NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68: Failure
The first golem approached me and it raised its arm into the air, ready to strike.
That'll be perfect. I've been meaning to test something else.
As soon as it was about to hit me, I struck the ground, activating Grim Dragon Eruption.
In an instant, countless spiky bones erupted from the ground beneath me and the field was like that of a sea urchin's.
Grim Dragon Eruption is basically Grim Dragon Thorn except it is an attack that covers all directions instead of one. Though it completely replaces the skill, Grim Dragon Thorn is actually beneficial to Grim Dragon Eruption.
The higher leveled Grim Dragon Thorn is, the more spikes I will be able to summon. This effect goes into Grim Dragon Eruption except for the higher level it gets, the more range it covers. If I had both of these skills at max, I can deal some heavy damage.
The only problem is the amount of mana I need to use for Grim Dragon Eruption, which is 5,000,000 mana every time the skill is activated.
Anyway, I looked at the golem in front of me who had multiple spines stuck in its stone body. It slowly motioned its body and easily broke the spikes.
Did I also forget to say that the more it levels up, the more sturdy the bones are? Since they are level 1, they will be pretty weak and fragile.
Well, I guess I can just level them up here.
I turned and another golem was coming after me. I used Grim Dragon Thorns, sending spines penetrating its legs. However, a single movement and was quickly broken.
I continued to use Grim Dragon Thorns and Grim Dragon Eruption. By the time I found out, I had already depleted a large amount of mana.
[Mana: 94,495,635/160,000,000]
Considering I've been performing Grim Dragon Eruption and Grim Dragon Thorns non-stop, it would make sense that my mana would deplete quicker. In addition to Flash Step and other countless evading skills. The skill Flash Down from Akane is also pretty useful since it consumes the same amount of mana Flash Step takes.
I've also been using Afterimage which consumes 249,999 mana every use for 10 seconds.
After a while, I flew back up in the air and prepared Atomic Fission yet again.
I've noticed ever since I've been fighting them and splattering them with holes that they just continue to rebuild themselves with the scattered piles of rubble lying everywhere.
If I get rid of their supply, then they won't be able to rebuild themselves.
So my only solution is to get rid of the remains before they absorb them again.
I launched Atomic Fission and while it traveled towards the golems I made a Volatile Orb in my hand.
I'll just blow up the pieces as they are being split up, then they'll have less to regenerate with. They can't continue this forever.
I continued to bombard them with Volatile Orbs as Atomic Fission stunned them, which Atomic Fission can somehow do.
After the smoke cleared up, the golems were missing a large portion of their body.
I smirked as I knew I was making progress.
"Now I just need to-"
!
However, I noticed that in an instant, their bodies began regenerating at high speed. That's when I noticed that they were using the stone and rocks from the walls to regenerate.
What? They can even use the walls to heal themselves?
"Damn it."
This place is their home so they basically have everything they need after all.
I can't destroy this whole chasm, otherwise, the golems will be buried in the pile of rubble. They can use it to heal themselves, but they can't phase through it. Though it will pin them, allowing me to take them out with Atomic Fission. However, I need their cores and that could be broken along with Atomic Fission.
Cores are beneficial as a whole but when they are in countless pieces, it will have less worth.
Anyway, for now, I need to find a way to stop them from regenerating, which is going to be an impossible task.
For now, I'll throw a few more Atomic Fissions and think of what I'll do by then.
But suddenly, as I was charging up another Atomic Fission, I was suddenly struck on the left side of my body.
I smashed into the wall which caused a few of my bones to crack.
What… was that?
I looked up and noticed there was a stone pillar protruding from the walls. Is that what hit me? That wasn't there before unless…
The golems had their hands planted into the ground and I quickly assessed the situation. Those golems have the ability to use the walls to perform their attacks. I see.
This entire place is made of stone and if they can perform their attacks from down there, that means their range is… this entire chasm.
In other words, I'm in their domain.
I quickly performed Instant Heal and flew out of there before another stone pillar struck me.
I'll have to stay away from the walls. I need to think of a plan to take them out.
For now, I just need to parry these pillars.
The pillars were coming out of the walls like a jack in a box and I needed to time my punches to counter the force of the pillars. I obtained West God Martial Arts from Ravyn and it specifically specializes in heavy countering techniques, which I was using right now.
It wasn't easy. I couldn't stop because they were doing it repeatedly. I thought they would eventually run out of energy but the further I flew up, the more pillars that shot out from the walls and the faster they were appearing.
There was also another problem. Flight. I haven't mentioned this, but it consumes 1,000 mana every 5 milliseconds that passes. My mana restoration rate is about 100,000 mana per second. If you do the math correctly, I consume 200,000 mana per second just to float in the air.
Every 100 levels, my mana restoration rate increases by 10,000 mana per second so if I was level 1100, I would be regaining 110,000 mana per second.
The problem here is that I'm losing more mana than I am regaining it. If I fought them on the ground, I would definitely lose.
When I thought I was out of range, I threw down multiple rounds of Volatile Orbs. During the ignitions of the orbs, I used Flash Down to quickly close my distance between me and the golems and created another Atomic Fission, which I launched.
I created another Atomic Fission and this time aimed it at the wall to my left. As long as I'm not surrounded by stone, they won't be able to get me.
I would create another Atomic Fission and aim it to my right, but then a heavy blunt force struck me from behind and I was interrupted.
What? Didn't I get rid of the wall behind me?
I turned to see multiple stone pillars filling the wall and one heading straight towards me.
Damn it, I've been fighting these things for almost 10 minutes now. Every time I find out their weakness, it suddenly becomes their strength. They also don't seem to be running out of strength or mana.
Just what am I not seeing!?
I was hit again from the other wall and fell towards the golem.
I stared at the golems beneath me, and I was falling towards the ground at an alarming rate.
...
Stupid... golems...
It doesn't matter anymore. I'm not gonna be made a fool by some stupid golems...
I won't...
A sinister smile appeared on my face as I fell down the gorge. My cackles reverberated through the chasm as I activated my domain.
"SHADOW KING DOMAIN!"
...
...
...
***
Without the proper incantation, a domain can still be laid out. However, it will be incomplete and nerfed. The chances of the domain failing to evoke is more than 90 percent and the same amount of mana will be consumed, but one-tenth of the time will be taken away.
Nero's shadow extended and the golems were in his range. As his shadow began to form a dome, holes could be noticed and the shadow drooped like falling black slime.
The shadow attempted to form a dome to trap the golems, but six seconds passed by in a flash and the shadow dissipated in an instant. His attempt to use his domain was a failure.
Nero fell to the ground and every single one of the golems pounced towards him and begun pounding him.
[Status: Injured]
He was being battered mercilessly and whenever he got the chance, he attempted to escape or resist, but that only led to an even more mercilessly batter.
[Status: Critically Injured]
He could hear his bones breaking one by one as they continued to pound him with stone pillars.
[Status: Gravely Injured]
Nero could hear his ears ringing and his vision blurring. He couldn't heal himself because he had used the last of his mana to activate an imperfect domain that failed to do its purpose.
He was close to succumbing to his injuries. Even if he tried to resist, the human body could only take so much, even if they had Invincibility.
Then suddenly, the golems attacking him were erased. The only thing left of them was their cores.
"Hmph, you should've focused on your enemies more than your surroundings."
Celestia's voice said as her hand which glowed green approached Nero's face.
"A golem has a weak point behind their backs where their cores are located. Instead of attempting to find their blind spot, you resorted to only your power. You failed to realize this and therefore you lost."
Nero's body was then wrapped around in green light.
"Nero, you have failed."
Those were the last words he heard before he passed out.
.
.
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