Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 111: Chapter 111 — The Cost of Survival

Chapter 111 — The Cost of Survival

As Victor watched another group of creatures crawl through the purple-and-green mass, he began to seriously question his decisions.

Why did I choose a crypt?

He stared at the approaching monsters.

Of course there are monsters in a crypt.

Victor couldn’t help but think about every science-fiction movie he had ever watched. Whenever someone entered an ancient crypt, tomb, or mysterious underground ruin, there was almost always something horrible waiting inside to kill them.

So why had he thought this would be any different?

He had no good answer.

He was already here.

All he could do now was kill one ugly monster at a time.

Victor glanced toward the strange webbing.

Four.

Five.

More heads were already pushing through.

He didn’t give them time to fully emerge.

Spiritual Energy surged through his arm.

Monkey Fist.

Victor disappeared.

Flash Step.

He reappeared directly in front of the first creature.

His fist slammed into its face.

BOOM!

The creature’s head was crushed instantly.

Before the corpse even hit the ground, Lyra emerged from Victor’s shadow.

She spun.

Her twin blades flashed through the air.

Two heads separated from their bodies.

Victor immediately Flash Stepped away.

Lyra disappeared into his shadow and emerged beside him.

Victor couldn’t help but be impressed.

Her Shadow Step was almost perfect for fighting alongside him.

Every time he moved, she could follow.

Every time he attacked, she could appear behind him and strike.

Then she could disappear again before the enemy had a chance to react.

It was an incredible combination.

Victor almost wanted to tell her.

Almost.

Then he remembered who he was dealing with.

She would probably insult him for saying it.

So he kept his mouth shut.

Victor looked across the chamber.

Roughly nine remained.

He glanced toward Lyra.

She was breathing heavily.

Shadow Step must consume a lot of energy.

Victor understood the problem immediately.

His own Spiritual Energy was running low.

Every Flash Step consumed energy.

Every Monkey Fist consumed even more.

He didn’t know how many more times he could use the techniques before his reserves were completely empty.

And something told him this crypt wasn’t finished with them.

There could be another room.

Another floor.

Another group of monsters.

He couldn’t afford to burn through everything now.

No more Monkey Fist.

At least, not unless absolutely necessary.

Victor tightened his grip on his dagger.

He would have to fight the old-fashioned way.

He Flash Stepped directly into the group of nine.

The creatures immediately reacted.

Victor moved between them before they could spread out.

Close combat.

That was the safest option.

If he stayed close, they wouldn’t have as many opportunities to fire those poisonous blobs.

Lyra stared at him.

This crazy human is doing it again.

Then she followed.

Shadow Step.

She appeared behind Victor and immediately raised her hand.

”Shadow Sphere.”

The sphere of shadow energy erupted.

It swallowed several of the creatures at once.

Seven of them were caught inside.

The shadow energy began tearing into their bodies.

Victor knew it wouldn’t kill them immediately.

Fifteen seconds.

Maybe more.

And fifteen seconds was a long time when surrounded by monsters with blades for arms.

Victor moved.

One scythe came toward Lyra.

Clang!

Victor blocked it with his dagger.

Another came from the opposite side.

Victor kicked the creature away.

A third lunged toward Lyra.

Victor jumped.

His foot slammed into its head.

The creature stumbled backward.

Victor landed and immediately blocked another attack.

The Shadow Sphere continued shredding the creatures.

But they weren’t dying fast enough.

Victor gritted his teeth.

This isn’t going to work.

They couldn’t stand there and wait.

Victor Flash Stepped backward.

Lyra immediately followed.

The Shadow Sphere disappeared.

The remaining creatures staggered out of the attack.

Victor looked at them.

Five were barely moving.

Their bodies were shredded and damaged from Lyra’s technique.

The attack hadn’t killed them.

But it had done something.

Victor exhaled.

”Well...”

He tightened his grip.

”At least it did something.”

He Flash Stepped forward.

His dagger drove into the head of one of the weakened creatures.

It dropped instantly.

Lyra appeared behind another.

Her blades flashed.

Two more heads hit the floor.

Only a few remained.

Victor’s body was beginning to feel heavy.

Every movement required more effort.

Every Flash Step drained another portion of his Spiritual Energy.

He pushed through it.

He disappeared.

Reappeared behind another creature.

His dagger pierced its head.

The beast collapsed.

Victor breathed heavily.

When this is over...

He imagined himself finding a river.

A nice, cool river.

He would get into the water.

Maybe he’d float on his back.

Maybe he’d even take a nap while drifting downstream.

The thought sounded incredible.

Victor smiled faintly.

Then stabbed another creature in the head.

It fell.

Three remained.

Lyra faced two.

Victor faced one.

Neither needed to say anything.

They moved.

Lyra’s blades flashed.

Victor’s dagger struck.

The final three creatures collapsed almost simultaneously.

Silence returned to the chamber.

Victor dropped to his knees.

He was exhausted.

Completely exhausted.

He had burned through far too much Spiritual Energy.

Victor closed his eyes for a moment.

Victor immediately began circulating what little energy remained inside his Core.

His injured shoulder burned.

The bleeding had stopped, but the pain remained.

It felt as though the acid had somehow burned all the way down to his bones.

Beside him, Lyra stood silently.

She was tired as well.

But through their Soul Bond, she could feel Victor’s pain.

It was much worse than she had expected.

Lyra looked at him.

For a moment, something strange stirred inside her.

She felt bad for him.

Lyra immediately frowned.

Am I feeling bad for a human?

She looked away.

I must be losing my mind.

She didn’t understand what was happening to her.

She had spent years hating humans.

Yet now she was worried about one.

Lyra glanced around the chamber.

No more creatures emerged from the strange webbing.

For the moment, they were safe.

She looked back at Victor.

”You cultivate first.”

Victor opened his eyes.

Lyra continued.

”I’ll take watch.”

Victor stared at her.

He looked genuinely stunned.

Who is this?

What did you do with Lyra?

He studied her suspiciously.

Lyra noticed.

Her eyes narrowed.

”If you don’t start cultivating right now, I’m going to make you regret looking at me.”

Victor immediately looked away.

”Right.”

He sat down.

No jokes this time.

He needed to recover.

He closed his eyes and began cultivating.

Spiritual Energy rushed toward his Core.

His Black Flame absorbed it in large amounts, refining it before feeding it into his cultivation.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Victor remained completely still.

Slowly, his breathing stabilized.

His exhausted body began recovering.

His shoulder still hurt, but the damage had healed enough that it wouldn’t significantly hinder him anymore.

Victor finally opened his eyes.

He looked toward Lyra.

”Thank you.”

Lyra glanced at him.

She looked mildly annoyed.

She didn’t respond.

Instead, she sat down and began cultivating.

Victor stared at her for a moment.

Then he smiled.

There’s the Shadow Fox I know.

He leaned back against the wall.

For the first time since entering the crypt, the chamber was quiet.

But Victor knew better than to assume that meant they were safe.

They still had an entire crypt ahead of them.