Chapter 19 No Bridge

"What do we do now?" Gomon asked.

Aidan stood at the edge of the passageway. One more step and he would fall into the dark pit. On the other side, a long bridge dangled, half of it submerged into the darkness.

He might reach it if he jumped. No, No. Even if he could, the other won't.

"There is another way, sir. But it might take a while to reach it."

Aidan frowned. If they take another path, there might be a trap waiting for them. An ambush. He couldn't risk that. One wrong move and the entire team would be decimated. As such, there could only be one way.

"No," Aidan said. "We have to take this route."

"How?" Gomon said. "I know you have an excellent pair of eyes. But you do see the wide and deep pit in front of you right?"

Aidan smiled. "We jump of course."

"Jump? Are you mad?"

Kalukaga rushed to the edge of the passageway and leaped from the edge. "Jump!"

He made an arc in the air, landed, and rolled on the ground. He patted the dust on his clothes and gave them a thumbs up from the other side.

Sofiel smiled and raised her thumb as well.

Gomen turned to look at Aidan. "Do you expect us to jump like that as well?"

"That's actually not part of the plan," Aidan said.

"My turn." Siraye sprinted towards the edge and leaped. She spun in the air and stomped her foot on empty space. The stomp propelled her further and she landed on the other side.

Gomon scratched his head. "If you expect all of us to jump on empty air. I reckon you would be disappointed." He turned to Sofiel. "Don't tell me you can use the wind to bring you to the other side."

Sofiel giggled and stepped to the edge of the abyss.

"Oh great," Gomon said.

She flicked her finger and fate energy swirled and morph into a small tornado. The tornado spun around and disappeared.

Sofiel frowned. "My power. I can't control my power."

"Try again.," Aidan said.

Sofiel flicked her finger again. Red runes shone on her arms. The fate energy converged and dissipated. The runes vanished.

"Those runes on your arms..."

"They've carved it," Sofield said. "Those people carved it onto our arms."

Aidan frowned. "It seems they are smarter than I thought."

"Enemy incoming!" Siraye shouted from the other side.

Curses! If he knew that their ability was restricted, he wouldn't be so daring to escape. Now that the enemy found them, it would only be a matter of time before...

"Enemies in our rear!"

Hussav turned around. "Hold your formation!" He looked at Aidan. "Sir, what should we do?"

Aidan gritted his teeth. It seemed like his plan to reduce casualties could go down the abyss. There was only one thing he could do—save as many as possible. Judging from the fact that they cut off the bridge, those cultists wouldn't think they could cross over. Which meant the enemies on the other side would be fewer.

Aidan grabbed one of the hunters. He was skinny, malnourished, and lightweight. The last part was important.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

He stepped forward and hurled the man towards the other side.

"Ahh!" The man flew towards the other side and landed with a thud.

Siraye and Kalukaga fought off 8 spearmen. More coming in from behind. He had to hurry lest they run out of energy.

"Those who I throw the other side must help Siraye and Kalukaga fight the adversary. I don't have to tell you this because you have no other choice."

Aidan grabbed another man. This one was prepared. He took a deep breath and held his spear tightly. Just like earlier, he hurled them towards the other side.

"Sir, we don't have much time. There are 20 enemies on our rear and more are coming," Hussav said.

"Gomon. Can you do something to help them? Sorry but you have to be the last person I throw."

Gomon sniffed and smiled. "It's tough to be the strongest person in the room. Everyone just has to rely on you." He laughed. "Say no more captain. For yours truly shall burn any demon-worshipping cults at the stake."

"I'm counting on you."

Gomon ran to the rear, donned his electric crown, and blasted chains towards the enemies. Amidst the roar of battle cry, there was the scream of misery. Children of fate, they were weapons in their own right. Changing the situation on the battlefield was an everyday occurrence for them. Though Gomon couldn't compare to the current army on earth, he and Aidan are roughly the same strength. And he was only at level 3. How strong would he be at level 20 or 50 or 100?

Self-evolving weaponry. That would be the classification fit for the children of fate.

Aidan grabbed another man and threw him. Siraye, Kalukaga, and the men he had thrown fought the incoming enemy within the narrow tunnel. The tunnel should obstruct their movement, but they managed to use it as an advantage by switching positions at the right time.

Siraye and Kalukaga leaned to the side as two half-naked cultists thrust their spears towards them. The hunters from the rear stepped forward and swung their bone blades. The two cultists fell and the team advanced forward.

Grabbing two men this time, Aidan surged his fate energy and threw them towards the other side. He thought that the cultist didn't carve any runes on him, but there it was on his right shoulder. Good thing the runes didn't work. Though he didn't know why it didn't. Probably had something to do with the system.

"Enemy reinforcement!"

At the rear. Waves and waves of half-naked cultists with spears attacked them. Men screamed with bravery and fear alike. The two forces crashed onto each other. Stabbing, slashing. Their roar reverberated and echoed in the tunnel. Flame arise when the cultist threw oil and flames upon them. Burning men screamed at the top of their lunge before the cultist beheaded them.

Gomon fired his chains, wrapped tens of cultists, and shocked them to death. His chains moved like snakes. Slithering left and right before it stabbed through a cultist and went for another target. The hunter protected him from the sides. They stabbed those cultists that got too close to him.

Aidan threw a pair of men towards the other side. What a disaster. If this continued, Gomon's device would run out of energy and they would be slaughtered.

He grabbed four men and roared as he threw them to the other side. It was unfortunate, but he had to thank the cultist to make the hunters lose some weight.

Men filled the cave. Torches brought light and warmth to the cold-blooded battlefield. Blood and flesh splattered about.

An army of escapees and an army of cultists filled the ground with their soulless corpses. Men who were unfortunate enough would slip and fall when they put their foot the wrong way.

A burly cultist with a hammer charged toward the escapees. The huge build and the muscle-packed body made everyone else look tiny. He slammed his hammer and blasted a man's head.

Aidan grabbed five men and with all his might threw them to the other side.

"Ahh"

One of them fell to the abyss, screaming as he reached out. Two hunters caught the man's fingers and pulled him.

That was a relief.

The burly cultist charged toward Gomon, leaped, and slammed his hammer towards the tiny man. The other cultist ran toward them and yelled like madmen.

The chains shot towards the burly man, stabbed his chest, and tied around his body. Electricity sparked and shocked the man.

The man's eyes moved upward, revealing its white sides, and fell to the ground.

The chain dropped and Gomon took the crown off his head and threw it before he ran towards Aidan.

"Aidan. My crown ran out of energy!"

Aidan threw four men towards the other side. "Okay. Come here and stay beside me!"

Suddenly, five burly men rushed towards Gomon. They bulldozed the hunters in their path like an unstoppable bull.

"Curses!"

Aidan grabbed a spear from the hunter beside him and threw it toward a burly man. The spear shot towards the huge man at the front and slammed his head. The man fell.

The four burly cultists moved in a tricky way. Sidestepping to the sides as they advance forward.

Aidan threw a spear toward them. The spear flew to the side of their face, blew their hair, and stabbed an ordinary cultist behind them.

You have unlocked a new ability [Object Throw]!

[Object Throw (Lv.1)] Imbuing an object with fate energy will increase mass and speed when thrown. 50% extra damage. Cost: low.

He didn't have time for this. Clicking his tongue, Aidan rushed towards Gomon. He seized a spear as he ran and flung it away with [Object Throw]. The wind jolted from the throw, but the spear missed its target.

A huge cultist slammed his fist towards Gomon, slamming him to the wall. Gomon spat out blood, and the cultist rushed toward him.

"No!" Aidan seized another spear and tossed it towards the huge man. The spear stabbed the man's shoulder and knocked him away.

The three burly men rushed towards Gomon.

Aidan stomped the ground and sprinted. He unleashed a [Powered Kick] on the scalp of the burly man, throwing his head to the side and cracking his skull.

The other two cultists tried to grab Gomon, but Aidan threw his entire body towards them like a cannonball, knocking them away. When they crashed to the ground, Aidan pummeled one of them in the face with his fists.

He surged fate energy to his arms but didn't use any skill. This was because using skill consumed much more fate energy.

Aidan punched him in the throat, and the man gagged before he died.

You have dealt a fatal blow!

You have killed a member of the Ibilis Sektasi, gaining 120 experience!

Suddenly, another wave of cultists rushed from behind and overwhelmed the escapees. Dozens of them charged with various weapons in their hands.

Aidan ran up to Gomon. He wanted to take him away and jump to the other side. There was nothing he could do for the rest of the hunters as of now.

The last burly cultist slammed his hammer. The weight seemed to blur the air around it as it came close to his face. Still, it was slow enough for him. Aidan lowered his stance and punched the hammer with [Knockout Punch].

The wind around his arms revolved and spun. And when the fist came in contact with the hammer, it shattered and broke the burly man's arm.

The wave of cultists attacked him. four men slashed their rusty swords at different angles.

Aidan jumped and used [Powered Kick] to slam their heads.

You have killed a member of the Ibilis Sektasi, gaining 60 experience!

More cultists charged toward him as he landed on the ground. Aidan roared and rushed to their midst, activating [Perfect Defense] to dodge their attacks. He slid and spun around their spears and swords.

When he got close to one of them he struck the man's jaw, knocking him in the air.

Aidan surged fate energy to his finger and slashed the enemies' neck. Their throat burst with blood and they fell to the ground.

You have unlocked a new ability [Energy Claw]

[Energy Claw (Lv. 1) ]! Concentrating energy in your fingers will strengthen and sharpen them. 60% penetrative damage Cost: low-mid.

It was a defective ability he created in the middle of the fight. But even though it was weak, it was enough to deal with these cultists.

He rushed towards a pair of cultists and cut off their necks. Most of his ability had blunt damage which was useful for targets with high defense, but these men were half-naked. Unless their skins were made of steel, Aidan's claw would rip them apart.

The burly man earlier stood up. He picked up his hammer with the other hand and attacked again, this time while shouting something in weird languages.

Aidan slashed a few cultists on his way and prepared himself for another battle.

Suddenly, the burly man rushed to the side.

Curses! He's targeting Gomon.

The burly man swung his hammer right into Gomon's face.

Gomon gritted his teeth and leaned to the side.

The hammer slammed his hand and shattered it.