Chapter 18: Stepping Stones Part III

I was still perplexed by the sudden changes in my body. Right now, an overwhelming sensation of invincibility was coursing through my veins, filling me with vehement vigor as I stood there like a statue. The werewolves quickly zeroed the distance between us, and using their sharp claws that was almost as long as a dagger, they slashed at me.

Back when I was still a mere Goblin Mage, the movements of these monsters were hard to follow, but now, their movements felt slow, a bit sluggish too, I must say. With such slow attacks, I simply sidestepped and dodged the strikes. I clenched my fists then punched the abdomen of the werewolf nearest to me, sending it flying tens of meters back, its body repeatedly stumbling on the ground before eventually hitting the wall.

The attacks of the werewolves momentarily stopped upon seeing this spectacle. The werewolves stared at me, their eyes wide in disbelief. I could somehow understand them. After all, it was not everyday that a mere Goblin would send a werewolf flying.

Soon enough, a roar resounded and the werewolves once again attacked me one after another. With some leeway, I opened up my status window and looked at the skills available. There were a lot of basic and middle-tier spells there, but the ones that stood out the most were the four skills in golden texts.

[Skill] End of Time

[Skill] Eternal Hellfire

[Skill] Call of Gaia

[Skill] Ice Age

This pact had a short duration of three minutes. I did not really have the time to read through each of the skills and learn their effects. End of Time, Eternal Hellfire, and Ice Age felt incredibly dangerous, just from their names alone, especially the first one. And so, I decided to use the remaining skill.

“Call of Gaia!”

Upon chanting the words, an absurdly large magic circle manifested itself on my feet. Judging by sight, it was probably a hundred meters in diameter, covering a large portion of the cavern. The attacks of the werewolves turned even fiercer upon seeing this, but I merely dodged their strikes and returned one of my own. It was really amazing how strong this body was. I could see their attacks clearly, as though each movement had been separated into numerous layers, just like a broken animation.

The magic circle glowed violently, illuminating the dark cavern. The runes engraved span around into a spinning vortex, before eventually breaking into numerous particles of light. I felt a large amount of vigor escape my body after that, probably indicating that I lost a large amount of my mana.

Call of Gaia has been activated!

After the confirmation of the system, several information regarding the cavern went into my head. The structure of the cave, the composition of the land, the layouts, the number of werewolves inside, even the amount of stones and rocks – I’ve come to grasp them all.

Furthermore, I felt that the entire cavern had become a part of my body. To test this out, I willed the land in front of me to move – and it did.

I could not suppress the grin from emerging on my face. As a werewolf tried to strike me from above, I willed the ground to move and pierce its body. A yelp of surprise which soon transitioned into pain echoed. Blood splattered as the body of the werewolf above was pierced by a large spike made of earth. I raised my hand and pointed at the werewolves, and numerous serpents made of earth erupted from the ground, biting off the flesh of their preys.

I noticed that one of the werewolves disappeared into a grey mist. Within this cavern, I could firmly grasp the presence of everyone. Despite being clad in concealing magic, I knew that the werewolf was charging towards my direction. Unlike the other werewolves, this one was fast, and I was having a hard time following it even with my current body.

Grey mist appeared in front of me, and the werewolf emerged out of its hiding. After a ferocious roar, it went straight for my neck. I willed the ground around me, and a wall made of earth rose on my left, effectively blocking the strike. A shockwave blew and created gusts of wind, the earthen wall shook and trembled, then formed numerous cracks. Still, it did not break apart. Seeing this, the werewolf once again disappeared into a grey mist. Using the skill, Call of Gaia, I could feel that it circled around me. This time it would appear on my right.

Time remaining before the Pact ends: 2 minutes

A notification popped up, stating that I have only 2 minutes before the pact ends. I needed to end this soon.

Knowing that the werewolf would strike me on the right, I preemptively willed the ground to strike the werewolf once it came out. The moment it emerged from the mist, a spike that resembled a trident shot out from the earth. It pierced through the body of the werewolf, creating a gaping hole on its abdomen. Seeing that it was not enough to kill this one, numerous bullets made of earth magic shot from the ground, turning its body into a honeycomb. The werewolf glared at me for a moment, before it fell down the ground limp and lifeless.

Or so I thought.

As I blocked the attacks from the rest of the werewolves, the supposedly dead body began standing up then immediately charged at my direction. I was startled upon seeing this. After all, the werewolf was already filled with innumerable wounds that it was already impossible to identify which race it came from.

After a rage-filled roar, the werewolf slashed at my direction. Just like before, a wall of earth sprouted from the ground and blocked the attack. To my surprise, the wall shattered and turned into dust. My body got hit by the attack, and I was sent flying towards the wall, hitting it with a deafening impact.

A thin line of blood dripped down my mouth as pain shot through my body. Looking at the wall behind me, I saw a colossal claw mark that easily spanned twenty meters in size. Just seeing this would make anyone realize that it was one hell of an attack, moreover, it came from a half-dead monster.

The werewolves did not give me the chance to recuperate. As I was standing up, they immediately began to charge towards my direction. The one leading the charge was the half-dead werewolf from before. Its eyes were glowing red, and steam continued to puff out its snout.

If I were to continuously receive such attack, even if I have this body, I would probably die. There was a slash mark on my chest, and blood dripped down on it. Luckily, this body was strong enough to withstand such crazy blow.

I focused all my attention towards the cavern, firmly grasping everything in it. I could feel the ground, its texture, its composition, everything in it. With the goal of eliminating my enemy, I willed the entire cavern to attack the werewolves.

The ground shook and trembled. A second after, spikes began raining down above, and bullets made of earth began shooting from the ground. Hundreds of serpents made of earth slithered towards the werewolves, ripping apart their flesh.

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

You have slain a Werewolf Warrior!

I received numerous notifications of the werewolves’ deaths.

It was amazing that despite all this, the half-dead werewolf from before still continued it charge. Its entire body was pierced with spikes, and on its arms, backs, and legs, serpents made of earth were tearing off the flesh apart. I could even see its bones now, but the werewolf still continued charging forward. It was a lot slower than before, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before it eventually fell. Still, the pact had a time limit. I cannot wait that long.

“Die,” I whispered.

A large spike made of earth erupted from the ground, piercing the head of werewolf. For a moment, our eyes locked with each other, and I saw the burning rage within those slit-like pupils. I have never seen such a war-crazed beast from before. This werewolf made the Minotaurs look like cute little toddlers.

You have slain the Werewolf General, Warmonger!

I froze as I stared at the system’s message.

“So, it was a General?”

It explained everything. At first, I was filled with anxiety when I saw this werewolf stand up even after all those injuries. It was like a flesh-crazed zombie that would stop at nothing just to kill its prey. It would stand up again and again. For a moment, I was afraid that if all of the werewolves were this strong, then even at my current state, it would be impossible to defeat all of them. Thankfully, this one was actually a General.

The cavern returned to its calm. The werewolves seemed to be all dead, but just to be sure, I summoned earth spikes from above and pierce the dead bodies. I breathed a sigh of relief when I confirmed that they were all really dead.

“What’s that?” I said.

I walked towards the place where the body of the Werewolf General was. On top of the corpse, a rectangular thing was floating. It was glowing in azure light, making it conspicuous in this dark cavern.

I touched it, and the azure light instantly vanished. The rectangular thing fell down towards my opened hand.

You have gained a Skill Book!

My eyes widened. If this was just like the games I’ve played in my youth, then this thing would enable me to learn a Skill. More importantly, this was a Skill Book obtained after killing a Werewolf General.

I was about to excitedly open it when a notification popped up.

Time remaining before the Pact ends: 30 Seconds

Fuck. I did not have much time left, huh?

A voice resounded in my ears.

Well done, little one. It seems that the Reinforcement from that Osiris brat has arrived. That one should be capable of driving away the Werewolf Lord.

I looked at the direction of the Ancestral Goblin Mother. Unlike the name, it did not resemble a Goblin at all. It resembled an ant, and with its size that easily covered half the entire cavern, it was simply a colossal monster.

With the Call of Gaia still in effect, I could feel the approaching army coming from the outside. I could make out the presence of a very strong individual there, accompanied by many others. If what the Ancestral Goblin Mother had said was correct, then that individual would be that so-called Osiris, the Level 99 Monster that ruled over the Clan Leaders.

With the perception given by Call of Gaia, I could now somehow measure the strength of that individual. If the Werewolf General was like a large sphere of fire, this one was a gargantuan ball of flame capable of devouring the blaze of the General in an instant. And right now, that monster was coming to this place.

Time remaining before the Pact ends: 15 Seconds

After one last look at the Ancestral Goblin Mother, I ran towards one of the opened holes in the cavern. I used my remaining time to go towards the very end of the path. Inside the dark tunnel, my body slowly grew back into its former self. I felt the massive strength leaving my body. My eyes felt heavy, and my body was frozen solid from fatigue. It seemed that after using the Pact, it would no longer be possible to move my body afterwards.

I did not know if killing the Werewolves in this cavern was the right decision, and I did not know if forming a Pact was the right choice. After all, it was impossible to always choose the right path. We could only hope to choose the one we would regret the least. I wryly smiled at this thought.

Slowly, I drifted into dreamland. I no longer heard the Ting sound that came from the system afterwards.