Spearbound Ch. 59

Kade flinched when the needle dug deeper into his flesh. The unchanging speed of the blood extraction caused him to suspect the deeper stab was only to cause him discomfort.

“It won’t be for much longer.”

It almost sounded like the voice said that to comfort him. Telling him this would end soon and he wouldn’t be in pain for long.

Kade hated it.

The pain wasn’t enough for him to feel much other than annoyance. He wouldn’t care even if the pain was worse, because he was concentrating all his energy on figuring out how to avoid death.

One thing he was thankful for was his seemingly inexhaustible blood. It was likely related to his increased vitality, but being a vampire’s dream blood bank was still surprising. It also gave him more time to get himself out of this.

“Where’s Eliza?” Kade asked through gritted teeth.

“Would the knowledge of your companion’s whereabouts change of your decision of committing assisted suicide?”

Kade felt the verbal stab was more painful that the thing stabbed into his neck.

“Perhaps.” There was a brief silence as the voice considered it. Kade couldn’t help but feel that he was a little wrong in the head with how he kept a mostly civil conversation while his blood was hoovered out of him.

“Very well. I am benevolent enough to allow last words before you both die.”

Not for the first time, Kade wondered how the voice had gained such a firm grasp of a human language.

The ground near the pillar shimmered. He expected to see Eliza to be in the same predicament as him, but that wasn’t the case.

“Eliza!” The state she was in shocked Kade. He was mostly unharmed, but she was not.

Her cracked skin resembled rock, and blood flowed freely from her body. She should have been unconscious by all rights, but the fierce glare on her face suggested an abundance of vitality.

“Kade,” Eliza said calmly, bleeding out on the ground. “I see you also rejected the kind offer.”

“What happened to you?” Kade’s eyes flitted around her body. He had seen her disheveled before, but never injured seriously.

Embarrassment flashed across her face. “I thought I was in an illusion, so I figured pain would get me out.”

Kade always thought Eliza was a little strange, but he hadn’t been aware just how off she was. Her assumption wasn’t crazy, but the extent of the self-inflicted wounds certainly was.

“She will live. I will allow none of you to die before the pillars are imbued.”

Kade was tiring of the unnecessary information he was getting, especially since it wasn’t enough for him to understand what it meant.

He sympathized with this corrupted world, and as much as he wanted to help, even if only out of pity, he simply didn’t have the ability.

He couldn’t forget that Earth was still in a training phase; his only mission was to prepare for what came next. Taking detours by listening to the words of a disembodied voice wasn’t on the list of things he was going to do.

Kade winced when Eliza slammed onto the pillar unceremoniously as new chains wrapped around her. He saw a hollow tube sink into her neck and bright red blood filled it instantly.

Eliza immediately fell into a sleeping state as her skin grew paler by the second.

“This one won’t last as long as you. It’s almost not worth extracting her energy.”

Kade ignored the voice and redoubled his attempts to escape the chains. His previous efforts had been so futile that the voice must have disdained being wary, and it was for good reason.

He wasn’t any more successful, even though he was far more desperate. All of his skills and abilities were useless because of the suppression of the chains.

“Your companion has a minute at most. It’s best to change your mind before then.”

Companion.

It clicked that there was one thing Kade hadn’t tried yet. He pushed all the desperation he felt towards his bond with Hellion.

He didn’t have any expectations. Hellion was still a baby, and far worse than him in all matters except flight.

Still, it was the only thing left for Kade to put his hopes on.

Since his arrival here, the bond had been muted, but the frantic broadcast across it elicited a response.

Kade’s eyes widened when he felt Hellion send him a questioning feeling. He wasn’t sure what else there was to explain, so he sent an even stronger feeling of desperation, hoping the bird could force a connection.

He was thankful that the voice seemed to be unaware of the bond. He wasn’t sure what that was the case, but he hoped it would last long enough for him to Houdini himself out of here.

Kade felt Hellion’s determination surge before the bond delivered a trickle of the bird’s fiery power.

It was hugely disappointing that this was all the bond could provide, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Kade had a far-reaching hypothesis that Eliza and he had been transported to this place because it was specifically prepared for any invaders of the rift zone. He hoped that an introduction of native power would lessen the harsh suppression he was under.

He pulled on the trickle of external power and did his best to mix it in with his own mana. The disembodied voice could detect the change happening at anytime, so he abandoned being discrete in favor of speed.

Eliza looked to be near her limit when Kade gave [Ethereal Glide] another try.

Kade didn’t get excited when he phased through the chains. He immediately reformed his [Soulrend], sacrificing the health necessary, and stabbed it toward the chains imprisoning Eliza to the pillar.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 25%!

He activated [Inferno Burst] right before contact and heard the satisfying sound of metal breaking.

Kade caught Eliza before she could fall and descended, placing her gently on the ground.

“How did you gain a trace of my magic?”

He swore he could sense panic in the voice, but he could not think about it. The bond was already weak enough, so it shouldn’t take much effort for the disembodied voice to eliminate it entirely.

He needed to use it to the fullest extent while he could.

Kade didn’t have a plan on what to do if he successfully escaped the chains, so he defaulted to the one thing he was good at: destroying things. And there was only one thing in this place that he could destroy.

He leaped towards the pillar with a look that would have terrified any living being. If the pillar had a consciousness, it would have fled from the lunatic that intended to use his life to destroy it if necessary.

Kade didn’t keep his [Abilities] in reserve. The explosion of fire created by [Inferno Burst] blew a chunk off the pillar. He followed that by immediately impaling the [Soulrend] into the pillar and activating [Arc Chain] with no power spared.

That ability was for fleshy enemies, but his reckless decision to pour his mana into the attack and overpower it paid off.

An intense burst of lightning bolts erupted from within the pillar, disintegrating it from the inside. Kade ignored the large pieces of stone falling on his body and climbed to stand at the center of the broken pillar.

MP: 21/76

He only had a few more significant attacks left. He raised his [Soulrend], aiming it directly below him at the pillar.

Kade didn’t know if this would work, but he only hoped that the rift zone classification meant there was an accessible escape.

The intense heat from the fiery explosion blew apart the remaining parts of the pillar, leaving him surrounded by rubble.

He still didn’t feel great, unsure if his rampage accomplished anything.

“I sense a traitorous falcon.”

The voice sounded terrifyingly calm. 

Kade’s hand tightened around his [Soulrend]. The discovery of the bond was inevitable.

“Don’t be so concerned. There are no further moves that could extend my existence. You have succeeded, invader. Be wary, for I am not unique in the universe. Your own world could fall to the same state.”

He was already aware of that. He suppressed his rising joy at somehow pulling a win out of his ass and waited for more surprises.

The world shook around him, slowly at first, but the intensity increased to a point he had trouble standing.

Kade stored his [Soulrend] and rushed to Eliza, picking her up in a princess carry as he waited for whatever was to follow.

He hoped that the world would keep shaking for several minutes so he could recover his [MP].

Objective complete.

Survive for 7 days (7/7)

Kade blinked in surprise. He looked at the world shaking in a new light. It was suddenly similar to how the first rift zone destroyed itself in the end.

He rushed to show his appreciation to Hellion through the bond. “System, will Hellion follow me to Earth?”

“When you return to Earth, your companion will always follow.”

Kade was thankful he got a reply this time. He had become attached to the excitable thing in the short time they spent together.

You are exiting the Class D Rift Zone #222,222.

He tightened his hold around Eliza as he appeared on Earth.