"There's something below us!"
Madesol's sharpened senses picked up the danger.
Asher was already on the move and had taken a thicker stick from the campfire. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any real weapons with him.
The trembling became stronger. Then, suddenly, it stopped.
There was an abrupt silence.
Madesol and Asher glanced at each other.
They both knew danger didn't pass. It was about to attack!
Black interwoven roots shot up from the ground, blasting the darkened soil. The decaying roots moved like tentacles as they snapped toward the two of them.
"Dodge!" Asher shouted as he rolled over the ground.
The decaying roots pierced through the spot he was standing earlier.
Meanwhile, a scream came from Madesol's side. She was thrown meters away from the impact.
"Hey...!" Asher quickly stood up and got to her side.
If he didn't care before, he cares now. This woman has proven that she is a Phoenix. He can't lose his only hope.
On his way to her, interwoven roots appeared beneath him and tried to snatch his feet.
Since Asher had felt the ground tremble, he kicked the ground and barely dodged the ambush. In front were two tentacle-like roots standing over two meters. They swung, aiming at him.
The force of their swing could render him immobile if it hit. Thus, he didn't dare parry.
Grand-Ranked Soul Skill [Fleeting Feet].
He dashed like the wind and immediately got to Madesol. Looking at her torn clothes, he saw her stomach to her left hip bare.
Seeing no signs of injury, Asher immediately felt relieved.
It seemed that a Divine Being's body could take this much.
However, Madesol rolled as she felt crushing pain in her stomach where she was hit. Even though her body was fine, it was acting as if it was injured.
Beads of cold sweat formed from her forehead as she grit her teeth.
Asher didn't think twice. Since she couldn't move, he carried her and ran away as fast as he could.
[Body Strengthening: Lower Limbs]
[Greater Stamina]
Two Grand-Rank Soul Skills were activated. Asher immediately left the enclosure. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they were out of danger.
The ground trembled once again and a lump of decaying root peeked out of the ground.
Asher looked back and felt chills all over his body.
A Fallen!
It is an abominable being created by being infected by something called the Virus. Once infected by the Virus, a creature will turn mad and vicious. It will gain intelligence it never had before and grow exponentially stronger.
Fallens are the enemies of every living being. They are treated like plague and are disposed of by the knights and mercenaries as soon as they appear.
Due to this, very few Fallen are near human settlements.
So, how could one be here? We are in the capital city of the Neixe Kingdom. There should be no Fallens here!
Asher lamented but there was nothing he could do about it but escape. Even the weakest Fallen needs several Soul Practitioners working together to defeat it or one Transcendant.
Their strengths can be judged based on the following factors such as their size and the original creature before it was corrupted. However, one damning aspect one could judge a Fallen's strength by sight alone is how many human features they have on their decaying body.
If they have no human features, it means they are just in the Rotting Stage. Nothing to scoff at but nothing to worry about either. Once they have human features, that's when the situation goes from bad to worse. They are in the Mimicking Stage.
Looking at the huge 'head' of this abominable root monster, Asher could see one arm, three legs... is that a belly button? Three eyes and then one human face in the center.
These human features seemed to be distributed randomly except for the face in the center. It wore a twisted grin, stretching its disgusting and decaying cheeks as if it were about to be ripped off. Its eyes, on the other hand, were staring at them with an intense glare filled with the desire to devour them!
Even though its head is humongous, and reached almost two and a half meters in height, it was being dragged by its tentacles with abnormal speed.
"Chum ere... chumchumchum..."
Its mouth tried to imitate human words, creating a whimper but a screeching sound at the same time as if it was crying out for help in a low volume but high pitch.
Asher's speed increases just from the adrenaline produced by intense fear. He had seen a Fallen before but it was not to this level!
If he wasn't able to stack Grand-Rank Soul Skills on top of one another, he might not be able to outrun this abomination.
Although he was carrying Madesol, Asher found that she was pretty light.
"Why... why are you so slow...!?"
The nerve to complain!
"It's because you weigh like a pig!"
"...!" Madesol forgot about her pain and waved her fists towards his back, "How dare you compare me to a pig! How dare you!"
"Shut up or I'll drop you right now!" Asher shouted as he was unaffected by her small fists and weak strength. But if she continued acting that way, he may get too annoyed and actually drop her.
"I don't have much energy in me right now. I can't use skills greater than Grand-Rank."
"... a Grand-Rank...?" Madesol's face paled. She never thought she would hear that abysmal rank in her lifetime again after becoming a Celestial thousands of years ago.
But right now, that abysmal rank is what's keeping the distance between them and that disgusting rotting monster. She felt hopelessness swelled within her.
"It's... it's gaining speed!" Madesol gritted her teeth as she made 'eye contact' with the Fallen.
For some reason, this made the Fallen frenzy and became faster.
"AHH---!" Madesol shrieked from fright, "Must be a nightmare, must be a nightmare..." She covered her eyes and muttered to herself.
Asher couldn't blame her. His heart was palpitating right now and adrenaline was keeping his speed along with the stacked Soul Skills.
"I can't believe I'm scared of a little Fallen," Madesol cried.
That's her problem!? Asher was stupefied.
It seems that the Phoenix, a Divine Being, still couldn't believe that she is as weak as a mortal right now.
The distance between the monster and them kept getting smaller and smaller.
"It's getting closer. Asher do something!"
"Why don't you do something!?"
After saying that, Asher got an idea.
"Hey, Phoenix, I'm going to give you a strand of World Energy right now! Use it to slow down the Fallen!"
When Asher transferred that one strand of World Energy earlier, he was shocked to find that Madesol was so efficient in controlling it that none was wasted.
Normally, energy would get leaked while being used. That was normal and expected from anyone, even from the greatest genius. There's no way to use one hundred percent of the energy. That would need perfect control over it.
Furthermore, Asher was not just using any energy, it was World Energy itself. As Madesol stated, only starting at the Immortal level can one start to grasp it. However, she was able to control it like it was nothing!
Therefore, giving her World Energy right now would be better than if he used them.
"No!"
Yet, to his surprise, Madesol refused.
Before anger surged within him, Asher asked, "Why!?"
Madesol's jaw clenched further as she glanced at the being.
"We may attract another Fallen," she said under her breath.
It's like an anvil fell onto Asher's head. He immediately understood what she meant. It was by no coincidence that the Fallen appeared right after she used the World Energy Asher gave her.
Like Solvarya, they were attracted to a Divine Being!
So, that's why this Fallen is greedily following them.
Pak!*
"Wah-!" Madesol's eyes widened with pain and disbelief, "Did you just spank me?"
"I want to smack you in the head for attracting that monster but your butt with do!"
Madesol angrily pulled his hair but to no avail, as she was too weak.
"How can you! Even the elders have not spanked me! A mortal like you---!!" she shouted, "Put me down now!"
Are you sure? But before Asher could reply, Madesol helplessly retracted her words.
"No, no, wait, don't put me down...!"
"Shut up if you want to get spanked again!"
"Grr---! You'll pay for this, mortal!!!"
Asher didn't really put the blame on her. Nevertheless, that doesn't really matter, he just wants to hit her. Seeing the plump ass in front of him, he couldn't help himself. It relieved some stress as well.
Pak!*
"What now!?" Madesol roared.
"Nothing"
"Asher!! Take the situation seriously, it's getting closer now!!"
Madesol swallowed her grievance for now as the Fallen was just one meter behind them. Just a little more and she would have its ugly face right in front of her.
Asher gritted his teeth. If he used an Empyrean-Rank Soul Skill, they could gain some distance and in turn, he would exhaust his energy. But seeing how relentless the Fallen is, some distance wouldn't be enough. By then, he would exhaust all his energy and it would catch up to the powerless duo.
Having no choice, Asher had to decide.
"Madesol, distract it and I'll go kill it!"
"W-what do you mean!?" Madesol's face became more frightened.