BOOM!
"Arch!"
Ross exclaimed in shock and agony as he slammed heavily into a wall far in the distance, his armour picking multiple cracks in several areas!
The moment he noticed the void creature, the attack was already on him, and he had less than a second to react. With so little time to do anything, he could only take that attack.
Even with the armour he wore, the damage was severe. The force and speed at which he was sent into the wall were unlike anything he had felt. Good thing he wore armour, else all that would have been left of him would be a splat on the wall!
Blood spilt from the sides of his lips and slowly slipped off the wall to the ground, temporarily paralyzed.
His vision turned blurry as he struggled to find where the void creature was. Every little action strained his bones and wore his muscles. He couldn't circulate his mana either.
'This is definitely not the second floor!' He quickly deduced his location but was not sure whether it was the third or top floor.
But Ross didn't have too much time to think things through. The void creature was preparing for another attack. Even with his blurry vision, he noticed the concentrated fiery energy gathered at the mouth of the void creature.
'Come on, move!'
He silently yelled in his head for his body to move, but it was proving to be a challenge. His body trembled in fear at the thought of dying here as it had not crossed his mind that he would be pushed this far too soon.
With little time to spar and the attack already on its way, Ross managed to create some distance by moving to the path on his left.
BOOOM!
The impact of the beam created a fiery wave that pushed everything in its path away, Ross included. Though no significant damage was received from the attack due to its fiery properties, the shockwave still did a number on his already injured body.
The void creature screeched in annoyance for failing to eliminate the pest after two attacks. Not planning to miss for the third time, it sped after its prey, quickly reaching the T junction in a flash.
Ross, who had managed to get back on his feet and increased the distance away from the impact site, both from the shockwaves and by his own movements, heard the creature right behind him.
He did not waste time looking behind to see what the creature was up to as it was already clear what it wanted.
After getting a bit of rhythm and moving slowly, he forcefully pushed through the pain and muscle ache and began running as fast as he could. He was in no position to fight right.
He needed to recover and consider his options.
'Is Zen and his friends also in a similar situation?' he wondered as he zoomed past the changing paths with the void creature on his tail.
Indeed, while Ross was not sure, his guess of the group of five splitting up was spot on. Additionally, they were all teleported to the third floor of the labyrinth, one floor below the final one and faced similar situations: their life-or-death status was only known to those watching.
Things had taken a serious turn for the worse. The other students who were still traversing the second floor of the labyrinth were fortunate at the moment.
Once they made it here by their own efforts, they were bound to find out how things took a drastic change. The elite students were going to meet their match soon enough. For now, it was just Ross, Zen, his friends, and a couple of other students.
Ross turned to look behind him and saw the void creature taking fast turns just as quickly as he was. Moreover, it was slowly closing the distance.
If the turns hadn't been numerous like the floors below, Ross would have eaten a few more concentrated beaming attacks.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck, …' Ross continued to curse as his mind spun quickly to come up with a solution. Because he had no idea where the path he took was leading him, he could only hope.
But hope was not available today.
Ross soon reached a dead end where he appeared in a large circular hall with no more paths to choose from. He looked around desperately, trying to find a hidden path or something but to no avail.
"This is the worst…" His frustration was at an all-time high, and his arching and bloody body was not doing him any favours either.
His armour might as well be called rags at this point as the cracks in them showed his inner gear that was as torn apart as the rest of his body.
The screeches of the void creature could be heard behind him and considering his options, he could only face it. However, he wasn't going to do that head-on.
A surprise attack was his only chance, even then, he doubted if he had the mana to finish it in one go; he could only try.
He looked back the way he came from and went to hide by the exit, approximately 15 metres from the exit and channelled his mana into his right hand.
The fiery blaze around his hand lit up his surroundings as he got into a stance for a flash attack.
"This should be enough, hopefully." He muttered looking at his blazing hand.
A moment later, Ross saw the ugly figure of the void creature appearing from the path.
In the time it took for a normal person to blink, Ross was before the void creature, his expression that of resolve and fierceness.
His right hand fashioned for a piercing strike, pierced the body of the void creature before it could turn around.
BOOOOM!
The fiery impact of the piercing attack spread out from the point of contact. Ross could feel his hand embedded in the flesh of the void creature and it was much stronger than he anticipated.
"Huh?" There was no bloody explosion that usually happened.