Read Novel Full Chapter 283: Clinging
Chapter 283: Clinging
Damian appeared in front of me the moment my mind drifted to something other than combat. At such a distance, I couldn’t block or dodge so all I could do was brace my body for impact. The force from his fist’s impact was enough to shatter my ribs instantly.
Blood rose from the pit of my stomach and burst from my mouth as I was sent flying. I skidded across the surface of the molten ground, creating deep scars on it, until I crashed into one of the already destroyed buildings.
The force still wasn’t enough to break my fall as I flew through several more buildings until I finally came to a stop. I spat out a mouthful of blood. My body was burning from the impact. For a moment I almost lost consciousness until I caught myself.
Tough bastard.
I had progressed in strength a lot these past few days, but I still wasn’t strong enough to exchange blows with Damian. My body would give out before I even made a scratch on him. I coughed and spat out the blood that was filling my lungs before taking deep breaths to focus on healing.
Still, I didn’t drop my guard since I knew Damian could appear at any moment. Just as that thought crossed my mind, my instincts screamed at me, and I quickly rolled away from where I was kneeling.
Immediately a loud impact sounded as dust and debris was sent flying. I quickly staggered to my feet, preparing myself for what was to come. Immediately, rocks bigger than my head came at me. The rocks glowed with incandescent heat due to the friction of the air around them, which spoke to the force at which they were thrown.
The speed at which the rocks moved through the air was similar to the speed at which a meteor moves when entering the Earth’s atmosphere, meaning the rocks were reaching speeds above Mach 15!
I tilted my head left and right to dodge each rock that was perfectly aimed at my head. Even though they were merely rocks, getting hit by one could be lethal.
After the barrage of rocks had stopped, Damian leaped out of the dust but using my high agility, I nimbly evaded his attacks, moving my body in ways that were impossible for a normal person.
I was still injured from his first punch. It would’ve been good if I could escape and give myself time to heal, but that would’ve been a huge mistake. One of the things that I had learned while fighting Damian was that turning my back to him meant instant death.
I spent the night evading his lethal attacks, and for the rest of the night he didn’t say a word. The reason I was able to evade his attacks wasn’t because I was faster than him or that I could keep up with him.
I simply used my senses to predict his every move. Damian inhaled right before every attack and exhaled upon attacking. It wasn’t just him that did this, but every trained fighter fights this way. Even I fight this way and would never change it since it was effective.
In martial arts, it is often said that breathing is the engine for movements. The issue with this was that inhaling and exhaling normally follows a set rhythm, one which I could track with my keen senses and ultimately predict.
It wasn’t just his breathing; I kept a watch of every bodily function. Every tightening of a muscle, every slight eye movement, and even the chemical changes that take place in his brain whenever he decides to attack.
I could smell the epinephrine that gave him adrenaline, the norepinephrine that helped him focus by pumping blood into his muscles, and even the dopamine rush he gets whenever he successfully lands an attack.
I kept track of it all.
Nothing escaped my senses, and because of that, I could predict 80% of his moves with pinpoint accuracy. Damian must’ve realized I could read his attacks, which was why he got creative and distracted me before attacking.
I saw it coming, but I still couldn’t dodge. Reason being, his bloodlust. Having been fighting non-stop for days, I wasn’t in the right state of mind. Damian has been taking advantage of this by releasing his bloodlust during every major attack so I would freeze up.
In such a high-speed fight, he only needed a second of hesitation to capitalize and land a critical hit.
Before I knew it, it was morning again, so I summoned the dullahan, 10 shadow hounds, and ten Garmrs. With them by my side, it became a lot easier to hold off Damian so our game of cat and mouse could last a bit longer.
In the next few days, I could sense a few changes in the city. Not only that, but I was leveling up a lot faster.
[Congratulations! You have ascended to level 85]
It seemed Khalissi’s plan had worked. With no one left to give them orders, the once powerful force in this city was now scattered. It was now easier to launch ambushes against them, taking out hundreds of thousands of people at a time. Or worse, they could turn these people into ghouls and spread the infection.
I felt that if a hundred thousand people was turned into ghouls, then things would snowball from there on. The 4 million people in this city would be wiped out in no time.
"It’s only a matter of time," I repeated to myself.
I repeated it constantly.
The days passed, and my level steadily increased.
[Congratulations! You have ascended to level 86]
[Congratulations! You have ascended to level 87]
But at the same time as my level increased, I could feel my body slowly giving out. I was reaching my limit. It was evident by the amount of injuries I had accumulated in a single day.
I had several broken ribs, a missing arm, and a shattered leg. I managed to survive by the skin of my teeth.
To top it off, the next day, I was blinded in both eyes and had half of my face missing from a single punch. My injuries continued to get worse and worse from there. Every day it felt as if I was inches closer to death than the previous day.
As I barely clung to life, I couldn’t help but prayed that Khalissi had gotten my message to Persephone.