CHAPTER 118: YOU MUST HATE EVERYONE, HOW STATS WORK

Zephan chuckled and released her wrist.

He raised his hands slowly when he noticed a magic circle floating in front of Ellyn.

"Relax, I’m not attacking her."

Ellyn held her spell for a moment, watching him, then deactivated it.

Mira got back up, brushing dust from her arms.

"I’m going after Alan," she said firmly.

Calliope hesitated, then mustered up her courage. "I— I’ll go too."

The children looked between them, then spoke together.

"We’re coming too."

They were afraid, but even they wanted to help Alan who had been covering for everyone until now.

Zephan rubbed his forehead.

"Of course you are."

He sighed and looked at all of them.

"Fine. But I’m warning you now, I’m getting us out the second we reach him. No arguments."

No one protested.

They left the lab and started moving down the corridor.

The halls were eerily quiet, the only sound being their footsteps splashing through the shallow water on the floor.

Zephan walked ahead, checking corners while keeping his hand on his wand.

His mind, however, was elsewhere.

Alan holding back a Cursed Spirit alone?

That was insane.

Even if all of them fight it together, they would barely survive.

There was no way he had a secret weapon powerful enough to turn the tide against something like that.

If he did, he would have used it before.

’He must have used a sacrificial technique,’ Zephan thought.

The thought made his exhale audibly.

He didn’t like the kid much, given how suspicious he was, but Alan didn’t deserve to die like that.

Still, it made the most sense.

He must have used some spell to block the Spirit’s teleportation at the cost of his own life.

There was no other explanation.

Even so, Zephan kept walking.

Maybe he was wrong.

Maybe the kid had somehow survived.

They turned a corner, and Ellyn came up beside him.

"I heard from Mira about how you didn’t try to rescue her when the Cursed Spirit appeared," she said quietly.

Zephan chuckled. "I told you, I run away the moment things go bad—"

"It must be hard being the team leader. You make the best decision you can, and people still hate you for it," she said.

Zephan stopped for a second, his hand frozen mid-step.

Then he turned his head slightly, looking at her.

A small smile crossed his face.

"I don’t like people who think they are smart," he said.

"Then you must hate everyone," Ellyn said.

The group continued forward, the silence between them heavy but steady.

None of them said it out loud, but all were thinking the same thing.

They just hoped Alan was still alive.

...

MC’s POV

The Cursed Spirit roared, its shadowy body shaking the entire barrier.

I stepped back, my arms trembling as I gripped my sword tighter.

My body felt too weak.

Every breath burned my chest. My eyes felt like they were on fire.

And yet, my mind remained calm.

I swung my sword with focus, redirecting another attack of the Cursed Spirit.

It was too fast, and I had to use portals and swordsmanship to block it from attacking the barrier wall.

The impact of its fist on the ground sent a shockwave through the barrier.

Cracks spread on the ground under my feet.

I pushed forward and opened a portal beside the Cursed Spirit.

My sword appeared through it, redirecting the force of its attack and dispersing it before it could gather much strength.

The Cursed Spirit moved fast. Too fast.

Its claws scraped the air, cutting through my jacket like blades.

I ducked, opened another portal above, and stepped onto it, using it like a platform.

Another appeared ahead, and I ran across them, forming a path in midair.

I attacked from multiple directions, striking through portals that opened all around it.

Each hit redirected another attack on the barrier wall.

Each portal that cut of its arm or leg caused my chest to tighten.

"Huff! Hufff!"

The only thing I was fighting for was to gain time.

"Come on..." I muttered, panting.

My sword vibrated under the pressure.

It swung its arm again, hitting me in the chest.

I flew back, rolling across the ground until I hit the barrier.

My ribs felt like they cracked.

The barrier behind me shivered and cracked too.

If it broke now, the Cursed Spirit could teleport to others.

I tried to stand, but my knees gave out.

My sword almost slipped from my hand.

’Dammit, I guess fighting a Rank 3 Cursed Spirit in close combat is still too much for the current me.’

’Well...’

’I still won in the end. That’s what matters.’

The Cursed Spirit raised its arm, shadows gathering at its clawed hand.

I couldn’t move.

My body was numb.

Still, I kept chanting.

This was the same spell I started chanting after completing the Spatial Seal, Dominion Lock Spell.

My voice was weak, but I didn’t stop.

At that moment, the runes on the ground glowed. These runes were made from blood of a Rank 3 Cursed Spirit.

The spell was completed.

Binding Chains of Nullspace.

Chains erupted from the earth, wrapping around the Cursed Spirit’s limbs.

It screamed, trying to break free, but the chains tightened.

Until now, whenever I cut it using portals, its blood fell to the ground.

I used Telekinesis to shake that blood into runes.

The Cursed Spirit never noticed.

The moment it realized what I was doing, it was too late.

The chains glowed red, sealing it in place.

I coughed, tasting blood.

The spell was complete.

I had no strength left, but I couldn’t relax yet.

I needed to maintain the spell.

Yuna appeared beside me.

She began healing me right away.

Warm light spread through my body, closing the worst of my wounds.

Still, the exhaustion didn’t fade. It came crashing down as the adrenaline wore off.

My limbs felt heavy.

The pain dulled, but my head felt light.

"Lord of shadows, you need to eat something. You’re going to pass out if you don’t," Yuna said with too much worry.

"I... can’t move," I said weakly.

My mind wasn’t working properly.

I was too exhausted.

With what little consciousness I had, I was maintaining the spell chaining the Cursed Spirit down.

Yuna kept looking at me worriedly.

Her worry was reasonable.

I had fought with all my stats.

Having 100 stat didn’t mean you could use all stats at full potential all the time.

Humans could run at 10m/sec. That was their top speed.

But they couldn’t maintain it for too long.

Similarly, the stats were the measure of the peak performance one could show if they push themselves to the limit.

Throughout the fight, I was fighting at that peak limit.

It wouldn’t have been weird for me to become brain dead because of how high activity my brain had been doing, or for my bones to snap from the sheer speed and force I was wielding.

Yuna grabbed my arm and guided my hand toward my spatial inventory.

"I’ll help you. Just take something out. Anything."

I let Yuna guide my hand, and I pulled out a plate with hot round food ball from my inventory rune.

"This...! It was what your teammate Lars had made. This should be good enough," Yuna said.

My hand shook as I brought it near my mask.

"Take off the mask first," Yuna said firmly but gently.

My mind felt foggy, but I obeyed.

I took off the mask and bit into the food.

Yuna watched me, her eyes full of worry. "Can you understand me, Lord of Shadows? Is your mind working?"

"This thing is too spicy," I said, chewing slowly.

She blinked, stunned for a second, then laughed quietly.

"Is that you should be focusing on now, Lord of Shadows? You defeated the Cursed Spirit alone! That’s the news we should be talking about!"