Chapter 459

Chapter 459

All of his minds moved to bring the world to a standstill the moment the demons burst forth from the ground below, letting him take them all in for what they were.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

They shared matching body plans, looking like giant millipedes, the portions of them stretching above the ground already bigger than he was and hinting at plenty more still down below as they gently swayed while he worked to figure out how he wanted to approach things.

He could already tell Thera was preparing a spell from the subtle movement of the earth and was willing to leave it to her, letting him focus on making sure Verbum would be safe, or at least that was his intent. The fact that he could make the world feel like it was moving in slow motion meant he didn’t think he had much he really needed to be worried about, but the monsters in front of him showed him how wrong that belief was.

All at once, it looked as though what Ben had taken for hundreds of legs had exploded out towards them, separating from their bodies with enough force behind them to make them appear fast even against the frame of reference he was acting within as they targeted the three of them with a heavy degree of precision, obviously to act as weapons and leaving him no desire to see what would come from taking those hits.

Oh, fuck me, this is going to be tight.

With almost no room to think, Ben let loose almost his entire reserved of mana, pouring it into the ground to rip up dirt to be shot out as bullets, each of them set on a collision course with the many projectiles flying through the air, carrying enough force to be sure to knock them off their path, even if he didn’t have enough in him to get all of them.

As high as his mana had grown to be, it wasn’t unlimited and he couldn’t be perfect in defending against that volley of attacks. He didn’t bother trying to affect the shots he was sure would miss, but there was one other thing he was able to do to make sure that both Thera and Verbum would be safe. He didn’t waste any mana on protecting himself.

But that’s fine because I’ve got something else for that, barrier shoes, do your stuff!

...I said barrier shoes, do your stuff!

...Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

His shoes weren’t working. That was the thought that first raced through his head as he tried to activate them, but it was wrong. The enchantments were still in perfect working order and he still had an external power source in the form of the mana batteries with him. No, he was simply discovering the limits of his enchantment in a way he’d never had to before.

This was his first time trying to use that barrier since he’d gained any sort of thought speed skill, and now that he was attempting to put it up with his minds moving at their full potential, he was confronted with the horrible reality of it. While there was no lag to be seen when thinking like a normal person, when a person was seeing the world at over a thousand percent faster, it was like they weren’t even activating.

His explanation was obviously only leaving the other in a worse mental state as Verbum envisioned the life he might have been forced to live if not for his third-tier skill, with Thera rushing to try and fix the patently false belief that Ben was forcing into his mind.

“This is absolutely in no way a common occurrence for normal people,” She said firmly. “Ben just has the worst luck in the universe is all, my planet isn’t some nightmare world where everyone is constantly on the verge of death.”

It was a statement Ben wasn't going to let off without a fight though. “We’re literally in the middle of an invasion against a race that’s never lost with the fate of the planet at stake.”

“I’m talking about besides that. The majority of adventurers don’t get hurt enough to get some of the defense skills you have, let alone an average person. Don’t go trying to scare him.”

“Hey, I’m just calling it as I see it from one summoned to another, I think you’re just too used to seeing the world as it is and accepting it as normal. Gotta trust me here Thera, this planet is significantly more dangerous than my last.”

She could see in his eyes he fully believed what he was saying and wasn’t going to back down on it so she just shook her head and finished healing him, letting Verbum deal with a growing sense of fear as a side effect while he took what Ben had to say to heart.

It wasn’t long until Ben could sit up, his physical state well enough to get back to the matter at hand as he and the other two started making their way over to the fallen demons.

“So investigation over?” He asked. “These five have been clearing out the land. Either eating or hunting seems like the most likely option here.”

“I’m perfectly happy to call it that so let’s just go already,” Verbum begged, getting ignored again as Thera shook her head.

“If there’s five then there might be more. We need to keep on our toes for at least a bit. Come on.”

They dragged Verbum to the corpses, expecting his skill to work better now that he had something more relevant to focus on but got one final surprise at the end.

“One of these is still alive,” Ben said, holding up a hand to stop Thera from finishing it off then and there as it clung to its last bits of life. “Give me just a second, maybe I can actually make this a bit quicker and easier on all of us.”

It was only the one and it was still entombed in the stone Thera had crushed it with, meaning he wasn’t too scared of another attack, but he still stood as far back as he could before making his attempt as he connected to the demon’s mind and reached back into its memories.