Chapter 435: Disguise Undone?
[Nearlo’s POV]
"CRAP! CRAP!" Nearlo shouted as he ran with all of his might, weaving in between the trees, as if he were sprinting through a maze.
With a hand over the shallow diagonal slash wound over his chest, he continued to run while holding onto his cutlass.
How could this have happened...?
And why!?
Right after he had just survived a life-or-death situation with the Leviathan with the help of the Captain and the white-haired woman, he was now put in a much... MUCH more precarious situation because of THAT same woman!
’How... HOW COULD SHE HAVE KNOWN THERE WAS A GATE INSIDE THAT CROWN?!’
Nearlo threw a glance back, catching a glimpse of the tip of his hair - it was beginning to turn a different shade of colour.
His eyes widened as he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out an Item.
It was somehow damaged and seemed to be worsening by the second due to a strange translucent liquid...
"DAMNIT!"
Pushing back the Item into his pocket, Nearlo twisted his head back around, intending to catch another glimpse of the monster chasing after him.
But the moment he did that, a dark blur flashed towards him.
CLANG!
Nearlo clashed against the dark blur, relieved that he had managed to block in time, but was immediately flung back due to the force.
And not only that, but an instant shock of pain and numbness spread throughout his arm.
THUD...!
Crashing harshly against the ground, Nearlo let out a groan:
"Argh..."
He breathed rapidly as he tried to pull himself back up onto his feet. His stamina was running low, especially with having to endure the serious wound over his chest.
Right before he could get off the ground, the monster had already arrived before him.
Managing to raise the flat side of his cutlass to block a fierce stab from the monster, he managed to get a good look at it.
It had a swollen body resembling that of an oversized widow spider, which had been crossbred with a bulky crustacean, similar to that of a lobster.
And attached to what Nearlo assumed to be its grotesque neck was the triangular head of a praying mantis, which stared down at him with its compound eyes with a predatory look.
The monster standing over him was a horrendous abomination.
His eyes shook and so did his body as the monster’s Predatory Aura began to seep into the pores of his skin, a gaseous microscopic poison.
He can’t win!
Nearlo watched as the monster drew back its crustacean-like claw.
It was going to go in for another attack. And it was going to be a much stronger one!
This... This was his moment to attack!
He glared at one of its joints and tried to aim the tip of his cutlass at it. He hadn’t told or shown anyone besides his bodyguard that his weapon had a special enchantment...
It could extend its length!
’This was it!’
And as he was about to do it...
...
His hands trembled.
’Why isn’t it growing...?’
His arms shook, and so did his resolve. He kept a steady grip on his weapon, and no matter how much he willed his mana, it wasn’t working!
Was he... Was he so affected by the monster’s Predatory Aura that he couldn’t even make a counterattack?
The Leviathan had a Predatory Aura 10,000 times more powerful than this creature, and yet he was still stricken with fear? Did he or did he not fire a hail of cannonballs at the terrifying sea beast!?
SWOOSH!
After the abomination reeled back its arm far enough, it shot its claw down towards Nearlo with deadly speed.
Miraculously, he managed to change his hold and block the strike with the flat side of his cutlass.
However, due to the force behind the blow, the bones in his arms immediately cracked, and the muscles in his arms became numb.
He roared out in pain, his voice shaking as the thought of death began to creep inside his heart.
The edges of his trembling vision darkened as the sight of the monster looking down at him became much more horrifying to look at.
Was he... Was he about to die?
Nearlo watched as the monster slowly pulled back its arm again before opening its claw and clamping down on his blade.
C-crack!
His eyes widened as cracks began to form on the edges of his blade, which rapidly spread out.
"P-please stop... No more... DON’T—!"
SHATTER!
Watching as his blade shattered, he was defenceless against the monster, which instantly turned its body and stabbed its leg out, piercing through the device he had in his pockets and his gut.
The taste of iron shot through Nearlo’s throat as blood expelled from his mouth in torrents.
As the darkness in the edges of his vision intensified, so did his thoughts of dying. He really was going to die here... Without even a chance to meet up with everyone to come up with a plan of escape...
He should’ve stayed home...
He shouldn’t have been out and about...
Nearlo’s appearance began to change slightly, as someone far different from his previous form was now exposed underneath what seemed to be an illusory disguise.
Neck-length black hair with streaks of silver, bright violet eyes - which dimmed by the second, and a lean figure. There was a soft and noble look to his current appearance, as though he belonged to a high-noble family.
The only thing that hadn’t changed was his height.
Blood continued to ooze from the corners of his mouth, but momentarily paused as he clenched his jaws and flashed his right hand upwards towards the monster, which stared down in curiosity.
The only reason it hadn’t killed the human underneath it was because it had discovered that its strength was absolutely above it.
Why not play around a little?
Although it had been momentarily stunned by Nearlo’s rapid change in appearance, it still didn’t change the fact that it was still stronger.
Looking down at the centre of Nearlo’s palm, the monster witnessed what seemed to be both light and darkness appearing within his hand, twisting and wrapping around into one singular orb.
It looked past Nearlo’s hand and stared into the human’s eyes, finding them to be burning with a deep determination.
It then heard Nearlo speak:
"Even if I may perish by your hands, you disgusting fiend... On my family’s name, I, Emilio Von Nightraven will take off your head!"
The orb inside his hand became deeply concentrated as both light and darkness intertwined before exploding out into an attack, the man known as Emilio would call:
"[ECLIPSE BEAM]!"
Using every ounce of mana he had, he fired off his charge attack, causing the exploded orb to twist around to form a swirling column of pure light and darkness.
And with the distance between him and the monster...
The abomination wasn’t quick enough to avoid it.
As Emilio’s arm dropped to his side, breathing harshly as he felt his life nearing its end, he watched as the body of the monster wiggle for a moment.
It...
’It must be dead, right...?’ He asked himself.
But then, he found it moving again. Not the motion of an assumed corpse falling, but one filled with killing intent.
It was still able to move after losing its head!?
He watched as it pulled its leg out of his lower abdomen before raising its claw above his head.
As terrifying a sight it was... He didn’t care.
He was already dead, anyway - it was a miracle he hadn’t bled out to death yet.
While he didn’t care about dying, he didn’t help but feel guilty about the regrets he had.
He regretted not being able to live up to his family’s expectations despite his element.
And...
He regretted that he was going to die a virgin without a wife...
As he was about to close his eyes and lose his resistance, he suddenly watched as a large object rushed over him before disappearing a moment later.
It was a strange sight before his death... Especially with the fact that the monster was nowhere to be seen as well.
What happened...?
His vision blurred.
Using the last bit of his strength, he tilted his head as far down as he could and watched as what he assumed to be the abomination was now being toppled over by another before being eaten.
’What... Is that...?’
Just as he thought that, he heard a feminine voice above him.
"Oh, boy~... You sure are hanging by a string, huh?"
He then watched as the beautiful face of a woman appeared hung above his face. He was definitely sure it was a woman... A beautiful one at that...
Emilio felt the gaping hole in his lower abdomen begin to close magically as he watched crimson lines stretch over him.
Was... Was she here to save him?
He then asked with the last bit of consciousness he had:
"Are... Are you my guardian angel...?"
"Hm? Nope! I already belong to someone else, sorry."
Unfortunately for Emilio, he had already fallen unconscious before hearing the response to his question.