Souls Of The Drowned (End)

No wonder no creature was seen near the building. The Ahuizotls drowned every single being that came within a one kilometer radius of the building.

A couple of dogs, elderly humans, children, and even zombies. No one was spared. If not for my intervention, Vin would have been one of them. 

I took a deep breath and aimed at the swimming pool. 

I knew everything about the Ahuizotls since I was the one who researched on them and modified them to fit my story.

But none of that could have prepared me for this scene. The feeling of seeing so many dead bodies at once was not something you wanted to experience.

Yes, I once saw the dead bodies of my parents and a few limp body parts along the way but this was the first time I saw so many dead bodies at once.

My stomach began sinking. Nauseousness spread throughout my body as I took a deep breath to calm myself. 

This was not the time to act like this. Processing this horror could wait…

Summoning my flames, I shot two beams of hot swirling blue flames toward the water. On coming in contact, the flames immediately started converting the water into steam.

The Ahuizotls started hissing at this.

Wait, hissing? Don't tell me…

I shifted my gaze towards the leader of the Ahuizotls just to find it staring back at me. Murderous intent was present in its eyes. It clearly did not like the fact that I started destroying its home.

It looked pissed enough to kill me on the spot. Judging from the golden window in front of my face, it didn't seem impossible.

+

[ Drowned Manipulation is active. ]

+

Underneath the pool, the drowned souls began to float upwards, their eyes turning towards me. Being stared at by 100 pairs of eyes was creepy. Being stared at by 100 pairs of dead eyes was creepier.

Vin and the zombies were also staring at me, ready to attack me on command. The Ahuizotl leader definitely wanted me to suffer a slow and painful death.

Too bad I wasn't going to die this easily.

|| Ahuizotls tied their souls with their home(water body) in exchange for receiving their powers. They protected their home with all their strength since destroying their home led to their destruction as well. ||

The moment I entered the room, a plan formed inside my mind. It was a last-resort plan in case nothing else worked.

"AWOOO!"

"WOOO!"

"AOOWOO!"

In synchronization, all Ahuizotls howled at the same time. Their leader pointed its tail at me, commanding all the drowned under its control to attack me.

How could I possibly fight 100 drowned along with Vin and the zombies?

The answer was simple. 

I just had to remove the drowned and the Ahuizolts from the equation.

My next move might be stupid or even outright risky but it was the only way to succeed. Except for running away, something I never planned to do from the start. This was my world and there was no way I would run away from it.

With a deep breath, I stared at the 3m meter deep pool before jumping into it. Yes, I jumped right into the pool which contained the drowned in it.

I simply sank to the bottom of the pool, struggling to open my eyes as water rushed inside my ears and nose.

As expected, the drowns stopped emerging out of the water. They shifted their attention towards me and started heading toward me. 

It was time for me to begin my move.

Till now, I focused on summoning fire using my arms. It was the most optimal way that provided me with flexibility as well as control over the amount of fire I was generating. It saved me from overusing the skill as well.

However, this didn't mean that I couldn't cover my entire body in fire. [Pyrokinesis] basically allowed me to create and control fire. It never specified I needed to use a particular part of my body to create it.

Despite being underwater, I managed to get a hold of my emotions and started focusing my magic power on the middle part of my stomach.

The Ahuizotl leader commanded the drowned to capture me inside the pool and drown me. It clearly did not expect me to have enough power to destroy its home.

I felt cold hands grabbed hold of my shoulders and legs, pulling me down. I was going to stay there anyway so it was a wasted effort.

'Just a bit more…'

My chest began to ache and my body began to constrict due to lack of air. A vein in my forehead pulsated heavily, making me feel the blood rush through.

My body started struggling and refused my commands. My limbs started flapping around in order to get out of the water.

A couple of seconds and I might drown in reality. Despite that, I still maintained my focus and controlled my emotions as much as possible.

The Ahuizotls, considering me dead, started recovering their energy.

'Come on…'

Now this felt stupid. Maybe I was going to die by drowning and that would be the end. To be fair, this seemed like the perfect end to a novel that an author could no longer continue.

Haha, no, my story should not end in such a pathetic way.

'Finally…'

With barely a few seconds left to live, I released all the energy I was storing. Blue flames surrounded my body, immediately evaporating all the water and drowned souls in a 3m radius around me.

"Fuuu…" 

I took a deep breath before grinning at the Ahuizotls who had just realized something had gone wrong. The handtailed beasts felt chills spreading through their body.

"Judgment of Fire!" 

I shouted, releasing the blue flame on both of my sides. No, this was not an actual skill and something I just wanted to shout. Cringe? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Obviously.

The blue flames rose up to four meters, forming pillars inside the pool.

I pushed both the pillars outwards, burning through 50% of the pool in a matter of seconds.

"Awo…"

The howls from before had turned into cries of fear. The Ahuizotls were exhausted and paired with the fact they they lost a majority of their water, their bodies were frozen due to pain and fear.

"I wanted to resolve things peacefully. You did not listen to me. You are responsible for your current situation."

I said in a cold voice. For some reason, I felt the need to destroy these creatures for the crimes they committed. I was not the type of person to play hero if it did not help me in some way. 

But right now, I truly felt like punishing the Ahuizotls.

The flames proceeded forward mercilessly, burning anything that came in its way. The smell of burned flesh filled the air before vanishing in the next few seconds.

All the water along with the creatures in the pool had been wiped clean. Only the ash on the bottom of the swimming pool indicated the presence of creatures inside it.

That was when the rewards started showing up.

+

[ 'Ahuizotl' had been killed.

 Rewards: 1000 glens ]

[ 'Ahuizotl' had been killed.

 Rewards: 1000 glens ]

…

[ 'Spiked Ahuizotl' had been killed.

 Rewards: 2000 glens, Curse of Rain God(24 hours)]

Overall, killing the Ahuizotls granted me 6000 glens and a curse, even though a curse clearly shouldn't be a reward.

But since it was a harmless curse, I didn't really mind. For the next twenty hours, I would face extra rainfall. Considering there was a literal storm outside, a little extra rainfall didn't seem like much. 

While looking for a way to climb out of the pool, another window appeared in front of me.

+

[ Congratulations! You have done an amazing task! ]

[ 100 'Drowned Souls' have been freed from torment and can move on. ]

[ You have been granted the Achievement [Lifeguard]!

PS: Achievements are currently locked and can be used later on. ]

+

This was a pleasant surprise. Later on in the story, achievements were going to play a very crucial role. 

"Michael…" 

Vin's voice entered my ears. Standing at the edge of the now empty pool, she seemed to be staring at me with a slightly terrified expression.

"You can do that much damage with your skill…" she mumbled.

"I concentrated my energy to do this, you know. I was high on adrenaline as well." I replied with a tired smile.

Despite saying this, I didn't feel tired. My body still contained a normal amount of energy and nothing was out of place. I didn't even feel any pain.

This felt overpowered for some reason.

Vin looked shaken by the scene in front of her. Since had been under the control of the Ahuizotls until they died, she couldn't view the whole scene.

But the moment she got her consciousness back, she saw two huge pillars of blue flame burning away the last bits of the water.

This made her realize the true extent of Michael's powers.

'Am I doing the right thing by doing what I saw? What if that being is playing a trick on me?'

Shaking her head, Vin reminded herself the only reason Michael even bothered to destroy things was to save her. Gritting her teeth, she couldn't help but feel useless.

'What is the point of having power if I can't use it…'

"Hello, you listening?"

Vin blinked in surprise when she saw Michael was directly standing below her. He raised his hand in her direction, asking her to pull him up.

"You could do that yourself." Vin pointed out before grabbing Michael's hand and pulling him up.

A smile appeared on my face after hearing her words.

"Come on, its not like you are losing anything."

"I know." Vin smiled back.

"And just so you know, you are wet."

"…"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the glare she gave me. My body was now completely dry after using the skill.

To be honest, I expected the skill to burn my clothes as well. Thankfully, I was spared.

"What's our plan now?" Vin immediately questioned, her eyes occasionally looking at the water dripping from the cracks present in the ceiling.

"Might as well make a run for it. You have to fly us right now. The number of monsters will increase in the following days and judging from our luck, who knows what we might encounter." I explained even though I knew Vin already knew this.

"Should we leave immediately? You should rest for a bit." 

"I am fine. We can't waste any more time." 

It was the truth. I did feel fine.

"If you say so… you are the one who will have to defend us in the sky as I will have to us my focus to navigate us through the storm."

"I have no problems with that. Let's go."

I started walking towards the exit, or at least, lifted my foot to walk towards the exit. 

I somehow fell face forward towards the ground, a numbing sensation spreading throughout my body. I was about to pass out.

Vin instantly used her wind manipulation to prevent me from falling on the floor. She gently laid me on the ground and sighed.

"So much for being fine…"

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out.