NOVEL WEB Chapter 329: Last Home Stretch? [Bonus]
She remembered it was named the Crimson Nocturne—a battle art where each attack you make will cause your enemy's blood to splatter into a crimson rose, even if it wasn't intentional.
Lillian watched as the troll's body formed cracks before shattering into a cloud of dust. She allowed it to wash over her, feeling the moment to breathe in her victory over such a creature with ease.
"Ah~... The feeling of strength... A feeling so foreign but so right..." (20)
Her ears then twitched as the sound of something whistling echoed behind her.
Snapping her head to the stone gate, she teleported, dodging as a barrage of colours crashed into her earlier location, exploding.
Appearing in front of the gate, she stared up at the sky—up towards the ceiling—and found it to be covered in a myriad of lights that looked like beautiful stars in the night sky.
However, a split second later, the ceiling lit up, finally revealing what it had been hiding since the beginning.
And what she saw...
Were people.
Dozens. Hundreds.
People who were hanging from the ceiling by thin threads as tight cocoons made of string wrapped around their bodies, as they were captured by an overly large arachnid.
And they were all unconscious.
She squinted her eyes, staring at the centre of their hands, which were popping out from their cocoons and found them to be glowing as something magical manifested within their palms.
From a dull brown to a shining yellow, she knew what it was.
What they were manifesting were their elements. Elements of all kinds.
The majority being the actual elements such as fire, water, earth, air, and such...
She stared at this scene with coldness behind her eyes as an electrifying aura tore off the blood coating her body with soft crackles.
She turned her eyes back towards Thalrek, finding him seated on his throne and had both of his hands raised with his fingers spread out like spiders.
And attached to the tips of his fingers were countless strings that stretched towards each individual person hanging from the ceiling.
She knew what Thalrek was doing; the man intended to launch a full-on barrage by using the elements of the people above.
"Do you think this plan of yours will work?" Lillian asked, powering her mask with mana, "Do you think that I'm not capable of enduring the barrage you are about to send towards me?"
Thalrek, who was meticulously controlling each person above, froze. Were his intentions that obvious? He shook his head and clicked his tongue.
He then shouted:
"SILENCE! Even if what I'm about to do will wound my pride... Even though I won't be able to handle you myself... Even if I'm incapable of digging your heart out with my own hands..."
His words slowed, ending each sentence with a hateful his as the shimmering lights above grew brighter.
"At least I will be the one to live, and you'll be the one reduced to ashes and become a mere dying ember in my memories!"
And after saying that, lights fell from the ceiling like shooting stars, targeting Lillian with, although with poor accuracy, slim chances of escaping.
That was...
If she wasn't fast enough.
With the lingering power increase in her legs, she dashed forward. She crossed over several metres, dodging through storms of elements that fell around her.
She was blinded several times, knocked back, tripped, stumbled, and blocked several times on her way towards the Puppeteer.
It was as though she were running through a warzone filled with falling artillery shells.
As sweat mixed with the blood flowing down her face, as sweat poured into her black hoodie underneath her chestplate, she continued to move forward.
SHNK!
A falling ball of flames crashed into her chest, scorching her chestplate. But before it could spread any further, it was quickly put out by her own element.
She needed to reserve her mana.
The entire length of the room was about 100 metres. And considering she started at the entrance, she still had 80 more metres to go.
Quickly bending down, she grabbed onto a nearby corpse before chucking it towards an incoming projectile, completely stopping it at the cost of a shower of blood.
Finding that it was an effective way to protect herself, she began to collect the corpses on the ground and chucking them into the air.
This created a chain of explosions, which made for a rather stunning light show. But nobody inside the room was in the mood to spectate the spectacle.
Thalrek, seeing that Lillian was stopping his rain of attack, couldn't help but curse her even more under his breath, hissing like a snake as his fingers commanded the people above to fire more.
And because of this, although the rate did increase, it left some of the people above to stop firing as their mana capacity had finally emptied.
Lillian, who was unaware of this, was just trying to stay alive as she continued to avoid the artillery shooting down on her.
"Pant... Pant..."
And currently, she was beginning to feel the effects of fatigue hitting her again—this time with much greater effectiveness. She felt like she could fall asleep as soon as her back hit the ground.
"S-shit..."
Lillian tripped before quickly regaining her balance. However, a split second later, the world spun and shook rapidly—an effect of severe vertigo.
She clutched the side of her head, her body swaying left and right.
'Not now... I'm just halfway...' She grimaced, her eyes darkening as the light above her seemed to stretch and blur.
Was she... Losing consciousness...?
BOOM!
Thalrek immediately stood up, pumping his fist like a child with a joyous expression on his face as he watched his bombardment finally hit Lillian.
He then aimed towards that exact location and began to send projectile after projectile in that one location, eventually digging a massive pit.
"I finally got you, you damn rodent—!"
"What got you so excited?"
Thalrek froze as a familiar voice appeared behind him. He slowly let out a breath as he drifted his left eye back, finding Lillian's back turned to him, standing right behind his throne.
His eyes shone with a soft light as he asked in a genuine voice:
"How did you get there?"
"... I teleported."
"..."
The two then fell silent with both of their backs turned to one another.