Summoned and Unwanted

228 The life or death gamble

Vincent looked normal. Without green steam raising from multiple places. Without the mutated blood gauntlets protecting his arms. Without an emerald pair of shining eyes piercing any uncertainties. Without power fueling his body.

Overheat was over, and his stats returned to the less than average active human. Vincent lost his power to fight back.

[Vincent! Why... why did you agree to go with this plan? I told you the risk of death is too high to give it a try. The ability is corrupted, and it could worsen the unknown factor.]

Kazumi told Vincent of a theory before he rushed to save Iris. A life or death gamble.

“No!!!” Iris shouted. Her heart sank, knowing how it was all her fault. The powerless Vincent used his body to protect her life.

The alpha grizzly bear shook its head. Its vision returned and then looked down.

The alpha grizzly bear saw the human it thought was dead with his back in front of it. Not only was Vincent still alive, but he even prevented the execution of Iris.

The alpha grizzly bear raised its paw to strike Vincent for the second time. All the surviving goblins, be it weak or strong, had enough things to throw.

Multiple objects, be it small or large, fell on the hardened fur and produced a lot of noise. The annoying ringing was starting to hurt the alpha grizzly bear’s injured eardrums forcing it to stop the attack mid-swing and direct its attention elsewhere.

.....

*Roar* The alpha grizzly bear turned around and opened its large mouth. A small ball of earth started molding.

The goblins managed to retreat from the edge of the crater before a ball of thick earth shot toward them and crashed against the edge with great force. It seemed it became challenging to shoot a hardened rock-like earth projectile after its throat suffered so much.

After escaping death, the goblins reappeared and continued throwing. They even picked up the thick mud-like earth the alpha grizzly bear shot and threw it back at the monstrous bear.

While the alpha grizzly bear was getting distracted, Vincent continued making a gamble with his life. His goal was to activate Overload as per Kazumi’s risky theory.

“Vin... cent?” Iris slowly said. Her raspy pained voice expressed how much she blamed herself for getting saved with the cost of Vincent getting hurt.

Vincent desired to have more time. “I won’t die... I can’t die... I need more time...” He grunted.

Kazumi had the same thought as Vincent. As she could influence the system, both tried to think on the same thing. To create a skill that could allow Vincent the chance to continue fighting.

Thoughts such as regeneration, time manipulation, skill duration extensions, and many many more. However, no window notifying Vincent of his desire to learn.

“Come on... I need more time...” *Cough* Vincent fell on his knee and spat a mouthful of blood.

The injuries he sustained from the previous impact broke a few ribs. Vincent didn’t want to know what was happening inside his body, but he knew pretty well that his condition was terrible.

.

[Notice.]

[The Host wishes to create a [Mutated] ability with the power of the mutated hero soul has been detected.]

[Will you spend 2500sp to learn an ability from the host memories?]

[No refund. No discount.]

[Host has one hour to... requirement achieved.]

[Soul System has detected enough experience, thoughts, and knowledge in the Host.]

.

[Accept -2500sp] [Decline]

.

Vincent slightly raised a smirk after the notification window appeared, even if his life was on the line. The learned skill was still unknown, but the cost was equivalent to one hundred and twenty-five days of collecting Soul Power proved how powerful it should be.

“I accept... ” He said.

.

[-2500sp used to develop a skill. -2460sp remaining.]

[The remaining Soul Power will force the energy of the Host’s body as compensation until Soul Power value becomes zero.]

[The new skill will mutate after the Soul Power value becomes zero.]

.

The exchange started. Vincent felt his strength getting siphoned at an alarming rate. Cramps and muscles tears ached all over his body. His limbs felt weak, and the ability to stand declined quickly.

.

[Notice]

[The host has suffered pain in a body part, and the damage requirements have been met.]

[Mutation Trait: Pain Mitigation changed from stage one (7/10 | 7%) to stage one (8/10 | 8%)]

.

Vincent was surprised by how his pain mitigation became eight percent. He marginally felt less pain than before.

Vincent used every ounce of his remaining energy to turn around and menacingly glare at the alpha grizzly bear. “I will kill you!” He uttered. The final bloodshot glare Vincent displayed was filled with all the killing intent he could muster.

*Cough* Vincent let out the final cough with blood and lost all his strength. Vincent fell in front of Iris, and he didn’t move.

“No!” Iris screamed. She mustered her strength and crawled over to Vincent. A shocked expression emerged on her face, and tears rained on Vincent’s face without a hit of stopping.

“Don’t die... the first one to accept me can’t die... not now...” Iris became devastated after touching Vincent’s pulse. There was no pulse, yet his body continued to wither as if it was getting sucked dry.

*Inside Vincent’s Soul Domain*

[I hope this works.]

[Wolfie, Freerie. Trust us. The gamble we took is the only way out of this situation. I hope what I fear will not happen.]

*Crackle*

The emerald grass became brittle and started shattering. The fragments were turning into a liquid substance. The whole Soul Domain began to shake as if there was a magnitude five earthquake.

Wolfie cowered its tail behind its legs and stayed under the floating Kazumi. The collective of sixteen butterflies Freerie moved as one and all cuddled around Wolfie, forming a circle.

The emerald treasure chest burst open with a loud bang. A geyser of green substance arose like a forceful fountain. The ground was getting engulfed in a green substance until the geyser, and the earthquake suddenly stopped.

The green substance started wobbling as if it was alive. A couple of tentacles began to emerge, and they started swinging and attacking each other. The victor absorbed the losing tentacles.

[What is happening here? Is this hell? How can the mutated blood try to devour each other?]

Kazumi questioned what was happening a couple of meters in front of her. Fortunately, the mutated substance stopped before reaching their location, or they might get attacked as well.

The emerald chest radiated a blinding green light from inside. The moment the light reached the tentacles, each one of them tried to fight back. However, with the simplest touch on the chest’s exterior, the tentacles were sucked inside. It was as if there was a vortex inside the open emerald chest.

A second later, a sphere of radiant green light gradually floated above the emerald chest and sucked all the mutated substance on the ground. When only the emerald chest remained, the sphere of light floated back down and entered the emerald chest.

[What happened? Did the light absorb the...]

[but does that mean the plan failed? Is Vincent going to die...]

[Huh? It. It worked!]

*Living World*

.

[!!!]

[Th3 5ouL 1s ...]

[D3vour1ng 1s 1n pr0gre5s...]

[D3vour1ng 1nt0 O?e4/0ad...]

[!!!]

[ 1s f0rcibLy ]

[O?e4/0ad i5 Forc1bly act1vat1ng.]

.

A corrupted notification window appeared in front of Vincent. Kazumi tried to comprehend what was readable and determined that the dangerous gamble worked.

Previously, before Vincent rushed to save Iris, Kazumi explained to Vincent a theory she thought over and over for many weeks. It was how they could use Overload again.

After rewatching the memories starting from the day of Vincent’s arrival, Kazumi discovered how the mutation was gradually affecting Vincent’s judgment when it came to anger or the thrill of battle.

Upon further investigation, Kazumi also discovered how Overload appeared to have a similar emotion intensification influence and how it could tap into Vincent’s rage.

Kazumi then realized how Overheat was already making his bloodlust and the intent to kill more potent than he could emit. The murderous aura around him always had a disturbing feel to it. Even mana seemed to get affected and move oddly whenever Kazumi used Mana Sense to check.

Kazumi suggested trying three things Vincent didn’t do when his skin was getting melted from the Royal Guard Ant’s acid.

The first suggestion was to wish with all his being the death of the alpha grizzly bear. To direct all his hate and anger with all he had.

The second suggestion was to wish with all his entire being for the safety of his retainers and protect them from any harm. Anyone hurting them was courting death.

The third and most dangerous suggestion was to take a gamble with his life on the line. It was to injure his body to the point of no return.

.....

Kazumi tried her hardest to recreate what happened the first time Overload activated. Fortunately, her theory worked, and Overload triggered on its own.

The hero mark shone brightly, and green veins all over his body began bulging. A crackling sound came from the broken ribs as if they were breaking more than they were and repositioning themselves into their rightful place.

A sudden burst of heat along with the vapor of the melting frozen ground enveloped half of the pit. A wave of murderous intent surrounded Vincent, and it kept expanding upon reaching thirty meters distance.

Iris couldn’t see because of the fog, and Vincent was shaking as if he was in convulsion. She tried to hold him still, but the heat was starting to bother her hands, and her body was beginning to light shake from fear.