Drenched in blood, Nolan moved toward the corpse. Even moving an inch causes his muscles to be sore and in pain.
Looking down, he inspected himself, trying to figure out how much damage he had sustained.
Just a single glance and he could understand there were too many to count, so he let go of the minor and just tried looking for anything life-threatening.
'Lucky... me... I guess.'
He smiled, finding that there wasn't anything major that could pose a threat to his survival. Fortunately, there was nothing like that... he wasn't in immediate danger.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Nolan turned his head upside down and looked at the sky. From the moment he had come to this world, the sky hadn't changed at all. It was still crystal clear.
There wasn't a single cloud moving above his head, as if afraid of something.
Gripping the spear, he used it as support and moved toward the tree, when something clicked in his mind. Freezing right there, Nolan turned a bit.
His heart forgot to beat as he looked at the scenario in front of him. Staring right at them, a chuckle escaped his mouth,
'Lucky!?... what a fucking joke...'
Because of his fight with the Grallith, he seemed to have forgotten that there weren't only two of them on the field, for a minute. No, there were more of them, and unlike him, they hadn't forgotten about another prey on the ground.
All around, Shrooms were moving toward him.
Somehow, they had defeated all the Griallith and were now moving toward the only thing that was alive on the field.
Nolan was surprised, sure, but he was even more impressed with them than just surprised. And why wouldn't he be, when they had seemingly defeated tens of Griallith?
Griallith, a monster he struggled to kill, just a single one of.
His eyes widened in surprise as Nolan found another interesting detail. On every single Griallith corpse, there were more than five Shrooms.
They really seemed to be spawning out of the ground... but even that had depleted, as he could only see five of them left standing.
'There is strength in numbers, I guess...'
Forcing a smile, he tried taking a step back but stopped, finding the corpse in his way. He wanted nothing more than to run away, but unfortunately, there was no time for that.
With a trembling body, he tried preparing himself for the worst.
Nolan was begging for much, as with barely any time to catch his breath... the Shrooms moved. Slow at first, but soon picked up their speed.
His arms trembled, vision blurring red, but there was no time, no mercy left in this world.
Within a matter of seconds, the Shrooms came rushing in.
Shriekkkk! Shriekkk!.... clickkkk!... Clickkkk!...
All five of them burst in, shrieking with high-pitched clicks.
Their deformed, fungus-ridden bodies sprang forward with grotesque grace. Keeping their heads lowered, they moved with claws outstretched.
Letting the essence run toward the spear, Nolan moved on instinct.
The first leapt from his left, its horn driving forward like a battering ram. Letting the essence cover himself, Nolan twisted as its horn scraped past his ribs.
Ahhhh!
Pain erupted like fire, but he caught the creature with a savage swing of his sword, splitting its neck. Black blood sprayed across his face.
The sword groaned in his grip, pulsing with energy, feeding on his wounds, growing heavier… deadlier.
[You have killed...]
Fortunately, their defense wasn't as great as their numbers, and the sword easily sliced them apart. Nolan barely had time to celebrate when another came crashing down from above.
Raising his arm, he let the Shroom's claws rake down his forearm as it tried to tear the flesh out of his body. Not only did the thin layer of essence protect him—it stored everything as well.
Looking at the bastard in front of him, he lifted his other hand and snapped his fingers.
Boooommm!
An invisible wave of kinetic energy was released from his hand as it blasted the monster into the mushroom tree. Limbs scattering like twigs, the monster took its final breath...
[You have killed a...]
He had killed another one, but two others were already upon him—one scraping down his back with hooked claws while the other clamped its jaw around his thigh.
Ahhhhh!!
Nolan screamed as this time the essence had failed to protect his back.
"Fuckking... bastard..."
His scream turned to a snarl as he stabbed the monster with full force. Its fragile body posed no chance against the [Razor Chant].
Thudd!!
The third one fell to the ground, having its skull split in two.
[You have killed a Drifter...]
Taking its chance, the monster turned its back toward him and released a cloud of spores, bursting toward him.
'W-what!?'
Nolan staggered, coughing as his vision began to warp. It began showing its effect instantly as the world bent sideways. Voices began whispering in the haze. For a heartbeat, he saw himself and the others dying, kneeling, impaled by the horns.
Clickkk!
Clicking, both of them closed in, flickering like phantoms in the cloud of spores.
Suddenly, one of them charged, and Nolan couldn't move in time.
The horn punched right into his shoulder, and with a cracking pop, his collarbone gave way.
Ahhhhh!!
The pain brought him back to reality as Nolan dropped to one knee. Blood pouring freely, body screaming in pain… but the grip around his weapon only tightened more and more.
The sword hummed a little, then some more. Drenched in blood, his body suddenly grew stronger. Now twice... no, thrice as strong as before, he looked at them with a bitter smile.
'Gooo to hell...'
Whispering, he launched himself in a spin, slashing with everything he had. His weapon screamed through the air, carving two Shrooms in half.
Thuddd!
Posing no resistance at all, they dropped dead on the ground.
[You have killed a Drifter Primor, Sporehorn.]
[You have killed a Drifter Primor, Sporehorn.]
It whispered twice before going back to… silence.
Nolan stood in the center, five corpses littered around his body.
Having no essence or energy left, his body trembled with pain. Drenched in a soup of blood, muscles torn and barely standing...
...when something moved. He looked as more shadows shifted between the mushrooms. Some were dead, and more were coming.
'Why am I... not surprised anymore?'
Looking ahead, he shouted, "COME... HERE... YOU WILL HAVE THE SAME FATE.."
The screens vibrated in the field as the Shrooms froze mid-step, heads tilted in terror for a second.
For a heartbeat, the world held its breath.
Then, Nolan's legs gave out. His eyes caught the sky one last time— still wide and endless—as everything faded. In a matter of seconds, everything got swallowed by cold darkness.
'N-Not... no—'
Before he could finish his thought, Nolan lost his consciousness.