25 Chapter 24: Nemesis (2/2)

It had been too long since it had been hurt this badly by what it had believed to be mere prey.

”RUOOOR!”

Bellowing, the Ghost Bear dropped to all fours and began charging at me with a frightening speed.

I flipped myself up and above the Ghost Bear, and just like the Lunar Rabbit before me, spun like a whirlwind before swinging my leg down in an axe kick.

Boom!

The Ghost Bear reacted in time – while it didn't fully dodge the kick, it avoided a blow to its vitals. Consequently, my kick landed not on its spine but its side, pulverizing its innards and driving it into the ground. A crater opened up beneath the shrieking Ghost Bear.

But it was still alive. As expected, the Ghost Bear was on an entirely different level from all the Silverback Wolves and Lunar Rabbits that I had fought so far.

Fortunately, I had wounded it grievously and impeded its movements. Spinning high up in the air, I hurtled back toward the Ghost Bear like a meteor and swung my leg around to deliver the finishing blow.

”!”

The Ghost Bear was waiting for that exact moment. I caught sight of a flash, and an invisible ripple in the air. The Ghost Claws!

”Kuh!”

I twisted my body in midair and altered my trajectory. Just in time too. The extended reach of the Ghost Claws lashed out and cut deeply into my side, casing a burst of blood to spray out onto the ground. I hit the ground and rolled, fiery pain burning into my sides. Heaving, I got to my knees and spat out a glob of blood.

”Argh…”

The pain was terrible…but compared to the agony I suffered when I ate the Silverback Wolf for the first time, it was nothing. Furthermore, I knew that I was lucky to escape only with such a deep cut. If I hadn't dodged that attack in time, I would have been sliced apart into several pieces. When that happened, not even the Green Dragon Spring could save me.

The Green Dragon Spring could heal even the worst of injuries, but it obviously couldn't bring the dead back to life.

The Ghost Bear growled triumphantly and crawled to its feet. Now that the both of us were deeply injured, it had equalized our situations and neutralized my advantage. Cunning bastard…I realized that the Ghost Bear was a lot smarter than I gave it credit for.

I can't afford to underestimate this bear bastard.

It was unbearable to lose to a bear. Gritting my teeth, I mustered up my determination and rose to my feet. At the same time, the Ghost Bear swung its paw, slashing at me with its deadly triple Ghost Claws.

Duo!

I evaded the Ghost Claws and kicked the Ghost Bear from behind, but as always the Ghost Bear managed to avoid another direct hit to its vitals. It retaliated with another slash from its other paw, but I ducked under the Ghost Claws and slid downward, hooking my leg underneath its hind leg and tripping it. The Ghost Bear was sent toppling over in an undignified heap.

”!”

I was almost cut apart by another strike when the Ghost Bear twisted around to slash me with its right paw. Blood splattered across the ground, my uniform hanging loosely as the already ruined fabric was cut open again. Not that I cared. I had neither the time nor the tools to mend my uniform, and another rip or tear didn't mean much.

But the fresh wound across my chest was pretty bad. I panted heavily as I used Tui to retreat. At this rate, I would bleed to death before I defeated the Ghost Bear.

I can't afford to let this turn into a battle of attrition.

Judging that the Ghost Bear possessed a superior and sturdier physique to me, I knew I would run out of time and blood long before it did. I had to end this quickly.

Again!

I dashed forward, luring the Ghost Bear to use its Ghost Claws again. It roared and slashed at me, but I disappeared from its sight, using Duo to circle it from behind…

”!!!!”

And almost got my head cut off as the Ghost Bear swung its other paw behind, having anticipated my tactic. I hit the ground and rolled, a slight trickle of blood streaming down my neck. A millisecond slower, and I would have lost my head.

Damn…the bastard is learning very quickly…

I smiled ruefully as I clamped my palm on my neck wound to stem the bleeding. Even though I had only used that move once, the Ghost Bear had already figured out my pattern of attacks and reacted accordingly.

Isn't this too unfair?! This is way more difficult than a boss battle in a game…

At least in a game, the boss's movements and attacks were predictable, restricted by rigid programs and set patterns coded into the game by designers. But this Ghost Bear was a living, breathing entity that could think, learn and adapt.

The difficulty setting was way too high!

Calm down. The question now is…how do I defeat it, even if it's smart?

That still didn't change my goal. The Ghost Bear's incredible intellect was just another obstacle to overcome. An annoyingly difficult hurdle to overcome, admittedly, but not one that was impossible to prevail over.

The Ghost Bear didn't give me time to think of a strategy. It was already charging toward me again, swiping its claws at me. Remembering the grisly end the Lunar Rabbit met when attempting to dodge it and getting sliced apart by the Ghost Claws, I immediately retreated with my Tui technique. The Ghost Claws barely missed me, slicing the sleeve of my uniform.

”Kuh…”

However, the Ghost Bear had anticipated my evasive maneuver, and the moment I landed, it slashed at me with its other paw. To my surprise, the Ghost Claws extended twice as long as usual and almost cut me apart.

Swoosh!

”Ugh!”

I staggered back, blood dribbling from my mouth and fresh wounds. Again, if I hadn't twisted at the last moment, I would have been completely eviscerated. To my amazement, the Ghost Bear was moving faster than even the Lunar Rabbit. It was taking me everything I had just to keep up with its speed, to maintain an even pace with it.

But the Ghost Bear wasn't done yet. It was spinning around, slashing with its other paw again. In my mind, I could visualize these maneuvers as sword techniques. The Ghost Bear wasn't merely mindless attacking in bestial fury. It was performing elegant maneuvers, its spinning almost a dance, and its Ghost Claws not an animalistic set of claws but rather swords. I was reminded of Sharpened Sword Force, the level 5 technique I saw once in Wu Ling Library, but couldn't access.

In other words, the Ghost Bear was just as much a swordsman as any human swordsman. I could see a human martial artist interposing and overlapping with the image of the Ghost Bear. A dual sword wielder, huh?

That fitted the Ghost Bear right now.

No choice…!

Even though I still wasn't confident with this technique, I had no choice but to use it. Unable to evade in time, I accumulated all the frosty qi my body and manifested it. Thick frost armor wreathed my body, protecting me from the Ghost Bear's deadly blow.

Clang!

The frost armor shattered into pieces as the Ghost Bear's Ghost Claws tore through it, but thankfully my hastily crafted armor protected me from the worst of the blow. Shallow cuts dripped with blood as I was hurled back from the impact. Twisting around in midair, I managed to land unsteadily on my feet.

But I had no time to recover. The Ghost Bear was charging at me again.

Fine then. Let's see if I can meet your blow head-on!

I waited for the Ghost Bear to reach within range, and then dashed toward it. As it slashed at me with its right paw, the Ghost Claws shrieking as they rend the air apart, I activated Duo and disappeared, only to reappear behind it. Anticipating my evasion, the Ghost Bear swung around with its other paw to tear the space apart with its vicious Ghost Claws.

Unfortunately, that very intellect had rendered the Ghost Bear's movements somewhat predictable. Having guessed that it would repeat the same movement that earned it success earlier, I had chosen not to appear behind directly behind the Ghost Bear, but at its 10 o'clock. Dodging under the wide swing of the Ghost Bear's paw, I materialized a frost sword by freezing the vapor in the air into ice and hacked its extended paw off.

”Grr…!!!!!”

The Ghost Bear bellowed in pain and stumbled backward, blood gushing out of its stump like a geyser. Its paw flew through the air and fell, landing against the ground in a dull thump.

”You can't bear the pain, eh, Ghost Bear?”

I mocked the Ghost Bear, but was unable to get near because of it was thrashing about in rage.

The damn thing was pretty tough.

”Still not dead, huh?”

The Ghost Bear glowered at me before charging forward. This time, I met it head-on, using my ice sword to clash with it.

The frost blade shattered instantly as the Ghost Claws collided against it. But it didn't matter. As the Ghost Claws swept the broken pieces of ice away, I smashed through the hail of icy fragments and froze a new weapon in my hands. The Ghost Bear tried to defend, but it realized that its left paw was missing, while it couldn't retract its right paw back in time to parry my strike.

This time, instead of a frost sword, I manifested an ice axe. Swinging the massive weapon with every ounce of strength that I had, I buried the axe deeply into the Ghost Bear's collarbone as I tried to decapitate it.

Alas, the Ghost Bear was too strong. Despite the blade embedding itself deeply into the Ghost Bear's neck, it refused to die. Lowering its shoulder, it slammed into me and sent me flying. Blood spurted out of my mouth as I crashed through several trees, blasted away by the sheer raw qi that the Ghost Bear violently emanated.

”Gah…kuh…!”

I coughed out blood as I struggled to my feet, only to fall to my knees. The Ghost Bear's counterattack had pulverized my insides and reduced my inner organs into jelly. If my constitution hadn't been strengthened from devouring so many demonic beasts, I would have died from the sheer impact alone.

The Ghost Bear dragged the ice axe out of its neck and crushed it with a paw. Growling, it lumbered toward me. Then it dropped onto all fours and charged forward, intent on finishing me off once and for all.

With my organs crushed and my body badly battered, I was in no shape to move or evade the attack. Heaving, I glanced around desperately, hoping against fucking Fate that there was something I could use to turn this around.

Then I caught sight of the Ghost Bear's disembodied paw, which lay in front of me. Blood had been gushing out of it, forming a massive puddle between me and the lunging Ghost Bear. A trail of blood had been expanding into a pool, connecting and merging with the river of blood that was snaking away from my battered body.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed my palm down on the pool of blood, not caring that I was creating a huge splash. The moment the Ghost Bear bounded over the puddle of blood that was leaking out of its amputated paw, I infused the blood with frosty qi. A violent surge of qi seared across the blood and it hardened, freezing into a gigantic crimson spear that lanced the Ghost Bear from below, impaling it and halting it in its charge.

”Gr…?!”

The Ghost Bear let out a shriek as its momentum was suddenly brought to an abrupt stop. It gazed down helplessly at the frozen blood spear that had pierced through its chest, gouging out a huge chunk of its heart. It struggled weakly and futilely, its strength slowly fading away.

”Phew…”

I used the chance that my last-ditch counterattack had bought me. Uncapping my bottle, I took a swig of the Green Dragon Spring water that I had stored within it. In a few moments, my body was repaired and restored.

”Huff…”

Taking a deep breath, I rose shakily to my feet. Conjuring another ice sword, I leaped forward to deliver the finishing blow.

The Ghost Bear was far from done, however. Despite being immobilized and pinned to the ground by the frozen spear, it was still able to swing its remaining paw and lash out with its triple Ghost Claws to cut me in half.

But I had already expected that. My feet moved, and I disappeared into a blur. The Ghost Claws seemed to rip the last vestiges of my afterimage into pieces, but I had already dodged and reappeared by the Ghost Bear's left side. With a determined yell, I shoved the blade of my ice sword into the wound in its neck – where my ice axe had bitten deeply earlier.

Thunk!

”Ugh…!”

But I didn't behead the Ghost Bear. Knowing that the muscles that protected its neck were too thick for my meager strength to cut through, I instead shifted the point of my sword and pierced through its skull, the blade reducing the Ghost Bear's brain into mush before running through the other side.

”GUOOO!”

The Ghost Bear let out its final death throes, knocking me flat to the ground but fortunately not maiming me. This time, I was able to evade, having been fully healed by the holy waters of the Green Dragon Spring.

And I thought healing potions didn't exist in reality, or even if they did, it wouldn't be practical to drink them in the middle of a battle. Yet that was what I just did. Huh…I guess games weren't as impractical as they seemed, huh?

I waited for a long while until the Ghost Bear stopped thrashing and its death throes died down. Cautiously approaching the seemingly dead Ghost Bear, in case it was a trap, I then created another ice axe and beheaded it with a few strokes. It took a lot of effort and energy, and the muscles stubbornly resisted my blows, but after a few minutes, I finally decapitated it to ensure that it was dead for good.

”Huff…huff…I guess even the Ghost Bear couldn't bear my attack.”

I dropped down to the ground beside the carcass of my kill, my frozen blood spear still holding it aloft like some kind of macabre trophy. Taking a deep breath, I carved a chunk of Ghost Bear meat out and ate it. After my experience in Sen Lin Forest, I had learned that consuming demonic beasts helped strengthen me. Of course, repeatedly eating the same type of demonic beast had less of an impact on enhancing my constitution, but devouring a new type of magical beast greatly improved my strength, vitality, speed and qi.

Since this was the first time I was eating Ghost Bear meat, I was sure that my power would increase tremendously.

After swallowing a lot of the meat, I suddenly felt the familiar sensation of agony. The intense pain stabbed my gut again and I doubled over.

”Ugh…eh?!”

Fortunately, it wasn't as excruciating as the first time. It was still horribly unpleasant, and not something I liked to go through. Uncapping the bottle, I downed another gulp of Green Dragon Spring water. It helped a little, but the pain was still debilitating. I could hardly stand on one knee, never mind move around freely.

I see…the Ghost Bear is much more powerful than the Lunar Rabbits or the Silverback Wolves. That's why there was quite a bit of pain when I consumed it…I should have known that eating Ghost Bear meat would be unbearable…

Breathing heavily, I waited for the intense agony to subside, then slowly stood up. Crafting another ice butcher knife, I began to…well, butcher the Ghost Bear. I was going to bring the meat back to my burrow, and I was going to consume the whole thing. Now that I had gotten used to eating it, I would complete the meal and raise my cultivation and power further.

As I went about my grisly work, it suddenly occurred to me that I had won. I had defeated the nemesis that haunted me ever since I was dumped into this underground cave. Yet…I didn't feel any sort of triumph or joy. I didn't feel hollow either. All I felt was…an emotion of necessity, an instinct of survival. I killed the Ghost Bear because it was the only way I could survive in this cavern. That was all to it.

And after securing my survival, I would find my way out of this godforsaken forest and return to Martial City. Once I achieved that…

I was going to obliterate this evil thing called Fate and usurp the Heavens from the Gods who laughed and mocked me.