Lonely Descent

I kept walking for a while, and got near the centre of the room.

Remembering the sword i saw floating when i was at the entrance, i look up, and see that sword above my head.

Now that i'm closer to it, i can see a dim white light emitting from the sword. It was very faint, so i'm not sure if it was just my imagination.

I then looked ahead, and saw that below the floating sword, there was a dark stone pedestal, wich was partially frozen.

It was surrounded by blue crystal clusters, and, at the base of the pedestal, there were fragments of one of those crystals that contained ice Mana. I got closer so that i could absorb the Mana they contained, but, as i got closer, i was attacked by a Snow Monkey.

*Scratch*

The Snow Monkey had scratched my arm, however, it didn't hurt that much because of the cold.

I quickly took out my spear and pierced its chest.

I shouldn't let my guard down anymore while i'm here...

As i thought of that and turned around, i notice 6 Snow Monkeys in front of me, i quickly looked at the other sides but there were many more monkeys than in the side i was at...

They had surrounded me.

*Kiiii*

One of the monsters made a strange high pitched noise.

It had a scar with the shape of a cross on his head, and it looked slightly bigger than the other monsters... Could he be the Boss of the Snow Monkeys?

I decided to take a quick look at his status.

[Analyze]...

Name: *Blurred* Race: Snow Monkey

STR: 17 AGI: 16 INT: 10 STA: 10

Total Mana: *Blurred*

Description: *Blurred*

Skills:

- [Reinforced Body (Passive)] Lv.7: Slightly reinforces the user's body with Mana. (Lv.4 Upgrade: +1 STA when in battle).

- [Blood Cross Slash] Lv.3: Creates two dark red slashes that merge into a cross, flying forward at a high speed. (Cooldown: 2 Minutes).

- [Partial Ice Armor] Lv.2: Creates an armor made of thick and solid ice in the part of the body decided by the user. (Duration: 5 Minutes, Cooldown: 5 Hours).

Equipment:

- NONE

Accessories:

- NONE

I could read only a part of his status since i didn't have time to see the rest.

Right after i checked his status, the Snow Monkeys charged at me from all sides, but the monkey Boss remained where he was, observing the situation.

I grasped the spear firmly in my hands.

I couldn't do anything to get out of this... I didn't have time to think, nor a way to resist all those monkeys' attacks at once...

Do i use the artifact? But i don't know if it will work...

If only i had time... Time to think of a way...

"...!!"

It was at that moment, i remembered i had that skill.

"[Dual Mind]"

[Activating the skill [Dual Mind]!]

[As the load of information your brain has to process decreases drastically, your senses expand and you understand every information in your surroundings perfectly]

Everything suddently stopped.

It was as if time had frozen...

The Snow Monkeys had stopped moving, even the monkeys that were still in the air after jumping,

The snow they had lifted by suddently moving at a high speed,

The blood drop that dripped down my scratched arm and was going to fall on the ground,

Everything.

This is so cool, but i don't have the time to admire it right now.

Since only my mind was boosted, i couldn't move my body in that seemingly forzen time. I could only think, but that's just what i needed.

Through the complete understanding of my surroundings, i sensed 25 Snow Monkeys in total, excluding the Boss monster.

There were 3 monkeys on my right side that were expecially near me, the other monsters would have been dangerously near in about 1 second from then.

I could slash those three with my spear since i was in an optimal stance to do so, and then jump as high as i can to dodge the other monkeys. The real problem is what to do after that.

I would only land on top of the unstable pile of monkeys that would create and then fall off and get killed...

I could do theee things from there.

One: Use the mithril that shield Darius gave me to slide on the pile of bodies after putting it under my feet.

But that would heavily on both luck and skill, since if one of the bodies is not in an optimal position, i could end up falling with my face on the ground and the monkeys could easily attack me.

Two: Apply [Sword Aura] to my spear and cut through the pile of bodies as i'm falling, and then safely land on the ground.

But that would be difficult since i would be midair without any foothold, so i wouldn't be able to exert much force even if i use [Sword Aura].

Three: Hope for a miracle or something like that.

I can't use the necklace artifact, since if it fails i would be dead in a matter of seconds, even if i used the Ring Of The Protector.

Ugh... I'm feeling dizzy...

[Alert! The duration of the skill [Dual Mind] will end soon!]

So this dizziness because of the skill...

*Sigh*

I hope the bodies will be stacked up perfectly...

[The duration of the skill [Dual Mind] has ended!]

I used as much force as i could, and cut the three monkeys on my side in half with the spear, immediately after that, i jumped as high as i could.

As i predicted, the monkeys fell onto each other, creating a pile.

I quickly take out the shield from the Bracelet Of Gluttony, and put it under my feet.

"UGH-"

Suddently, i feel an incredible pain in my heart. It felt very similar to when we were about to enter the Room Of Instanity, but this time, the pain was much stronger.

To my surprise, i could see everything slowed down, as if i was using a much weaker version of [Dual Mind]... That time too, when we were about to enter the Room Of Instanity, i felt a strange but slight pain in my heart, then it felt like time slowed down a little.

I landed on top of the pile of bodies with the shield, and thanks to the slowed time, i could dodge the bodies that would have made me fall on the ground.

The shield then kept going for a few meters thanks the snow, and find myself near the Boss monster, the pain went away now.

The Boss monster looked very angry and shocked.

*KIIIIIE*

The Boss monster screamed while jumping towards me.

I dodged by quickly rolling away.

After it landed, because of the force, some of the snow that was on ground went on my face, blinding me.

I ran away because i wouldn't have been able to dodge or counterattack if i couldn't see anything, then wiped the snow off my face. As i did that, i see the monster was in front of me and about to punch me.

I quickly stepped back, so it just grazed me.

[Sword Aura]

I applied [Sword Aura] on my spear, jumped, and tried to smash his skull.

*Dlung*

To my surprise, the spear had been deflected by some thick ice on its head. It was probably created by the skill [Partial Ice Armor].

The monster then punched me, but as it was going to hit me, i blocked it with my spear.

As i blocked the punch, i went flying a meter away by its force.

My arms were numb from the long exposure to the sheer cold and the fight, so numb, that they let go of the spear i was holding, dropping it to the ground.

I quickly noticed it and tried to take it back, but the monster ran towards me at full speed, punching me with extreme force.

I went flying all the way to a blue crystal in the distance, and hit my back against it, smashing its front.

*Cough*

I coughed blood out of my mouth, and then fell on the ground, with my face directly touching the cold snow...

I raised my head a little, but since my vision was blurry, i could only see its figure walking towards me...

I couldn't do anything now... I can't use any weapons since i can't stand up, and i can't drink potions since i can't even move my arms anymore...

All i can do, is hope in the Tear Of Pure Sadness...

Lonely Descent...

I muttered the words in my head, but nothing happened...

I can't be... There's gotta be a way!! I refuse to die to a fucking monkey in a forgotten place like this!!!

One last attempt...

Sadness...

Sadness...

I thought about my life as Koriuki Yuu.

About my parents who were murdered by some random killed walking by...

About my meaningless and restless life when i was working so hard all those years, and then it all ended because a random truck hit me...

About Yue who must be so sas and lonely right now...

Then i thought about what i could remember about my life as Ray Amond.

About my parents, who were burnt to death because of a low class demon...

About the houses in the village, all destroyed by it...

About the life i lived until then, wich was taken away in just one day...

...

[Lonely Descent].

As i mutter those words, with tears running down my cheeks, a visible cold energy burst out from my body, making huge crystal-like spikes of pure, cold ice, emerge from the ground all around me.

A tear dropped from my face, but the moment it did so, it froze into ice. It looked almost like a gem.

I stood up, ignoring all the pain, and started walking towards the monster, wich was paralized by the immensely cold air around me.

With each step i took, the area got colder and colder, until i reached the monster...

I punched its face with all the force i had remaining, but it was a very weak punch. I had just enought strenght to barely stay concious.

The instant after i hit the monster, its body completely froze, and its head smashed into pieces.

It looked like an ice sculpture.

I then started losing conciousness, and the effects of the Tear Of Pure Sadness turned off.

*Drop*

I dropped on the ground, and my vision turned black...

Chapter 27-End.