A New World, an immersive game experience



Back over where the demons were attacking en-mass, Ceph was facing a demon variant of centaurs.

Instead of the demon having an equine half, it had the long body of a centipede. The demon also had four arms in total and massive mandibles for a mouth. Giving her an utterly terrifying appearance. 

In her arms, she carried a massive poleaxe. Its heft was such that even a normal centaur would probably struggle to keep their balance with it in hand. Yet, she wielded it like it was a toy. 

Her random swings tore trees from the ground, and if their roots were particularly persistent, the tree would be splintered into pieces. 

Every time Ceph dodged, he could feel the wind from the attack knocking at his body. Telling the tale of how it wouldn't simply cut him apart. It would crush him. Leave nothing but a paste behind. 

Knowing the danger her weapon presented, Ceph continued to dodge. Having taken his elven form for its nimbleness. Yes, his elven form was weaker, had less natural armor. But that wouldn't make a difference in the face of her monstrous poleaxe. 

Spells were proving mostly ineffective. The poleaxe was enhanced with something that allowed it to disrupt spells. 

This meant even though the hippo centipede demon couldn't use magic and seemed incapable of even calling on its mana. She was completely capable of defending against spells. 

Worse, her numerous insect legs allowed her steady purchase in the ruined forest. Allowed her to suddenly shift the motion of her attack and even scale trees (or their ruins) to attack from above. 

And those legs... they weren't harmless either. Their tips were colored differently. And Ceph had seen the venom dripping from them. Deathly, that was all he could call it. 

Honestly, Ceph would rather face Terror than her. At least he understood how their uncanny way of attacking worked. Yes, they could morph any part of their body to attack, but there were signs. 

'Crap! That was too close!' Desperate, Ceph took to the skies. Hoping to gain some time to recover and assess how to face this unknown entity. However, as soon as he left her range, she turned to the others. 

Ceph couldn't allow that. He was the only one facing just one demon. The others were standing against two, three, or even four. Allowing someone to be even more outnumbered was simply not something he could swallow. 

Luckily, height gave Ceph an advantage. He could see the scale of the battle, what was happening, where his opponent was going, and that she was no longer paying him much—if any—attention. 

'I'll only have one chance. So I have to make it count.' Ceph told himself. He kept himself up high, pulled out a weapon Eldrian had gifted him, and readied for his attack. 

Ceph did not have any ultimate attack like Eldrian. He couldn't call upon powers like auras to enhance his magic. However, he could use magic almost completely intuitively. 

Thus, he focused his all on his attack. The gap of two Tiers would not deter him. He would—no, he had to. He had to kill her. He had to relieve the pressure on the others. 

With his determination burning, Ceph held the spear in hand. It wasn't at the level of Crystoi, but it didn't need to be. It wasn't even worth the title of Tier 5 that it held. But that was fine. Ceph didn't normally need weapons. 

Normally, he would wield the daggers or the sword his parents had given him. But, at this moment, he needed something with more of an impact. 

Collecting his mana around the spear, Ceph formed a funnel with the surrounding wind. He summoned multiple barriers around himself. Cloaked himself from the light, making himself little more than a shadow. And contacted his allies. 

Gripping the spear in hand, Ceph readied himself. Hiding his presence as best he could, he waited. Until...

'Now!' Seeing her about to attack a Unicorn, Ceph dived down. Almost immediately, she reacted. As if sensing the bloodlust that filled Ceph. But it was too late. 

With a massive boom, Ceph landed. 

When the dust settled, all that remained of the demon was the scattered pieces of her being. Some twisting legs here and there, but not much more. 

Ceph, on the other hand, hadn't come out unscathed. He lay a ways away from the explosion, his skin scarred and his clothes in tatters. 

To ensure she couldn't dodge or guide the spear off course, Ceph hadn't thrown it but followed the spear to the ground. He had been right at the center of the attack. Right next to it as it exploded while impaling her. 

Worse, he had taken the fall while breaking the sound barrier. And her scattered remains had naturally flown in all directions—his included. 

Ceph had one leg sticking into his side and a bunch of other parts stuck to his exposed skin. His legs were trembling, and the venom was starting to do its work already. 

But he had succeeded. He had managed to snipe her before she could attack his friends. 

Of course, the aftermath of Ceph's attack had also disrupted the fights of those around. When he had broken the sound barrier, the boom had shocked many. And the dust cloud, as his attack landed and exploded, had blinded many. Which his allies had used to their advantage. 

Ceph hadn't attacked without a care for his allies. Before he launched himself, he had warned them—telepathically.

This was the one reason they were able to hold their own despite being so heavily outnumbered. Everyone could still communicate. And in the case where someone was too stressed to reply, they could still be informed of critical information. 

This allowed them to fight as a united group, even as the fight devolved into utter chaos. 

And now, while the enemies were blinded by the dust, the equine defenders launched their attacks. They had used magic to keep the dust from entering their eyes and had summoned barriers to prevent the shockwave from doing any damage.

And now, as their enemies were blinded, they relied on their magical senses to sense the presence of their enemies.  While the demons could do the same, the shock of the situation meant only the elite were able to react in time. 

In mere minutes, those nearby used the small advantage to carve out a larger one. All while, Ceph fell to his knees. Exhausted and poisoned, he had to focus on his own treatment.

Praying that no one would stumble upon him before he could cleanse the venom from his system—at the very least.  From the effects, it was paralytic.

If a demon found him in his current condition, Ceph knew he couldn't dodge even a half-hearted attack. The venom worked fast, shockingly so. 

Ceph had been unlucky. That a leg had pierced him through his barriers was nothing less than bad luck. Still, how quickly the venom spread through his body was heart-chilling. 

Ceph had already lost the function of his legs. His arms were number and slow. He could even feel it targeting his lungs and heart. Already, breathing was more difficult than normal. 

'This is crazy.' Ceph mumbled with a weak smile. Praying that his treatment would work. 

The venom of a demon was not normal. It was far more powerful than anything normal, of anything natural.