System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 26: Missing Bridge

The darkness which engulfed Damon’s vision only lasted a mere moment before he found himself back on Earth.

His vision, however, didn’t remain on the bridge that had once been, as he suddenly began to plummet. The bridge he had used to cross toward the rift was gone, and now there was nothing left to save him from the drop below.

Damon barely had time to acknowledge the lurching of his stomach before his body broke the surface of the river and was swallowed by its coldness.

No more than a second later, he saw multiple figures plummet through the water’s surface.

First, he saw Ivy, then Victor.

Then, at last, he saw the water surface break one more time, but when he tried to see who it was, despite suspecting it was Casper, he saw nothing.

Damon’s eyes locked with Victor and Ivy for a moment before he began paddling his arms around, trying to lift his head above the water’s surface. The fall drove him deeper than he would’ve liked.

Despite his stamina being better due to his recent rise in levels, his very basic swimming skills made it quite a challenge to reach the top. But luckily, he did.

The moment his head broke free, he took a long, ragged breath, soothing his lungs, which had begun to burn.

Ivy was already on top, while Victor took a couple more seconds before his head popped out from below the ice-cold water. Around them were jagged stone fragments of what appeared to be the bridge, its remains jutting from the water’s surface, and bathed in moonlight.

"You okay?" Damon asked Victor, remembering the image of him lying sprawled and injured across the battlefield.

"Yeah..." Victor replied, the pain from his injuries was hearable in his voice.

Damon then turned toward Ivy, who was already staring at him. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but before he could, she had already spoken.

"Where is he?"

Her voice, as well as her gaze were almost colder than the water they were in. There was no warmth of reunion, though it could’ve been expected. They were merely companions who travelled together by chance. Still, Damon expected some type of greeting.

"No clue," he replied, realising instantly she was talking about Casper.

Ivy looked around for a moment, trying to see if he was anywhere near them, but after confirming he was not, she simply began swimming to the closest shore.

Damon also didn’t linger, following shortly after with Victor lagging slightly behind, his swimming being even worse than Damon’s, who swam only twice before in his life.

As they reached the nearest embankment, Damon saw a pair of long legs dangling over the platform above him.

There, sitting cross-legged on the edge, was Kitsune in her true form, her feline eyes observing him with a cunning expression.

He didn’t say anything at first, wanting to get out of the water as soon as possible, but the moment he pulled himself over the edge, she was the one to speak first.

"Hi~"

Damon didn’t reply at first, and instead, he studied her for a couple of moments.

’Not even a drop of water...’ he noted to himself, realising she must’ve avoided the drop altogether.

His stare, however, was quickly misinterpreted as her smile suddenly widened.

She quickly rose to her feet, her heels clicking toward Damon.

’You couldn’t have broken the core a little faster?’ he asked, taking a small step back.

"Mmm~ What’s the fun in that?"

Damon let out a frustrated exhale before turning toward his allies.

Ivy was trying to patch the injury on her shoulder while Victor was lying a meter away from his, his chest rising and falling in ragged rhythm.

’This isn’t good. We’re all injured, and we have no idea where Casper is-’

"I sensed his mana for a moment..." Kitsune cut in through Damon’s thoughts, "He rushed toward the city."

’He’s gone?’ Damon lingered on that thought for a second before lowering himself to the ground. His whole body ached in pain. Realising Casper was gone meant he could take a moment to rest.

Turning his head toward Kitsune, who was standing right above him, he couldn’t help but raise his brow. ’Why are you in your full form anyway-’

Before he could even finish the question, the river to his left exploded, and from it, a massive figure surged upward.

In the corner of his eye, Damon could clearly see a massive eel-like monster, its gaping mouth wide open, ready to devour all of them at once.

But it had no time to reach them as Kitsune casually raised her slender arm. In an instant, an orb of mana coalesced in her palm before shooting straight at the incoming monster.

She didn’t even bother looking at the creature, her eyes still locked onto Damon as her attack killed the enormous monster with a single hit.

[You have slain a Level 28 Sea Serpent.]

[New Monster Index bonus: +4 Stamina, +4 Dexterity, +6 Vitality]

[You have reached Level 17. You have received 1 Stat Point.]

[You have reached Level 18. You have received 1 Stat Point.]

The water exploded once more as the Sea Serpent’s enormous body dropped back into the river.

Both Ivy and Victor sprang to their feet, ready for the worst, but they didn’t even have a chance to react as the monster had already been killed.

They stared with perplexed expressions as the two-tailed woman standing near Damon killed the creature that would’ve definitely devoured them with a single attack.

Damon, too, had jumped to his feet, just as Kitsune began to speak in his head.

"I call dibs on mana~"

’Huh? What?’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"The stat points I just got us," she said. Her raised arm moved toward his chin, forcing his gaze away from the river, where he was staring at the slain body of the Sea Serpent and toward her. "Let’s use it on mana, okay?~"

’S-Sure,’ Damon murmured, his focus still lingering on how easily she had just killed a Level 28 monster.

Their eyes locked for a while before a sudden voice cut through the silence.

"Wh-What the hell was that?!"