The Birth of the Demon Sword

Exhaustion

Chapter 23 - 23. Exhaustion

Noah turned to face the spider coming from his back.

He jumped towards them giving 3 quick slashes.

The 3 rank 1 spiders fell on the ground in half.

His mental energy helped with decision-making at full speed as he brainstormed about the situation.

'What can I do? That rank 3 beast must have been in hibernation to evolve so that he could not control his body properly, that's why I defended easily from his attack but I don't think I can deal with it even with this.'

Two other attacks were fired from his figure, a rank 2 spider had its head pierced while a rank 1 was halved.

'There must be another path to the main corridor on the surface, there is another branch we do not enter, perhaps one of these passageways leads to it.'

After discovering that his theory was possible, he wasted no time and ran into the far left corridor.

The spider horde continued to chase after him but he would only kill them with the least "Breath" needed.

He was too focused, in this moment of life and death his mind was strengthened like never before.

Even though he had already undergone treatment twice, it was only necessary to endure the pain.

This time it must find a way out, kill all who threaten it and still save energy if rank 3 appears.

This pressure made his sea of consciousness as a whole focused only on survival.

The passageway had many branches but most of them had a blue light at its base which was connected by Noah to the lake, which meant rank 3. That's why he never took it.

Sometimes the branch that rose to the top appeared, Noah would pick it up and find himself back in some place he had already passed, even he had once found a corridor that led straight back to where he came from.

The cave was like an underground labyrinth and since there seemed to be no patterns in its passageways, he could only test everything from those that felt safer to those that had blue light at the bottom.

During its exploration, the spider did not stop appearing.

Although most of them were newborns of rank 1, they still needed a little "Breath" to deal with because their defenses were high.

Noah was powerless to deal with this situation and even with his acupoints working at full speed in an environment with a higher concentration of "Breaths" present within his body continued to diminish.

He found himself back standing where Balor had destroyed the passageway.

'I mostly explore every branching in the other part. Only one is left, if this one ends up as a dead end as well, I will be forced to follow the blue light.'

He went into the street to the left of the right-most street.

The hallway is large, it can fit 3 adult men.

Seeing the blue light getting closer Noah was almost ready to turn around but then he saw an inlet on his left that rose up and in the opposite direction.

Noah was very happy.

'That must be the only way, that's the only way until now that's straight in that direction!'

He darted right into the entrance but strangely no spiders had appeared since he entered this corridor.

'Did I kill too many of them? Impossible, I mostly killed rank 1 spiders and only about 10 rank 2. I have a bad feeling.'

As if answering his premonition, the wall to his right collapsed and a large figure came out.

Noah did not even wait for the figure to be fully seen as he hurriedly turned around to escape.

However, the passageway behind him collapsed by itself from all the commotion the ferocious beast had created by passing through it.

He slowly turned to face the figure who was standing still, blocking the only remaining path.

The 3rd rank iron spider stood with its 4 feet with half of its body raised into the air. The other 4 feet pointed towards Noah and its clamp continued to open and close with an uneven rhythm.

It seemed to enjoy the feeling of trapping its prey as it was just waiting for Noah to act.

'If you fear waiting for you will be disappointed, the threat of death cannot cause that in me.'

He was already dead once and the treatment would force him to look at his doorstep at any moment, death really did not hold back his emotions.

'If I die it's okay, but that doesn't mean I'll just give up.'

He remembers his first lesson with William about an unlikely situation, however, even an ant has the right to defy the will of a dragon.

A chill emanated from his figure like an extension of his state of mind.

'But I'm not an ant and you're not a dragon! I can do this!'

The plan was to pass the spider and run towards the path to the top.

He jumped towards the beast by giving it the strongest possible attack with his technique.

2 Iron feet blocked the blow, while the other 2 shot at Noah.

Red blood flowed as wounds appeared on his body, he managed to dodge the critical attack but his feet still scratched his skin.

He can't get through it. If he survives, he will be reflected back to the wall, if he fends off, the other two legs will be waiting for him there.

Dozens of attacks were exchanged between the boy and the monster, but the spider's stamina was almost limitless and it continued to get stronger as it got used to its new body.

Instead, Noah was covered in wounds and even if not serious, they would still add to the blood loss as time went on.

Plus, the "Breath" was getting rarer in his body and his sword lost their body parts with each exchange.

'I can't keep up any longer. Think on! Think about every possibility you have. Think about every experience you have in two lives. There must be something I can do, I refuse to die here when I have just started my cultivation journey!'

He continued to block and attack until his face shone.

"It might actually work."

The plan was laid out in his mind as he prepared for his final attack.

He charged straight at the spider and blocked the incoming leg with one sword, he let the other pierce his left shoulder.

Since he let the spider attack, a small window of opportunity opened and he threw his right sword directly into the beast's face.

The flying sword could not injure the spider but it was enough to shock him.

In the few moments that the spider used to fend off his sword, Noah freed himself from the leg on his shoulder and drew closer to his face, his right hand which was now free to stroke the inside of his suit.

When the beast turned to face Noah, he found him standing at a distance of one meter holding a piece of unfolded cloth in his hand, directing it to the spider's field of view.

The blue light coming from behind him made clear the figure of runes written on it.

CRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

Painful screams came out from the spider, as his first interaction with the Kesier rune injured his sea of consciousness and shocked him for a moment.

'Now!'

This was an opportunity for Noah to stake his left shoulder and right sword.

He held the remaining sword with both of his hands and inserted all the remaining "Breaths" in one final strike aimed at the beast's head.

The sword painstakingly pierced the head of the spider and passed through it with a shrill sound.

After coming out on the other side of the head, his blade shattered due to the cracks he received in the battle and from the amount of "Breath" he had to endure.

Noah fell to the ground feeling completely drained.

THUD

A loud noise came right by Noah's side as the spider also fell to the ground.

His body did not move anymore, it was dead!

Noah saw it for a while for fear that it would stand up but relaxed when he saw no more movement coming from it.

He hugged the bedsheet that saved his life and closed his eyes from exhaustion.