Chapter 603 - 603: Decide Part Three

Chapter 603: Decide Part Three

[TL: Asuka]

[PR: Ash]

The witcher gulped down a few health and mana potions. He looked around only to realize that his minions were all slain. The sea of monsters around him had fallen into madness from agony. They jostled against one another, their faces contorted like fish out of water. They roared, charging at the butcher who once took their lives.

Roy produced one Dragon’s Dream in his left hand and fired off crossbow bolts with his right. He leapt through the monsters, his cloak billowing in the air. Whenever he found a spot where numerous monsters congregated, he would toss a bomb into their midst and set it off with a fireball. And then, only a sea of fire was left in his wake.

When the witcher had gone through all fifteen of his Dragon’s Dreams and ten Dancing Stars, the world of death, darkness, and misery were lit up by an ocean of fire. The web was nothing but a world of hellfire, and shadows of agony fell within the flames. Even the ceiling of chaos was lit by the fires.

Roy raised his head, seeing the marked silhouette blinking away quickly. The creature could move anywhere it wanted as long as it was in this domain. Roy couldn’t even touch it, let alone slay it.

God of Omen! Roy roared in silence. If tricks and schemes are the only way you do battle, then I shall burn this disgusting world of webs down! Roy took a deep breath. A rune shaped like fire popped into his mind.

Winds roared, and elements spread across the infinite web. For a moment, everything fell silent. And then, the air was starting to scorch. Everything was heating up to unbearable temperatures.

Sparks of flames burst forth from the bones under the web, quickly turning into roiling, steaming magma. Light, flames, and the air of destruction were filling the air. Like a live volcano, a dragon made of magma was about to soar.

But then, the evil god within the darkness let out a sigh. A third bolt of black lightning cracked the skies, going after the witcher’s flesh and soul. The flames died. Roy stopped casting his Sign and blinked away, but the lightning bolt did not let up. In the end, the witcher was hit. He fell to the ground, convulsing, his hairs standing on end.

A third curse fell upon the witcher. A curse called depletion. All the witcher’s mana was drained, and every time he regained a sliver of it, a mysterious energy in the void would suck it away, giving it to the elemental plane.

“You have wasted too much of my precious well of pain. This is the end, witcher.” The evil god’s voice was filled with exhaustion. And then the cocoons lying in the web started to combust. Roy saw the werespider still singing in agony, turned into a sliver of black smoke. And he saw werebeasts converted into something similar. The slivers of smoke flew high into the air, and the spider hiding within the darkness opened its maw. Its nose contracted as it sucked in the nutrients from its followers. Its golden eyes were flaring with fury and grief. The creature had given up too much just to deal with the witcher.

Roy felt a crisis incoming. He held up his sword and fired off his bolts, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t close the gap between him and Corem Agh Tera. It was as if he’d been walking in circles within a maze.

Realization struck him. Unless it comes closer to me or I break this web, I can never capture it.

But before he could come up with a plan, a voice bellowed, and the voice echoed across the web, shaking the world.

“Destiny was born on the Eternal Web. It twists, turns, and weaves its way to misery, the only eternal constant.”

A silvery-white thread descended from the skies and fell upon the witcher’s head. It buried itself into the witcher’s flesh, spine, and soul. The thread extended into infinity, hard to observe, just like the future.

The Lionhead Spider stuck its head out from the skies, falling onto the thread gently. The power of pain flowed out of its legs and swam into the thread. Its black fur lost its luster.

Then it spoke, its voice icy, as if it were a god watching the pitiful lives of a human flickering across its eyes.

“Roy the witcher, your left leg was injured during the first battle of your life, stemming from your own inattention. You did not receive medical attention in time. Your wound festered and was infected. As a consequence, your left leg had to be amputated, and you have no avenues to heal it.”

The voice echoed in Roy’s head, and he froze. He felt some sort of power locking on to him, and he saw hallucinations. Something from the past, but also not from the past. A brand new memory formed in his mind. This was fate. Undeniable. Immutable.

“You’re mine.” A smile of relief appeared on the creature’s face. Its fur was dancing, feeling the creature’s delight. “You are the most powerful singer of pain I have ever collected. Now, awake. And sing for me forevermore.”

Just when the creature thought a wave of agony would burst forth, the witcher smiled. He didn’t even let out any moan of pain.

“Got you,” he whispered. And delight pierced through the nightmare of agony. A wave of crimson ripped the web apart, and the battered body of Roy quickly expanded in the ball of red light. A wave of crimson energy coursed through his veins like flames roaring higher and higher. Eventually, the wave came charging out of his body.

The Lionhead Spider felt its eyes prickling from the sudden burst of light. The ruler of misfortune was now feeling misfortune raining down on it. It quickly let go of the cocoon and tried to scuttle back up the thread, back into hiding.

The sea of blood crashed, and a crimson tentacle came bursting ahead from the waves. It wrapped around the creature’s abdomen, its suckers quickly latching themselves to the creature’s skin. The suckers contracted, and patches of star-shaped tattoos appeared between the suckers. Smoke billowed from the black fur, melting away in the red light like snow meeting the sun.

No, no! What are you, witcher? To the creature’s horror, it felt something it hadn’t felt for eons. Pain. Coram Agh Tera sliced the tentacle apart and shoved the crimson cocoon away before it could finish its transformation, but it was too late.

An invertebrate that should’ve only existed in the seas leapt out of the crimson flames. It was half the size of the spider, and the octopus wrapped its tentacles around the evil god, pinning it down on the web.

The Most High’s eyes were burning with silvery-gray flames. There was nothing but the composure of a predator in Roy’s eyes. I’m your predator.

Red and green clashed, and everything turned dark for a moment. A black spider and a red octopus were entangled in battle. Tentacles and spider legs fought and clashed. The spider’s sharp legs sliced one tentacle open, but then corrosive blood splattered the spider, sizzling the tough, rough, furry shell. And then another tentacle replaced the one that was lost.

The octopus was hanging on to its prey. As its tentacles wrapped around the spider tighter, the star patterns on its body started to shine, and beams of magic shot forth from the suckers, drowning the spider within a barrage of fire, lightning bolts, air currents, and red energy beams.

Black blood spurted forth from the spider’s wounds. Coram Agh Tera let out a howl of dismay. Black smoke billowed all around it, and it started to shrink like a block of ice being hit by the rays of the sun. It opened its maw and sank its fangs into the octopus, tearing part of it away, but the octopus’ blood ate away at the Lionhead Spider’s face.

The octopus opened its maw as well, and it munched on the spider’s flesh. Every time it bit off a chunk of flesh, the octopus would gobble it down and heave a sigh of satisfaction, just like how the evil god did to it earlier.

No, no, no! The Lionhead Spider was struck with terror, as if it could see its eternal life wilting away like a dying flower. And it started running across its kingdom, trying to escape. It moved constantly. At first, it was on the west side of the web, and the next it was on the east. Sometimes it would be high up in the skies, and then it would be among the piles of bones underneath the web.

No matter how much the evil god ran and teleported away, the octopus remained entangled with it, rolling through the web with its prey. They fought and tore off bits from their enemy.

Red and black blood rained, eventually merging into one. The Eternal Web was torn apart by the intense battle. The creatures left holes in this kingdom, and warm light from the world beyond shot into the kingdom.

Coram Agh Tera’s kingdom was starting to shake. Everything rumbled, as if it would crumble.

***

Five minutes later, the battle had reached its conclusion. The evil god had expended all its source of power, and the world had almost forgotten all about it. It was no match for the Most High’s devouring.

In the end, only a lion’s head was left. All its eight eyes were on the octopus. It was like a bloody sun, shining red.

“Curse you, witcher!” The Lionhead Spider cast its last curse in hysteria. “You shall live the rest of your life drowning in pain! You shall—”

The Most High opened its maw and devoured the lion’s head. A sensation of contentment covered its body. Its tentacles wriggled, shadows dancing across the web. Eventually, the web wilted and broke up, turning into a solitary black fang.

‘You have devoured the God of Omen. +20000 EXP. Level 14 Witcher (20200/16500).’

Darkness was torn through by light. The octopus returned to its human form.