Stone scraped beneath Nekeili's bare fingers as he hauled himself onto another jagged shelf, his arms trembling from the relentless climb.
Every pull dragged rough stone across his palms and chest, scraping skin raw as he pressed himself against the cliff face. Muscles burned with a deep, steady ache, yet he forced himself upward again, refusing to let exhaustion settle into his bones. Above him the cliff stretched toward the pale sky in broken ridges and fractured ledges, while below him the swarm climbed with tireless hunger, their screeching cries rising like a living tide.
The sound was everywhere now—hundreds of claws grinding against stone, bodies scraping upward with terrible persistence.
A sudden shriek cut sharply through the noise behind him, far closer than the others.
Nekeili turned his head just enough to see it.
One of the larger corrupted insects had surged ahead of the swarm, its distorted body clinging to the cliff wall only a few meters beneath him. Its limbs stabbed into cracks like hooked blades while its fractured shell leaked thick black fluid that smoked faintly against the stone. Dozens of slick, restless eyes shifted across its skull until they locked onto him.
Then it leapt.
The creature launched upward with explosive force and slammed into the rock just beneath Nekeili's feet. The impact cracked the stone and sent vibrations through the cliffside. Nekeili reacted on instinct, driving his heel downward. His bare foot smashed into the creature's face with a wet crunch that burst several of its eyes, spraying black fluid across the rock and his leg.
It barely slowed.
Its mandibles snapped open, rows of grinding teeth clattering together as it climbed again.
Nekeili released one hand from the rock and drove his fist downward into the creature's skull. The blow split another cluster of eyes, drawing a piercing shriek from the insect as its grip faltered for the briefest moment.
That moment was enough.
He scrambled higher, dragging his naked body against the rough cliff as stone tore open fresh scrapes along his arms, ribs, and knees. Blood smeared across the rock where he climbed, streaking the pale stone with dark red trails.
Behind him the injured creature screamed again.
And the swarm answered.
The cliffside erupted with movement. Hundreds of twisted bodies surged upward, their claws scraping against the stone in a rising chorus of grinding noise. The scent of blood had driven them into frenzy.
They climbed faster.
Nekeili dragged himself onto another narrow shelf, but the terrain above had grown treacherous. The wall was no longer solid stone; brittle ridges cracked beneath his weight and jagged shelves broke away the moment he trusted them.
His foot slipped.
Stone shattered beneath his toes and cascaded down the cliffside. The falling debris triggered another wave of screeching from below.
He flattened himself against the wall and kept climbing.
Pain flared through his arms and shoulders, muscles trembling from the strain, yet beneath the agony something quieter worked through his body. His fingers dug deeper into cracks than they should have been able to hold. His toes balanced on ledges so narrow they barely existed.
The Void was refining him.
But refinement didn't slow the swarm.
A sudden weight slammed into his calf.
Nekeili shouted as something latched onto his leg. One of the insects had climbed high enough to reach him, its limbs grotesquely elongated as it clung to both the cliff and his body. Its mandibles snapped wildly, trying to drag itself up toward his torso.
He reacted with desperate force, slamming his heel into the creature's head again and again until its skull finally cracked apart. The body tumbled backward into the swarm below.
But one jagged limb tore a deep gash along his calf as it fell.
Pain flared white-hot through his leg and his grip nearly failed. Blood spilled freely down the cliffside, dripping onto the bodies climbing below.
The swarm erupted into frenzied screeching.
They surged upward even faster.
Nekeili forced himself to climb despite the trembling in his injured leg. The bleeding slowed rapidly as his body worked to close the wound, but the strain left his vision swimming.
When he finally risked another glance downward, the sight froze the air in his lungs.
The entire wall had become a crawling ocean of corrupted bodies. Some insects had grown long hooked limbs for climbing while others flattened themselves against the stone like grotesque spiders.
And pushing through them all was something larger.
Much larger.
A massive insect tore its way through the swarm, crushing several smaller creatures as it climbed. Its body was nearly twice the size of the others, its limbs thick enough to crack stone with every movement.
Its countless eyes fixed onto him.
Nekeili's chest tightened.
The creature began climbing faster.
Much faster.
Each movement carried it closer with terrifying efficiency, its massive limbs biting deep into the cliff face as it forced its way upward. Lesser insects scattered beneath it, thrown aside as it surged forward with singular purpose.
It would reach him.
Soon.
Nekeili's breathing slowed despite the danger. A familiar pressure settled behind his thoughts, subtle but unmistakable. The system had burned the knowledge into him previously, and even now the skill lingered in the back of his mind like an instinct waiting to be used.
*Maddening Spatial Sacrifice.*
He didn't hesitate.
The moment the massive creature lunged upward again, Nekeili triggered the skill.
Space twisted.
But, Due to Nekeili unskilled use of Maddening spatial sacrifice he was unable to fully activate the skill.
There was no flash of light, no dramatic disappearance. Instead the air around Nekeili and the creature had caused Space to compress violently, as if reality itself had tightened around there bodies. The rock beneath there limbs shifted a fraction of a meter out of alignment, cracks sliding just enough to betray their grips.
The distortion struck mid-climb.
One claw missed its hold.
Another twisted sideways against the stone.
The massive insect shrieked as its balance collapsed. For a brief instant its body hung awkwardly against the cliff face, limbs scraping desperately for purchase.
Then gravity took it.
The creature slammed into the rock and tumbled backward into the swarm below, crushing several of its kin beneath its weight as it fell. The cliffside erupted into chaos as insects scattered and collided, their climb momentarily thrown into disarray.
A dull ache pulsed behind Nekeili's eyes as he used all his might to find purchase against the wall of rock once more.
He ignored it.
The swarm was already recovering.
Bodies reorganized almost instantly, their claws digging back into the stone as they resumed the climb. The massive creature had slowed them—but only briefly.
Nekeili tightened his grip and pulled himself higher.
The cliff grew steeper again, jagged stone tearing open new cuts along his ribs and arms as he dragged himself upward. Blood slicked the rock beneath him, making every movement more dangerous.
A screech erupted just below him.
One of the creatures lunged upward, snapping for his leg.
Nekeili reacted instantly.
*Maddening Spatial Sacrifice.*
The world lurched sideways.
Space folded around him and released him several meters along the cliff face. His body reappeared against another narrow stretch of rock, the sudden shift sending a wave of disorientation through his mind.
Gravity snapped back into place.
His hands barely caught the stone.
For a moment he dangled there, chest heaving, before hauling himself upward again.
Below him the insect that had leapt snapped uselessly at empty air.
The swarm shrieked in frustration.
The pressure behind his eyes deepened, a creeping headache beginning to form as his thoughts blurred at the edges.
Nekeili clenched his teeth and climbed.
The skill had bought him distance.
Nothing more.
And the swarm was still coming.