Karta started running before even she understood what the fuck was happening, but as an experienced hunt mistress she quickly started screaming at the less experienced members of the commanding officers.

"RRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN…." The first orc and Septima had already started bolting in her direction even as she begun screaming herself hoarse.

It was only because of their shared hardships that the others started to move in her direction. The second warning came right after as several small animals and insects started to race away from the ritual site.

Only the casters had any real warning of what was coming, and they didn't exactly have time to share the knowledge as the drain came so fast that it was as if the air was being sucked out of a spaceship.

While it was indeed the case that any barometer would point to a change in atmospheric pressure there and then, the actual problem came in the form of their resources suddenly dropping like they were being bleed out.

The drastic change was quickly countered only through an effort of will and fast moving legs, everything not used to fighting off a consciousness from trying to claim their resources suddenly falling to the ground as they zeroed out in mana and stamina. There was no health drain yet, but it was obviously affecting even the vegetation as it began to groan and crack in several places, the grass losing its luster faster than the physical classers could run.

"This is so fucking direfent from training!" Complained Bob. Any other time and he'd have been reprehended for the waste of breath, but everybody suddenly felt like their restraints weren't actually so bad if this was what the actual skill looked like.

Of course, it was easy to tell that the ritual was making it easier to collect the mana in a large area and perhaps strengthening the original power of the drain, the problem remained that they were all getting progressively worse at a rate that could not be sustained.

“EVERYONE! TAKE OUT YOUR BLOOD CLOTHING PILLS AND SOME MILD POISON BEFORE EATING IT, THEN JUST FOCUS ON FUCKING RUNNING!” Screamed Robert, who was around the middle of their line, relying on some ridiculous skills of his to get benefits that brought his physique closer to that of a warrior while fighting together with those he commanded.

No one hesitated this time around though, as the man was likely the most sane of the commanders anyways, so if he told them to eat poison it was probably a good idea. Not one person present walked around without a full pouch of supplies, and quickly they had either been injected with or consumed poison.

The effect was immediate. As their HP started to fall slowly, the drain started to prioritize other areas, giving them enough respite that it looked like they would reach an area without the infernal suction.

Unfortunately, the whole thing stopped when the five minute mark, the whole group was already quite close to getting out of the influenced area anyway. No one was stupid enough to stop and stare, having spent enough time with Aki to know that it was far more likely that this ment shit was going to get worse. Almost prophetically, a wave of mana that energized everything in an even bigger radius than before came forth from the direction of the ritual, halfway from the forest to the camp now, before then coming back with a powerful suction force that stripped away even the vitality of whatever it passed, much of the vegetation starting to darken and die.

Despite the sudden molase of mana and the changing air current being compressed, the group of commanders continued running despite losing some acceleration, the warriors picking up their magically inclined companions as their reinforcement spells had to be applied again due to the sudden mana storm sweeping their constructs away.

With all this factored in, the poison was still reducing the natural drain, but at this point, the sheer vacuum of the area was also joining in and making everyone lose their mana to make up for the sudden shift in concentration as well.

Something that became increasingly apparent as they kept running however, recovery potions and pills being used like they were addicts as neither was able to cause even half their effect when the whole environment was being drained, was that there was a very big chance that in five or so more minutes the ritual’s effect would reach the camp.

“SEPTIMA! YOU SEND THE MESSAGES!”

“FUCK YOU! I’M ON IT!”

Moments after she started sending the distress signal by the bundles, they finally run out of the kilometers of effect of the ritual, air that didn’t feel as if filled with soot and dust rushing into their lungs and spurring them to run even faster, their already overtaxed skills going on and on to replenish whatever stamina and mana they could through special effects to get them farther away from the area.

Perhaps they should also be considering how they may end up dying to beasts if they ran far away enough from the camp, but it was simply a fact that some commanders could already solo level fifty beasts, nevermind that whatever dumb monster was still living withing kilometers away from their camp would quickly run away from the black hole of mana that was the ritual.

……….

Looking at his notifications after the extensive mental workout of controlling all the complex parts of the ritual and making extra sure not to kill anyone wearing his restraints despite that already being a programmed part of the whole thing, Aki was happy enough to get another blue grade skill, although this one was… different.

More importantly though, he had gotten exactly six levels in his heretic path, meaning he had some time to recover before fighting his tribulation.

Mostly, he took out several potions and meditated. The counter would not go away even if he willed it so, so it wasn't like he could go without noticing his would-be executioner even if he tried to. Lea would make sure no one interfered.

As the clock hit zero, he was still tired despite being full of all resources, but he was also on the brink of a huge power up and this would be more than enough, so he didn't mind it much.

"Oh, interesting. It has been many years since I was ever sent on an execution, but it is my first time being restrained in one of them. You must have fooled the system well for that." Said a very irritating voice.

Opening his eyes, Aki saw a gorgeous but unremarkable woman, dressed in white leathers and mail, a bladed whip on each hand. She might have seemed human at first glance, but if the big white wings on her back or the completely white eyes were not a dead giveaway, then the irritating air of holier than thou would tell anyone that this was the galactical equivalent of an angel.

“Look lady, i see why you would think that, but at the moment, i honestly don’t have the patience to explain the whys, hows and whats to dead meat.” He said, getting up and moving forward as his opponent looked at him with a hint of pity in her eyes before swinging her seemingly unconventional weapon at a speed that made it seem like she wasn’t being restrained at all, splitting his barriers and eventually his whole body dia…

*Thunk*

With an expressionless face, Aki teleported and fell upon his enemy’s back as she was stuck in his illusion, punching down through her collarbone with his hand and piercing her armor and flesh due to the searing heat that would soon inutilize the appendage, the wind tunnel on the path of his hit and the position he’d put himself in after teleporting, which allowed for him to punch with the weight of his whole body. Scraping against her razor sharp feathers, he first hit her lung, then heart, before suddenly his elbow got stuck on her armor, dislocating and subjecting him to a lot of pain, though obviously not as much as the angel even as he just stood there, mangled limb barely hanging as he stepped on the ground.

Not that he was stupid enough to belive that something like this would kill her. He himself could probably survive a pierced heart for long enough to heal himself, nevermind that he fucking doubted she actually used her organs the same way as a human. The fact that despite having his forearm sticking out of her collarbone she could still turn and glare at him, made his decision to have gone for the overkill all the much wiser.

Growing several calcium pockets over his offending limb, Aki quickly turned the still burning flesh inside of her into a beastly claw, puppeteering his now spiked appendage into opening up and further shredding her insides before exploding as the insides of those monstrous growths ignited through his will and sent him flying over.

Even as he managed his flight so he would not be embedded into the earth however, the young man couldn’t help but have his eyes twitch at the fact that there had been no kill notification. Clearly, the whole body in front of him had been a puppet, he needed to destroy the actual angel.

That notion made him smile however, seeing as he really had wanted an excuse to use his last trump card. Even before his body fully stopped, his mana spread outward from every pore of his body, giving him a view of the energy surrounding him and forming a rudimentary picture, which quickly led to him figuring out that the bitch had not been as unaffected by her avatar being shredded as he might have first thought, as the big and white cloud of particles wavered and released several gusts of itself as if to sense his presence, danger soon coming in his direction.

Luckily, he still had his other arm.

Joining his fingers together as if he was trying to summon fox fire, his arm began to glow, his mana vision going dark as his every mote of mana went forth into this attack, Aki couldn’t help but grin so hard that his mouth started to bleed, the figure of both monsters seeming ridiculous even as one whip came down like a sword towards his tumbling form, limb pointed towards the remains of the head even as his back suffered under the passing ground.

When the purple bolt came from his exploding forearm however, it passed right between the head and the remaining shoulder, the arcane ballista missile seemingly impacting thin air as it crashed and lighted the actual angel with violet scars, the immediate burst of air sending Aki far away while the avatar flew limply to the side.

At this moment, he felt deep regret. It was still not dead as the thing was now howling in pain, the air vibrating with the remaining energies of the creature even as whatever contained it’s image slowly disintegrated due to his own coming into play to reinforce his attacks.

There was nothing he could do. He needed to take out a heavenly potion which cost a shit ton to make instead of saving it for something far worse. As far as he knew, there was no second life for him. Fortunately, he didn’t need his arms to access his storage items anymore.

With but a thought, a black book with a thick cover and silver runes all around it appeared out of thin air, pages blowing open as a potion tube left it, which was quickly bitten by Aki, breaking inside his mouth and offering tons of unstable vitality to the would-be arcanist.

Replacement limbs quickly grew under his will, neither really looking like functional arms at all, but all it took was some mana to bend them into usable shape. He was almost out of it though, and the unstable potion he modified was definetly going to fuck up anything else trying to enter his stomach, which was partly the reason he didn’t really mind the glass as the pain he was going to go through would make it irelevant, but luckily there was one very big source that still had a lot to spare.

Grining, he approached the wailing blob of energy.