The Gamer's POV-Chapter 193: Home of the Hollow Ones [9]

Leon immediately reached out to the quiver hovering in the air and took out an arrow. Then he aimed at the creature.

Cedric, on the other hand, looked away from the building where the hollow one was perched, to his target, Xavier. He clicked his tongue and muttered urgently, "Arlo."

Arlo, who had been hovering above the plaza, suddenly descended with frightening speed. Cedric crouched, then burst into a flurry of feathers. He took the place of Arlo and descended right on top of Xavier, pinning him to the floor.

Within that same breath, the arrow whistled past, barely missing the two boys as it struck the temple wall.

[You have acquired 100 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N2,185 / P410]

At the same time, Leon exhaled and released the string. The arrow flew through the air straight at the opening in the creature’s chest.

Unfortunately, this time, Leon missed by just inches because the creature saw it coming and twisted its torso with frightening speed. The arrow whistled past the gap, narrowly missing the target as the hollow one readjusted its stance on the roof.

It tilted its head, looking into the temple at the person who had taken that shot. Then it reached a hand into its quiver and took out another arrow.

Meanwhile, Cedric immediately yanked a pale Xavier up.

"Hurry!"

The others finally reached the temple entrance and now Cedric and Xavier were running towards it with everything they had.

As they ran, they suddenly saw the thirteen other hollow ones swarming into the plaza. The monsters were moving in a jagged, coordinated sprint, closing the distance much faster than Cedric had anticipated.

"Tell Aurora to get ready!" Cedric yelled.

...Actually, Aurora had already taken her position several meters in front of the eye. She had wound her hands back, and large spears made of ice had already taken form in the air beside her, all aimed at the eye.

She was now waiting for the duo to get into the temple.

They were really close.

But then, at that moment, Leon yelled, "Cedric!"

Cedric already knew, and so, at that exact second, Aika activated [One with the Ravens] and Cedric burst into a flurry of feathers. Almost immediately, an arrow passed where his head should have been, hissing through the space and shattering against the stone floor.

Cedric reappeared inside the temple where his other raven, Kage, was perched. Not long after, Xavier zipped into the temple too, his chest heaving as he barely cleared the threshold.

"Now, Princess!" Alicia yelled.

Without hesitation, Aurora immediately shot her arms forward, and all the spears of ice flew straight into the ominous eye in the wall, sending blood and dark, viscous fluid spraying across the stone.

Almost instantly, a low hum vibrated through the floor as an invisible weight settled over the entrance, sealing the temple from the world outside.

A hollow one reached the entrance to the temple at that very moment, but as it lunged forward, an invisible force suddenly slammed it back. The creature hit the air as if it were a solid wall, and the impact sent it sprawling across the stone plaza outside.

The other hollow ones stopped in front of the door and began to mutter to themselves in confusion. That was a given, granted that they could not see the eye even though it had been here since the Red Bridge Monster settled in this temple. Only the dominants could see the eye and thus kill it to activate the barrier.

To the monsters outside, it was as if their prey had simply vanished behind an impenetrable, transparent wall.

After taking a few breaths, Aurora turned to the others and wiped a stray shard of ice from her cheek. "Let’s keep going. The others are waiting for us."

The remaining vanguards nodded and began walking deeper into the chamber.

But right as they began moving, Xavier looked at Cedric and mumbled sheepishly, "Uhm... thanks for the save outside."

Cedric turned to him and after a few seconds of just staring at him, he finally gave a curt, almost imperceptible nod. Then he continued moving on.

There was a large statue at the end of the chamber. It resembled an obese deity, with many arms protruding from its sides in various grasping gestures. A large snake wound around its bloated neck, its stone scales etched with the same strange runes found on the temple walls.

In front of the statue on the ground was a large opening with stairs leading down. Without wasting any time, the vanguards immediately began running down the stairs to the next floor.

***

Meanwhile, on the floor beneath, the cadets were all engaging intensely with the hollow ones.

It was like an ant colony under siege. The second floor was a vast sunken plaza that was lit up by massive braziers suspended from the ceiling by rusted iron chains.

Groups of cadets could be seen huddled together fighting against hordes of the hollow ones.

One of those groups was Cedric’s party. The members all had looks of desperation and sheer exhaustion etched into their faces as they struggled to stay alive.

Dion, bloodied and battered yelled at the top of his voice. "Draw them in, Ino!"

The hollow one in front of him, and a few around suddenly slowed giving him and his party a chance to finally breathe.

Now sober, he dodged the spear of the hollow one and immediately struck his into the center of its chest, before wrenching it out.

At that moment, a hollow one jumped, spun its spear, and descended from a nearby ledge with lethal momentum directly toward Dion. But then, a hollow one made of thick, coagulating blood suddenly leapt, intercepting the attacker mid-air.

The two collided, dropped onto the ground, and then lunged at each other.

Some meters away, Evelyn was fighting using a spear that she had picked up from a hollow one. She held it in between her elbow and her side, pinning the shaft against her ribs to stabilize her strikes. How she managed to hold such a heavy weapon, parry, and thrust with such lethal precision was a mystery to most, considering that she was fighting with one hand.

She now had only one arm because her other had been cut off cleanly at the shoulder earlier during the fight.