Chapter 61: Last Slab
They stepped onto the seventh slab and looked at the gateway at the far end. A few moments later, the slab began to shake violently, and the hardened mist moved towards the centre of the slab.
The mist rose and began to spin before taking the shape of a nightmare having jade-like skin with grotesque blue tendrils writhing everywhere. Its upper half was humanoid, its two long hands ending in claws, its lidless eyes were dark blue, and it had two dark horns on its forehead.
Its lower body was that of a spider with its eight legs ending in sharp blades.
Its face had no mouth or nose, hinting at its similarity with the mistwraiths.
The nightmare looked at the six figures before it with its ravenous gaze and began to walk toward them while its eight legs scraped at the ground.
Everyone had terrified looks on their faces as they saw the nightmare making its way towards them.
"D-D rank..." Arden muttered as he froze at his place.
The nightmare before them was a D rank and was much more harrowing than the mistwraiths they had fought till now.
"Is there anything we can even do to kill it?" Navin questioned darkly as he felt his feet go cold under the gaze of the faceless monster before him.
"... What if we run to the gateway instead of fighting it?" Selina suggested as she looked at Jaden.
He nodded at her words as he clenched his fists. Jaden was a D rank himself, so he could battle the being in front of them, but others couldn’t do so...
’What should I do? Should I just stop holding back?’
He questioned himself before letting out a deep sigh.
’If things go south.’
He thought before replying.
"We can’t just run to the gateway with that nightmare coming towards us."
"We can try to keep it busy with long-range attacks. That’s the only good bet we got," Jamie suggested as he drew the string of his bow.
"Let’s form two groups and attack it from both sides, simultaneously," Jaden suggested as he sheathed his sword.
The others nodded to his words and lowered their weapons before breaking apart into two groups.
First was the group of Jaden, Jamie and Arden, while the other was of Shelly, Selina and Navin.
Jaden looked at Jamie for a moment as he remembered how he had acted when Jaden had helped him before.
Jamie, on the other hand, had a wide grin across his face, but one could see the slight fear in his eyes.
’Is he trying to hide his fear with that stupid grin?’ Jaden thought as he tried to look deeper into it, but the nightmare had already come close to them.
"We are taking the left." Jaden added as he looked at Selina, who replied with a nod, "Right is the one for us then."
After saying so, Selina and her group dashed towards the gateway while keeping a distance from the nightmare. Jaden and the others followed behind.
Seeing Selina’s group coming towards it, the nightmare halted before lowering its head and turning away from them as it spewed threads from its spinnerets.
Shew... Shew... Shew...
Just as the thread landed on the ground, it burst apart into mist and took the form of a jade-like snake and began slithering towards them.
Selina kicked the snake, and it burst into mist, but the mist clung to her leg, slowing her down.
"Ugh!" Selina let out a low groan as her leg felt heavier than before.
Shelly neared her and asked worriedly.
"What’s wrong, young lady?"
"The mist... It’s making my leg heavier with each step." Selina added as she gritted her teeth and continued running towards the gateway at the far end of the slab.
The nightmare got ready to once again spew threads at them, but before it could do so, a fire arrow, a lightning arrow and a water bullet hit it on the head.
It lifted its head and looked at the three figures who had attacked it with its harrowing eyes as it opened its claws wide and leapt on them.
Jaden glanced at Selina and her group before bombarding the nightmare with various long-range attacks.
Pew... Tsss... Tsss... Psss...
Each of his attacks left a large crack on the nightmare’s body as white dust fell from it. On the other hand, Jamie and Arden’s attacks did nothing to it and simply bounced off.
Seeing the difference between their attacks, Jamie raised an eyebrow as a mind-boggling thought took root in his mind.
’Is he... holding back?’
’No, no. There’s no way he is an Adept already.’
He dismissed the stupid thought and continued attacking the nightmare... However, right then, the nightmare’s body burst apart into mist that rushed towards the trio with startling speed.
Selina and her group stopped in their tracks and turned towards the other three with a horrified expression. Selina’s body trembled as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"JADEN!"
Hearing her, Jaden looked at Jamie and Arden, who were already on their knees due to the sudden heavy coldness within the vicinity. Jaden could also feel his breathing getting harder.
’Is this its second skill?’
’I can’t hold back any longer...’ he thought as he clenched his fists.
His mana flared and moved towards his martial core as he used the [Gale Steps ★★] and reached behind both of them. He grabbed them by their arms and threw them towards Selina’s group with all of his might.
"AHHHHH—"
"WHAT THE FU—"
Jamie and Arden were airborne for a few moments before they landed a few meters away from Selina’s group.
"DON’T STOP! CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD!" Jaden shouted at the top of his lungs as he closed his eyes for a moment.
Selina, however, shook her head and opened her lips to argue, but Jamie stopped her words as he spoke with a crazed look on his face.
"HAHA! I WAS RIGHT! YOU ARE AN ADEPT!"