[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 217: Overload: Courage 7/7

The demonic spider was hell bent on annihilating Astrid for some reason. It was like the monster had only one path to charge on. Astrid was the destination.

Astrid didn’t know why the being who was in control of it was so desperate on killing her. After all, it wasn’t she who was the strongest of the two, but the knight. It was he who had dealt the most damage, and by all rights, if there was one person capable of killing the gilded spider, it was the knight.

Yes despite that information, the spider once more made a maddened dash for her. While dashing, it fired the lasers it had with extreme precision at her.

Time slowed. There wasn’t enough time for Astrid to mount a proper defence; her mana was strained, and there wasn’t enough to funnel it into multiple thick Mind Barriers.

Instead, Overload had caused her mind to haze over with intense, festering emotion as memories flashed through her mind by the second. Hundreds of them.

One moment Astrid was fighting for her toys, unwilling to share with her brothers. The next, she was battling others, sparring, stopping at nothing to win her fights. Throwing sand, or aiming for the vitals. It was her, or them.

There was no inbetween.

There was no quarter.

That was how the Sinwens had raised Astrid since young. As a family built on the bloody battlefield, all she knew was to be selfless. To destroy her enemy at all costs. As the strongest noble family, they were always at the top, so they rarely relied on anyone else. If she had to stand on the toes of others to accomplish that, then that was what had to be done.

Although she had learnt how to coordinate with a team, and help them, her blood remained thick.

But now another fleeting thought emerged.

She wasn’t strong enough to battle the enemy on her own. That much was clear. So how could she emerge victorious against an enemy that was unable to be beaten?

They could stall for time until Darian arrived, but who was to say he wasn’t betrayed by the Ixtalians? Taken back into their domain, then slayed in cold blood.

It wasn’t a decision that she could accurately make.

No, to beat the monster, her, and the knight, had to become one. Astrid, with the courage she had gained from battling the horrible spiders, made a choice that went against every fibre of her being.

Overload: Courage.

| Increasing intelligence by 250.

| Increasing wisdom by 100.

| Increasing Psychic mana control by 250%

| Mana capacity exceeded by 250%

| Can transfer Omni-kinesis to another living person.

| Can transfer Matter Absorption to another living person.

| Barriers are 150% stronger.

“Knight, take my strength!”

Astrid shouted, and she hoped to the goddess, if she existed, that the knight would save her. She was gambling, placing the chips of life all in.

The golden demon was nearing.

She made a mental connection to the knight, and immediately transferred all of her power. All of her stats, to the mighty man in shining armour. Not only that, Astrid placed her newly created armour of Steilgam glass, along with the Assault Arachnids absorption chitin.

In an instant, Astrid’s face paled. Her hair changed from a vibrant gold, to a dull grey. No longer was she filled with vitality, but even her eyes sunk. Yet within, was a brimming inferno that couldn’t be extinguished.

It was the light of courage.

Shining smile visible from behind the knight’s helmet, he took in a powerful breath, then moved. In a blur, unable to be seen by human eyes, the knight reappeared in front of Astrid like a guardian.

The clash of metal armour was a repeat of before, but this time there was a clear winner. The knight smashing against the spider with his shoulder, viciously collided with the carapace, sending the arachnid tumbling to the floor.

Not even eight legs could save it from the severe impact.

Not giving the demonic spider a chance to recover, the knight was already in front of its numerous eyes. Hefting his polearm, he swung it in a blur.

Leaving nothing but a phantom image, a sickening crunch followed its path. The golden armour split open, sending the red-gold blood splashing against the knights silver armour.

But then in the next instant, it was healed.

However, against the enhanced knight, the spider was rapidly overwhelmed. Like a phantom of war, the knight didn’t know when to stop. Nor did he want to.

His eyes were as tranquil as a calm pond. His face was expressionless. It was as if he had transcended into a new realm. One born of slaughter, and carnage.

With the new found power, the gilded demon was unable to heal its injuries in time. As Astrid watched on at the glorious sight, she couldn’t help but scoff. A smile casually curling on her lips.

Whoever was controlling, or helping the spider, was being beaten at its own game. Only Astrid’s pet was a human from another world.

But that was all Astrid could do. Having given her power to the knight, she was powerless. She had no stats to mention, so even if she could use her skills, it would be pointless. All she could do was watch the show. And what a show it was.

Golden spider legs scattered onto the floor, eyes popped out of their sockets, and chunks of flesh were gouged into its body by the halberd strike.

Astrid thought it was going to be over. The once grandiose spider that radiated life and power, was now a shell of its former self. Mutilated, and beat to an inch of death, it was still clinging on to whatever life it still had.

Illumination shone from behind its shattered ribs as a sickening display of mana radiated from within. It was self-destructing. A last ditch effort of slaying Astrid and the knight.

Despite the threat of death looming over her shoulders, greed was at the forefront of Astrid’s thoughts. Since the knight was using her Matter Absorption, then did that mean he could absorb the matter of whatever he touched?

Astrid had to find out.

“Touch the golden armour with your hands!”

Astrid’s command struck the knight’s ears.

Stomping the ground, leaving behind a huge crater underfoot, the knight punched straight through the monster.

The knight grabbed hold of the golden shell of armour with one hand, and in the other was the shining mass radiating mana. Clenching his hand, he crushed the core within his hands.

Astrid braced for impact. Yet there was no cataclysmic explosion like she thought would occur. It was like the knight had snuffed out the flame before it could transform into a blaze.

The fact that the demon’s last attack required a build up had saved them.

Sighing, Astrid grinned as she gazed at the System notification filtering into her mind. However, the later information given to her made her fingers twitch.

You have absorbed the armour of the Gilded Demon Spider!

You defeated a Sovereigns Reflection: Gilded Demon Spider – Level 335

…

| Extra experience is granted for defeating an enemy many levels above!

You have Levelled up!

| Oculus Witch Level 239 -> Oculus Witch Level 246

| Voidmare Level 239 -> Voidmare Level 246

You have gained 70 stat points.

| You now have 2226 Intelligence.

Sovereigns Reflection?

Astrid tilted her head at the mention. What the hell was a Reflection? But the words that stood out to her the most was the introduction of the Sovereign.

Was she battling a Sovereign this entire time? Like a tamed monster of sorts?

The words were unsettling. If Astrid put her thinking cap on, then that meant that whatever happening here was the work of a Sovereign. In other words, someone like her.

If the person was a full Sovereign, Astrid didn’t fancy her odds. If one of his monsters could cause so much trouble, then what would happen if they personally made an appearance.

Astrid gazed up at the sky. The black gateway was still open, filtering out a never-ending swarm of hairy legged spiders.

But now it was made clear as to why it was happening. She was being invaded by another Sovereign. Astrid just hoped it was a candidate like herself, and not a fully fledged Sovereign.

That would be bad.

Overload: Courage has been spent.

| Weakening users.

| Reducing Stats by 15% for three hours.

Astrid’s hair, skin, and eyes all turned back to normal. But in its place was a migraine that spread to every inch of her brain. Well, she was used to it by now. Along with controlling her pain tolerance, it wasn’t an issue.

The knight also didn’t escape unscathed from the downsides of her skill. In fact, he looked far worse than she did.

Legs trembling, skin splitting with blood seeping from the ugly wounds, the knight approached her.

“What was that–”

Astrid interrupted the man by raising her hand. This wasn’t the place to be asking questions. After all, the spiders were still pouring out of the gateway, and making their way straight to her.

Returning to the wall, their attacks were renewed once more.

Since the smaller spiders weren’t actually a threat, it gave Astrid a moment to not only recover her strength, but think as well.

Perhaps the spider controller wasn’t actually a full Sovereign. Why else would they send monsters in to do his job.

It meant that they weren’t actually strong enough to face her themself, or that was actually how they fought their battles.

A monster tamer.

Astrid had heard of them. There was also a specific noble family that reared their own monsters, and it was a huge portion of their power.

Gritting her teeth, she glared at the blackened gateway high above.

I hope you’re really feeling the pain of losing your demon spider, asshole.

Taking a breath to calm herself down, Astrid was reminded of her big gain during that fight. The golden armour of the spider.

With a thought, she looked within her body. It was almost like looking at a wide open ocean. But instead of water, there were dozens of floating eyeballs, and floating orbs of strange material. One had bluish-black scales within, another was almost entirely translucent, and so on.

That must be the material I absorbed through Matter Absorption.

Astrid touched upon the golden orb. As she brushed her mind against it, she then controlled it to seep out of her flesh. Just like she had done with the Assault Arachnids own armour, and her old Voidbent armour.

However, as the gold appeared on her skin, and thickened, Astrid realised that it was extremely heavy. Her body couldn’t handle it. Only after she put hundreds of points into Strength was she able to endure it.

But that didn’t make her happy. If she had to waste those points in just being able to use the armour, then she was better without it.

Instead, Astrid used the golden armour like a second skin. Using only enough that her most vital areas were covered.

It covered her neck, chest, forehead, the outside of her arms, and thighs. That way, she only had to transfer one-hundred points into Strength. It was a worthwhile trade-off.

Just by looking at the matter the gilded armour consisted of, she could tell it was incomparably stronger compared to all the other armour she had encountered so far. Way better than the Voidbent metal, and without the downsides.

Of course, she would be vulnerable to areas where she didn’t have the armour. Astrid just had to be more careful.

Finishing up with her experimentation, she noticed a change occur in the sky. For the first time in a while, spiders stopped falling.

But they were making way for something else. Or in this case, someone else.

Emerging from the shadowed entrance, was no monster, but a man.

A man and his… pet cat?