Free Web NovelChapter 214: Chapter 213 - Laplace
Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
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"Hey, how’s it going? You look like you’re having fun," I remarked, as I stepped out of a portal.
"Tch, I’m in a bad mood, so it’s in your best interest not to piss me off right now," Came the irritated response.
Yeah, well, you’re always in a bad mood.
"Nice to see you too, Tara," I replied dryly.
Today’s the 21st of October, and I was visiting one of the licensing facilities that had been set up for people to get licenses to use their powers. Specifically, the one in London, which Tara was temporarily in charge of.
"Did you bring the stuff I asked for?" She inquired, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah, yeah, I brought it all," I nodded, as I tossed her a bag full of what she’d asked for.
She’d requested THC gummies since she was apparently really stressed out, and needed something to help her relax. But there are smoke detectors in the building, so she can’t smoke anything. freewebnøvel.coɱ
There is a smoking room, but she claimed that she wants to relax in bed while taking the edge off, so yeah. A few thousand people have now gained licenses, with a lot more having failed the process and were denied.
Some of them have been protesting this, claiming that since these powers are a natural ability that they now possess, they should be allowed to freely use them without needing to get a license.
Unfortunately for them, the crime rates around the world tend to disagree with that notion. After this licensing process was introduced, crime has decreased in some areas a bit, but it’s still at a record high.
There’s a long way to go before we’re done with this, but it shouldn’t be too long before Harmony’s direct involvement in this procedure is over. We’ve been training some of the new Meta-Humans who have licenses to take over running these facilities, and they should be ready to do so by the end of this month.
"Okay, great, you can go now," Remarked Tara, as she peered into the bag and waved at me dismissively.
"Uh-huh, sure, you’re welcome," I replied dryly, as I opened up a portal, right as both our phones rang out with notifications.
Uh-oh...this tone, I’ve set it for any notifications from the higher ups or the intel division. This Can’t be anything good.
"You’ve gotta be kidding me, what now?" Grumbled Tara, as she unlocked her phone and read the message, "Oh, come on!"
This is bad...’a Deity is attacking an area close by to your current location. Head there immediately.’, was the message sent from the higher ups.
"Damn it, seriously? Another Deity?" I groaned in dismay.
Something’s wrong here...all the Monsters are gone, the Deities have been silent for days now. Many of them have been spotted, but just roaming around aimlessly or settling into random areas.
"Goddammit, this is the worst," Sighed Tara with a look of frustration on her face.
"They could’ve at least told us which Deity it is that’s causing this," I responded in agreement, as I reluctantly tapped on the coordinates that were attached to the message we’d received, "Okay, I’ve got the location, it’s a few kilometers east of here. Come on, let’s go."
"I really don’t want to do this," She complained irritably, as she grudgingly dragged her feet over to the portal and walked through it, before I followed in after her.
Huh? The hell is that thing? A tall humanoid creature with long, thin arms and grey skin was tossing around random attacks at people nearby...no doubt about it, he’s definitely targeting humans deliberately.
And he looks like he’s having fun with it...he’s using Space Skill attacks, warping space to twist and crush people alive, and his Aura, it’s...it’s on the level of the Dragon Deities. Oh, no, don’t tell me...is that the Rival Space Deity, Laplace?
"We might be in trouble here," I grimaced, as I opened a portal inside his body and shot out a fireball.
He suddenly teleported out of the way, my fireball emerging at the spot he’d been standing at and hitting the wall of a nearby building.
"Oh, don’t mind me, I’ll just have some fun for a few minutes and then leave, the role of an observer can be a bit boring sometimes, so it’s important that I switch things up every few decades or so," Came a chilling voice from behind me, my body stiffening as I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I reacted as quickly as I could, drawing a sword out of a portal as I spun around as fast as possible and slashed behind me.
"Don’t think we’ll just let you do as you please!" I snapped, as my blade closed in on his neck.
Suddenly, a portal opened by his neck, my blade going right into it as I was too far into my swing to stop short.
"Woah!" Exclaimed Tara in alarm, a cut appearing across the bridge of her nose as she sprang back just in time to evade my sword. freēwēbnovel.com
"You should be careful swinging such a dangerous object around like that, you could poke someone’s eye out...or slash the top of their head off," Smirked Laplace, as he grabbed hold of my blade with his bare hand...and snapped it like a twig.
"You bastard!" Yelled Tara furiously, as she formed a mass of swirling water and wind, "Take this, Combo Skill: Tempest!"
That idiot! I need to hurry!
"Space Skill: Anti-Teleportation Field!" I exclaimed as I sprang away to get some distance.
"Why would you seal away your best weapon?" Sighed Laplace in a disappointed tone of voice, "Now, Negate Anti-Teleportation Field."
As Tara fired out a powerful, twisting mass of water and wind at the rogue Deity, several portals appeared all around him, with connected portals popping up near all the people that were in sight of this area.
Damn it, no! I won’t let him! I can’t do this...overlay his connected portals with my own portals, and redirect them into the ocean!
Right as Tara’s attack shot into the portals all around him, I opened several portals right in front of his many connected portals, the streaks of slicing water and wind going straight into them and shooting out into the ocean.
"I won’t let you have your way!" I declared, as I backed away and took out a flash grenade from my Pocket Dimension and tossed it into a portal, connected to another portal in front of his face.
"You’d do well not to underestimate me too much," He laughed, as I suddenly found myself facing the flash grenade.
Oh, crap, he used Switch on me to trade places, I’m screwed! Nah, just kidding, I was expecting him to counter this, though I thought he’d use a portal to redirect it instead of Switch.
He’s supposed to know everything that’s going on everywhere at all times...so sneak attacks aren’t very effective against him. But as far as I know, he can’t read minds...so he shouldn’t see this coming!
I have to act like I’m caught off-guard, make it seem like I’m alarmed and panicked...and then wait for the perfect timing. Wait till the last split second before the flash grenade explodes!
I’ve been working hard on increasing my mastery over my powers ever since my encounter with Cereberus. My portals are a powerful technique, but at my present level of mastery, they’re not a strong enough weapon to be used against beings like this.
So I have to push the very edges of my limits, and go past my current boundary, don’t let him know what’s coming until it’s too late! Aaand...now!
Right as the grenade began to glow, I swallowed it up with a portal as fast as I could, sending it in front of his face in the blink of an eye. And an instant later, it exploded, as he let out a startled cry and stumbled back.
Tara then wasted no time in zipping towards him, wind and water swirling around her right fist as she closed in on him. Despite not having the Physical Skill, she’s still freakishly strong and fast physically, Aurora and Fenris are probably the only ones who are stronger in a solely physical brawl with no powers whatsoever.
"Far too slow," Remarked Laplace, starting to raise his hand as she got in close, his eyes still shut.
Don’t give anything away with my movements, be unreadable...and then, with perfect timing, deceive him! I swiftly swallowed Tara up with a portal and brought her out behind him as she began to drive her fist forward.
"Take this, you son of a bitch!" She snapped, as her fist slammed onto the back of his head with immense force, several cuts appearing as he stumbled forward, blood trickling down his head.
Now’s my chance! I quickly plunged my half-broken sword into a portal, with a connected portal inside his heart...well, inside the left side of his chest anyway, I don’t know if his anatomy is similar to ours or not.
Suddenly, a sharp pain burst out in my right shoulder, eliciting a stifled cry of pain from me as I felt my bone crack and break...before I felt something tearing through my flesh and bursting out through my skin.
Huh? Th-that’s...my blade. Impossible...he redirected it from his chest to my shoulder, in what was less than a fraction of a second? Damn it, I thought I had him...
"Well, now, that was quite close. Very impressive, I’ve never seen any humans with such mastery over portals before, and to think there’s two of you in this current era. Out of respect for that, I’ll spare you. I was just about finished here anyway, time to go," Remarked Laplace, as he opened a portal.
"D-damn it, wait-...," I began with a pained grimace.
"You’re not getting away!" Snapped Tara, as she closed in on him in an instant using a burst of wind from the bottom of her feet, forming a spinning water blade along her open right palm.
"You should have stayed put. All you’re doing now, is...throwing your life away," He sighed with a shake of his head, as blood suddenly burst out of her mouth with a stunned gasp.
I then noticed his hand inside a portal, covered in blood as he drew it back out. Tara began to clutch at her chest, before collapsing onto the ground, her body going limp as he left through his portal before I could do anything.
He...crushed her heart. It...it happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to react to it. For a brief moment, I was stunned in shock. And then, as what just happened sunk in, I began trembling as a horrified gasp escaped my lips, as I stared at Tara’s lifeless corpse, killed so easily...
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