they entered the space under the candelabra, it was silent.

His desperate scream from somewhere slightly ticked off the group, especially Quentin but they had no time but to try to ask what that meant as the moment they took a second of break, the shadows were going to surround them.

"Cedeit! I thought you were going to help me!"

Alas, no response was received.

Upon seeing whoever Cesar is talking to isn't helping them any time soon, Jeremiah has to make a hard decision and immediately signals Klaus on his side.

"Erin!"

Upon being called by Jeremiah, Erin positioned himself in front of the group while Jeremiah and Klaus had fallen back by slowing their pace.

Cesar and Quentin on the other hand positioned themselves just right in the heels of Erin, who started doing his own thing.

Below Erin's neck, a kind of bug that had a mixture of a beetle and lice crawled its way out from his cloth before spawning even more little ones in the same creature. These bugs flew over the group and surrounded them.

"Here they come!"

The puppet shadows only then closed themselves and tried to attack the group, only to be fended off by the flying beelice, a mixture of beetle and lice. However, the range of Erin's defense using his [Bug Wall] is only limited to the front and side.

Its rear was completely open.

That's where Jeremiah and Klaus came to play.

Whoosh—!

A shadow tried to leap toward Amar who was carrying Leah on his back, but Klaus's sword intercepted at the point of the arc where the corrupted was targeting and cut the creature in half.

Vwoom—!

Seeing that the situation had started to get hectic, Klaus had no choice but to use his [Tether] facet and connect it to Jeremiah from the far back.

"Null!"

Fighting four shadows consecutively while still running but with a decreased pace, Jeremiah was trying his hardest to defend himself. He was buying too much time for the group.

But at one point in time, Jeremiah had no choice but to stop.

All because running while defending isn't going to cut it any longer.

"Damn it!"

Being able to pull yet another break from the speed he took from running, Jeremiah swiftly went for one of the puppets.

"Null!"

Jeremiah pointed his available finger at the corrupted before trying to use his spear to thrust it at its face.

However, he failed miserably after another corrupted blocked it with an enlarged black shadow hand, but the consecutive attack coming from the shadows didn't stop.

On one left side of his back, an ethereal black spike was reaching at his head. On his right flank, an incoming shadowy blade made of its hands tried to reach out his legs.

'Shit! I can't be pulled yet!'

Jeremiah cursed inwardly as his brain moved very swiftly to think of a solution.

"Hmph!"

Jeremiah grumpily smacks the butt of his spear on the ground, using the stick as a pole before pulling himself above to balance himself in mid-air to avoid both the incoming ethereal spike aiming to his head and the shadow blade made by its arm targeting his legs.

He was in the middle of it.

Whoosh—!

Barely dodging the attacks, Jeremiah immediately shifted his attention to the front while still in his position where an incoming black liquid was coming at his chest, the came from the same puppet he tried to attack earlier but failed.

'I can't nullify it!'

Since his facet is 'unable to channel' to use the ability before casting and not 'vanished' an ability being cast, Jeremiah was left in a pinch.

"Damn it!"