Chapter 427: Yoink

Chapter 427: Yoink

The smell of blood hung thick in the air. Noah braced his hands against his knees, breathing heavily. Hed lost count of how many monsters hed fought. The more he killed, the more had come.

At least, that was how it had been. Nothing else had arrived after hed dispatched the last group had come, and he was grateful for it. Even though his Runes had been getting replenished from all the monsters hed killed, he was still spending more energy than he was getting back.

Natural Disaster had grown significantly. Even though hed been focused on getting Runes from the monsters he killed, there were so many of them that hed only been able to Sunder a small portion of them.

If it hadnt been for his greedy grimoire grabbing all the runes in sight, he was pretty sure he barely would have gotten a fraction of the number that he had though he still wasnt sure as to exactly what that number was.

Noah drew in a deep breath and let it out in a huff, pushing his hands off his knees and shaking his head. Mounds of corpses stretched out around him. They were burnt, cut, and ripped to pieces, the macabre canvas of a crazed artist.

Bird was right about not drawing too much attention. I think I might have gone a little overboard here, but they only gave me an hour. I had to optimize my time.

He adjusted his coat. His finger caught on a small tear in it. Most of the monsters hadnt managed to get close to him, but it had been impossible to avoid everything. It wasnt a big deal. None of his wounds were significant enough to be concerned about.

Whered all the damn monsters go, though? Im pretty sure Ive got a bit of time left. I can wring a few more runes out of this place.

Noah extended his senses, searching to see if he could pick up on where the monsters had run to. They hadnt struck him as very intelligent. It seemed unlikely that theyd call off the attack just because of how many of them hed killed.

And theres no way I actually killed all of them. Maybe I just cleared out the monsters in this particular area and I need to go looking to find some more?

He wasnt so sure he had time for that. It just felt like a shame to stop when he still had energy and more time to claim some runes.

Then again, I suppose I shouldnt go too far away from my gourd. Its probably better not to push my luck. Ive already gotten a really good harvest. At least, I think I have. I really need to sit down with my grimoire when I get out of here.

Noah stepped past the piles of dead monsters and headed over to the area hed arrived in. His gourd still rested where hed left it. Hed been keeping an eye on it through the fight, but it was still nice to confirm.

I wonder if I should try to do something about all these bodies, Noah mused to himself. I dont know how often they use this place, and its going to look really suspicious if theres just a giant mountain of corpses lying here.

He drummed his fingers against his leg as he thought, then knelt and pressed his hand against the cold ground. Noah pulled energy from Natural Disaster, drinking as deeply as he could manage. Power pulsed through his veins and his other runes activated, pushing back against it.

Once he could hold no more power, Noah unleashed it into the ground. A rumble shook the dirt as it split apart like the mouth of the earth yawning open. Bodies tumbled into the hole, vanishing into its depths.

Noah used a few powerful gusts of wind to shove more corpses into the pit. Once hed gotten the majority of them handled, he drank from Natural Disaster once more and slammed the pit closed.

The massive bear was plummeting down toward him. All well, however many tons the enormous creature was of muscle and claw were headed straight for Noah, casting a shadow and blocking out the entire sky.

That was a bit of a problem. No matter how much wind magic Noah had, there was absolutely no way for him to move out of the way fast enough to avoid getting squished. He just wasnt fast enough and the bear was just too damn big.

Even if hed brought his flying sword with him, he was pretty sure he didnt have time to get it out under him before the bear landed on top of him. There were only moments to act. Noah dismissed his violin and ripped the grimoire from his back.

He ripped every ounce of power he could gather from Natural Disaster and hurled the book, pouring all the magic he could into a blast of wind to carry it toward where hed left his gourd.

The book shot off like a bullet. Noah only had a brief instant to watch it fly off before the rushing wind of plummeting bear took his attention away. He directed his attention to the heavens, which were now nothing but bear.

Goddamn it, Noah said.

The bear crashed down and the world went black.

Noahs soul ripped itself free of his body. He flew through considerably more bear than he ever would have enjoyed moving through and emerged in the air above the massive beast, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

The monster was rooting around his body, likely trying to find out why it hadnt gotten all the power it had sensed within him.

Im going to come back for you, Noah informed the enormous creature. And next time, youre the one whos getting squished.

He wasnt sure how hed follow up on that particular threat, but the good part of threatening things that couldnt hear you was that they had no idea what you were promising to do.

A band of black tightened around Noahs throat and he welcomed the familiar sensation. It had been quite some time since hed last died but not nearly long enough. His soul hurtled through the air and slammed into the body his gourd created for him.

His eyes snapped open and he jerked upright with a pained hiss. Noah scrambled to his feet, squinting through the headache and scooping his gourd and travel bag off the ground. His eyes landed on his grimoire sticking out of the ground just a few dozen feet away and he let out a sigh of relief.

At least my aim was good.

He ran over to the grimoire and grabbed it. Then he reached into his bag, rooting around for a spare change of clothes. The bear still hadnt noticed him yet, and he wanted to

A familiar tingle ran across Noahs skin. His eyes went wide. He yanked the pants out of his bag and jammed one leg into them, moving as fast as he possibly could.

It wasnt fast enough. The energy intensified and a blue glow enveloped him even as he stuffed his second leg into his pants and tried to tug them up. He vanished in a beam of light, his string of curses fading into the ether along with him.