Snapping my hand forward, I started spamming [Needle Strike].
Dozens of sharp iron spikes shot out in rapid succession toward the demon’s center mass.
But the creature blurred to the side, letting the spikes miss entirely before embedding themselves in the wall behind it.
Terror shot through me as it charged forward, taking advantage of the low gravity to close the distance in mere seconds, using the walls and ceiling as stepping stones.
A few of my spikes impacted its shoulder.
It didn’t even flinch.
My breath caught in my throat as it closed in, leaping with an inhuman screech, its long, shadowy arms elongated into spikes aimed directly at my heart.
I pushed myself to the side as fast as I could, barely managing to dodge the first strike, the creature's spiked arms stabbed through the air as it hurled past me.
I materialized new [Needle Strike]s and shot them into the shadow.
They tore into its form, but it didn’t react.
It dug its claws into the wall, skidding to a stop before launching back at me with its haunting screech.
My thoughts raced as I tried to come up with a solution. If it came from a corrupted rift like those tentacled skull things, maybe it had a vulnerable core hidden somewhere in its shadowy form.
It leaped again, that terrible shriek sending shivers down my spine. I tried to dodge again, but it had already learned and adapted.
A scream tore through my throat as an inky spear ripped through my left upper arm, the armor doing little to stop it.
Pain exploded through me as the creature viciously pulled its arm back, sending droplets of my blood splashing across the wall.
Breathing heavily, I aimed for the creature's head while dodging another strike. The creature twisted its head, letting the spike fly past.
Wait, it hadn’t bothered to dodge before! The head must be vulnerable in some way!
My thoughts were cut short as my foot slipped while trying to dodge, leaving myself open to a dark spear jamming itself into my side.
“Hurk!” My vision went white as hot, agonizing pain erupted through my gut.
The shadow seemed to pause before violently twisting the spear as if it was enjoying making me suffer.
I stumbled back, only to open myself up for another strike, this one piercing through my calf.
Falling to my knees from the pain, I wildly cast more [Needle Strike]s at the creature, hoping to distract it long enough to put some distance between us.
One lucky spike grazed the creature’s face, not enough to kill it, but enough to send it reeling back in surprise. The opening gave me enough breathing room to cast more needles with my good arm as I backed away.
The shadow ducked low, bringing its arms up to protect its head as it charged forward, attempting to close the distance once more.
My [Needle Strike]s embedded themselves into its shadowy form, but it didn’t slow down.
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It crashed into me, knocking my breath away as it sent us both tumbling to the floor.
“Gah!” Pain erupted from my forearms as the creature slammed its spears through them, pinning me to the ground.
Preventing me from aiming my spell.
It looked down at me with its empty white eyes, gleaming with sinister intelligence.
Its face slowly split open, revealing endless rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Pure terror threatened to overwhelm me as my mind raced for a solution, a way out.
Then a thought struck me.
Did I have to cast from my hands?
What if I focused magic through a different part of me to form the spell?
I struggled against the creature to keep it distracted while I slowly brought my tail into position, concentrating on forcing the magic through the appendage while constructing the spell.
I nearly lost focus as the shadow leaned in closer, its horrible maw mere inches from my face, but I powered through.
This was my only shot, I couldn’t mess this up.
[Needle Strike]
The spell formed successfully, sending an iron needle stabbing through the creature’s skull and out the other side, splattering inky-black liquid across the wall and floor.
It twitched and jerked for a brief moment, its eyes wide in disbelief… before finally going limp.
Its unmoving form now drifted nearly weightless above me, dripping inky-black liquid onto my face.
[Experience Threshold Reached]
[Upgrading Nanite Swarm...]
[Upgrade Successful]
[Nanite Swarm Level: 7]
[Efficiency: 3.5%]
[5 Skill Points Remaining]
Ignoring the notification for now, I quickly pushed the shadow off of me with shaking arms, despite the pain coursing through me.
The strange gravitational anomaly carried its body farther than I expected, but I was grateful for the extra distance it created.
Groaning, I did my best to lay still as I caught my breath.
Warm blood was starting to pool beneath me. I wished I had some medical foam on me, but it had all been stored in my backpack. Hopefully the nanites would fix me up before I bled out.
I’d leveled up twice from that encounter. Maybe demons gave more experience points for some reason?
Regardless, it was frustrating that after all I’d been through the nanites efficiency was still so low. But I suppose there was nothing I could do about that.
For now, I would have to make do with wrapping the wounds in bandages.
I made a quick scan around in case there were some first-aid boxes somewhere, but saw none. It seemed that even with this world’s advanced tech, safety standards were less developed.
With no actual medical supplies on hand, I made do with stripping my undershirt and cutting it into strips, biting back the pain as I wrapped them around the bloody holes in my arms and legs.
It seemed to do the trick, for now at least.
Well… waiting here wasn’t doing me any good, and the low gravity would make moving around despite my injuries rather trivial, so I gingerly made my way closer to the source of the anomaly.
———
I looked through the broken glass doors into the large, brightly lit cylindrical lab. It was far more advanced than the room with the fluid-filled cylinders.
There were two distinct levels. The upper level was a ring of broken computers and other equipment that overlooked a clear, circular space with an ominous red rift glowing in the center.
The source of the gravity distortion pulsed with energy every few seconds like a massive, crimson heart. Its sheer size made all the rifts before it pale in comparison.
The hum I’d come to expect from rifts was so intense I could feel it in my bones.
Corpses dressed in white lab suits drifted around the room with other assorted lab equipment, caught in whatever gravity field the corrupted rift was creating.
The room seemed to be clear of any monsters, but I noticed a few of the computers were still unlocked and functioning, their previous users too dead to shut them off properly.
A perfect opportunity for me to uncover some secrets. And if there was nothing on my own situation, then at least I’d have some leverage against Ordon in the future.
I gingerly maneuvered myself through the broken glass and into the room, careful not to get sucked into the orbit of bodies as I drifted to the open console.
As I drew closer, bits of loose grime were pulled off me and into the rotating field of bodies, the strength of the anomaly growing more potent as I approached.
I had to hold my hair back to prevent it from blocking my vision as it too was pulled toward the center of the room.
My hands finally reached the cool surface of the console and latched on, allowing me to pull myself close enough to interact with it. There was surprisingly little dust clinging to the broken tech around me. It must not have had an opportunity to settle with the rift pulling everything into an orbit around itself.
On screen was a paused video with the words, ‘Anomaly Detected… Saving Data to Local Network…’ posted over it. It didn’t take long to figure out how to replay the video, and soon I was watching a team of Drakanian scientists going about their business, completely unaware of the coming danger.
