Chapter 291: The Prana Gorger’s Lair (One)

Chapter 291: The Prana Gorger’s Lair (One)

Vir had seen much during his time in the Ash. Hed even visited the lost city of the gods, and had witnessed all the terrors that lurked deep within. In fact, hed bet that aside from Cirayus and perhaps a select few other demons, there were none who had fought as many Ash Beasts nor ventured as deep as he had.

Which was why, when the writhing black mass screeched from below, it terrified him in a way that the only City Enders such as Wyrms and Prana Swarms could.

This was neither, and yet just as fearsome. For what stretched beneath Vir as he Leaped was an enormous creature that had neither arms nor legs, but jet-black, oily tentacles. Dozens of tentacles that each a dozen paces long. Each as thick as tree trunks at their base. The creatures torso resembled no animal, but rather a misshapen hemispheric dome with bumps and black protrusions all along its surface.

Its main body was easily fifty paces in diameter.Updated from n0velbIn.(c)o/m

Vir hung midair. Time slowed as Haste activated, allowing him to digest the inexplicable sight.

There were no buildings in this part of the city, having all been subsumed by the abomination long ago. All that was left was a pitor crater. Barren and empty, save for the creature and the hundreds of minions that surrounded it.

These smaller Ash Beasts lacked the forms Vir was used to. Or at least, theyd been changed so drastically, Vir could barely identify them. Some resembled Phantomblades, but where those had oblong turtle-like shells, these were misshapen and deformed, like poor replicas.

Like the gigantic monster, their hides were inky black, and slopped off as they shambled, bumping into one another repeatedly.

It was all Vir had time to take in before he fell. Slow at first, then faster.

Directly into the middle of the swarm of demented beasts.

Blade Launch arced out in front of Vir, cutting a path through the minions.

Somehow sensing danger, they parted to allow it through.

Theyre intelligent, Vir noted. They had moved not like a mob of individual creatures, but as one entity with multiple bodies.

Vir took the opening and sank into the ground, leveraging their shadows to sink fully into the Shadow Realm.

There, he took a moment to compose his thoughts. He knew too little of these beasts to understand what it would take to defeat them. He suspected he had to defeat them if he wanted any hope of retrieving the weapons and armor that littered the floor of the pit.

It was evident that some great battle had been waged here long agoperhaps against this very beast. If so, the body count spoke volumes about its strength. This was not a foe to be underestimated.

Which prompted Vir to ask just how the prisoners were supposed to deal with this monster? Even if their collars had been fully disabledwhich they wouldnt have been, not without Virs effortsthe beast was far outside their means.

From the shadows, Vir could see the utterly gargantuan amount of prana that filled the creature. Even the minions were stronger than they ought to have been, given the ambient density.

No, the prisoners wouldve had no chance.

Half must die.

The late Overseers words repeated in Virs head. No wonder the prison camps had been so heavily guarded. Vir had thought it strange he wasnt allowed to talk to the other, more veteran encampments, despite being able to wander around his own without issue.

These monsters werent new. From the way theyd destroyedor consumedthe nearby terrain, theyd been here a while. Which meant the Overseer knew.

And that meant this training was really a culling. Only the strongest, most capable Warriors had a chance of fleeing with their lives.

Prana blades speared through two-dozen minions each, leaving a Y shape of corpses crumpled around Vir.

For the briefest of moments, Vir felt that this fight may not be as difficult as hed thought.

He was, of course, proven wrong.

The moment the Ash Beasts had been torn asunder, a terrible shriek pierced the air. Vir spun to find its source, only to frown in confusion.

For every beast hed killed, new ones were already emerging. Not from the ground, or even from outside the pit, but from the dome of the tentacled monster. They appeared from the top and scrabbled down its inky hemispherical body, rejoining its allies.

That was a problem, but Vir didnt have the time to dwell on it, for there was another, more pressing, issue.

Until now, the great beasts tentacles had remained inert, undulating in the air high above the pit. Now, they flew into a frenzy. Some even smashed the ground nearby, though the monsters avoided it as deftly as theyd avoided Vir.

Its not just the monsters. The tentacles are also connected, Vir realized, dodging another Chakra-laden trunk-sized appendage. Due to their lack of accuracy, itd taken him a moment to notice, but the tentacles had been aiming for him.

Between the tentacles, the Chakra-wielding mobs, and the main body that birthed new foes, Vir had his hands full. Worsehis prana was running low.

Vir darted toward the nearest minion and drained its prana, then moved for another, finding he had to leverage Blinks full speed to place his palm on the Ash Beasts inky flesh.

He drained this one in a similar fashion and went for a third. This time, however, he found a Warrior Chakra-laden slash waiting for him. Aborting his attack, Vir focused on another nearby beast, but met with the same response.

Theyre learning, Vir thought with both frustration and amazement. They were learning that he was weak to Chakra attacks.

Suddenly, a tentacle slammed down from above, and this time, it too carried Warrior Chakra, forcing Vir to give it a wide berth.

Sinking into the shadows, he re-evaluated his options. Since the enemy moved and thought as a single entity, it had lacked the normal blind spots. Since Vir had to physically touch the beasts to drain them of Ash Prana, that posed a significant hurdle. He could still easily dispatch them at a distance, but that would eventually drain him. And with each enemy he killed, a new one took its place.

Vir briefly considered killing as many beasts as he could to force the main body to drain its own reserves, but quickly abandoned that idea. The three minions hed consumed had barely refilled his reserves. Hed be the one to run dry first, and then hed truly be exposed.

Where is it getting the prana?

Creating fully grown Ash Beast abominations out of thin air had to have consumed an immense amount of it.

Think, Vir. What else can you do? Whats its vulnerability?

Vir looked out at the beasts main body in the distance. Could it be so simple?

The massive hemispheric blob couldnt moveat least, not that Vir had seen. Which meant it mustve had protections. But did it have protection against someone draining its prana?

Vir surged out of the shadows and lunged for the main body. Hed hoped for a small sliver of opportunity to attacka window before the mob readjusted to his tactics.

Hed been wrong.

Grakking Ash!