Apocalypse: I Have A Multiplier System - Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Nearing Death

Nothing happened.

The silence that followed felt like a mocking laugh, echoing through the oppressive darkness.

One of the voices chuckled, harsh and filled with malice.

“Did she really think that would work?”

Another sneered,

“How naïve. Calling out to her little powers as if they could save her now.”

The cruel, commanding voice from before joined in, sharper this time.

“Pathetic,” it declared. “You’re in a realm beyond mortal comprehension, girl. A little stunt like that won’t save you here.”

Before Su Jiyai could react, a series of attacks launched from the shadows.

This time, weapons materialized with a deadly swiftness, their edges gleaming with dark energy as they shot toward her.

A spear whistled past her cheek, another sword nearly grazed her side, and a jagged blade embedded itself inches from her feet.

She barely had time to dodge, each move a close encounter with death.

What am I going to do? If they keep attacking like this, I won’t make it much longer.

She tried to push down her panic, focusing instead on understanding her surroundings.

The voices continued to taunt her, reveling in her fear.

“Is this the so-called threat we were worried about?” one voice asked with a scornful laugh.

“She’s trembling!” another voice crowed gleefully. “Let’s see how long she lasts against us.”

But in the midst of their taunts, Su Jiyai’s mind turned to her abilities.

The portal, she thought.

If I can just summon it again… But she quickly realized something.

There’s always a delay when I use it, she recalled. Her heart sank.

It must be a cooldown period. And it’s usually four hours.

A shiver ran through her as she tried to imagine surviving against these relentless beings for that long.

Four hours might as well be a lifetime in this situation.

She dodged another attack, a wickedly sharp dagger that flew past her ear, the wind of its passing cold against her skin.

Why can’t I see them? she thought. They see me so clearly, but I can’t perceive them at all.

Her mind leaped back to a vague memory from her studies—a theory about dimensions and perception.

She remembered how her teacher once explained the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional planes.

A painting, for instance, is a two-dimensional representation.

Humans in the third dimension can view the painting, add to it, or change it, but they can’t physically enter it.

If that’s true, she realized, then I’m like the painting to them. They’re in the fourth dimension, able to see me and influence my surroundings, but they’re out of my reach.

Understanding this dynamic gave her a strange sense of calm as if she finally had a grasp on what she was up against.

If they’re in the fourth dimension, they can reach into my space, but not fully interact with it. Just like I can reach toward the painting but can’t physically enter it.

They can attack me, but maybe that’s the extent of their reach.

She took a quick glance around the dungeon, looking for any place that might offer her a temporary refuge.

If she could keep her movements unpredictable, maybe she could survive long enough for the cooldown to pass.

The voices continued, but now she listened more closely.

“Why are we wasting so much time?” asked one, impatience evident. “Just finish her already!”

“Patience,” the cold, commanding voice replied.

“Let her wear herself down. She’s using up her energy dodging our attacks.”

Su Jiyai took a slow breath, steadying herself.

If they wanted her to exhaust herself, she would have to do the opposite—conserve her energy as much as possible, and make them think she was weaker than she was.

She didn’t have to dodge wildly or run in panic.

Instead, she focused on small, precise movements, keeping close to the walls to limit the angles from which they could attack.

She pressed herself against the damp stones, moving only when she felt the hum of an approaching weapon.

A blade sliced through the air to her left, and she ducked, the weapon clanging against the wall.

Her movements were tight, conserving energy while keeping her alive.

“Why isn’t she tiring?” one of the voices hissed in frustration.

“She’s smarter than she looks,” the smoother voice admitted, reluctantly. “Perhaps we underestimated her.”

The mocking voices fell into a tense silence. Su Jiyai knew they wouldn’t give up, but at least she’d bought herself a few moments of relative calm.

What about the system? she thought. Is there a way to use it here?

But when she tried to activate it, the system felt… sluggish, as if held back by the same fourth-dimensional force that prevented her from seeing her attackers.

She couldn’t rely on it right now; she had to endure on her own.

Su Jiyai was so exhausted that she missed the next incoming attack, a spear radiating dark energy, suddenly grazed past her stomach.

The attack seemed weak, however, a deep horizontal wound appeared on Su Jiyai’s stomach. Before Su Jiyai could react, a strange sensation started to spread in her entire body.

She felt like tens of thousands of ants were crawling on her body. Blood gushed out of her stomach.

To make matters worse, the next second, another attack made its way to Su Jiyai. This time, it was an axe pulsating with dark energy.

“Ahhh.” Su Jiyai’s entire body trembled as she pushed herself away to avoid the axe, but the axe still grazed past her back.

Su Jiyai felt her body getting torn. Her instincts were telling her, that she might die soon.

What she didn’t know was…the wound inflicted by the axe and knife turned entirely black, even the blood gushing out from it was black.

Without Su Jiyai realizing it, the dark energy from the wound was slowly traveling through her entire body.

Her veins were turning black and started to pop out.

The whites of her eyes slowly turned black. And all Su Jiyai felt was blackness. It was a strange and frightening sensation for Su Jiyai, as she slowly lost her eyesight.