Threads of the Soul

Chapter 441 - 441: SMASH!

Corvus spun in the air, thrusting both feet forwards as he flew at the bugs like a drop-kicking bullet as they scrambled out of the holes they had made. They hissed loudly, raising their claws up and shifting to the side so his own momentum would slice him in half.Just before he hit the claws, his body disappeared as he turned into his soul form. The ambient spiritual energy that flooded the caves, from all the bugs who had lived and died in over god knows how many years, wrapped itself around Corvus.

He passed through the bugs claws, forcing himself to slow down, as he cast his threads out. They wrapped around the insect, weaving around its weak spots and joints. All at once, threads and body, he became tangible.

Landing on the bugs back, he pulled the threads tight and once again bound it's limbs to its body. However, he had underestimated the bugs intelligence level. Forming an ambush isn't all they were able to do.

With it's twin tails pinned to its back by razor threads, the bug strained itself until the sound of snapping and tearing flesh tickled Corvus' ears. He spun around just in time to witness the bug pulling its tail so hard, that it ripped it off.

Green blood sprayed out for a second as the two half separated before the tail bulged and twitched. It pointed the severed stump in Corvus' direction before a whole new tail erupted from the stump.

The venom tip glinted wickedly as it lunged forwards like a spear. He barely had enough time to dodge it, leaning back just enough that it tore apart the flimsy ceremonial clothing he was wearing and just barely nicked his flesh.

Corvus leapt from its back, the threads binding it loosening enough to allow the bug to start wiggling free without tearing itself apart. Before he could tighten them again, the second bug lunged from its hole, Scythe arms flying.

He immediately started to weave between the blows, the scythe arms moving so fast that even to him they were almost like a blur. Every swing accompanied by a slice of air that was just as deadly, simply from the force that was behind them.

His clothing was rapidly being torn to shreds, especially his hood as the wicked beast repeatedly went for decapitating or head impaling blows.

By the time the other insect got free of its bindings and joyed the fray with an bloodthirsty hiss, Corvus might as well have been standing in rags. Ink flowed from his skin as he summoned the [Requim of Blood], the blade rapidly forming itself out of its namesake crimson liquid.

Since it was formed from blood, the weapon didn't suffer from the same issues as others. It did not have a blade limited to the level it was made at. Instead, it's level was equal to that of its source material.

He had collected most of the blood from Loki's body, his main source of Celestial blood since none of the others were willing to donate their life force to it, for some reason. It wasn't enough to form a full sword blade, at least not one that would pierce Celestial armour this thick. But then again, he didn't need it to.

Deflecting one of the Scythe arms to the side, the [Requiem of Blood] shifted, the crimson blade becoming thinner and shorting in length. The blood lost from the width of the blade gathered at the top, forming itself into a spherical glob of blood.

The small waves of this globe grew larger and larger, until they erupted into spikes before completely solidifying.

Side stepping the next Scythe attack and letting it stab into the ground, Corvus swung his new morning-star right into the joint of the arm. The arm wretched to the side and, with a sickening crunch and an ear piercing screech from the bug, completely snapped the arm in half.

When the bug tried to pull away, the Scythe remained stuck in the ground, blood spurting from its wound with every tug until eventually it tore itself free, leaving the blade stuck in the ground and itself down an arm.

Best of all, unlike its tail, the arm didn't seem to be growing back any time soon.

Some might have become obsessed with finding gaps in their armour or aiming for weak-points like the eyes to create shallow wounds with daggers, or other various weapons. But when it came to heavily armoured enemies, Bludgeoning weapons were king.

Where the skill of the blade failed, one could always rely on brute strength and a big hammer. That was the truest education of their caveman ancestors. It was just a shame he didn't have a giant boot to squash these bugs with.

Armed with his new weapon, Corvus began to dance with the insects once more. Weaving around their attacks and sending out crushing blows of his own. Piece by piece, he started to dismantle the bugs.

Breaking off another scythe further up the arm, stripping a leg or two. Not to mention the tails. As he was fighting them, he was constantly using his threads to bind them up.

He would trip their legs, stop their scythes short to give him more time to dodge and ensnare their tails so their charges were halted. But the longer he fought them, the more they adapted to him.

They were learning. They tore their tails from their backs without care when he tried to grab them, immediately attacking with the newly grown ones. They paced their steps, walking in an arhythmic pattern that took advantage of their multiple legs.

On multiple occasions, they had used feints to trick him. Faking an attack with their scythe or tail to make him stop them, only to hit him with something completely different when they got grabbed.

It was putting him through his paces, and the longer he fought the more ruined his clothes became. The more wounds he accrued on his body. At some point the enchantment on his hood failed, either because they had torn through an important rune or because the material was so ruined that it couldn't support the burden of the enchantment.

He didn't have time to think about it, or even care. But for the first time, Corvus' face was exposed as he fought nearly in the nude.

However, he wasn't totally helpless. Pulling parts off them wasn't just because he couldn't hit their bodies properly. Well, He actually couldn't, but that wasn't the reason he chose to do this.

His dissection was meticulous and targeted and soon, there was just one piece he was missing.

Leaping backwards to give himself some space to work, Corvus cast his threads outwards once more. But instead of casting them towards the Queen's Guard, he threw them backwards towards one of the Nursing bugs still scuttling about, idly doing its job while all of this chaos was going on.

Perhaps he would have felt bad about his actions if it was a human nurse, or even something vaguely humanoid. But as it stood, since it was a disgusting acid spewing bug, Corvus had no qualms wrapping his threads around its throat and slicing off the nursing bugs head with one quick slice.

Was that racist? Perhaps. Did he care? No. No he did not.

As the head flew into the air, he whipped his threads around it and launched it towards the bugs. It flew clear over their heads, and landed right next to the pile of severed limbs. Once the head was added to the pile, the limbs started to shift and shake, slowly drawing themselves together.

The pieces clicked together, in a way they were never supposed to fit, until a fully formed puppet rose from the pile. In place of hands it had the severed Scythe arms, with a body formed from severed legs giving it the appearance of a stick man.

The Nursing bugs head sat atop this strange body, letting out a fearsome cry of war before it rushed into the battle to join its master.

The tables quickly turned in Corvus' favour as the two on one became an even battle. Fighting side by side with his puppet formed of Celestial parts, using it to fight against the beings it once belonged to, he felt... nervous.

He was winning, starting to push the bugs back and deal more damage on their bodies with their own scythes and his morning-star. So... What was this feeling gripping the back of his neck and whispering in the darkest corner of his mind.

Why did he feel like they were letting him win. That they were... waiting. Waiting for what?

He grit his teeth, stomping his foot to blast himself forwards. If they wanted to stall him out, then he would just have to end this quickly. But as he went to take his next step, his leg refused his orders.

Instead of charging forwards, Corvus slammed down onto the ground, bouncing and skipping across the ground like a skimming stone.