BXBX NOVEL Chapter 174: The Call For Help
Chapter 174: The Call For Help
Somewhere in this godforsaken place, three figures slowly woke up from their deep, dreamless sleep.
"My neck..." Noel sat up in a hurry and touched his neck.
He almost could hear the sound of his neck breaking.
He then looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
The ground below him was hard and cold. It was dark all around him.
Then, he saw two of his friends waking up-Renee and Jake looked confused and disoriented.
"What's this place?"
"We are at the doorsteps of the Dark World."
They heard a voice, and when they turned to the voice, they saw Yuri sitting on the ground, holding her legs close to her chest with a look of sadness in her eyes.
"The Dark World?" Noel frowned and then saw a door in the distance.
The door happened to be the only place that emitted light in this wretched place. It looked like a golden portal with edges made out of dark stone.
"It's where the dead go." Yuri said. "For two hours, you'll spend in the world of the dead before you return to the world of the living without any memories."
"Then what the fuck are we waiting for?" Noel stood up with a scoff. "Renee, Jake, stand the fuck up!"
However, they weren't moving and instead wore looks of despair on their faces. They had realized something Noel hadn't.
"Hahahaha!" Yuri started laughing so hard that tears began to fly out of her eyes.
"What's so funny, bitch?" Noel asked venomously. "If you had succeeded, all of us would still be alive, but you worthless fuck can't do anything right!"
"It's funny that you still haven't realized it." Yuri giggled. "There's no second time for us. We don't have the power of the system yet. Yes, we can use it, but it's basically just a placeholder."
"So?" Noel frowned.
"Those without the power of the system can't respawn!" Yuri shouted and laughed. "This is the last time we'll be inside the Mortal Online. Once we have experienced the Dark World, we will never be able to return to this game!"
"What..." Noel whispered in surprise, having to take a step back in shock.
"It's over, Noel." Jake, with a disheartened expression, stood up and started walking towards the glowing door.
"You're planning to give up just like this?" Noel scoffed. "Cowards!"
"That's enough, Noel." Renee followed after Jake, her voice filled with disappointment. "We should have never listened to you."
"Fine, give up like a bunch of sissies!" Noel screamed and sat down, not planning to move an inch. "I ain't leaving like this!"
"Childish." Yuri stood up and also headed towards the door. "We deserved this. We should have known better than to try to kill him."
As he watched his friends and Yuri leave, Noel pressed his teeth together in frustration.
They soon left through the golden door, but Noel didn't follow after him.
He just continued sitting there, stewing in his own guilt and regret.
...
Twenty-Fifth floor, the Dungeon.
The leaves and branches rustled as Terry ran past them, a panicky look flashing through his
eyes.
He was somewhat lost.
It had already been a couple of hours since he left Adam behind, and he'd hoped that he had already returned to the Eldertree so he could ask for help from the teacher.
However, this forest was tricky. It was like it was trying to keep him from finding his way.
It felt like the forest and its thousand trees had a mind of their own.
After a while, whether it was purely coincidence or not, he finally stumbled out of the thick forest and saw the door of Eldertree.
He also finally saw other students, some still trying to find the herbs and spices.
The time limit was almost up, so they were panicking and hurrying, but they couldn't find the last ingredients.
It had been almost five hours, and still, only Adam and Yuri had found all the ingredients. Terry ran past the students, who turned to look at him with raised eyebrows, and as he saw the teacher standing in the distance, he shouted.
"Teacher, help!"
Bertha, boringly, turned her eyes to Terry and saw him run towards her as if his feet were on fire.
"What is it?"
"A-Adam needs help..." Terry panted heavily and tried to explain in a hurry. "H-he is fighting a minor boss! Noel and his friends are also there as they tried to kill him!"
Bertha listened silently through his explanations, still wearing a look of indifference on her face.
After he was done explaining, Bertha looked up into the sky through the swaying branches and saw the sky turn orange.
"It's too late," Bertha said. "I don't want to be outside during the night."
"B-but..." Terry's eyes widened in shock at her indifference. "They're your students!"
"It's their own fault for going that deep into the forest." Bertha said.
"It wasn't Adam's fault! He came to help me as Noel and his friends kidnapped me!"
Bertha didn't seem to care and placed two fingers against her lips, then whistled so loudly that all the students in the vicinity heard her.
"Time's up. Time to return inside!"
"You're really planning to abandon them?" Terry asked in shock. "Aren't you supposed to be
strong?!"
Bertha looked at him in anger and said, "You too. Return inside, and we'll talk later about
your lack of respect."
Terry gritted his teeth hatefully and turned to look back at the forest. He was praying for
Adam's safety.
Bertha looked in boredom towards the forest.
She, in her prime, reached a powerful Royal Prince rank, but she was way past her prime.
In a month, she would reach her sixties, and that's why she used her makeup to cover most of
her wrinkles.
She was perhaps only as strong as Grandeur in her current state, and she didn't want to risk her life, knowing that this floor during the night was extremely dangerous for someone of
Grandeur rank.
She was only the teacher of the institute because of her vast knowledge in Herbology, one of
the few that truly mastered it.
'Even if I go help them, they're already dead by the minor boss.' Bertha thought with a scoff. 'Doesn't matter just how much of a genius that S-ranker is, they're no match for that tree.'
...
BANG, BANG, BANG!
It had been a couple of hours since the fight started.
Adam, with his beautiful wings, clashed against the tree monster, their battle raging on.
The underground cave looked destroyed, the ceiling about to fall apart any moment now, and the ground had been flipped upside down.
Crimson blood flowed down Adam's face, caused by several wounds he'd received during this
fight.
The tree monster also looked injured, with long, sword-made scratches running down its bark, and most of its "branch-arms" had been cut down.
At the beginning of the second phase, it had around twelve arms, but now only six.
Its health had also dropped down to 28%.
The wings flapped and carried Adam to the air, then he turned his sword into a reverse grip and started spinning like a spiral, but so fast that it looked like a whirlwind of blades. The tree monster screamed and lashed its hundreds of roots down towards him, but then Adam flashed past the roots, his sword already slicing through the bark.
With just a split second, he appeared behind the tree monster and left behind an enormous slash wound on its bark that immediately started bursting with that brownish liquid.
It was his strongest attack so far.
The tree monster's health immediately dropped below twenty percent.
The tree monster's eyes, hidden behind the thick layer of branches and leaves, glowed with
fury.
Its wood body started to burn from the inside out.
The third and final phase of the battle was about to begin.