LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 7 Shattered Republic ( Part 7 )
Shattered Republic ( Part 7 )
Jack quickly leapt to the side , his enhanced speed barely saving him from the thrashing claws of the Dread Ghost .
He momentarily saw double images of the hound before recovering and he was just in time to dodge another attempt at his life by the lengthy claws.
[
System Notification
Stamina Residue - 60%
]
The stamina depletion was annoying , but Jack could not blame with the System .He was already pushing his body to its limits at this point , keeping up the offensive while still managing to evade strikes.
He jumped forward as the beast leapt on the ground he had been standing on , baring its menacing jaws wide open.
A quick opportunity presented itself with the monster’s back towards him.
With his boosted speed, he easily manoeuvred around the tiger sized Wailing Hound and grabbed hold of the spike he had jammed into its shoulders.
The Wailing Hound shrieked in pain and swiped viciously in Jack’s direction. The man somersaulted over the passing claws and landed right beneath the beast’s head. Here , he could see the skin was more of hide than scale , the perfect vulnerability to exploit if he wanted instant death.
Without hesitation , he seized the moment and struck the beast from beneath its throat , causing a violent thrust of blood to come pouring out . Some of it even poured into his mouth , its bitter taste choking him a little.
As he wiped off the excess blood from his face , the Wailing Hound came crumbling to its side in rapid bodily convulsions. It made one last wail of defiance before succumbing to its wounds.
[
System Notification ,
Killed Wailing Hound x1
Rewards ; Wailing Hound bones x2, Wailing Hound scales x4 , Points x 150,
Summoning Tickets x3.
]
When Hamilton fell , Cynthia had slipped mid flight and landed quite painfully .
Her injured shoulder bore the brunt of the fall and the wound that Lindsy had worked so hard to close split wide open. She screamed , unable to bear the pain as hot blood rose through the bindings of her bandages and ran through her blouse.
Linzy turned towards her with frustration. She was obviously too weak to walk herself and Hamilton was knocked out.
Jack had killed the Wailing Hound but the Dread Ghost seemed to have adapted to the nuisance of water splashing on its skeleton. It gave one powerful roar and all water sprinklers erupted in flames , one after another.
Jack was still on his knees , his muscles still trembling with the residues of adrenaline he had built up fighting the hound.
He decided to check how much stamina he had left , for without it ,he would just grow too tired and collapse.
[
System Notification
Stamina Residue : 30 %
]
His head still hurt from the hit he had taken earlier.
He desperately wanted to use Rejuvenation , which could nurse him back to health. The only problem with that was he had just one rejuvenation bar available.
What he feared most was sustaining even more grievous injuries from the Dread Ghost looming before him and finding himself without a means to recuperate . That would put him in a pinch he was not so eager to find himself in.
Then he remembered that he had just gotten some points from the System after killing the hound , that could be used to level up the Rejuvenation talent.
It would cost 100 points to get to the next level , expensive but worth the benefits .
“Might I suggest a different approach Bossman, use the summoning tickets. They can unlock useful talents ,” Aiko’s voice beamed within his head , taking Jack by surprise.
“ The summoning tickets? “ he asked her , relieved to have her back awake. She seemed to know a lot about what was happening and any advice she gave could mean the difference between life and death.
“ Yes Bossman , now hurry before the Dread Ghost falls upon you ,” she urged him.
The last of the sprinklers went off in the Dread Ghosts flames and the colossus was finally free to operate. With the water out of the way , it turned to Jack , the man who stood beside the dead body of its tamed beast.
Unlike the Wailing Hounds that could only perceive the soul when looking at living beings , the Dread Ghost could see Jack in full colour. It passed through the lights and shadows , its form alternating just as Jack’s Perception talent had deciphered.
A path of fire formed at its side and rushed forth , joining behind Jack into a U -curve. The flames then rose into a towering wall of raging heat , trapping Jack with the monster.
Linzy took advantage of the ghost’s concentration on Jack to rush to Cynthia , whose health was now at serious risk.
Already weakened , the sudden impact had rendered her stunned and defenceless against the encroaching flames. Her wound was also already bleeding profusely , despite the fact that she had already lost a considerable amount of blood before.
Taking off her trench coat , Linzy started smothering the flames around to buy herself time to come up with a plan.
“ The fire isn’t dying out ,” she panicked.
Now watching the beast walk towards him and the prospect of death growing ever closer , Jack realised that investing in Rejuvenation would have gotten him nowhere.
He looked at the summoning tickets on the blue screen and willed them to disintegrate. If Aiko was wrong , then they were all doomed.
[
System Notification
New Artefacts :
1)Bag of Domicile - store anything in virtual space.
Installing new artefacts…
Artefact installed.
New Talent unlocked -
1)Constricted Surface - mark an area on the surface that attacks any occupants upon movement.
Installing new talent…
]
“Damn,” Jack cursed as he saw the time remaining for the new talent to install , twenty seconds!
That was enough time for the Dread Ghost to raise him to a crisp barbecue even if he tried being careful.
The ghost raised its right arm and a roll of fire poured from the ceiling directly above Jack. He dodged it , but landed at the edge of the towering flames enclosed around him. The fire was unforgiving , eating through the flesh on his shoulders.
Third degree burns were no joke and had to engage Rejuvenation immediately before he completely lost his arm.
Though it worked ,the talent consumed the one rejuvenation bar he had. If he lost his edge and sustained any new injuries , he was toast.
Then , as if things weren’t already bad enough, the first Wailing Hound that had accosted him at the washrooms came flying through the gaping hole in the centre of the ceiling.
It landed powerfully on all fours , paying no mind to the vicious wound on its shoulders gotten from Hamilton’s attack.
Jack was now staring at death’s door , surrounded by the blood lust of two apex monsters.
But with it , came a sense of exhilaration , a rush of excitement drawn from the thin lifeline he was dangling on. It jump started his senses , allowing his Perception to see something that it had not before.
Blink and you would have missed it , but Jack didn’t.
Just at the last second when the Dread Ghost left the light to assume its fiery form of flames and bones, a ruby stone strapped to its waist by one of its chains could be seen swinging.
“The bond of Stipulatio , where beast meets master ,” Aiko’s words synced with his Perception.
That ruby was the symbol of control the Dread Ghost used to command the Wailing Hound .
“When I destroy this stone , the Wailing Hound will surely turn on the Dread Ghost ,” Jack organised his thoughts.
The hound pounced , missing Jack by a long shot. The wound on its forelimb was slowing it while Jack was getting even more accustomed to working with his levelled up speed.
[
System Notification :
Constricted Surface installed.
]
“ Bossman , we’re really going to win this. Put all points into levelling up this talent,” Aiko turned with joy inside his soul , bubbling like a bashful cheerleader. It made Jack smile and pay the price for the lapse of attention.
The Dread Ghost had timed its attack perfectly to match Jack’s dodge , summoning a massive eruption of molten earth and fire from beneath the ground that he was going to land on after dodging. The soles of his shoes melted , and his bare feet burned quite significantly before he leapt to safety..
“ Shit ,” his face twisted in pain as the Dread Ghost rushed him to finish the job.
“ RAGING FURNACE !” Hamilton cried out as blood rushed out of his nose and eyes.
The massive concentration of energy struck the ghost at just the interval that the ruby that Jack had spotted became visible. His friend had just saved his life with that stunt , at the cost of severe damage to his arm.
Though the ghost was only pushed back a couple of steps , the damage was already done when the stone was shattered. Now all Jack had to do was watch as the hound turned on its former master, threatening to cleave the Dread Ghost in half with its long claws.
The Dread Ghost turned its rage on the hound , breaking one of its long claws and tearing it out as the wolf wailed in pain.
“ Bossman , just now , did you see it ?” Aiko asked. Because of living inside of his soul , she was able to get what the Perception talent had just revealed to Jack.
“ Yes . The weakness of the Dread Ghost is being burnt with fire other than its own when it's in the chained form ,” Jack answered her , surprised that she also had access to the talent.
Hamilton coughed out more blood as his heart rate started spiking beyond control.
He fell on his knees , painfully feeling the effects of releasing that attack when his muscles had already given out on him. He didn’t take long to drop down , leaving Linzy panicking over two people on death’s precipice.
As the Dread Ghost grabbed the neck of the whimpering Wailing Hound and lifted the scratching canine up in the air , Jack put all 200 of his remaining points into levelling up his new talent to the second level.
He then activated it , watching remaining stamina go down with it.
[
System Warning
Stamina Residue ; < 5%
]
“ It’s an all or nothing Aiko ,” he said , watching the ghost light up the hound to ashes.
The moon came out of the clouds , shining its light through the large windows and illuminating the ghost. The shattered remains of the ruby stone came into view , the mysterious concealing property having been destroyed by Hamilton’s attack.
“ Don’t fret Bossman , this ghost was dead the moment you initialised the new talent ,” Aiko manifested at Jack’s right hand side with an arrogant condescending grin.
The moment the ghost took the first step forward towards Jack , the ground beneath it fractured in the pattern of a distorted spider web and a vent of high powered blue flames erupted and engulfed the Dread Ghost .
This powerful attack brought everything to a close.
[
System Notification
Killed Dread Ghost x1
Rewards ; points x400 , summoning tickets x2 , Dread Ghost Chain x 1 , Dread Ghost Bones x4
Personal Attributes Level Up ;
Durability 1 -> 2
Talent Alert ;
Constricted Surface cooldown duration - 4:00:00:00
]