17. A: a Mad Tsunami of Darkness

For a second, why don’t you try imagining the scene...

Imagine reality as you know shattering into small pieces, before then getting swept by a black mist...

And then, the moment the black mist disappear, imagine it, the feeling when you know that all of what’s left will only be darkness...

An unlimited Darkness, beyond your understanding, beyond your reasoning, and beyond your comprehension.

Now, imagine that Darkness Overflowing, from the now crumbling world...

Imagine it, slowly but surely advancing as it erases everything, as it devours everything, and then imagine it finding you...

And so, slowly but surely that Endless Darkness move, and as it crawls toward you... Toward me, I can see it...

I can see, the distorted limbs stretching from it, I can see the faces filled with despair raised from inside it, and more than anything, I can see it...

The madness, that this world has tried so much, to forget...

....

Running, I glance at it again...

The oblivion, with all the ugliness inside of it...

As it slowly crawls toward me.... well, let me take that back...

“This is not slow, at ALL.”

Saying so, and trying to release some stress, I keep running. Nevertheless, it sure is crazy, this thing here...

I mean, at the beginning I only felt an incredible amount of Curse coming from the far-end side, where the barriers limiting this area should be, you know?

And so, feeling that, naturally my first thought was...

Shall We Have Some Fun...

Or not. But well, it was something along those lines.

“after all, it’s just hard to erase habits, you know?”

Still, even as thrill-addict as I am, I am no madman, okay? And so, quickly changing gears, I had given up on epic battles and instead chosen to escape...

And though doing so, really made me feel a little sad, but alas, you can’t have everything at once...

As such, I naturally made my decision, and between fighting a totally-losing battle or escaping until a good chance present itself, it wasn’t really that hard to choose...

Or at least, it should have been so...

Thinking so, I quickly avoid a few twisted limbs, as I quickly leap into the air.

Sssshhh.

Cutting air.

Then succeeding in doing so, I resume my running, as I avoid all the flying obstacles coming in my way...

First, was by jumping into the air and avoiding a coming boulder... Second, was backflipping as I avoid a giant tree trunk coming in my direction.... and thirdly, was yet another backflip with my hands on said trunk, before throwing myself into the air avoiding a coming...

“car?”

Saying so, I watch. And with me midair, upsidedown, AND accelerated, I observe as the unknown car actually gets devoured by the Oblivion...

First, by the twisted black limbs taking hold of it, second by the Curse eroding it, and third, by...

Saashhh.

Metal shredding sound.

By shredding the whole car, as an endless number of arms...

Dissect it.

Aaaaaahhhhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Oooooooohhh...

And looking at all of that, happening in slow motion, the only thing I could say was...

“That was actually COOL.”

Ah, but even if it’s cool I still don’t want to experience it, okay?

I mean, it’s still surprising even to now, you know? The fact that I started running in case a super-large monster attacked or something, but instead what I got was...

A beach episode.

Can you believe that? Instead of getting a super-duper thing to punch, what I got was a black, acidic, flesh-eating, damn sea...

And with faces in it, to boost? Seriously...

“just how fun can this game get?”

Smiling as I say so, I quickly get on my feet, and once again return to running, as I swiftly increase my pace...

Before then, using every ounce of my power to...

Jump.

Doing so, and jumping into the air, I almost fly, but then with the momentum, I accumulated slowly dying, I begin to fall...

Or at least, I would if I didn’t step on a wall, and...

Started a Vertically rush, as I did my all running on the wall. Before then...

Jumping again, as I...

Paa.

As I barely take a hold of the rooftop’s railing.

“fuuu... that was close. Just a few centimeters, and.....”

Saying so, and not daring to finish it, I smile triumphantly as I watch the mad twisted limbs madly thrashing around...

All of that, done four floors below me.

“ha... guess finding an intact five-story building was a stroke of good luck...”

Saying so, and barely clinging to the rooftop’s railing, all by one hand, I take a deep breath, and then...

With one arm, I pull myself up and flipping twice in the air, I again...

Get back on my feet.

“but wow... as expected of me....”

Smile.

“a whole ten-on-ten performance, hmm.”

Truly, a person of talents, aren’t I?

Thinking so and smiling, I relax, letting my sharpened nerves calm down a little, when...

Cough.

When once again, I cough blood.

Sigh.

“Guess that was pushing myself a little too much, hmm... but, well...”

Clean blood from mouth.

“it WAS fun, so I guess it’s okay.”

Smiling as I say so, I relax, feeling my exhausted body, before then moving to softly kick the railing.

Bam.

Softly kicking the railing, it doesn’t budge. And seeing that, I slowly move closer to it, before then laying on the railing, as I support my weakened body on it.

“haaa... that was tiring... seriously....”

I mean, having to literally run from a crawling, living tsunami of darkness?

Yeah, never expected that. And so, the moment I found that the source of all the howls and Curse was actually not a Unique Boss monster, nor an Event-Related Demonic Army, I was indeed thinking of stopping my movement and checking it.

“well, I would have done so, if it actually wasn’t so ....”

“well... if it wasn’t so crazy...”

Saying so, I glance around me. And with me laying powerlessly on the railing, I watch the previously green landscape of the Dark Forest, quickly transforming into a Dark Sea of Demonic Curse, beginning with the far barriers, and moving seamlessly toward the heart of this Area...

“though the scary part is the fact that with each passing second, it starts becoming faster...”

“Seriously, that was really close...”

If I hadn’t actually started running early, then who knows... I may have actually been shredded to pieces too, by thousand of mad, black, and twisted hands.

“and though, yeah. I heard once a joke from Celis about thousand of people wanting to shred me apart, buuuut...”

“Fuck them. I am no Mexican Barbacoa, get that?”

Smiling as I say that, I feel my mood improving, but still...

“haaa... to think that even making jokes is hard. Guess I really pushed myself to the limits.”

Thinking so, and glancing at my extremely low SP, I again...

Sigh.

“well, at least I gained a skill from it....”

Calmly saying so, I, then check my status, and there...

- Sp Lessened Consumption lv2 -

I see it, one of the two reasons I could actually escape, with the other being my Sp enhance skill...

“or more like the abundant Curse AND Sp enhance, but meeh.”

Saying so, I once again glance to the mad spectacle of dancing shadows, and distorted limbs in front of me. And seeing it moving everywhere, I...

Amusedly Smile.