Buying Time

Behind a wall of brush, the Bishop came into view.

He wasn't bleeding from the wound on his shoulder. In fact, he didn't seem to be in pain at all...

Neto sensed the Bishop preparing his tendril magic, but waited until the last second to use [Shunpo].

Running towards certain death, Neto focused on tension in the air, like a bowstring about to snap.

"SHUNPO!" he yelled, dissolving into safety. Neto noticed the bishop's spell wouldn't cast without a certain hand gesture. He had his target.

BOOM!

Three tendrils send bark and rock splinters piercing into the woods. This would be dangerous for large groups, but for a [Shunpo] user, this was ideal. The torrent of wind kicked from the bishop's magic, completely dispersed any smoke caused from exiting shadows.

"What kind of skill is that?" Bafflement spread across the bishop's face.

POOF!

Just like Neto thought, the black smoke completely dispersed before revealing his location. He'd have some time to maneuver into a helpful position.

{Be careful, Stamina allows your body to exceed its limits. Many adventurers die from heart attacks because of this.}

Neto used his momentum from [Shunpo] to launch his body towards the bishop, who was preparing for his next attack.

SWING!

Neto brought down his scythe, but input-buffered his muscles for a change in direction.

SWOOSH!

His Feint was a success! The bishop saved his neck, but Neto had taken away one hand, though no blood came from that wound either. Neto was certain this guy wasn't human.

"I-I See.." the bishop looked flustered. "I might've actually lost."

Cold calculation spread across the man's face as Neto lunged towards him- or at least he tried. Why wasn't he moving?

"... If I'd underestimated you."

A brief glance down answered Neto's question. His legs twisted unnaturally. There'd been more tendrils from behind.

A wicked smile spread across the bishop's face. Neto couldn't see any light in his eyes.

'So, that's why he had no blood. He was an undead.'

{Assimilation will stop you from bleeding to death, but can't correct your pulverized bones.}

"Well, I'm a man of my word." the bishop waved with his remaining hand. "Ill come back to finish you after having some fun with your frie-"

"Shunpo!" Neto yelled, interrupting him.

So what if he couldn't use his legs? There were plenty of shadows here. He didn't need limbs to move when he had [Shunpo].

The bishop tried to run away, but Neto moved faster.

In his old world, he heard that a shadow could theoretically move faster than light, and wondered if he could reach such speed in this world given enough cultivation.

Neto bounced from shadow to shadow, using gravity between jumps to build up momentum. Every miniscule movement sent agony coursing through his lower body, but he couldn't afford to show weakness.

SWOOSH!

A finger!

SWING!

The tip of one boot!

With every Shunpo, Neto appeared in front of the bishop, using the man's inertia against him. However, his heart beat unnaturally, and he could feel an out-of-body strain, most likely from Rakshasa. His demon must be low on mana.

Realizing his mistake, the bishop stopped trying to run, halting Neto with a blast of tendrils.

"So, I underestimated you, after all."

This bishop's confidence was eerie. He had to have a trump card.

Neto would take away his other hand before he could use it.

POOF!

Neto appeared with a puff of smoke, raining over the Bishop's head, and as his blade came down, Neto was sure he'd take the other hand...

BOOOOOOOM!

An inconceivable blast flung Neto's body like a rag doll. He would've splattered against a tree if it weren't for Rakshasa's |Assimilation|...

Creaaak...

The tree was falling! Its base shattered!

S-sSHuNPo!" Neto screamed through his collapsed throat.

The incantation wasn't successful, he'd have to steady his breathing...

CRASH!

An impact from the tree's fall rattled Neto's brain.

'Thank the gods that didn't land on me.'

He still sensed the Bishop nearby, but something was different about his aura. It'd become more than just strange. It'd become foul...

{You've bought enough time. Toru's already gone through the portal! Get out while you still can!}

Neto knew he'd have to make a break for it, but something told him he wouldn't get away.

"Shunpo!"

This time it worked.

Teleporting from shadow to shadow, Neto sensed something he hadn't expected.

'The bandits from earlier are dead?'

He could feel their mangled bodies pierced countless times by the portal, along with their victims.

'The bishop betrayed them? Why?'

"Ah, how revolting." rasped a voice above.

Before Neto sensed magic, a mysterious force ripped him from his shadow, forcibly extracting him from Shunpo.

There was no BOOM from that spell, only a strong pulse, like an electromagnetic blast.

The bishop had mangled his own flesh with that cast... and he'd blown away anything that could've case a shadow in an inconceivable radius.

If Neto hadn't been mid-Shunpo, there's no telling what would've happened to him.

"I really wanted to save those snacks for Master, but you made me use them all on you." The bishop grumbled, preparing for more tendrils.

{Soul-magic...}

So, he'd enhanced a spell with souls... This world had something like that, after all.

Neto frantically thought about how he could get out of this situation. Sure, there were shadows somewhere around here, but Shunpo seemed to be ranged at one meter...

'Can I summon Kaori from a distance?'

{I see what you 're thinking, but you can only summon her based on her max size of two meters.}

"Hey, Bishop!" Neto called.

He could only gamble on this mans stupidity at this point.

"At least tell me about your master before this ends. Maybe I could even work for you guys, if you accept demons that is..."

"Haha! A typical demon, awed by my immense power!" The bishop was walking closer.

All Neto had to do was keep him moving.

5 meters.

"The master might take you in, but first I'll need your name."

4 meters.

"I know what'll happen when I give you my name! You'll just steal all the souls I've saved! I can always just wait to be reborn and keep them."

For all Neto knew, he was spewing complete nonsense. He was just going with the flow at this point.

If it weren't for his stamina potion, Neto would be unconscious by now. In fact, it took most of his willpower just to keep himself from screaming in agony.

'People definitely use this during torture, ' Neto thought with a grimace.

"Ah, alas, this is true..."

3 meters,

"Our 'group' has taken in far too many members, so we are trying to... re-locate resources at the moment."

The bishop stopped moving, just out of range.

"I suppose you'll just have to wait for rebirth. I'll settle for a bit of cultivation in the meantime."

Neto cringed inwardly.

The bishop was right on the border of 2 meters, but Neto wanted to be sure his last trump-card would work.

"I-If I t-tell you my name, W-will you consider letting me in?"

Neto did his best impersonation of Toru.

"Hmm..." the bishop pondered.

He began walking again!

2 meters officially, but max range wasn't ideal...

Step, Step, Step...

"Fine. Tell me your name and I will consider taking you alive."

Step, St-

"KAORI!" Neto screamed, focusing all of his willpower at the Bishop's neck.

SWOOSH!!

"..."

The bishop looked confused.

"you-your n-name-"

Before he could finish, his head fell to the ground with a 'plop'!