Chapter 330: Five seconds

Eldrian softly rubbed Kydone's back in support, "It's alright. If you want to stay here. You can."

Kydone shook her head, "No. I can't." Being comforted and forgiven made her feel worse. Making her refuse to cowar more than she had. However, she did not pull away immediately. 

"It's fine. You know I won't really die. You should rather stay safe." Eldrian continued. While the others could sympathize they did not agree with Kydone sitting it out. It would drastically decrease the already low odds of success. 

Luckily, it seemed her being given the option to withdraw gave her the resolve to stand firm. "No! I have to help." 

Nodding, Eldrian slowly let go of her. Kydone wiping her wet checks to try and appear confident, her cute movements cutting into Evale. Making her want to let Kydone sit this one out. 

"Then let's go. Haru, I would say it would be best if you just head to the areas. We do not know where it is and trying to draw up a plan might make it appear like a trap." Pelaros said, Eldrian nodding and picking a random direction to walk in. 

Kydone followed close by, soon everyone losing track of her. She would leave small cuts in the trees for them to follow. Hopefully, it would make it harder for the enemy to become scared with this extra caution. 

It should be quite hard to find the others so far back, and Kydone herself was also a good ways away. The ghoul should be confident in ending a Tier 2 weakling no matter their plans. Even if it found them all and knew that they were there as reinforcements.

...

'What the hell am I doing?' Eldrian asked himself as he wandered aimlessly in the forest. He did not even know if the others were still on his trail. 'Trust Kydone.' He told himself as those doubts started growing. 

He had entered the danger zone a few minutes ago. Thus far he had seen no danger, but that meant nothing when the ghoul was an expert at assassinations. 

Heck, they only knew it was a ghoul due to the special types of wounds left behind. 

Taking a deep breath, Eldrian stopped himself from critiquing himself. Accepting that he needed to make time to become stronger, but that this world was not kind enough to give him the time. 

Extra cautious, Eldrian continuously used Mana Examination to examine the area. Nothing of note appearing before him.

Minutes soon turning into hours. The dread having long since built to a max and then decreased to nothing. Eldrian starting to assume that he was safe. He only kept the crystal in hand since that it refused to be stored. It being linked to the other made it unstable, and Eldrian got the feeling forcing it in will cause it to break.

It was at this point where a horrid smell assaulted him. A smell right out of the rotting pits of hell. Eldrian nearly lost all the breakfast he had enjoyed a few hours back at its arrival. 

Not liking it one bit, the smell making it hard to even breathe. Activating the crystal he started running away from where the smell had come. A small spiked claw hitting the area he had been standing in just seconds before. 

"What the hell can smell so terrible?" Eldrian cursed as he nearly fell over one of the roots of a tree, another small spiked claw passing right where his head used to be. 

Upon a second miss a terrible howl filled the air, followed by another spiked claw which missed due to Eldrian suddenly turning to the source of the noise. 

With a third miss, the ghoul finally became totally pissed. Jumping down from the tree canopy, it landed next to Eldrian. Its claws going for his heart fast enough to break the sound barrier. 

Yet it missed as Eldrian jumped to the side. The smell had suddenly, somehow against logic, become far stronger. His body had acted before his mind even realized what was going on. The smell causing his skin to crawl, the attack causing his heart to race. 

Finally, Eldrian realized the danger he was in, a shriveled humanoid in front of him. It almost resembled a goblin, both in size and appearance. However, its limbs seemed to move like fluid. Its attacks unnatural, as if the limitations of joints did not apply to it. 

The ghoul's entire arm moved; shoulder, joint, bone, all of it. Cracking and reforming in one smooth motion. Making the speed of the attack far faster than should be possible. 

Somehow, Eldrian managed to survive again. By falling on his ass.

The ghoul's claws ripped past him, a pitch-black venom dripping from them and landing on Eldrian's shoulder. Sending a searing pain not limited by the system through his mind. Causing him to nearly lose consciousness. Nearly...

Eldrian refused to accept this, he did not wish to lose his levels. While he was not as invested as when there are NPCs' lives at stake, that did not mean he wouldn't do his utmost. 

Rolling to the side, Eldrian cast Floga. The only spell he could manage in his current condition. His mind reeling from the pain and smell, needing to act on instinct. 

The small fireball hit the ghouls in the side of its face. Eldrian having hoped it would block its view and it seemed to work. The claw missed by a few centimeters, the smell worsening even more as the ground next to Eldrian melted like it was being dissolved by acid. 

Howling in complete rage at failing to kill this weakling of an elf, the ghoul shouted ["No more!"] in a guttural noise born from hell. Eldrian's ears bursting from the horrid sound far past acceptable decibels. 

The pain assaulting him, luckily, was limited. This did not mean it was not painful, but the system seemed to be doing its job. Having only failed when the venom had landed on Eldrian. Making him all the more invested in not getting a direct hit. 

He could imagine what kind of hell that would be if he had the time. Which he certainly did not have. 

The ghoul's next attack defied logic and caused Eldrian to despair. However, he did not have enough time to actually despair. He just kept acting to survive. 

Seeing the two claws heading for him. One like a snake bending over him and coming from the right, while the other like a snake in grass coming for his left. Blocking his only two directions of movement on the ground. 

'The fuck!?' Eldrian cursed, pulling out a barrel on the one right and a shield on the other. The barrel shattering upon impact, making the one claw just that bit slower. 

The ghoul's other claws ripped through the shield with ease but did not touch Eldrian himself. The impact sent him flying, away from the other attack that the barrel had slowed. For a split second Eldrian thought he had made it. Until a massive amount of pain assaulted him. 

His landing was not graceful. Not at all. He crashed into a tree with full force, his back breaking upon impact. The pain shooting up through him, along with his legs no longer following his commands. 

The ghoul appeared before he could even realize why. Eldrian's mind spun as he coughed up blood. The system still did its job of limiting pain, but even limited pain could accumulate into an unbearable amount. Especially when his entire body was nearly broken. 

Seeing the claw heading for his neck. His arms to slow, his legs not responding. Eldrian was almost willing to accept death. Almost, but not quite. 

In a last-ditch effort, with less than a second to think and act, Eldrian cast Volida and sent the attack against himself. It landed just before the ghoul's claws, sending him rolling on the ground as the ghoul's claws cut into the tree. 

The tree shriveling and died in seconds, though no one had any spare attention to see this. Eldrian suddenly dual-cast Frost Needle after his explosive escape. Hitting himself again and using the spell to propel him away from the next attack.

Gritting his teeth to endure the pain of his flesh being carried by just two finger-sized icicles. Certainly, if not for the reduced pain, Eldrian would not have managed to cast any spells. 

However, with each second he was surviving, the pain became more as his wounds grew. Eldrian had no time to observe his HP, but it was already dangerously low.

Forst Needle also did not have enough juice to move him far, Eldrian losing control of the spell after just narrowly avoiding another hit. 

'Fuck-fuck-fuck.' Eldrian's mind spun as he saw the ghoul running after him, his arms not nearly fast enough to move to intercept the coming attack. Nor did he have enough time to cast a proper spell this time. 

'What the fuck was I thinking?' Eldrian asked as the ghoul caught up to him and another attack appeared before him. Thus far, not even five seconds had passed since he crushed the crystal. 

Desperate to not die, but too low in mana to use Maiden's purity, Eldrian cast Fos with an overwhelming amount of mana. Unlike other spells, he could cast Tier 0 without needing to envision their spell module. Eldrian had never tried pouring all his mana into them, until now. 

The light ball appeared between him and the ghoul, suddenly expanding and appearing like a sun. Both blinded, but Eldrian having closed his eyes recovered first. He immediately cast Anthise on himself to recover some energy, that being just about all he could do before the ghoul recovered. 

Eldrian barely managed to use Observe before the ghoul appeared before him again.