Talent Awakening! Every Legendary Summon Grants Me Assassin Attributes-Chapter 25: The Mind Devouring Curse 1 Treacherous Dive

Splash!

Oliver’s body broke through the surface of the green water, sinking several meters into its embrace as he crashed into it.

"Hmmmph!" he groaned.

The first thing that met him from the dive,rather than the usual cold or soothing calm a river would bring, was a violent torrent of unbearable heat that slammed into his body like molten steel, threatening to rip a scream straight from his lungs.

But Oliver knew very well, if he screamed, that would be the end of him. So he endured, forcing it down and crushing the instinct.

[Activating Eye of Another]

Through the dark crow’s eyes, he watched himself from above—his body resurfacing, thrashing forward through the corrosive waters. From that detached, almost mocking perspective, he saw his own skin blister and rupture, layers peeling away as raw, blood-slick flesh sizzled beneath.

It looked like meat thrown into boiling oil. Yet the acid wasn’t instantly lethal. No...

It was slow and Deliberate.

At the very least, he could make it far several meters before the acid fully tore through his flesh and consumed one life point.

Without hesitation, he began to swim, wasting no time as his body surged forward, cutting through the viscous liquid with inhuman speed.

The others followed right behind him, jumping into the acid river without fail.

They were fast, and helpfully, as Talent Awakeners, their agility contributed greatly to this.

Hera was quick... Frighteningly so.

Despite being the third to enter the embrace of the corrosive river, she caught up to Oliver in seconds, her movements sharp and efficient, almost mechanical in perfection.

’I expect nothing less from the daughter of a Guildmaster.’

Zack followed.

His form was stable and controlled, but the pain dragged him down. His muscles spasmed under the corrosion, his strokes losing precision as he struggled to endure. Thus placing him at the rear of the group.

Just several meters behind Oliver.

Ahead of him—

Was Yuki.

The beautiful healer.

And unlike the rest of them...

She wasn’t suffering.

A radiant, Greek-like cloak of energy wrapped around her body, glowing with divine intensity. The acid hissed and recoiled from its surface, unable to touch her.

She was basically glided through the river.

’How lucky...’ Oliver winced. ’While I have to suffer through burning acid and rely on the eyes of a stupid crow, she’s typically making this look like a breeze. What great odds.’

[You have lost 1 life]

The moment the notification appeared, Oliver felt relief for a brief moment as his burnt flesh and skin regenerated themselves back to their optimal state. Well, at least just for a mere second, before the greedy, devastating acidic waters took their toll once more.

Oliver felt his ears dissolve, a wet, sickening sensation as they melted away. His brain flickered in and out of awareness as the acid chewed through his lobes, inching dangerously close to his thoughts before—

Another life pulled him back.

He forced his head out of the water pushing still forward relentlessly. His clothes had long since been erased from existence, leaving his entire body exposed to the river’s cruelty.

The others were no different.

His groin—

The pain there was indescribable!

A searing, invasive agony that shot straight into his spine, threatening to shatter his sanity.

But he endured.

Because breaking meant death.

’Curses...’ he thought, his rhythm faltering for just a fraction of a second.

While swimming, Oliver made sure to assess the situation they were in, and to his suspicion... Something felt awfully off.

Oliver could not bring himself to believe this was normal acid. Something deep within his gut told him this wasn’t right—the red sand, the green river... they were all wrong.

But how was that?

What exactly made this place so irritated to him?

Was it the pain... or was it something else entirely?

[You have lost 5 lives]

Oliver’s eyes snapped open.

Waves of acidic water immediately flooding his gaze, without an Inch of mercy, burning straight through his vision.

His body jerked, collapsing into choas from the sudden agony that flooded his system, burning through his sockets within seconds.

"Gurrgh!"

His body convulsed violently as a scream tore from his throat, only to be drowned by the flood of acid forcing its way into his mouth, his lungs and insides.

Just one mistake seemed to have cost him everything.

The pain, was nothing short of unbearable.

And despite the distant, distorted screams of his comrades... Despite the desperate, useless thrashing of his limbs to try and stay afloat...

He sank.

Helplessly.

The verdant waters pulling him into it’s dark, murderous embrace, Like it was a living devil leading him down to a horrid death.

This would certainly be his end.

Still...

[Scale of Judgement...]

Oliver’s eardrums turned to mush before he could hear any further. His regeneration had stopped, the acid within his body already taking full effect. Slowly, Oliver’s body began to numb itself, at least what remained of it...

And then—

Something strange happened.