CHAPTER 66: HELP

Zephyr’s pupils constricted, blocking out the majority of the light, allowing him to barely see the humanoid figure floating above the now crumbled, disintegrating black pyramid.

The terrorising aura it exuded was still climbing by the second, almost freezing the weather and everything in its surroundings.

Zephyr suffocated, failing to breathe.

’I will probably die if it sneezes.’ He thought, looking at the creature.

The godspawn was still bathed in red light, and he could barely see its silhouette. So, he couldn’t even recognise it.

A little bit of unhappiness grew in his heart, thinking that he might never know what killed him.

After all, the aura stopped everything, including his breathing. If he couldn’t recover, he would die by the time the godspawn emerges.

’An average person can hold his breath for a minute or so. It has been almost a minute since the necromancer ripped out and sacrificed the heart.’

’I can’t hold much longer.’

Zephyr felt his body scream in pain.

’The only good thing about losing an arm is that I wouldn’t have to provide oxygen for it.’

’Now that I think about it, can I use mana to prevent blood flow to other organs to buy some time? I could also try to pull air into my lungs.’

’But, why should I buy time if I am going to die anyways?’

’Well, what if by chance the aura disappeared after ten seconds? It’s a real possibility.’

Zephyr was unwilling to give up even at the brink of death.

After a second, he gathered all the mana he could find and began to use it through imagination to collect air.

However, he didn’t have to do it for long.

The reddish light glowed brightly for a moment before disappearing. Along with it, the aura that blocked his movement disappeared.

As if the resume button was clicked, the rain droplets began to fall. The thunderclouds that were frozen above also began to spew lightning.

Zephyr suddenly regained control over his body.

"Ah! That felt like a cutscene before a boss fight." He mumbled and shook his head.

Then slowly, he lifted his eyes to look at the humanoid creature floating a few dozen meters away.

Breathing heavily, he went through each of its features, trying to find if he had seen it before.

"Well, a jellyfish head with long, translucent, small tentacles hanging from its head. It must be an immortal jelly variant."

Zephyr muttered.

Certain boss monsters in the game could vary depending on certain conditions. Godspawns were one such type of variable bosses.

"Immortal jellyfish are given the name because of their absurd healing factor. To kill it, you would have to burn it to oblivion. Slicing and shredding abilities would only make it multiply. And most importantly, they have a crazy, magical resistance."

"This variant looks to have inherited the dark mana attributes along with the immortal jelly’s water attribute."

Zephyr paused for a second and released a dejected sigh.

"This Viscounty is done for..."

Zephyr knew he was in Viscounty under lord Whitewater’s rule. Without backup from the storm tower, there was no stopping the creature that had just emerged.

"It’s a natural disaster that can’t be stopped."

Zephyr thought and waited for his inevitable demise.

Any second now, the humanoid jellyfish with an oversized head and slender arms would notice him. Then, he would be eaten alive to supplement its growth.

If it is left to its devices for a day, it will rapidly learn and grow, changing this location to its base, forming what you generally call a dungeon in games.

"I have never seen a variant like this before. And when you think this is before the game officially starts, it makes sense."

"The jelly must have been hunted."

"That’s one good news."

The game was viewed from Aster’s point of view. He was the hero fated to become the next wizard king and save the world from evil forces that want to bring forth chaos.

The main story begins after five years, when both Zephyr and Aster were twenty-one. One becomes a villain in the game, while the other becomes a hero who slays the villains.

Their clash was supposed to happen well into the future.

"The game mixes up a lot of timelines and events, creating a mishmash of scenarios to go through. I don’t have any memory of the correct order of things. Playing a roguelite was like that. Many things could change when a story is involved."

"Each run was like a parallel dimension with its own story."

"I can’t possibly remember everything. Still, I know the right way to complete the game."

"However, it seems like the day I complete it will not come."

The immortal jelly’s head, without any eyes, turned towards Zephyr.

Zephyr raised his hand and waved.

"Hi, sucker." He said and continued to wave.

There was no stopping it. With his power, it would be impossible to defeat the creature. So, he waved in defiance.

Dying with a big smile, even if he was faking it, was something he always wanted to do. That was why he was waving his hand, looking at the huge humanoid monster coming towards him.

The Immortal Jelly suddenly stepped through the air and appeared a dozen meters in front of Zephyr. It was moving faster than he could see.

When it reappeared up close, Zephyr saw its translucent, fluid-filled body covered in dark mana. The way it was awakened seemed to have given it the dark mana attribute.

Zephyr smiled as he figured out an important part of the puzzle.

At that moment, the thin tentacles around the creature’s face elongated and moved towards Zephyr’s face.

Zephyr was prepared to burst his mana core and die the moment it touched him. So, without even blinking, he watched the tentacle come closer and closer.

Even if he was going to die, he was going to do it on his own terms.

’Murphy’s law says that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. And since the moment I came here, nothing ever went right.’

’Still, it was enjoyable. The thrill of battle. The exploration into magic. Creating more cores to overcome limitations. Forming multicast systems and chain casting systems. Killing a weakened master knight through trickery. Losing an arm. Creating a railgun with chain casting dozens of smaller spells. Grinding a day killing undead. Tricking the necromancer. Saving the villagers...’

’...I achieved a lot in a week.’

Zephyr smiled, watching the tentacle close in on his face.

But suddenly, he sensed a disturbance in the sky above him.

Before he could understand what was happening, a man wearing grandiose white robes appeared right in front of him.

The white robe with golden embroidery immediately captures his attention.

With his long white beard fluttering in the wind, he slammed the staff he retrieved from a subspace tool on the ground.

Immediately, the immortal jelly was blasted away to the side.

"Kid, are you alright?"

The elderly man asked.

’Corvinus!’

Zephyr widened his eyes. A sense of relief washed over him.

Corvinus was an 8-star master. A baby godspawn was beneath him in strength.

Zephyr stopped thinking about destroying his cores and dying.

"Yes." He answered with a smirk.