1% Lifesteal

Freddy had read about nebbers and knew exactly which realm they had arrived from. It was one of the two elite difficulty realms accessible through the gorel realm.

What stood out the most with the freaky monster wasn't its size or unusual looks—it was its surprising lack of power.

Although the gorel worker looked like an angry lap dog barking away at the massive creature, it came out on top in the confrontation. The gorel's primitive Tectonic Strikes were breaking the nebber's legs with ease, and once it was downed, the gorel proceeded to crush the creature's skull like a watermelon.

Dumb as they might have been, gorels were no joke when paired against an equally stupid enemy.

Ignoring the sight before him, Freddy gritted his teeth and ran past the dead nebber, rushing toward the realm he was trying to escape into.

That a nebber had made it this far out wasn't good news. Before long, his suspicions were confirmed.

At first, it was a small group, but before long, such a thick mass of nebbers appeared that it was difficult to make progress.

Freddy pushed past them, smashing them out of his way as he kept progressing while anxiously looking around. The elite realm they were heading into was thoroughly crowded by these beings, but they weren't the reason why it was considered an elite difficulty realm.

After pushing past the mass of bodies for a while, he finally came across the main reason for that classification.

Every single hair on Freddy's body stood on end as he swiftly leaped behind a tree, trying to calm his beating heart as it threatened to burst out of his chest.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the forest, and with a screech, another monster rushed forth, shredding several gorels with its long, thin arms.

A giant creature stood on two legs. Its whole body was covered in pitch black, thin muscles, and its head looked like a goat skull. Its empty eye sockets glowed neon green with the sickening light of miasma flowing out of them.

Its two horns curled behind its back. The horrifying creature produced deep clicking noises as it searched for more prey.

It was a capragorn.

If it came to a fight, Freddy was… well, confident wasn't the right word, but winning was possible. But it was too risky. Its claws weren't as intimidating as those of the royal guard gorel, but they dripped with a gleaming liquid, and any drops that fell to the ground sizzled with the sound of acidic burning. One good slash across Freddy's bare, unprotected chest might very well be enough to take him out.

Coupled with the dazed, barely conscious Sophia, whom he held over his left shoulder, trying to tackle the beast was a stupid idea.

Freddy waited for several suffocating breaths, and before long, the creature had wandered away in a different direction. He peeked around the tree to check where it had gone and saw it walk past a small group of nebbers, completely ignoring the dumb beasts.

The scariest thing about capragorns was that they were no mindless creatures searching for food. They didn't even need food to live. The reason why the realm was flooded by the nebbers was due to the capragorns, who intentionally ignored the dumb beasts to use them as bait to lure prey into their realm. Those creatures were much like the cultists who were using gorels as bait.

Naturally, Freddy wasn't thrilled to be heading into the natural habitat of such monsters. But it was their best choice.

Such a dangerous realm was the least likely to be heavily guarded by the cultists.

He pushed his way forward, continuously moving past the endless stream of monsters. At one point, he became genuinely concerned about his odds of even making it to his destination.

Whatever the hell that artifact had done seemed to have a magnetic effect on the monsters.

Sophia had estimated that it would take as long as three months for this realm to reach a critical mass of monsters, resulting in a stampede break into Nova York.

But with these conditions?

Freddy wouldn't be surprised if they had already reached that goal.

He swung his fist, breaking a nebber's neck and pushing its body aside as he leaped forward. At this point, he had to use Hydraulic Flex to keep jumping over the stampede of beasts. Soon enough, he couldn't even land anymore.

He grabbed a thick branch with his free hand, holding the dagger between his teeth and Sophia over his shoulder. The woman heaved, sounding like she was about to puke, but Freddy didn't have the time to care.

While the thought of a shirtless man carrying a woman and swinging from one tree to another conjured thoughts of Tarzan, the reality of Freddy's improvised transportation method was far less glamorous.

He climbed up on a thick branch and jumped from one tree to another using Hydraulic Flex. Rather than land with the grace of a ninja or grab onto a hanging vine, he slammed stomach-first into a thick branch, accidentally breaking Sophia's legs and knocking the air out of his chest. The woman screamed, hurriedly burning a spark to fix her legs, and Freddy groaned as a nebber extended its long head and bit his calf, trying to pull him down to the ground.

With supernatural strength, aided by a strong sense of urgency, Freddy pulled himself, Sophia, and the damn nebber, which refused to let go of his leg, up into the tree. As soon as he could release his grip on the branch, he grabbed the monster's head and crushed it.

As yet another powerful tremor echoed through the realm as whatever was controlling the bloody skeleton slaughtered another mass of monsters, the wound on Freddy's leg vanished as if it had never been there.

He continued on his way, trying to ensure he didn't trip and fall into the stampede below.

The realm was quite close, and Freddy could already see the passage. There were no more monsters exiting, and for a long moment, he held the hope that all the monsters had already evacuated it, which would make his life far more straightforward.

"Please…" Sophia begged. "No more—hurgh." She heaved. "No more trees."

Freddy involuntarily chuckled, feeling a slight sense of relief. "Sure thing." He dropped to the ground below, which had already thinned considerably. A few nebbers tried assaulting him, but thankfully, there were no capragorns in sight. He swiftly dispatched the assailants and made his way forth.

He gulped.

There was a small clearing between the forested area and the open passage. Nobody was standing anywhere near the open portal, but that by no means meant that it wasn't being watched.

With a thundering screech, the bloody skeleton swung its massive arm again, and Freddy felt a pulse of soothing lifesteal ineffectually course through his body, having nothing to heal or fix. But it did clear his mind slightly.

Blood Sacrifice hadn't gone as planned, but it had still caused a massive distraction. In fact, given that it seemed to be attracting every damn monster in the surrounding area, Freddy wouldn't be surprised if the cultists had gone to try and take it out, seeing as it might very well wholly ruin their plan.

Without the monsters, there was no point in trying to cause a passage break.

Now… what would the cultists do?

His heart roared in his chest as he pondered the possibilities.

Had they rushed off to deal with fake Bloodshed? Freddy wondered. Are they waiting nearby, watching to ensure that nobody enters the passage? No, that makes no sense; they have bigger shit to deal with.

There were no more monsters around him. The only things that kept him company were Sophia, the tremors, the eerie, crimson afterglow, the endless cacophony of monsters sounding their fury… and his own thoughts.

"Fuck it!" he yelled as he ran forth, bursting into the opening with all the speed he could manage. His core tightened, and his legs bulged as he used Hydraulic Flex repeatedly, gathering speed on his dash into the passage.

He expected a projectile to stab into his back or a cultist to appear from the shadows at any moment, but to his surprise, he entered the passage without any problems.

Once inside, a horrific thought struck him—what if this tide was too much for cultists as well? What if they were hiding in the passage? Yet, as he opened his eyes and looked around… he found no people present. Or monsters. It was so empty that it appeared uncanny.

He turned, spotting the massive tree the passage was carved into, and then looked around. He was in a small, picturesque grove. It didn't take much walking to get out of the tiny patch of forest and step out into a vast clearing.

The realm he entered was a serene sight compared to the nightmare he had walked out of. The sky above was a deep shade of blue, and the land was grassy as far as the eyes could see. Small groves of trees were scattered around the area, and the realm spread for miles in all directions, with what appeared to be a sizeable body of water on one end.

Far off, he could see vast herds of nebbers, as those were most likely too far away from the passage to sense the strange artifact's influence.

The grove he was next to was way too close to the passage for comfort, but running out into the grassy plains sounded like a run-in with a capragorn waiting to happen. Rather than run out, Freddy went through the small grove, eventually stumbling upon a tiny cave.

Praying to whatever god was willing to listen, he cautiously went inside, hoping against hope that he wasn't about to enter a capragorn hideout.

However, as he made his way in… he found nothing unusual. It was a tiny hole in the ground, just large enough to hide comfortably, with a small entrance that was easy to defend. Some mushrooms grew along the edges, and some loose roots hung from the earthen ceiling.

He carefully placed Sophia down and looked around, combing through the dirt, pulling the roots, and lightly punching the walls to ensure that he hadn't stumbled into a trap. He even gave the mushrooms a taste.

But there was nothing. No monsters, no cultists, no traps, no pitfalls, no danger… just… nothing. Even the mushroom seemed to be edible.

He pulled a large stone and placed it before the small entrance, closing the hole off, and walked back, sitting beside Sophia.

The summoned skeleton still triggered his talent despite a whole realm separating him from the action. But that wasn't the only thing that was being influenced.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed as he took a look at his ethercosm.

He was at 187% capacity. And just as he looked at it, the amount increased to 188%. He couldn't hold back a light chuckle.

"What are you laughing about…?" Sophia eked out, barely keeping her eyes open.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he said as he patted her head. "Go to sleep. I'll watch for danger."

She nodded, closing her eyes and immediately losing consciousness. It would have been good for her to eat something first, but she'd live.

As he sat in the darkness, nothing but a single, lonely ray of light illuminating the hiding spot, he finally accepted it. They were actually safe.

Their plan had worked.

He winced as he felt the turbulent reflux essence flicker inside his body. He had no clue how much essence he had spent in the last few hours. Given the fact that the giant skeleton was in the middle of murdering a horde of monsters, the influx of ether was keeping him wholly topped off with essence.

But he had used a lot. Far too much.

The sheer volume of lifesteal kept the worst of the aftereffects at bay, but it was doing nothing to purge the excess essence flowing through his body.

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused on meditation. Eventually, the bloody skeleton would stop fighting, and Freddy would face the consequences of the essence buildup.

Thankfully, he hadn't spent nearly as much blood essence as water essence. That would have been far more likely to kill him. But still, given that water reflux essence rapidly dehydrated the user, he wasn't looking forward to it.

In fact, unless he managed to purge a good deal of the excess essence, he might very well be mummified on the spot.

Thus, he closed his eyes and got started.

The massive body of water in the distance wasn't just a decoration. The surrounding Netherecho was bursting with water wisps, and without further ado, he got to gathering, gradually calming his raging insides and getting closer and closer to tranquility.

***

"Focus on its legs!" the scorpion-tailed woman—Illya—commanded, dodging the attack of an enraged royal guard as she spat, dashing back and watching the fight's progress.

This damn skeleton had appeared out of nowhere, and it was in the middle of thoroughly obliterating everything they had worked towards.

"Someone get Master!" a lowly Servant yelled, swinging his spear to keep several gorels at bay.

"Master has said not to disturb him under any circumstances!" she spat. "Focus on your work and stay quiet!"

The mixed mass of monsters made progress towards dispatching the gigantic skeleton impossible. The giant monster raised its bony arm again, and with a startlingly quick swing, it brought it down, crushing two Servants in an instant and kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Goddamn it!" Illya screamed, swinging her stinger at a rushing nebber and slashing its throat open. "Damian!"

The bulky figure of Damian, the massive brawler, perked up, turning to face her just as he crushed the head of a capragorn, scattering its cursed miasma into the surroundings. "What is it!?" the man shouted as he swung again, smashing the back of his fist into a gorel guard charging at him.

"Ignore the monsters!" she said. "Peter!" she called again, referring to the man levitating around twenty meters away. "Pick Damian up and throw him on top of the skeleton!"

"But the backlash—" the man was about to protest, but—

"Do as I say!" she screamed, leaping away from the pesky royal guard that was still after her. "Hurry!" she commanded.

Peter growled, rushing over to the bulky form of Damian and grabbing the man by the arm. The two men lifted off the ground, and Peter's skin instantly grew red as his blood pressure spiked tremendously. The more weight he tried levitating off the ground, the greater the stress it exerted on his body. The bulky form of Damian was almost too much to handle, but with their whole agenda on the line, he had no choice but to risk it.

Rushing as fast as possible, Peter brought the man over the skeleton's crowned skull and dropped him down.

Almost instantly, the fierce form of the skeletal giant looked up, staring at the falling man with its sinister crimson eyes.

Damian grinned despite himself, cocking his arm back as he charged a Tectonic Strike and activated his talent.

His fist landed just above the skeleton's upper row of teeth, sending a powerful burst of force through its massive skull. The blood coating the creature splashed in every direction, making the crimson skeleton turn white briefly before more blood oozed through its bones.

No more than a thin crack remained from his strike.

"Oh boy," Damian called as the skeleton opened its mouth and slammed it shut on his body. He braced himself against its teeth, barely holding it back from chewing him into a mass of pulp.

"I'm gonna—ugh! I'm gonna need some help!" he shouted, and before long, a stream of projectiles flew at the skeleton's head, slamming its neck and distracting it long enough for Damian to push himself out of its mouth and jump down.

Peter caught him mid-fall, slowing him down just enough to prevent fall damage, and even that much was almost enough to make the man faint.

The skeletal monster screeched madly, continuing its onslaught unimpeded.

Its power was truly remarkable. It was slow, but its destructive capabilities and sheer endurance made it capable of competing with the weakest four-star-class monsters.

Illya, the only three-star present, wasn't nearly powerful enough to quickly dispatch the creature.

What proceeded was a grueling fight that lasted for hours. Numerous beasts fell at the crimson skeleton's bony arms, and at least a dozen cultists lost their lives trying to take it down.

By the end, the massive stampede of monsters had been drastically thinned down. Hills of gored flesh and rivers of blood formed beneath the grinning skeleton's feet. As its body finally started to crumble under the unending assault, it seemed to smile at them, grinning gleefully at the carnage as if to say, "My job is done."

Illya watched the giant crumble into inert pieces with an infuriated frown. Her scorpion tail was still.

Her brethren stood to the side, most panting heavily and trying to stay on their feet after the grueling battle.

By all means, this whole expedition was turning into an utter failure. Master had shared nothing about his side of the plan, keeping it a secret even from Illya. She prayed to Holy Prosperity that his machinations weren't compromised.

Peter landed beside her, keeping his nose plugged with one hand to stave off the continuous stream of blood pouring down it. His eyes appeared bloodshot, and his arms were trembling.

Yet he still spoke with all the dignity of a high-rank cult member. "We are recovering the strange artifact," he said. "Damian should arrive with it in a few moments."

She didn't respond to the news.

A few minutes later, the bulky man, his robes torn and bathed in blood, ran over while carrying a massive limb like a log over his back. "I got it!" he said as he approached and threw the object on the ground.

Illya observed it, cocking her head. She briefly entered the Netherecho to take a closer look at it.

What could only be described as a boiling mass of crimson screams assaulted her senses. A storm of aura roiled around the horrifying object, its power incomparable to anything Illya had ever witnessed firsthand.

Her projection was forcefully thrown out of the Netherecho, and she returned to reality with a start, taking a few involuntary steps back before regaining her composure.

Peter's eyes raised slightly. "That powerful?" he asked, his brows twisting into a scowl.

Illya gulped and nodded. "Indeed. This is a truly bizarre artifact. I have never witnessed anything like it."

"Monsters seem to be attracted to it," Damian said, crouching as he took a closer look at the dried limb. "Do you think we could use it as bait to populate the realm?" he asked Illya.

"Most definitely," she confirmed. "However, I'm not certain that's the right move."

The two men hummed.

"Indeed," Peter said, sighing. "Perhaps it's a bit too attractive. I don't see a way to redirect the flow of monsters outside the realm once they all bundle around this thing like flies around a pile of cow dung."

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the sinister object. "I do wonder what this is…" she mused. "Whatever it had belonged to must have been unimaginably powerful."

"Yeah…" Peter nodded. "Above five stars for sure."

Most of the cultists in earshot swallowed, including Illya. The thought of a power above five stars was… simply unimaginable.

But it did exist.

"Illya," Peter called. "What are your orders?"

She thought for a moment, glancing at the artifact, the crimson sky, and the people around her. "Gather the bodies, scavenge the rings," she said. "We'll take some time to recover, then go from there. The barrier gives us ample time to act. We're out of live bait, but there is a mountain of flesh here. That will be enough to attract plenty of scavengers."

"And what about the arm?" Peter asked.

She looked at the limb carefully before making a decision.

"We'll try to seal it."