W

C1729 Running Out

BANG!

ROAR!

A hand clasped onto the side of a platform; Its fingernails bent and twisted; its tendons and ligaments rising like roaring veins that just might pop out at any moment;

Leonel pushed with all his might, the fear coming in waves; He had already reached his limits, the size of his body having been pushed beyond even the realms of reason; He stood several kilometers tall and even this was only just barely enough to catch the ledge of the platform;

Withstanding the barrage of thoughts of inadequacy, of giving up, of being unworthy, all while trying to climb to the very peak was difficult, too difficult even to put into words;

Even though he could feel the ledge. even though he knew well that he was just a single great push away from climbing to its peak. it still felt like he was falling into an abyss. the clutches of devils and demons waiting for him below. fully prepared to swallow him up whole;

His fingernails snapped and tore, rivers of blood flowing out;

His pinky's ligament gave out first. snapping like a steel cord and ripping his finger back at an awkward angle. The backlash was so great that it felt as though something had taken his finger and peeled it back to his wrist. wanting him to suffer the most unimaginable pain.

Another snap rang out and this time it was his ring finger that was peeled back almost like the skin of an onion; The strength of his body was playing sticks against him; Each one of his muscle fibers was like tempered steel. intertwined into a cord that layered the muscles and organs of his body; But because of this. when they gave out. the effects were resounding and devastating;

Every time one gave up, a bang would resound through his body as though a clap of thunder had resonated within his skeleton.

Leonel's head just barely managed to peek over the ledge;

He slammed his down on it, using it as leverage in an attempt to pull himself over.

His expression was ghastly, his face pulsing with veins and his teeth shattering one by one under the pressure like fragile porcelain dolls;

He pushed with all his might;

ROAR!

The shot came out muddled and gargled; He didn't have the strength to open his jaw with so much weight pressing up on it. however he managed to gain some momentum in an attempt to swing his foot up and onto the ledge;

Just as his heel was about to snag a piece of the ledge, another snap rang out;

Leonel's body shuddered and his middle finger's ligament snapped; By this point; he only had one arm left; While it seemed like only the ligaments of one hand were being snapped; that was because the tendons that connected his other arm had snapped during the last climb;

Before this; Leonel could just use his Dream Force to repair the projection of this body; but by this point; things had been going on so long that he truly had nothing left; Even his overwhelming Dream Force stamina was running thin; This was the last body he had; he simply couldn't repair it; and if he fell here; he would truly fall to his death;

With the state of his body in the real world. it couldn't handle true damage to his soul; In fact. the only thing keeping him from dying currently was the independence of his soul; He couldn't fall here. he refused to fall here;

Another one of Leonel's teeth shattered beneath the pressure, cracks running through it like fissures in concrete beneath the wrath of an earthquake.

He held on with his jaw on one side, and with his remaining forefinger on the other; These were the last two anchor points he had, the last barriers holding him up from a fall to an inevitable death;

Leonel's gaze was entirely crimson, there wasn't a hint of the pale violet remaining. He gazed upward with the look of a madman.

By this point, he had forgotten what he was fighting so hard against, he didn't even know if he ever really had been fighting for something at all. All he knew was that he wanted to take another step forward, and then another.

This matter had started off without much thought. He wasn't in any rush to suddenly become many times stronger and he had already become content with the strength he had. It was the same cycle he always went through.

For a moment he would feel a burst of motivation caused by an existential threat to his life or someone he loved, he would then raise his battle strength quickly in a short time, and then he would crush his adversaries only to come out the other end … bored.

But this time it was different. He had just claimed a resounding victory, and yet here he was, struggling on the border of life and death.

Maybe at some point during this journey, he had felt a chance, even if it was a small one, to take a step in the right direction… and to take that step before he faced something that even he couldn't quickly think his way out of…

Maybe that was why he was so unwilling to give up.

Maybe…

Something was telling him that he was running out of time.

ROAR!

The whites of Leonel's eyes turned entirely crimson, a blinding and bloody light illuminating them.

SNAP!

His forefinger gave way, but he quickly swung his arm up. This time when he roared, he had just barely been able to open his mouth, which pushed his body up just far enough for him to swing his shoulder over the ledge.

Leonel's mouth opened up for just a moment before his mouth came clamping down again.

The sound of shattering teeth resounded, but Leonel had already used the leverage his shoulder gave him to swing his feet up. This time, he aimed even higher.

Even as his teeth shattered, his heel hit the platform and he rolled his shoulder forward.

With a final furious push, Leonel swung his head down with all his might, slamming his forehead against the top of the platform and using the violent momentum to push the rest of his body over the ledge.

To be continued