Chapter 370: Chapter 370

A strong tremor rocked the building, jolting Erin out of her light sleep. She didn’t know how long she had been in Limbo but it shouldn’t be that long, or at least it didn’t feel like forever. Yet, at the same time, time seemed to drag on for eternity. Without the cycle of day and night, it was truly hard to keep track of time. She didn’t even know how long she had dozed off but she wagered it must have been a short while since the world was still intact. That said, the world might not stay intact for long. It was getting worse. The tremors were getting stronger and the sounds outside were also getting louder. More and more lands were crumbling apart.

There were even intermittent tremors now. It had been difficult for Erin at first but she soon accepted those tremors as comfort. If she tried not to think about the unfolding destruction outside, the intermittent tremors were quite a treat to her nap. It was as if she were sleeping on a hammock. She would love to sleep some more but the tremors were getting more frequent. Soon, this place would likely be the next to fall apart. She had to keep moving.

As Erin pulled herself to her feet, a bout of weakness assailed all her senses. She nearly lost her footing but she fell against the fall, preventing herself from falling flat face-first to the ground. Her vision was blurring and the world was spinning. She realised she was starting to be consumed by the effects of overstaying in Limbo. The Oroks might still be outside but it was better than staying inside the building that could collapse at any moment.

Erin headed for the door with wobbly steps. She did not trip on her own steps. Her balance was still swaying but she was quick to adapt. She had been in worse condition and fought in terrible states. This was nothing to her. She could still fight. She had run from the Oroks but that wasn’t because she was no match against them. She was simply trying to avoid the beast known as Xathur. Bracing herself, she ran out the door. She expected at least a few Oroks wandering around in the alley. However, there was none. No living Oroks, at least. There were only husks of Oroks, as if they had lost all the moisture within their bodies, leaving them dry and frail husks.

Erin walked up to one of these husks, carefully and curiously. As she drew close, she felt a strange energy emanating from the husk. The energy was leaving the husk, taking along with the host’s life essence. The world was draining their lives, literally. She wondered just how she had survived for so long. Aside from the dizziness, she didn’t particularly feel any immense debility. She flicked a finger at the husk and it immediately came crumbling down into dust.

“...Oops,” she muttered. It wasn’t out of guilt. It was out of caution, or rather, the lack of one. It made quite the sound and a distinct one at that.

As if to ridicule her blunder, a loud growl echoed from above.

“Fuck me,” Erin cursed. She looked up, expecting to see Xathur.

It was not the serpentine beast, though it wasn’t any consolation.

“What the fuck is that?”

The creature dropped down to the ground from the rooftops. It looked to be human, or at least it once was, but being in Limbo for too long had disfigured it into something… ghastly and beastly. The creature’s arms, its frontal limbs, were wielding a pair of makeshift swords. It was as if it used all the debris around them to forcefully mould and shape the scraps into the forms of swords.

“Saintess…” the creature spoke in a croaked voice. “W-where…?”

“She has left this place.” Erin surmised this creature was probably one of the mercenaries who were hired to capture the Saintess. This was the toll for overstaying in Limbo.

It was pointless to keep conversing with this twisted creature; that much was evident. Erin sighed and brandished a great sword.

The creature growled and lunged at Erin. There was a gap of considerable gap between but the creature closed the gap with a single leap.

“Oh, damn.” The creature was faster than she had expected. Still, it was within her capabilities. She caught the creature’s blows and veered it away from her. The creature struck again and once again, she parried the crude swords away with ease. The creature was strong and fast, no doubt about that, but it lacked precision and technique. The creature’s graceless offence allowed Erin an effortless time to parry the creature’s attacks. Now that she was in her prime and gradually surpassing her zenith, this creature was child’s play to her— or so it was at the beginning.

The creature had one huge advantage. Twisted and corrupted by the energy of Limbo, it had transcended the weakness of flesh. It no longer felt exhaustion and it no longer felt pain. Without these two factors, it was able to exert strength far surpassing its supposed calibre. Even though it was at the expense of destroying its own body, it didn’t care. It couldn’t. It was no longer capable of comprehending fear.

“Bollocks,” Erin muttered as the creature’s strength increased. Even without any grace, the sheer strength alone was enough to push her back. She wanted to end the battle without revealing too much of her hand. She didn’t want to attract the attention of Xathur. At this point, it was clearly impossible. As she was on the verge of getting her sword battered out of her hands, a heavy violet mist fell and enveloped the area.

The creature showed no sign of confusion or fear. It was truly no longer capable of such emotions. Its desire to capture the Saintess was nothing more than an insignificant remnant of its past self. The creature lurched at Erin once it closed the distance. As it swung its crude swords, it would fall into the reach of Erin’s Aura Domain. The creature would fall apart into pieces like a dilapidated building that had lost its foundations.

That was the end of it, or that was supposed to be the logical assumption. Before the creature could be shredded completely, it leapt away to safety.

“Huh? It still has a sense of preservation. Curious.” Erin sighed. “No matter. I am already the victor.”

The creature growled in retort, as if to refute her statement.

“I suppose you’re not completely lost.”

The creature seemed to take offence at her words. It snarled at her and began to tremble. The back of its shoulders started to bubble and pulsate. Then, a pair of limbs sprouted from its back— and as suddenly the limbs came out, it was cut off just as quickly. Erin did not simply stay and watch the show. She seized the moment and attacked.

The creature lashed out at her, swinging its swords wildly. With its ever-increasing strength, Erin didn’t dare to parry a single blow. Instead, she relied on her Aura Domain. Every time the creature closed in on her, it would be torn apart by her aura. It wasn’t particularly fazed by its injuries, but it was still cautious enough not to get itself from being culled.

“This can’t go on,” Erin mused. They were making a lot of noise and their movements would attract attention from whatever other kind of twisted creature resided in this forsaken place. Most of all, she didn’t want to attract the attention of Xathur. She gathered her Aura into her sword, infusing the blade with her intent until it began to tremble. She waited for the creature to lunge at her before swinging, and swung it widely, drawing nearly a full circle..

The creature was completely off guard by the attack. It didn’t have time to dodge in a manner that could escape the aura projectile. The aura blade streaked through its body, severing it horizontally in half. To Erin’s non-amazement, the creature survived.

Erin was about to finish it off but she stopped when she no longer sensed any hostility from the creature. It didn’t become friendly. It merely lost hope in its continued defiance. It had a sour expression but it didn’t lunge at her. Instead, it turned around and ran away from her.

“...Really?” Erin thought about chasing after it but she didn’t see a reason to. She would just be wasting her energy. She could have ended it right then and there before it ran but she didn’t. The reason was simple, she doubted the creature could be killed just by slicing it into pieces. It was a matter of if the creature was even alive in the first place. Seeing the eerie tenacity of the creature, it reminded her of Demons.

Another tremor assaulted the area. It was stronger than the last one.

“I am really running out of time. Damn you, Aedan. Do you intend to leave me here to die?”

A screech followed her rumination. It wasn’t loud. It was just barely audible but Erin heard it clearly. She raised her head.

“You’re finally here…” Erin muttered grimly.

It was Xathur. It appeared again. Erin wondered how it managed to get so close without raising her attention. Given its size, a little bit of movement on its part would easily draw anyone’s attention, even if it was in one’s peripheral. Regardless, it was not the time to think about that. She had to run. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI-Fire.ɴet

As Erin turned and began to sprint, weakness grasped her legs. This time, she fell to the ground. She tried to get up immediately but it proved to be difficult. Her legs wouldn’t move and her breathing was getting heavier. “Damn it… Why now?”

She looked into the sky. Xathur was still hovering above. It wasn’t moving towards her. Either it had yet to notice Erin or it had lost all interest in her. Whichever the reason was, Erin was just glad that it wasn’t swooping down on her at this moment.

Suddenly, Xathur hissed loudly. Erin looked towards it in a panic, fearing the worst. However, it was staring somewhere else. Something seemed to have attracted its attention. Without missing a beat, it swooped towards the direction which garnered its interest.

“What was that about?” Erin asked.

Then, the space beside began to whirl and twist.

A crack formed on the twisted space itself and it spread in a vertical fashion. The cracks intensified and it began to widen until it formed into a rift.

Erin steeled her nerves and braced herself for whatever was about to pop out of the rift. In the next moment, her sharpened hostility faded when she saw a face poking out of the rift.

“Wow, it worked,” Aedan exclaimed.

Erin broke into a smile. “I was beginning to worry that you had forgotten all about me.”

“Like that would happen. Come on, now. Let us go before that thing comes back.”

“Before it comes back? It went away just now. That was you?”

“Yes, that was me. Now, no time to lose. Come.”

“I can’t. My legs are not moving and I’m… tired. I’m losing strength.”

“God fucking damn it,” Aedan grumbled and stepped out of the rift. With a huff of strength, he hoisted Erin onto his back and carried her into the rift. “Holy fucking shit. You are heavy.”

For some reason, Erin felt inflamed by that remark.

“Ow! You pinched me.”

“What? Since when were you worried about something ?”

“I do not know and that is not something you should say, regardless of whether a woman is worried about her weight or not. That’s very insensitive of you.”

Aedan smiled wryly. “Whatever happened to you?” he sighed.

“You know full well what happened to me,” Erin scoffed as she let her entire weight rest on Aedan. “After all, you were the one who made me this way.”