CHAPTER 44: PERCHEL ZONE 6

Kael Vi-rel’s voice was strained, a tight knot of frustration and exhaustion in his throat. "Shit... we’ve been dodging for an hour now." His body was a coiled spring, every muscle screaming from the constant, desperate dance of evasion. He weaved past another lethal strike, the air beside his head shivering as a crack in reality opened and snapped shut.

He muttered to himself, his voice a low, raspy growl. "It’s best if Selene Whitmore keeps her distance for now. Even she can’t get close through this darkness..." His eyes, keen and focused, were locked on the distorted figure ahead. The creature, a nightmare of twisted flesh and void energy, seemed to exist in a different dimension entirely, its movements a jarring series of blinks and tears in the fabric of the world. It was less a physical foe and more a living weapon of spatial distortion.

Clara Winslet’s heavy breathing was audible even over the buzzing hum of the ghoul’s magic. Her face was a mask of raw frustration. Every time she tried to move forward, to lend her strength, she was forced back by an invisible, impenetrable barrier of warped space. Her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles were white, her anger at her own powerlessness a bitter taste in her mouth. She was a storm contained in a bottle, and the frustration was eating at her.

A sudden, bone-deep chill ran down Kael’s spine. His instincts, honed by a thousand near-death experiences, screamed at him. He shifted, a fraction of a second too late, but it was enough. The very ground beneath his feet vanished, as if reality had been erased with a cosmic brush. A jagged, silent tear in space snapped shut where he had been standing only a heartbeat earlier, leaving nothing but a smooth, unnerving emptiness in its place. The feeling of that void, of the world itself being unmade right where he stood, was a horror he couldn’t shake. It was a cold, absolute negation of existence.

"I added magic to my feet and still barely managed to avoid that... but there’s a limit. I can’t keep tracking the magic waves forever." His thoughts raced, a blur of strategies and contingencies, as a bead of sweat, cold and clammy, dripped down his brow. His breathing was coming in uneven, ragged gasps. The constant state of high alert was wearing him down, gnawing at his focus and resolve.

The only saving grace in this nightmare was that the ghoul’s range was fixed; it couldn’t tear through multiple spaces at once. But waiting it out wasn’t an option. The longer they stalled, the more likely one of them would make a mistake, a misstep that would cost them their lives. The air itself hummed with a low, dissonant buzz of distortion, faint cracks of light flashing every time the ghoul ripped at the world. It was like being trapped inside a dying lightbulb, with the universe flickering and threatening to go out.

Kael muttered, his voice barely a whisper. "The damn thing rose to Rank A just because of that space control... Its stats are terrible. That’s our only chance. If we land one clean strike, we can kill it." He steadied his breathing, forcing a semblance of calm into his chaotic thoughts. He needed a plan, a single, perfect opening. He took a deep breath, the stale air scratching at his lungs.

"Are there any monsters nearby? Apart from the ghoul?" he asked, his voice sharp and clear despite his exhaustion.

"No, Master Kael," the floating drone replied in its crisp, mechanical tone. "The area is clear." The drone’s impassive voice was a stark contrast to the chaos around them, an anchor of logic in a sea of madness.

Kael’s lips curved into a grim, lopsided smile. He had an idea, a risky one, but it was their only shot. "Then what about my defense child... the one you told me about when I first summoned you? Can I use it to block a space-control attack, even just once?"

"It is possible," the drone confirmed, its voice devoid of emotion. "But only once."

"As expected of the system." Kael clenched his fist, a rush of grim determination flooding his veins. "One shot. That’s all I need." He took a sharp breath, his mind already calculating the timing, the movement, the precise moment he would have to strike. He had to be perfect. There was no room for error.

He issued a command, his voice echoing with renewed purpose. "System Store... buy one middle-grade magic potion and one middle-grade stamina potion." A crisp, clear ding echoed, a sound of hope in the desolate landscape.

[You have purchased: One Middle-Grade Magic Potion, One Middle-Grade Stamina Potion.]

Kael’s fingers, trembling slightly from fatigue, popped the corks. He downed both potions in one gulp, the bitter liquid burning his throat and stomach. Mana, thick and potent, surged through his veins like a river of fire, pushing back the crushing weight of exhaustion. His senses sharpened, the faint distortions in space becoming clearer, each ripple like a dark wave on a tumultuous ocean. He could feel the aether twisting and tearing around the ghoul, a palpable, malignant force.

He spoke, his voice low and commanding, a tone that left no room for argument. "Selene, Clara. Stay back. No matter what."

"Got it," both girls answered in unison, their voices tight with a mix of trust and fear. They retreated to the edge of the ruined battlefield, their eyes never leaving Kael. Selene’s hand lingered on her bow, her fingers twitching with the desire to help, but she trusted Kael’s command implicitly. Clara bit her lip, her eyes wide with worry, a silent plea for him to be careful.

The ghoul screeched, a sound like tearing metal and grinding stone, its hollow eyes burning with pure void energy. Its body pulsed unnaturally, as though reality itself struggled to contain its sheer, malevolent existence. It raised its clawed hand, and the air in front of Kael twisted, reality itself folding like shattered glass. A black, gaping rift opened, devouring the space it touched. Trees nearby bent unnaturally, their branches groaning under the unnatural strain before snapping apart, dragged into nothingness. The vacuum of the void was a chilling, absolute force.

Kael’s heart pounded a frantic rhythm against his ribs. "Defense shield activate!"

A faint, shimmering golden shield flickered to life around him, humming with ancient, powerful energy. The rift slammed into it with a thunderous crack, the barrier shattering instantly but the attack was stopped. The shield had held for just a single, critical moment, a fleeting flash of hope in the overwhelming darkness.

"Now!" Kael lunged forward, his movements a blur of speed and purpose. Magic coursed through his veins, the potions’ effects fully kicking in. He gripped his blade tighter, imbuing it with raw mana until it blazed with a fierce silver light, a beacon in the oppressive gloom. The ghoul shrieked in fury, twisting space again, and jagged fissures spiraled toward him like snapping jaws. Kael pushed his body beyond its limits, his mind working with a cold, almost detached precision. He zigzagged, his footsteps a chaotic, almost impossible dance, stepping over vanishing ground with a fluid grace born of desperation. Each footstep was reinforced with a burst of mana, keeping him from being consumed by the void. Every dodge came within a hair’s breadth of death, space tearing open beside his shoulder, inches from consuming his arm. He could feel the cold, horrifying nothingness on his skin.

The ghoul, in a final act of desperation, raised both its claws. Two massive void rifts burst open, one on each side, aiming to swallow him whole. Kael, with the last reserves of his strength, dove forward, sliding under the attack. His cloak, a tattered remnant of what it once was, burned away as the edges of the distortion grazed his back. Pain seared his side, a fiery agony that made his vision swim, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

"Die!" He closed the distance in a flash, his sword cleaving through the ghoul’s chest with a sickening crunch. The creature’s form convulsed, a final, ear-shattering shriek tearing from its non-existent throat. Its void-filled blood sprayed into the air, sizzling like acid as it struck the soil, leaving burnt, smoking craters. But instead of collapsing, the ghoul, with its last ounce of power, unleashed one final, desperate spatial tear directly at him a gaping vortex that clawed at Kael’s very existence, threatening to unmake him completely.

The ground beneath him warped and buckled. He felt his body being pulled into nothingness, bones straining under a crushing pressure, his vision distorting like broken glass. His blade flickered in his grip, his strength nearly gone, his mana reserves dangerously low.