Arcanist In Another World

Chapter 56: Terror

Valens froze. Drops of cold sweat trickled down his neck. He tried to move, to blink, to do something that would tear away his gaze from this abomination, but there was nowhere to move.

The eye was everywhere.

It was pitch-black with no visible spots around it, covered in an ethereal fog. On its giant surface Valens saw his reflection. He looked so little, so brittle, as if the mere attention of this eye, the sheer size of it was enough to swallow him whole.

In the darkness, he was no more.

His body refused to hear the pleas of his mind.

[You have gazed into the eye of a Terror.]

A single line, then he felt a pull at his core, an icy grip around his skin that was invisible to the naked eye. It slithered slowly across his arms,

They dented the gleaming leggings and left a deep impression upon their surfaces, but Captain Edric never wavered as he hauled the sword high over the creature’s back. Garran and Dain moved in, pressing into the towering beast, coming at it from two sides.

[Eldhollow - Level ???]

Valens blinked to gather himself before staring at the creature’s form. It had two horns jutting out from the side of its head, leathery skin stretched too tight in some places, and wrinkled layer upon layer. It could hardly fit into the passage with its giant body, stooping whenever it tried to claw at the Templars.

Wait, this… seems familiar.

Valens shook his head. He was all prickly and sensitive around his arms as he could still feel the touch of that Terror. He tried a Lifeward to see if there was anything wrong and flushed his body with Lifesurges to make sure he cleaned every inch of his being, but the sensation just wouldn’t pass.

I have to do something. That claw will come for me, won’t it?

He gazed in the direction where he lost the trail of those whispers, then back at Captain Edric’s group. They certainly didn’t need his help, but if what awaited him further beyond this passage was an abomination whose single eye had nearly sucked his core dry, then perhaps it wouldn’t be very wise of him to follow that trail without some company by his side.

He reached out to his mana pool and scowled when he saw how little was left of that gurgling river. The waves of it dried out and left behind them a small trickle that seemed like a tiny drop in the fleshy cage.

What happened to my mana? Did that creature do something?

“Watch out, Healer!” came Garran’s voice.

Valens pulled his mind off the questions and focused on the sight ahead. The Eldhollow was lumbering back unsteadily toward him as Captain Edric stabbed his golden sword over and over into its back, spattering black blood all over his golden plates while Garran and Dain had shifted to the side, staring at him.

And yet the creature bounded stubbornly toward him. Its red eyes were focused on him, bulging veins around its large forehead pulsing like little hearts. Then there was a claw coming at him, coming at him fast… just like in that illusion.

How is this possible?

A Light Feet carried him away from the creature’s path. Valens stuck close to the dripping walls of the passage and made himself as small as possible as the Eldhollow’s claw missed him by a hair’s breadth. Frustration leaked from his Resonance as it stopped, and he turned back to gaze at him.

Captain Edric’s golden sword squelched into its back once again.

The Eldhollow growled. It clawed at its head, trying to jerk the annoying Templar off its back, failing miserably as Captain Edric ducked and moved around the attacks as though he expected every one of them.

A little help can go both ways.

Gravitating Earth answered his call as Valens watched the creature stumble back, Dain and Garran pressuring it from the sides. He reached for the tiles under its feet, felt them in his mind, and focused on the Resonance as he established the frequencies that would fit for the job.

The Fiend was giant and strong enough to break past an earthly wall. Its Endurance and Vitality were not meager as well since some of the cuts around its skin had already healed back to smooth. Only a few were left near its neck where Captain Edric aimed his sword.

It can't be easy to balance such an amount of muscle and flesh. Not easy at all when the ground starts slipping from underneath your feet.

Valens waited for the moment the creature stumbled another step back to carve a deep hole right under where it tried to plant its foot.

The beast staggered.

Its balance gave way with a sickening lurch, and it began to fall. Backward, toward where Dain and Garran waited. They leapt away just in time as the towering monstrosity crashed into the ground, while Captain Edric launched himself from the beast’s spine, golden sword spinning with a humming Resonance that split the very air.

The tip of the weapon pierced down through the soft spot near the creature’s neck, its thick arms too out of balance to reach in time to stop it before it squelched deep enough to hurt. A scream tore through its throat as its body buckled in pain, and it started thrashing about.

It tried to pull its leg free, but already its movements had grown sluggish. The Templars used that split second to riddle the creature’s skin with bloody holes and holy lights.

Then… stillness.

‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Eldhollow - lvl 235]!

Your 1st Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience would be stored.

Your 1st Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience would be stored.

“Nasty bastard,” Garran huffed out a breath as he kicked the creature’s body.

“Uh,” Dain grunted.

“Made us work for it, that’s for sure,” Captain Edric nodded as he wiped his sword clean over the creature’s skin, then stepped back and raised the weapon to take a gaze into the jewel cocked into its pommel. It was still alive with darkish lights, which made him scowl. “Seems like it isn't alone.”

“Are you sure?” Garran opened his visor and squinted his eyes at the jewel. “Blessed Father. Another Fiend in this forgotten crypt? What is happening here?”

“Just another monster,” Captain Edric shrugged. “That’s what we do, eh? No point in making a deal out of it. We move on.”

“True that,” Garran nodded in the manner of a soldier slightly inconvenienced by the gravel stuck in his boots, hardly bothered by the dead bodies laying about him and the giant of a corpse resting just a few steps ahead.

You… You don’t know, do you?

“Captain,” Valens muttered as he stepped slowly around the creature’s giant carcass. There was a tightness in his throat as he spoke, “Can I ask a question?”

Captain Edric wedged one boot up on the corpse of the Eldhollow, leaning over his knee, looking up at him with eyes squinted. “Speak,” he muttered.

A single word.

Valens swallowed, but Apathy held him as he faced the captain’s sharp frown. “What is a Terror?”

“Terror?” It was Garran who echoed him, with Dain shifting uncomfortably by his side.

“Yes, a Terror,” Valens nodded, but he wasn’t done. “And I have one more… Have you ever heard the name Evercrest?”

Captain Edric’s eyes widened as he turned sharply. “You—where did you hear that name?” he demanded, voice low and taut with uncertainty.

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