Novel Full Chapter 376 Frey's Injury
Chapter 376 Frey’s Injury
Frey hurled a rune at the bear without hesitation. The rune detonated on contact and a cluster of daggers erupted from the rune directly in front of the creature, driving into its belly, arms and shoulders.
The bear roared in pain, thrashing inside the confined space. Blood spattered across the wooden walls of the crevice.
Frey stumbled backward, pressing a hand to the deep gash across his chest from the sneak attack. Blood seeped between his fingers in an unyielding flow. The initial attack had caught him clean, and the wound was bad.
Moon didn’t waste time. “Duck!”
Frey dropped to his knees.
Moon thrust both hands forward and unleashed a barrage of wind blades into the narrow space. The blades travelled through the gap between Frey’s head and the ceiling and sliced into the bear at point-blank range.
The blades cut through its body parts like razors. The first struck its neck, carving a deep line across the thick muscle. The second caught its face, splitting the skin from jaw to brow. A third found its left eye, the black orb burst, and the bear let out a horrible cry that shook the walls of the trunk.
Blood poured from its neck, its face, its ruined eye socket. The blue crescent on its chest was barely visible beneath the streaks of red running down its body.
The bear swung blindly in the darkness, its claws raking the walls, tearing chunks of wood from the trunk.
Moon pressed the attack. Another volley of wind blades tore into the bear’s exposed flesh, followed by an earth spear that drove upward through its throat. The creature’s thrashing weakened. Its blind swipes grew slower, clumsier, until its legs buckled and it collapsed inside the crevice with a heavy thud.
It didn’t get back up.
[You have killed the Level 29 F-Rank Sun Bear] [You have gained 230 Lives]
‘Another Body Refiner. Makes sense given those strong physical attacks.’
Moon stored the bear’s body in his storage ring, clearing the space inside the crevice. He moved toward the entrance, giving Frey room to settle near the back.
Frey slid down against the bark, his breathing labored. The gash across his chest was still bleeding.
“Hey,” Frey said through gritted teeth. “Can you return the daggers from the runes I activated earlier?”
“Sure, I will return them later. For now, focus on your health, you are dying…drink a health restoring potion to slow down the bleeding at least.” Moon nodded.
Frey gave a weak nod of thanks and reached into his pouch with bloodied fingers. He pulled out two runes and activated them both.
A warm glow spread across his chest as the first rune took effect. The bleeding began to slow down, and the edges of the wound began to close slowly.
“Healing rune.” Frey muttered, then gestured at the second. A faint shimmer passed over the walls of the crevice, settling across the entrance like an invisible curtain. “And a concealment rune. It’ll mask our presence and the smell of blood in here from anything outside.”
He let his head fall back against the bark and exhaled slowly.
“We wait here until it or they pass.”
“What is it? What exactly are we hiding from?” Moon asked.
Frey looked at him. The grim expression on his face had deepened.
“That roar we heard earlier. It wasn’t a battle cry.” He paused, wincing as the healing rune and the healing potion worked on his wound. “It was a cry for help but rather a beast encountering spirits.”
Moon’s eyes narrowed.
“For some mysterious reasons I can not determine, there is a spirit outside near our base.” Frey continued, his voice low. “Spirits don’t usually venture this far from the pavilion. Not unless they’re rogue spirits seeking blood. And those are dangerous. Very dangerous, strong enough that we would have no chance of defeating them.”
Moon remained silent, ‘Mysterious reasons…huh?’
He knew exactly why the spirits were out here. The body he had stored in his ring, the one he had been carrying toward the base before Isabelle stopped him. The tracking traces naturally embedded throughout the corpse had been broadcasting his route like a beacon. Even though the doppelganger had carried the body in the opposite direction, the spirits had clearly begun searching the wider vicinity.
“Do you think they’ll find the base?” Moon asked, frowning.
Frey was quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head slowly.
“Rogue spirits aren’t good at scouting. They move on instinct, not strategy. And the base is protected with runes and other concealment measures that keep us hidden from spiritual detection. As long as everyone stays inside, we should be fine.”
Moon held his gaze. “What if it’s not a rogue spirit? What if it’s a cluster of them?”
Frey’s expression froze. The confidence behind his answer leaving, “Then those inside are in trouble.” He said quietly. “It would come down to chance. Whether they’re found or not.”
Not long had passed before the sounds began.
Beast cries. One after another began echoing through the forest from different directions. Some were sharp and sudden, cut short almost instantly. Others were long, drawn-out wails that faded into nothing.
Moon glanced at Frey. The man stared back at him, his face drained of color.
“Those are the spirits.” Frey whispered, barely moving his lips. “They’re slaying every beast they encounter around here.”
The cries were getting closer. Whatever was moving through the forest wasn’t following a single path. It was sweeping the area, like a net being dragged across the ocean floor.
“Let’s stop speaking.” Moon said quietly.
Frey nodded once.
Both of them turned their gaze toward the sealed crevice ahead of them. The concealment rune still held alongside the other things they used to physically close the gap, the only things between them and however many beasts were hunting outside.
The forest grew louder with dying screams, and the two of them sat in absolute silence, barely breathing, listening to the slaughter close in around them.