Karsha's fate

The Tier 6 mutant cobra crawled slowly toward Karsha, who lay on the ground, still recovering from the tail slam it delivered. The attack had been swift, leaving him little time to react.

Despite possessing the Red Eye Tiger ability and the blink skill, he found himself unable to respond quickly enough. The mutant had concealed its presence so effectively that, despite his usual keen sense of danger, he couldn't anticipate its movements.

Had it not been for the sound of the pebble, the mutant might have easily seized him, possibly even biting off his head.

"It burns," Karsha muttered, feeling the venom's burning sensation. Instantly, he stood up and activated his domain.

As the mutant slowly approached, it felt an immediate drop in its movement and strength. The domain's 70% debuff began suppressing it. Karsha, still not fully recovered, immediately activated the first, second, and third variations.

With no time to waste, Karsha could feel his skin burning from the venom. Though it hadn't directly hit his skin, landing instead on his clothes, its potency was evident. Within seconds, the armor was stripped from his back, leaving only the Grey Scale armor, which also began corroding, albeit slowly.

As more and more spears imbued with lightning struck the mutant, its HP bar began dwindling. Under the pressure of the three variations, the mutant failed to notice Karsha's sudden movements. It only reacted when a sudden attack struck its tail so it was forced to look back at Karsha.

The moment Karsha landed the sword strike on the tail, he blinked away, leaving only a small residue of fire in the wound. "What have you done to me, human?" the mutant snake hissed, suddenly feeling the pain from its tail.

"Why are my strength and speed reduced so much? Why can't my skin withstand the attacks?" It started asking a series of questions as the domain continued to suppress its attributes. While it seemed like it was under a 70% debuff, Karsha could tell it was stronger than it appeared.

The attacks landing on it, although lethal against Tier 5 or even Tier 6 monsters, were a different story for a mutant. With higher stats than a normal monster, even though its overall strength had been lowered by 70%, it still held on and tried to retaliate.

Ten seconds later, the 50% debuff from the ice domain reduced to 25%, making the overall debuff 45%. But Karsha didn't care; the snake was losing too much blood from the wounds he had inflicted.

All he needed now was to inflict more wounds on its body. With its HP almost in the red, it would soon succumb and drop dead. Pushing his agility to the limit, he started blinking and slashing the body of the mutant with his swords engulfed in fire.

This might have been the best time to add more skills to the Red-Eye Tiger, but that thought didn't even cross Karsha's mind. All he needed to do now was end the battle so he could remove the armor that continued to heat up on his back.

"Die already!" Karsha screamed at the top of his voice as he kept slashing the snake's body. Part of him kept screaming at him to run away, yet the allure of seizing another Tier 6 mutant monster body, core, and if lucky, an orb made him disregard that and greedily continue his attack on the snake, which, even though it was at death's door, still persisted to hold on for a few more seconds.

"Die!" He roared again as he leaped three meters high and descended, plunging his sword into its neck. Immediately, it fell, and he received the kill notification. Hurriedly, he stored the body, and luckily for him, he obtained his eight orbs.

He picked them up and was about to rush toward the core when he felt a very dangerous presence approaching his location at a very high speed. Wasting no time, he hurried to the core, even though he knew he had to run.

With the core secured, he started blinking away at a very fast pace. Each blink took him 200 meters, so within a second, he traveled 1km and kept going since the presence he felt continued to approach, even though he was far from the scene of the fight.

Ten kilometers away, and he could still feel the presence following. 'What is that, and why do I feel so hot?'

Because of the sudden presence he felt, he forgot to remove the armor, so the venom continued to eat away at his armor, and soon, it would reach his skin, hence the heat.

"For heaven's sake, what is that following me?" Karsha exclaimed aloud, still feeling the presence trailing him. Even after moving 30km away, he could still sense the danger.

The further he moved, the closer the presence got. Curious, afraid, and losing HP, Karsha decided to look back and see what was causing him to lose control of his body. So, deactivating his blinking skills, he started running using his legs.

Ayarr, who was following but concealed her presence, nearly spat out blood when she saw what Karsha intended to do. She had sensed the presence long before Karsha did, and she knew exactly what it was. So, when she saw Karsha planning to turn, she couldn't help but fear for his life.

"This isn't a horror movie," Karsha muttered before stopping momentarily and looking back.

"I'm dead." That was the only thing he said before turning back and blinking again. However, the few seconds he used to look back allowed the behemoth following him to close the gap further.

"I've been poisoned," he muttered again as the venom touched his skin. His vision started turning blurry, and his movements became sluggish.

The venom began its work. First, it would blur his vision and then reduce his speed and reaction time. Once that was done, it would start consuming his liver and other essential organs, leaving the heart for last.

He had already experienced the first phase, so he knew what to expect. However, when he felt his liver being devoured, his heartbeat quickened. He grabbed some random antidotes he had brought from outside and consumed them all.

But no matter how many he swallowed, the venom continued its relentless assault.

"This isn't fair," Karsha muttered as he continued to blink from one shadow to the next. "This isn't how my story should end," he spoke again, still fighting to avoid being consumed.

"I should be the one going after the overlords, not the other way around." Yes, the monster chasing him was the overlord of the section he was in—ScaleCrusher, the overlord of the Crimson Spire.

After sending six of its minions to investigate the source of the light but receiving no response, it decided to take matters into its own hands. However, upon witnessing Karsha slay one of its soldiers, it became infuriated and began chasing him for revenge.

Karsha had no idea an overlord was pursuing him. However, when he turned and saw it, he instantly recognized it as one of the monsters he had come to the island to kill and extract the Venom needed for the Master Antidote.

"I have to survive," Karsha spoke as he gulped down a Health potion Elder Lin had given him. If he couldn't neutralize the poison's effects, he would keep boosting his health until he could find a place to quickly concoct a remedy.

With his Alchemy level now at the Saint-level, concocting a King-grade pill would take him less than 20 minutes. All he had to do now was escape from the snake chaining him, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't increase the gap.

"I haven't gotten my revenge yet. I haven't avenged Austin's family yet. I haven't saved June's mother yet," Karsha, almost blind, continued to mumble as he moved.

He could feel the pressure closing in from behind. So, in his last moments, he couldn't help but mumble his regrets. He regretted not standing up and fighting when his family was killed. But now that he was given a second chance, he knew he had to fight to become stronger.

Although he had promised revenge, he had already made peace with the deaths of his family. He believed that until the living made peace with the dead, the dead would never rest in peace. So, although he desired revenge, he accepted their deaths and moved on.

The moment he accepted the mysterious figure's offer, he let go of his past and started a new path. A path he planned to walk with his head held high. A path he promised to walk to get back at those who would threaten him and his family.

The path he intended to tread was to aid those in need, to lend a hand to those who couldn't fend for themselves. Moreover, he aimed to grow strong enough to seize control of his own fate.

With numerous ambitions and aspirations driving him forward, Karsha's grand dreams were on the verge of being shattered by a vengeful overlord monster seeking retribution for his fallen comrades.

However, amidst the looming threat, Karsha remained resolute. "No, this isn't where my tale ends," he declared. With determination in his voice, he reached for another health potion, downing it swiftly. Then, without hesitation, he consumed a King-grade agility pill.

As the two medicines took effect, his speed increased slightly, and he blinked continuously. Just when despair seemed inevitable, he began to hear the distant sounds of a waterfall.

Summoning every ounce of his strength, he pushed himself toward the sound. Moments later, he could hear and vaguely see a magnificent waterfall flowing with grace. His speed increased again, eager to reach it before the Overlord caught up to him.

Maybe due to exhaustion or fear, Karsha didn't bother to gauge the waterfall's height. Thus, when he found himself atop it, he paused, casting a glance back at the Overlord several hundred meters away.

"I'll be back," he declared, ripping his shirt off and standing in nothing but his pants. With a confident leap, he plunged 200 meters down into the river, its currents swirling with unknown dangers.

In an instant before losing consciousness, he glimpsed a breathtaking woman appearing seemingly out of thin air, speaking words Karsha couldn't quite hear. Yet, amidst the chaos and his almost unconscious state, he made out two distinct words.

"The Annihilator."