Chapter 81: Red hole

Zandrel laughed. “I feel like you have forgotten that I am a necromancer!”

He slapped the sword to the side, and his hand rose up to his face and pulled at the bandage. The two red sockets brightened, widening until the only thing that filled his face was a bright red pit, and yet in the pit there were countless other red eyes that continuously blinked.

Riven didn’t know how he could see red eyes in the face that was Malum’s face, but that was what he saw. A cold feeling settled in his gut when he saw it, and he knew that things were about to go downhill.

And he was right.

But it happened in the most unexpected way. A tongue that seemed to be made of blood came out of the red hole in his face. The tongue slipped out and tasted the air before it shot forward and curled around the construct’s arm.

The tongue, that was tiny one moment, suddenly enlarged, swelling into four meters. The construct’s hand creaked as the tongue gained strength, seeking to shatter the hand entirely.

It was then that the construct began to struggle, seeking to raise its sword, but with the arm already caught by the red blood tongue, it was an impossible affair. Malum was a middle Auracrest while the construct’s power summed up to low rank.

The difference in strength was obvious.

But that wasn’t what Riven was focused on. He was looking at Zandrel, who had already turned, running to Kivara, who was unconscious. At first, he didn’t understand, but then he got it. Zandrel was running away!

Riven stiffened, but he didn’t move from his place. What could he do?

Malum realized the same thing, and his hand went to the hole in his face. His hand entered the hole, and he seemed to struggle with pulling something out. He cursed and finally pulled it out.

The thing screeched, tentacles of red blood lashing out as it flung itself at the construct, its size swelling up in an instant.

Riven shuddered. As a necromancer, he knew that the monster was dead, and yet it still preserved its outward appearance as if it was once alive.

The monster was also at the low Auracrest. Its tentacles curled around the construct’s limbs and began to squeeze, cracking stones with ease. If it were human, those tentacles would have squeezed the life out of the person already.

Riven’s eyes darkened. “Don’t tell me the whole of this guy’s face is the place where he stores his monsters?”

Malum began to advance, his speed blurring forward, but the other construct was there, swinging its weapon.

Malum didn’t seem to be in the mood to play around, as his hand went to his face and he ripped out a new monster.

The monster was the biggest fish Riven had ever seen, with a long mouth that was filled with fangs. Its body was big, deep blue, and sleek, as if a layer of clear water was sprayed above it.

Its eyes were cold with a thin film of white. The monster swam in the air as if it was water, opened its mouth, and roared toward the construct.

Malum left them to it and rushed at Zandrel instead, his leaping steps soon taking him directly behind the man.

Zandrel whirled, a short dagger in his hand aimed at Malum’s head, but the man dodged it with ease. His hand snapped out and he gripped the other’s hand, wrenching the dagger away from him.

The two stared at each other for an instant, and then they exploded into fighting. Fists that generated shockwaves of their own flew in the air, the ground shattered around them.

But the difference in strength was clearly there. Riven tried to keep up, but all he saw were afterimages and shadows. He couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

The only thing he could point out was that one person was getting pushed back, and it wasn’t Malum.

Zandrel was struggling to hold his own. He had given space, so much so that it looked as if he was running away. But then suddenly a golden thread jerked him back, a thread that was connected to a tree, and it drew him back as if he was a fish on a hook line.

Seeing this, Malum began to run faster towards him.

But Riven narrowed his eyes. The expression on Zandrel was way too calm. The man must be planning something, and apparently, Malum was rushing straight at whatever he was planning.

As Zandrel flew back in the air, his hand began to curl, his fingers moving independently as if each one was controlling something.

A golden light appeared in front of him, two dozen bundles of threads that slowly unfurled. Each thread shuddered in the air like a snake with its head toward the rushing Malum.

Zandrel reached the trees and stood atop a branch, his face calm but his eyes shining like white sands. And then he smiled.

Malum had almost reached the trees when the threads all shot forward like horizontal rain.

But Malum didn’t stop running. His hand sprayed forward as if he was pushing something out. From his face, the hole pulsed, and a monster directly flew out.

The monster was a hunk of an undead, but just as it regained its true size, it exploded!

“What the…” Riven was so shocked he could only stare mutely at the scene.

The flesh from the exploded monster flowed toward Malum, forming a shield around him. A literal meat shield. The threads punched into the shield but couldn’t pass through, as the inside had been reinforced with the monster’s meat.

Zandrel grew angry when he saw this. The thread that was binding to the tree shook off, and he flew to another tree. He jerked his hand and fingers again, and more threads tumbled out. Golden light shone sharply in the air as the threads curved around to stab at Malum.

More monsters climbed out of his face, and they promptly exploded, turning into shields, until Malum was running with a full dome on his head.

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