Shadow Slave: The Ascencion

In the depths, the echo of quick, desperate footsteps reverberated as if prey was fleeing from its most feared predator.

Behind those echoes came the sound of dozens of monsters tearing through the earth with their jaws, carving paths that led directly to their target.

The tunnel Grey ran through was much longer than he had anticipated. He even wondered if, when descending into the fallen worm, he had somehow entered a place like this.

The path was not narrow; the tunnel walls were meters apart, just as the hardened dirt ceiling loomed high above the ground.

Grey had managed to put some distance between himself and the horde of monsters by spending most of his beast mode energy on a devastating strike that caused the entrance and part of the ceiling to collapse.

However, that effort had nearly drained his core of the dark energy that made him exceptionally strong and resilient. Now, he advanced, illuminating his path with a radiant light, the only resource he had left to guide him.

There was no other choice, as the only creatures able to keep up with him were those capable of digging through the earth and creating their own paths.

Unfortunately for him, those creatures were faster than he was, closing the distance much quicker than he had anticipated.

"Damn it! I wouldn't even fill their stomachs, stupid things!"

Despite the situation, Grey felt the pure, radiant energy that still remained within him, and a determined smile crossed his face. At least he had enough of that reserve to hold out a little longer.

The roars and the sound of teeth tearing through rocks and shifting earth grew closer, making Grey's glowing body tense.

With his senses heightened by his attack form, he detected the exact moment when one of the creatures leaped at him from several meters behind.

With barely a second to react, Grey rolled to the side, his body jolting from the speed, but he managed to avoid the ferocious attack.

The creature before him resembled a centipede, only thousands of times larger and more grotesque than any defenseless insect.

Odyssey glowed in his hand as he swiftly swung it behind his back, blocking a pair of massive jaws that lunged at him from the tunnel ceiling.

The impact made Grey's legs give out, forcing him to his knees as he continued to hold Odyssey to fend off the creature's attack.

"Kugh."

A pained grunt escaped his mouth as he twisted Odyssey's blade, slicing through the monster's jaws.

[You have killed an Awakened Beast: Ancient Centipede.]

[Your souls grow stronger.]

But the creature behind him wasted no time. With unrestrained madness in its crimson eyes, it lunged at Grey at full speed, ready to devour its prey.

Odyssey was still spinning around the head of the fallen centipede when the second monster charged at Grey with murderous fury.

Quickly, he used the heavy corpse of the first as an improvised wall against the oncoming onslaught. This bought him just enough time to catch his breath before the impact rattled his entire body.

"Ahh, how annoying."

He tried to get up to reposition and attack but suddenly froze, unable to move.

"What? Why won't my legs move?"

He looked down and realized they were completely numb. Only then did he understand what had happened: moments ago, a creature far larger and heavier than him had fallen from several meters above, and he had taken the full brunt of the impact.

He hadn't thought the blow could leave him in such a state, but the harsh reality was unavoidable. His legs were unresponsive, and he could barely remain conscious of the imminent danger.

His mind searched for answers, and then he understood. He was using his attack mode, designed to enhance his speed, senses, and precision. However, it offered no physical improvements like endurance or durability.

Trying to endure such a powerful blow without the proper defenses had been a fatal mistake. His legs, unable to withstand the shock, had given out.

Without his defense form active, his body was no more resilient than that of a latent demon facing an awakened beast. Although the power difference wasn't immense, it was still significant enough to tilt the scales against him.

"Damn it!" he thought, frustrated. He had made a grave error.

He had relied too much on his strength after facing a horde of awakened creatures, killing many, and escaping alive. At some point, he must have become arrogant and complacent.

And Grey knew all too well that such a combination could easily lead anyone to their inevitable death.

And he would be no exception to the rule.

After losing two precious seconds to unnecessary thoughts, Grey gripped Odyssey firmly and used it to prop himself up, struggling against the numbness in his legs.

Ahead, the centipede bit down hard on its fallen companion's corpse, splitting the lifeless body in two with a brutality that left Grey watching in a mix of awe and exhaustion.

"Terrifying," he thought, feeling his body tense with every movement of the beast.

The monster turned its head toward him, its multiple eyes gleaming with animalistic fury. Grey barely had time to react when a deafening roar filled the tunnel, shaking his eardrums. Before he could even think, the creature launched itself at him with relentless speed.

Knowing he couldn't afford a direct confrontation, Grey rolled to the side with great effort, narrowly dodging the beast's jaws. The creature continued forward out of momentum, its massive body slipping as it tried to turn, and it was in that moment that Odyssey shone with a silvery glow.

Seizing the opportunity, Grey delivered a precise slash to the creature's side. Odyssey's blade, enveloped in a sharp energy, sliced through its flesh effortlessly, leaving a deep wound that spilled viscera and foul-smelling blood.

The centipede let out a harrowing roar, this time laced with pain, before collapsing a few meters ahead. The air filled with the unbearable stench of its blood as the spell echoed in Grey's ears.

[You have killed an Awakened Beast: Ancient Centipede.]

[Your souls grow stronger.]

Grey fell onto his back, panting as every muscle in his body burned from the effort. The battle had been brutal, but he had survived.

"I can't stay here for long," he thought, staring at the dark tunnel stretching ahead. "If there are more, they must be getting closer... How much longer until the end of this damned tunnel?"

With an exhausted sigh, Grey used Odyssey as a crutch and pushed himself to his feet once more. The light from the spear faded, and his body returned to its base form.

He felt... strange.

After relying so long on his advanced forms, moving in his base state made him feel slow, weak, and vulnerable, despite wearing ascended armor and wielding a weapon of the same rank. Even with all those advantages, without the boost of his aspect, his strength seemed insufficient.

"I have to stop relying so much on my aspect," he thought firmly. He knew constant use drained his reserves of pure and beast energy, but there was something even more concerning: if he grew too accustomed to fighting with those boosts, his base state would become useless. And when he ran out of energy, he would be utterly defenseless.

Minutes passed as Grey regained his rhythm. Now he ran full speed through the tunnel, determined to reach its end as quickly as possible.

The atmosphere seemed to change. For a while, he hadn't heard any roars or felt the tremors beneath the ground signaling his pursuers.

"Could I have finally lost them?" he wondered hopefully.

And it seemed fate was smiling upon him this time. As he moved forward, he noticed the tunnel beginning to slope upward.

At the top of the incline, a faint glow illuminated the cave's entrance. For the first time in a long while, Grey saw the light.

____

Note: SORRY! I overslept and forgot to upload the chapter, my bad 🥹

Anyway, thanks for the support with the 50 power stones you gave me so quickly, it was faster than I expected, honestly haha

Power fragments: [60/60]

Good luck.