Chapter Fourteen

{Anomaly detected]

There was a swing. 

The window split into two. Debris flew everywhere.

Something heavy landed on Park. The bed creaked as it broke in half. Park was on one knee. The concrete beneath chipped away under the pressure. The attacker quickly retrieved their sword gearing up for another attack.

Immediately after, another assailant attacked Park's side. Park unknowingly guarded it as he flew blowing past all the beds in this path.

His back connected with something. Something rubbery. It gently wobbled when he collided against it.

They didn't give him any space. They all rushed towards him. The sword wielder was at the forefront.

Park had to do something.

Then remembered it.

The book.

{Brutal Fist has been activated]

Time slowed down.

He could feel it.

The book's knowledge seeped into every fiber of his being.

The giant sword was swung at him.

Almost on instinct he sidestepped the blade. Its great weight broke the hospital's floors.

While the blade was still lodged on the ground, the attacker tried to smash Park with his right hand.

Park bent backwards. The fist went flying over his head and smacked another attacker midair.

In between the gap, a rain of blades was descending on him. Park gently flipped back to his bed pulling the earth along with him. The sword wielder swung his blade and broke the earth.

The small, lodged blades clattered on the ground.

In quick succession the assailant who was above at that time used his blade as a foothold and launched himself towards the now landing Park.

With a blade now pointing at Park, he shouted,

"DIEEE!!"

The other two were now rushing at Park. All these movements that he performed unknowingly excited him. He felt unstoppable. Their beautifully coordinated move sets didn't even make him break a sweat.

Park lowered his body forward and dashed towards the hulking figure. He gently tapped his sword then used the wielder's shoulders as a hold to move behind him. 

{Body of Oblivion 1st unique skill: Corrupt has been activated]

Red veins connected through the weapon's whole blade from their origin. Two of the attackers backed away. Purple pustules then appeared. Slowly they began opening up, the white ooze produced ate away at the blade producing a sizzling sound. The attacker immediately let go of the hilt. The massive blade fell on the floor with a dull thud now transformed. From a shiny silver to a misshapen black color.

They were slightly taken aback by this, but they had a mission to accomplish. The remaining ones released the blades they had on them. They decided to fight unarmed. Dark swirls surrounded their fists. In a blink the giant vanished from Park's sights.

There was a whizzing sound behind him. Air picked speed at his left cheek.

There was a cracking sound.

A dull pain.

And he felt it.

Park bounced off the wall. The rest didn't waste any time. They pounced on him. There were cracking sounds. The assailants retreated. Each of their fists were dripping with blood. They had matted flesh on them. The space around them shook.

Park lay in a pool of his own blood. Unrecognizable. His body lay there in a mangled mess. The hulking figure lift his mask and spat at him.

"You know that's a lot of hate for someone who you just met."

Park was now by the window.

{Damage received has been halved by the shadow]

His clone melted away together with the blood from their fists and all the matted flesh meshed onto their knuckles. A dark viscous pool was formed. Its surface gently rippled. 

The Assailants launched themselves at "Park."

In quick motion, a set of strings spewed out of the dark liquid and latched themselves on the attackers. They set themselves free with ease. One of them grabbed a dagger off the floor and launched it towards Park.

They could only get a halfhearted "Ow." He melted into a goop just like the one prior.

"He's fake too."

"Oh! So you do talk!"

He was right behind them.

"Why are you attacking me?"

"Because you defiled Lumina. I thought we made it clear."

Another hit. Straight for his head. The dagger bore through his skull. It popped out on the other side splattering ooze over the invisible barrier. The ooze crackled. A piece of the barrier fell. "Park" turned into goop.

"Another one."

The assailants were now in the middle of the room. Wherever the ooze splattered, another "Park" was born.

All the assailants suddenly went down on their knees.

"What's going on?"

"..."

"Hello???"

Park was snapping at them.

"Anyone home???"

Park was out of focus.

"O Lumina, we who are lost sheep come before you, we seek your sister's wisdom..." 

They began their prayer.

A dark purple pool had begun to gather around them. Park knew well to give them space.

"...we offer ourselves to you..."

They were slowly being twisted inside out. 

"...fill in us a new wisdom to vanquish our enemy..."

Exposed organs and popping eyeballs yet they calmly knelt in prayer.

"...and bring glory to thee."

One of the assailant's jaws fell.

A crystal was forming in the midst of the kneeling attackers.

"That looks dangerous."

Park disappeared.

"What's this for?"

"Huh?"

The crystal was slowly eating away at his hand. Park appeared behind his shadow.

{Damage received has been halved by the shadow]

"Someone's feisty."

The hulking figure didn't notice it yet, but he had a whole cavity through his torso.

"Let's try this one."

{Body of Oblivion 2nd unique skill: Interrupt has been activated]

There was a static crackling surrounding the crystal as it glitched about. The crystal's shape disfigured into different forms before it crumbled into pieces. 

Yuuummyyyyy

{Umbra has been absorbed by ink]

They stared at Park in utter shock. They tried to speak but the excessive stripping robbed them of that ability. They started banging their meaty heads on the ground as if begging for mercy.

{Lumina's shadow is enraged]

Guess it wasn't accepted. 

Their flesh bubbled and boiled as they slowly sunk into the purple void. They tried to collect themselves, but it was all futile.

One tried to escape but the strands broke his face in half. A tear flowed down his cheek, but it sizzled away. He was slowly pulled back into the void.

The void shrunk until it was no more. Park pulled in all the ooze. He knew it. The damages were heavy.

How could he explain it to the staff?

A gentle breeze washed over him. Park decided to rely on his senses to guess where the breeze was coming from. His dark body stepped into the moonlight seeping from the crack.

A twig crunched.

"Oops?"

Park heard it.

"Others?"

"Oh no"

Park couldn't ignore. He lowered his body and tensed his feet. He drew his feet back forming a small mound of earth behind his soles and leaped forward.

His body made contact with the barrier.

{Incomplete illusion: Luminescent rubber is battling with Body of Oblivion]

The barrier protruded still clinging onto Park's body doing its utmost best not to let him go but it was all in vain. The barrier buckled under the pressure and cracked. It shattered and immediately Park was hit by a fresh wave of cold air.

He could still feel them. They were not so far.

{Shadow has been activated]

Dark blurs erupted from Park's body. They tracked the rest while Park was focused on one of them.

Park was terrifyingly fast. All the pressure that Park built greatly accelerated him to speeds that he couldn't even imagine. Sadly, his heightened senses couldn't catch up.

Maybe the drones suffered the same fate.

The library was now in his sights. He had to put his faith into his body once more.

He crossed his arms over his face.

He blew through the doors like paper and crashed through multiple bookshelves finally stopped by the barrier placed on the restricted section with a thunderous bang.

The barrier cracked.

Park was on the ground rubbing his head when he heard it.

"Do you know how much it cost them to set that up?"

He could tell.

It was the person he was chasing.

"Thanks for opening it up."