Free Web NovelChapter 4: The Nexus Code: God-Tier Proficiency Returns
[You have encountered an Abyssal Demon.]
"You’re seeing this too... Right?" Rentaro said softly as he kept his gaze locked on the beast.
"Impossible....An Abyssal Demon? Here?" Leon’s eyes wavered like never before, every cell in his body screaming only one thing.
Run.
An Abyssal Demon was a beast from the first trial, and it was only supposed to hunt in the Devil’s Playground, so for it to be this far out meant one thing.
"You..." Leon dragged himself slowly away from Rentaro, staggering like he had seen a ghost as he tried to stand. "You brought it here... That thing never should have left the Devil’s Playground, but because of you it did... It followed you here." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"What are you talking about?" Rentaro blinked, his hands and legs trembled uncontrollably.
"Alex was right, You are a burden!" Without thinking twice, Leon turned and ran away as far as his legs could take him.
"Hey!" Rentaro turned around. "Wait!"
"As expected, that was really the best a human can do? Pitiful." Almost at once, a crushing pressure swept over him like a tsunami, and from behind came a deep, distorted voice that made the air tremble.
"W-what..." Rentaro glanced over his shoulders, and there it was, hovering right above him like a huge tree.
"It... Can talk?" He couldn’t believe his ears.
"How unfortunate."
Run... Run!
That’s all his nerves screamed as the creature’s crimson eyes flared to life.
"Gh-Bleh!" Before Rentaro could grasp what had happened, a sharp pain tore through his stomach, as if his ribs had snapped. A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, forced out by the blow.
Then the creature flung him from his hand, backwards into the air like a ragdoll.
To prevent wasting time, it targeted the weakest amongst the two after gauging their Soul-Energy, and Rentaro had none.
It was intelligent, too smart to be considered a regular beast of the first trial. That was why the Devil’s Playground was the most terrifying sector of the first sanctuary.
The Abyssal Demon glanced over his shoulder at the direction Leon ran in. It was a bit faint, but from afar, he could sense the Soul-Energy of two more Awakeners.
It’s mouth salivated instantly at the thoughts of the savoury meal it was about to have, but when it turned to have its first, Rentaro wasn’t there anymore.
"Hm?" All that remained was the trail of blood that he left as he dragged his body through the murky grounds.
A smile curled up the side of the abyssal demon’s face.
The Abyssal Demon enjoyed the slow chase, the thrill of hunting, of knowing his prey was running, afraid. Each step, each movement, made it feel in control. To him, Rentaro was nothing more than something to be caught.
There was a certain satisfaction in it, in proving it’s dominance so clearly.
It made the moment last longer. It made the victory sweeter.
And when it was finally over, he knew the meal would feel far more worth it.
It didn’t take a while before it caught up to Rentaro’s bleeding body. It scratched the surface of the trees with it’s long, demon like claws as it approached him, creating several sparks that flew off the surface of the tree.
As soon as Rentaro managed to stand to his feet, it drove it’s leg into his stomach. Then the beast followed with more aggressive punches and kicks to his stomach and face.
The force of the strikes knocked him off his feet and sent him flying into a tree.
"Playtime is over, human." The Abyssal Demon loomed over him, its shadow swallowing what little light reached the forest floor.
Its eyes burned with a cold, hollow hunger, fixed entirely him as it couldn’t endure the scent of his blood any longer.
Rentaro could barely move.
His body trembled, his breath became shallow, and blood still dripped from his shoulder. The demon stepped closer, slow and certain, as if savoring the final moment before the end.
’Why?’ He whispered in his mind, lying battered and bruised on the ground. Since the day he was born, he had learned the hard way that the world was cruel. He was rejected by his world, hunted, and tortured, he watched his family die the most horrific death imaginable, and now this?
A low, guttural sound escaped its throat, something between a growl and a laugh as it lunged forward for the deciding bite.
Then.
Out of nowhere, a second beast burst from the darkness, slamming into the Abyssal Demon with a violent force. The impact shook the ground, tearing the demon away from Rentaro just before it could devour him.
"W—What?"
The Abyssal Demon let out a sharp, furious roar as it was thrown aside, its claws digging into the earth to regain it’s balance. It snapped its head toward the beast, eyes flaring with rage.
It was another Abyssal Demon.
It was just as monstrous, if not more. Its body was a bit larger, and it held the same presence the first demon did.
Rentaro, unknowingly had attracted it with his blood, the fresh, raw blood from an untouched human.
For a brief moment, everything stilled.
Two horrors of the abyss faced each other, for now, their attention no longer on the broken human behind them, but on each other.
It was a battle of who would claim the prey!
Battles like this happened every once in a while, while other beast went through the trouble of hunting down their prey, some beasts fights them for the right to eat their hard work.
It was this chain reaction that made the sanctuary so dangerous, because they didn’t have to worry about just one beast, but many others.
The two demons clashed with a violent crash, tearing into each other with claws and teeth. Their roars echoed as they fought, smashing through trees in a frenzy.
The second beast struck hard, raking deep wounds into the first Abyssal Demon’s chest. Dark blood spilled, and the demon staggered, its growl turning sharp with pain.
But it didn’t fall.
With a sudden surge, the Abyssal Demon seized its opponent, overpowering it in a brutal struggle. There was a sharp, sickening snap, then silence.
When it was over, the demon stood tall, and in its hands, it held the second beast’s head, torn clean from its body as blood dripped slowly to the ground.
"Now then." The demon dropped its head, then turned to face his prey.
But before it could move, Rentaro did.
With a raw, desperate shout, he surged forward, gripping a thick branch in with his only good hand. His eyes burned with fierce determination, cutting through the fear and pain that coursed through him.
He drove the branch straight into the open wound on the demon’s chest, and the wood sank deep.
The Abyssal Demon jolted violently, its body locking as the force struck through the injured flesh.
"Y—ou.." The demon was shocked.
The fight between him and the other abyssal demon presented a window of opportunity for him, but instead of running like most humans, he stayed to fight?
"All my life I’ve been running..." Rentaro winced in pain as he pushed the thick branch with all his might, and he pinned the demon to a tree. "Not anymore!"
"Do you think that’s enough to stop me human?" The demon spoke with a distorted and uneven voice. Then it lashed out,
And it’s claws struck Rentaro and threw him hard to the ground.
And three deep cuts appeared on his chest.
It pulled out the thick branch from its chest, threw it to the ground before falling to it’s knees. An attack of that caliber wasn’t supposed to be able to faze it, it’s body was unearthly durable, and it’s regenerative capabilities was godlike.
But the second Abyssal Demon’s claw was one of the few things that could penetrate it’s skin, and it slowed it’s regenerative abilities by a small margin.
Despite his heavy injuries and blood loss, Rentaro summoned every ounce of strength he had in him and stood up, clutching another piece of a tree branch in hand.
He refused to be at the mercy of others anymore.
Rentaro rushed at the demon as it recovered from it’s injury, but just before he could even make another move, the demon’s tail whipped through the air and slammed into him.
His feet left the ground, and he was sent flying before crashing violently into the ground. He tumbled uncontrollably, rolling until a tree finally halted his momentum.
His face was twisted with pain and terror, and blood gushed from his mouth, yet the fear of death far outweighed the agony coursing through his body.
A trail of steam escaped from the demon’s injuries, and by the time it stood up, it was completely healed.
"W-What?" As the demon’s crimson eyes flared to life once more, he instantly realized the huge gap in strength and power, and the reason why the Devil’s Playground was the most feared region of the 1st sanctuary.
He gritted his teeth as he dragged himself backwards.
The Abyssal Demon wasted no time. It lunged at Rentaro, sinking its fangs into his leg, crushing it and swallowing it whole.
"No... NO! HELP ME!!!" Rentaro screamed in despair as the demon lifted him effortlessly with its claws.
Desperately, he grabbed the root of the nearby tree, trying to pull himself free, but his strength was pitifully weak against the demon’s immense power.
The stub of the root he clung to, hardened by years of dirt and time, snapped under his grip. And the demon hoisted him into the air effortlessly.
"Why..." He sobbed as the demon munched down on him. "How did it come to this?"
Thinking back, he had the perfect life just before the virus broke out, then he lost his family, was betrayed by his relatives, and he was thrown into this world where he became bound by endless suffering.
It was clear to him, the universe didn’t accept his happiness.
And now, just like those bastards who tried to sacrifice him to prevent the rift from opening, Leon and Alex abandoned him and now once again he knocked at death’s doorstep.
"Screw you..." He mumbled with his eyes tightly shut as tears poured, not out of the pain of being devoured alive. But of the boiling rage and resentment that he couldn’t contain anymore.
"SCREW YOU!!"
"SCREW YOU! YOU DAMN BASTARDS!!!!"
Then.
A mechanical chime spoke.
[Rebooting system...] freēwēbnovel.com
[System successfully rebooted.]
[100X Returns System intiali— intiali— Ding! You have bypassed the Developer’s programming! You have obtained the Nexus Code: God-Tier Proficiency Returns!]
[Ding! A Constellation is impressed by your will to survive!]
[You have been marked by a Constellation!]
[You have received a Soul-Shard!]
[Ding! God-Tier Proficiency Returns has been activated! Your Soul Shard has bypassed it’s Conceptual Law!]
[You have obtained the Fragment of Origin!]
[You have gained a new ability!]
[Timeless (Level 1)]
