Chapter 124: Legacy Inheritance (1/2)
Alfred's body was torn in half in front of their eyes as it was eaten by something else entirely. As if a sock that was being turned inside out, Alfred's body opened from his naval as darkness emerged, replacing him.
The blood and gore made the group retreat backward, feeling sick at such a sight. However, the appearance of what had appeared was even worse. A dark humanoid creature that had no resembling of its host. I had hollow sockets with a single black flame instead. The prince's flesh fell off with every second until the black-bubbling fluid took place.
The fluid stuck to the bones like flesh, dark and rotten. The creature that had appeared had two long appendages protruded from its back like two skeletal wings.
It turned to face the group as it screamed. Its scream was so bizarre like an old rusted engine trying to cough whatever life it had in him, yet unable to. The air around it changed suddenly and started to be sucked as if it was being vacuumed.
”Retreat!” Ivy shouted with panic as everyone could sense this creature was in a different realm altogether. However, the creature gave them no time to do as they please and attacked the closest person to it, Li.
Li tried blocking with his sword, but everything was devoured in front of the creature's rotting claw. The sword split in half and Li only managed to push himself backward at the last second.
Arthur didn't stand still as he skimmed over the messages from his legacy. His mana was near bottomed and he had already used his Restore-I rune. His eyes gleamed as he read his first quest reward.
[Legacy Inheritance has been unlocked. Legacy points can be traded for possessions from the Scholar's Guardian's vault.]
[New rune has been gained.]
[Teleport-I: Teleport through the surrounding space in a one-kilometer radius.]
It was another active rune. Arthur had no time to check how many legacy points he had currently, so he quickly searched through it. Luckily, the legacy knew what he wanted and showed him the items and their price.
He exchanged for a mana-replenishing potion and drank it immediately. His stomach felt warm before his body started to hungrily absorb the mana. The one-hour duration of the restore rune hadn't passed yet, so he had no problem using it. His mana paths were still in the excited state as they greedily absorbed the mana.
The rune itself didn't specify if it could be used on more than one target or not, but it also didn't restrict it. Before the creature, whom Arthur thought to be the ender, could reach him and Ivy, Arthur used the rune on Ivy and sent her to the first layer.
They had no chance against this thing. However, it didn't seem it stood a chance against its own powers as well. The skeleton was crumbling away, devoured as well by the black energy.
It reached Arthur in an instant but he was already gone. He appeared next to Li and teleported him before teleporting Zas as well. Zas should be able to escape on his own, but Arthur couldn't risk him not having enough mana.
As for Arthur himself, he needed a negligible amount of mana to use the teleportation rune. As long as it was in a one-kilometer radius, he would be able to teleport them. Arthur was about to teleport himself before a voice stopped him.
”You…” The black skeleton seemed to realize it couldn't take Arthur down. ”Won this time…” Its voice was hollow and nauseating. ”However,” Arthur could almost see a grin. ”We found the outsider…”
As it launched itself toward Arthur along with a dozen spears of darkness, Arthur activated his rune and returned to the first layer.
The teleportation was a lot more fluid and instantaneous than what he was used to, but he wasn't that proficient in setting the coordinates. He lost his footing and fell after he appeared in front of the first layer's gate.
As he stood up hurriedly, he saw the other three also sprawled on the ground clumsily. However, there were only two of them. Zas was nowhere to be seen and Arthur panicked until he heard a groan from a pillar. There was Zas, lying on a giant gear.
”Well,” Ivy looked around, still unable to process what just happened. ”That was easy?” She looked at Arthur in an expression of bafflement. He could read her thoughts since this time it was Arthur that had saved them.
”You bastard, what exactly…” Zas teleported himself to the ground as he looked at Arthur with shock. After all, Arthur had just used an ability similar to his. They had all thought that Arthur's ability was related to fire since he used it the most. Now, they weren't so sure.