Odyssey of the Blind God

Now that the surrounding area of the Horned Earth Ratour was clear, the fireballs and poison-soaked arrows couldn't hit Jack or Nial anymore.

Instead, they were flying towards the Ratour that had been distracted for a brief moment and looked up when it was already too late.

Two arrows hit it, and a handful of fireballs exploded next to the Horned Earth Ratour, preventing it from evading the following attack.

Even though nobody on Jack's team could know for sure that he would be able to act, they trusted their leader, and that he would save them from a disaster no matter what.

Owing to their unwavering trust in him, they bombarded their target with attacks by using a vast majority of their mana.

But that was fine as long as their leader received the opportunity to counterattack and kill the beast they presumed to be the dungeon's boss.

However, astonishingly enough, Nial, the blind young man who they had presumed to be unable to continue fighting, was the first to react after the fireballs exploded.

Sensing the unstable mana fluctuations of the Horned Earth Ratour, Nial was confident that it would be unable to use its affinity for a brief period.

Because of that, he ignored the pain that spread through his entire body as he crossed the short distance that lay between him and the Horned Earth Ratour while simultaneously piercing out the Fang Spear.

Thrusting the razor-sharp blade into the muscular shoulder of the Ratour, he heard its horrendous screech, but contrary to Nial's expectations, it didn't budge even a single millimeter as its black eyes that were filled with wrath stared right into his white eyes.

Nial didn't see anything, but he could still perceive the Ratour's wrath and unbending will to tear him apart, which further increased after sustaining another injury.

However, it was just at this moment that Lea's uniquely concocted poison which was further enhanced through her ability began to show its effects.

It had paralyzed the Horned Earth Ratour for a quarter of a second, giving him barely enough time to force himself to use a fraction of mana in order to retract the blade of the Fang spear and move it.

Through this, he could take a step backward, just as another fireball was thrown at the Horned Earth Ratour, colliding with its head, and exploding into a cloud of smoke.

Following that, another high-pitched squeal that was filled with pain was issued by the Ratour that began to release earth-transmuted mana from its whole body, manifesting earth spikes that shot out of the ground, and aimed for Nial.

This caused Nial's expression to stiffen because he knew that he was unable to deflect the attack.

Yet, before the earth spikes could reach him, the speed at which they shot towards him slowed down, giving him the necessary time to evade them as he flung himself to his right side.

Jumping up a moment later, his mana perception visualized the Horned Earth Ratour, followed by Jack, whose daggers were pierced into the beast's back before he ripped them out.

He had been unable to kill the Ratour because it protected its vital spots accurately.

As such, instead of killing it immediately, he thrust his spear hard enough to cause two deep injuries that bled severely.

Afterward, he relied on his team that continued to assault through long-range attacks such as fireballs and poison-coated arrows.

Yet, oddly enough the second batch of arrows that flew towards the Horned Earth Ratour consisted of a much higher number compared to the previous batch.

Even Nial was astonished, but he quickly sensed that they were enveloped in mana fluctuations of multiple people.

Amongst the mana fluctuations that enveloped arrows, he could also sense Shana's.

Because of that, he knew that the Originals that had been standing around and merely watching their battle as a bystander had finally begun to help them.

They might not support them in a close combat fight, but that was not necessary, to begin with.

Instead, it would end up being more of a nuisance if someone were to suddenly jump into the close combat fight Jack and Nial had with the Horned Earth Ratour.

However, that was currently not something Nial could afford to think about.

Rather, he charged towards the Horned Earth Ratour that had just turned towards Jack, only to sense the volley of around 10 arrows flying towards it.

Lifting both of its broad arms, the Ratour shielded its head from sustaining any serious damages.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what sealed the Horned Earth Ratour's fate because it was unable to react in time when Nial appeared right in front of it.

As its hands blocked its vision, it had no idea of Nial preparing himself to attack it. Its attention was drawn towards the poison it had been attacked with which was slowly wearing it out.

Its senses were blurred, and just as it lifted its arms that felt much heavier than a moment ago, it spotted Nial through its blurry eyes.

Though it tried to react in time, it was already too late, and it was at that moment that Nial thrust the Fang spear out again.

Yet, oddly enough, it didn't even notice anything when Nial's spear hit the Horned Earth Ratour's neck.

Even Jack could only stare at Nial in doubt, wondering what was going on, and why the Ratour, he had already assumed to be spurting a fountain of blood, was still standing on its feet.

However, what the others were missing was that the Fang spear's blade was retracted.

Thus, the moment the corner of Nial's lips curled upwards as he opened his mouth to say a single word, many things occurred at the same time.

First, he issued an order, while gritting his teeth.

"Die!".

It was followed by him overstraining his mana veins and mana core which had been forced to utilize the last traces of mana as he released the blade of the Fang spear without hesitation.

Following that, the Horned Earth Ratour's eyes widened, only for another fireball and volley of arrows to hit the Ratour, and almost hit Nial as well, whose body was suddenly covered in chills.

'Are they planning to kill me?!?' He suddenly wondered, as his grin died on his lips.

Retracting the Fang spear, he saw a fountain of blood gush out of the deep wound he had inflicted, but even if it was not an attack that had instantaneously killed the Horned Earth Ratour, it had died, nonetheless, owing to the combination of attacks that had assaulted it at the same time from multiple directions.

As such, when the Fang spear's blade was retracted, its head that had been resting on the blade buckled backward, followed by the entire body that fell on the ground.

Perceiving that the mana of the Horned Earth Ratour was quickly depleting, he presumed that it had died which made him take a relieved breath.

Suddenly, Jack appeared above the Ratour, slashing into the area of its heart, stabbing it over and over before the mana fluctuations had dispersed, leaving a dead corpse behind.

Just at that moment, the corpse disintegrated into countless particles, and it was not long after that the clanking sound of several origin crystals could be heard.

This was not surprising for any of them because it was expected for origin crystals to drop after the death of a boss monster.

However, it could be considered an astonishing fact that there was a different crystal among the few origin crystals that dropped.

It had a faint earthen touch to it, which Nial immediately noticed, while the others saw the brown discoloration.

Because of that, everyone became excited for a moment, but Jack simply picked all the crystals and threw the brown crystal toward Nial, while throwing the other origin crystals toward the other participants of the battle, one for each.

He kept one crystal for himself, and it was extremely fortunate that there were enough crystals for everyone because it would have been troublesome if one or two participants of the battle would have remained empty-handed.

While the others stared daggers at Nial because he got the unique crystal, he was baffled that Jack gave him the said crystal without even thinking twice about his decision.

This was truly astonishing, and when Jack saw Nial's expression he could only shrug his shoulders before he remarked.

"Don't frown like that. I just wanted to avoid trouble, and by far, you have the highest contribution in that battle, let alone braved a higher number of dangers you were exposed to than the rest of us! As such, the affinity crystal should obviously belong to you!"

Nial didn't move, but he thanked him before he gulped down one of the vials that had mana replenishing serum inside them.

This allowed his mana to replenish at a much faster rate as long as he was not in combat.

Thus, he could use his mana to inspect and get to know what exactly the crystal truly was because Nial sensed something unique about it.

As such, he tried to keep a poker face, when he realized what kind of extraordinary crystal Jack had just thrown at him.

[Earth affinity(Comprehension)]

Keeping a straight face, Nial's first question was whether Jack knew what kind of crystal he had just thrown at him, or if he was oblivious to the fact that he had just given him a crystal worth more than everything either of the Originals inside the two-element dungeon had ever possessed in their life.

Based on Melvin's intel, he knew that the Lightning affinity with the [comprehension] tag was considered one of the strongest abilities one could bind to one's mana core as the first ability.

In the end, comprehension-based abilities and similar abilities that would continue to grow and improve along with one's understanding or strength were the most beneficial in the early stages of one's path to become stronger.

That was because one would have a devastating advantage the further one's strength improved.

Even Nial couldn't grasp how valuable the elemental crystal he was holding in his hand, truly was.

As such, he stored it away without dwelling on its value, because it would just distract him.

Just a moment later, the entire room began to overflow with an ominous feeling that was followed by strong mana currents, making all of them feel queasy.

As if that was not enough, a thunderous roar reverberated through the entire cave that began to violently tremble.

Oddly enough the roar sounded familiar to Nial, and after giving it another thought, he realized that it was the same sound he had heard when he and the young cadets of the military had been standing in front of the cavern entrance.

Recalling that moment, Nial wondered if the kids were doing fine, but just a moment later, his attention was dragged to the present as he looked around.

That was not possible owing to the fact that the cave didn't stop shaking even after the thunderous roar had stopped.

Rather, the tremors became stronger with each passing second.

Through this, the group of Originals realised that something bad must be happening and when the first of the numerous walls of the tunnel started to collapse, everyone understood that it was time to flee.

There was no time to even consider saving the other Originals that might still be imprisoned in the cave because they had to save themselves first.

Not only was the cave collapsing, but the sound of thousands of petrification rats' cry could be heard, followed by the ominous sensation that was dragged through the entire cave owing to the mana that permeated it in its entirety.

Combining all of it, they were truly at a disadvantage to even consider thinking about the lives of others because their own life was currently on the line!

Realizing this, everyone ignored their exhaustion, or their jealousy about Nial receiving the elemental crystal because they had to be alive in order to feel anything.

Even Nial, whose entire body felt as heavy as if it was made of lead and weighed a ton, ignored his exhaustion as he turned towards Jack who tried to keep his calm and announced,

"Let's leave!!"

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