Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 96: Withered Forest

Kaiser didn’t bother waiting. As soon as he sensed the danger, he dashed away. He could handle one Storm Serpent at a time, but against dozens, he’d be overwhelmed.

Serpents were best known for strangling their prey, and being caught in their midst could be dangerous.

Even if he successfully killed them all, he couldn’t guarantee he’d survive without a single severe injury. He had already used the Cursed Voice once, using it again so soon might affect him greatly.

The Storm Serpents rushed after him, but retreated after he moved away from their abode.

Realizing they had stopped coming after him, Kaiser paused, then scanned his surroundings. He had moved to the east of the island, where he spotted a withered tree earlier. Now that he was closer, he realized it was actually a withered forest.

The dark brown trees with claw-like branches were numerous, their top branches disappearing into the obscuring fog.

As Kaiser stood, he could feel a dozen eyes watching him from the fog. None of them blinked. He grew alert, his shadow senses stretched to their limit.

He studied the shadows around the trees, trying to determine where the predators hiding in ambush were located.

In a few minutes, he realized there were a few unnatural things attached to the trees.

’That shape... bats?’

Sighing, he summoned the Unremarkable Sword too, wielding it with the Virtuous Sorrow.

He didn’t wait for them to attack, but initiated assault himself. He disappeared, then reappeared behind one of the bats hanging from a branch. It had dark brown skin which made it almost indistinguishable from the withered tree itself.

Kaiser didn’t give it time to react to his presence before he stabbed its head. The death was smooth and swift, pinning the body to the tree.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Bark Bat]

The instant he killed one, he was assaulted by the screeching noises of the other bats.

His head swam, and a heavy wave of dizziness and headache assaulted him. His eyes widened, and he forced himself to steady his footing.

Even then, he fell to his knees, disoriented.

The ground seemed to undulate, and his ears stung painfully.

’They’re collectively attacking my mind. I need a quick response to break out.’

He closed his eyes, then cut off the information his ears were sending to his brain. It wasn’t easy to do, but he had been trained to control all his senses.

As soon as the screeches stopped infiltrating his mind, the dizziness effect stopped. Kaiser didn’t open his eyes, but used his shadow senses to locate the other bats swiftly.

He moved at maximum speed, killing them one after the other. A few resisted, blocking his swords with their talons.

Kaiser simply twisted the sword until the sharp edge cut through the legs. In under two minutes, he had eliminated thirteen Bark Bats.

Then he sensed something larger. It was probably a Bark Bat too, but of a different rank. He felt its shadow spread its wings wide, then fly towards him.

Holding the two swords in his hands, he crossed the blades.

Thud!

The creature slammed into him, its talons scraping against his swords. He was thrown back, slamming against a tree with so much force it snapped.

Kaiser grunted, momentarily releasing control of his hearing. As if realizing that he had made a mistake, the creature screeched.

SCREEEEEEEE—!

Its voice was vastly different from the others, directly assaulting Kaiser’s mind. Blood gushed from his nostrils, and he almost fell to the ground.

His eyes turned bloodshot, his head throbbing severely. The creature didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately attacked him.

Grimacing, he rolled to the side, almost completely dodging the attack.

The talons still grazed his side, tearing through both armor and flesh. The pain barely registered in his mind as he forcefully cut his hearing sense again.

’This is a tough one.’

He exhaled, his mind still reeling from the sound attack. As the creature turned back to attack him, he dismissed one sword and stretched out his free hand.

On the ground, the shadow of his hand and its leg approached each other. Kaiser couldn’t see because he had closed his eyes, but he sensed the position of the creature’s leg and grabbed at it.

As soon as his hand closed around that hairy leg, he swung it towards the nearest tree violently.

Bang!

The creature was surprised, smashed against a tree until it snapped. Before it could recover, Kaiser struck again and again. He stabbed one of its wings, pinning it to the ground. Then he struck a heavy punch at its shoulder, breaking the bone brutally.

It screeched in pain, but the sound didn’t even reach him. He grabbed the thin legs, forcefully breaking the bones again. The creature struggled on the ground, trying to fly with its uninjured wing.

Totally expressionless, Kaiser summoned the Nameless Fang and stabbed the weapon into its neck.

His elbow pressed it to the ground, stopping all its struggles until it finally died.

[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Withered Bat]

His tensed muscles eased, and he rolled of the corpse. He laid beside it, panting heavily and opening his eyes.

’I didn’t expect this much difficulty. No wonder Uncle asked me to be very careful.’

Those royal blue eyes held a faint, indescribable emotion within them. As he rested, his body was wrecked with pain. His ears were bleeding, his head was throbbing, and the injury at his side...

’Hm? It’s healing already?’

He sat up and dismissed his armor so he could check it. Removing his top, he stared at the ugly gashes being healed.

The wounds were deep, almost exposing his ribcage. However, the torn flesh was already closing back, stitched by tiny crystalline particles.

’Is this the element of frost at work? Pretty impressive and efficient.’

In just ten minutes, the wound had mostly healed, leaving nothing but superficial scars which would surely disappear soon.

He didn’t summon the Asura Vest immediately, allowing it to repair itself in his crystal core.

Instead, he stood up and dug out the soul crystal from the corpse. The uneven crystal glimmered brightly, raw essence within it.

Kaiser stored it in his pocket, then stood up. He sheathed both swords by his side, then walked deeper into the withered forest.