33 Nether Advancing Cycle (1/2)
Still maintaining his Grim Reaper form, James and several damned souls ran through the dark and cold forest. Since he did not want to draw the attention of the other beasts who had gone berserk on the command of the Level 4 monster, he could not afford to summon the corpses from the Army of the Fallen. Using his skill - Mana Manipulation, James ensured a pitch black darkness covered a 200m radius around him. Although some monsters had the ability in his artificially generated darkness, James knew they were in the minority. Most of them relied on their sense of smell and hearing in such a dark forest. Since his Grim Reaper form emitted no smell and made little noise as he ran, James had a 90% confidence he could evade most of the rampaging monsters. The only time he would face a problem was if he encountered any of the monsters who made up the 10% - those who had developed special organs to track their prey and nocturnal beasts.
Since the Spearhead Hydra ran towards the west, James ran towards the east. He hoped the screams of the beast earlier would chase away the weaker monsters, which would give him a clear path to flee. However, James had not forgotten about what Henriksen said. Since it was easy to get lost in the forest and lose track of one's direction, James did not want to be in an unfavorable position once the nether advancing cycle starts.
'I detonated seventy members of the Army of the Fallen with the purple soul purifying flame, yet it did not even injure the beast. It seems tricks will always be useless in the face of absolute power. I wonder what will happen if I tried the same trick with sorcerers or warriors on my level. It's a good thing I've enough samples to try it out,' James mused as he dashed through the thick forest. With the boost from his agility stat, he was several times faster than his normal human form.
As he ran, he could hear occasional sounds of explosions and faint howls of beasts. Although subtle, he could also hear screams of pain and agony, from what he presumed to be the other youths. With the help of his damned souls, he could easily maneuver through the chaotic forest. Anytime they informed him of an inevitable clash with a superior monster, he burrowed into the ground while using a corpse from the Army of the Fallen as bait. Others might consider his actions shameless, but James did not give a damn about their thoughts. He would do every and anything to ensure his survival.
…
A few hours later, the faint outline of the sun illuminated the crimson morning skies, and a chilling wind carrying a thick woody fragrance pervaded the air. Because of the forest's unique weather, a thick fog covered most parts of the forest. Unlike the previous night, the enraged howls of beasts and the echoes of explosions ceased. Instead, the Odon Forest had a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere. With occasional chirping of birds and the rustling of the vegetation by the chilling wind echoing in various directions.
From the over hundred youths who arrived at the Odon Forest a few hours ago, only fifty of them remained. And over twenty of them were nursing one form of injury or the other. They were among the lucky few who survived the chaotic night. However, these youths had no reason to be excited yet. Because, in a few hours, the Nether advancing cycle would begin. And none of them looked forward to their deaths, especially after surviving the previous night. The only dilemma some of them faced, was whether the path they took faced the incoming wave of destruction.
Meanwhile, in a region of the forest predominated by redwood trees which towered over 50ft above the ground, James's figure ran through the somewhat rocky terrain. Over the last couple of hours, the unique topography and divergent vegetation he encountered left him awed. If not for the savage beasts, poisonous and man-eating plants, James believed it would have been a wonderful place to explore.
”Master, no sign of danger from the east.”
”Master, no sign of danger from the south.”
”Master, no sign of danger from west.”
”Master, no sign of danger up ahead.”
With a slight smile on his face, James stopped in his tracks after listening to the reports of the damned souls. Since he had been running all night and had little time to rest, he was heavily fatigued. Unlike before, the merged damned souls searched the top of the trees and underneath the earth. James did not want to leave anything to chance he was lucky the last time. Who knows if he'll have that same lucky next time.
Leaning against a redwood tree, James took in deep breaths to calm his tensed mind, while using his hands to wipe his sweaty face. Wearing tattered robes, he looked different from the James in the Tiodon Kingdom and the country of Antyork.
'Since I've found a peaceful location in this dark forest, it's time to test if I can complete the last ranking requirement.'
With this thought in mind, James suddenly spoke in a low voice, ”Arise, Army of the Fallen.”
Instantly, over fifty damned souls emerged from the earth like fiends who had escaped the depths of hell. Through his mental connection to the corpses, they all prostrated themselves on the floor the moment the emerged.
”System, what are the odds of extracting the soul in the corpses?” James asked.
<Ding! >
Calculating…
Calculation Completed!
The user has a 90% odds of successfully extracting the Item - Damned soul, from the Item - Army of the Fallen.
Warning!
The user cannot use the same vessel after extraction, and if the extraction process ends in failure, the user will lose both Items.
Item - Damned Soul, will revert to their unpurified form after extraction!
<Ding! >
”It's much better than I expected. Since it's only a 10% odds of failure, there should not be any problem,” James muttered as he read the system's notification.
Without wasting time, he suddenly shifted to his Grim Reaper form, which made the already frightened corpses more agitated. In a swift and decisive motion, James grabbed one corpse by its head. While it shrieked, James ghoulish voice echoed, ”Come out.”
At that moment, the body of the corpse trembled as if it was undergoing a severe seizure. Which made the pitiful creature scream in a soundless voice while scratching its body with its hands as if it wanted to shed its physical form. While this corpse screamed in soundless agony, those prostrating on the ground cowered in terror. Even the merged damned souls became terrified when they watched the chilling scene. Even though they were all considered as undead, they felt absolute terror from watching James extract the damned soul in the corpse. What frightened them the most was the smile on James's face as he watched the creature scream.
'Hahaha… I wonder what kind of pain its experiencing. Well, this is only the beginning.'
With keen interest and a pleasant smile on his face, James watched as the damned soul slowly, but painfully extract itself from the corpse. Since the extraction started from the feet of the corpse, only the head of the damned soul had yet to emerge. However, just as the head of the corpse was about to emerge, its ethereal body shook violently. At that moment, the smile on James's face disappeared.
'Wait… wait, it can't be… No, no… no! I'm not that unlucky.'
While this thought occupied James's mind, the system notification followed.
<Ding! >
Extraction Process has failed!
<Ding! >
Before James could even complain, the trembling damned soul and the corpse turned into ash and stardust.
”Damn it…” James cursed. However, he did not think too much of it. ”You, get over here,” James said as he pointed as a trembling corpse. Even without looking at James, the corpse knew it was the one James commanded. With its wobbly legs, he hurried over to James's position with its head lowered. Without saying a word, James grabbed the head of the corpse and started the extract process again. Even if his luck was that rotten, he had over four hundred damned souls in his inventory and several corpses too. With the extraction started, the corpse screamed just like the one before it. Meanwhile, James was not in the mood to enjoy it this time. In fact, his attention was already on another corpse, in case the current extraction ended as a failure, too.
After a few seconds, the current corpse reached the same point the previous corpse met its demise. Watching with keen interest, James hoped the extraction would end in success. However, the damned soul's purple body shook violently the moment its head emerged from the corpse.
'You've got to be kidding me. Wasn't it supposed to be a 90% success rate?'