Free Web NovelChapter 227: Chapter 226 - Ensnared
Point-of-View: Aurora Pretorius
———————————————————————————
"If Fenrir really does exist, then color me intrigued. Send me to him," Replied Fenris with a look of curiosity and interest.
"Sure, will do. Shall I just drop you off at his location? You can find him with your sense of smell or whatever, right?" Responded Neo, as he opened a portal.
Wow, he’s so lazy, talk about half-assing this.
"Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll call you if I can’t find him, or run into some other kind of trouble," Nodded Fenris, as he headed for the portal, before glancing back at me, "Well, see you later. I’m gonna miss you!" freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Hmph, the feeling’s not mutual, it’ll be nice to have some time without you following my around like a puppy," I huffed in response, before grudgingly adding, "But...you know, don’t die."
"Aw, you care!" He grinned smugly, as he walked through the portal.
Wha-...whatever, I just being nice, he’s reading way too much into it.
"Alright, then, what about you, Aurora? Have you decided on which Deity you want to face?" Inquired Neo, as he shut the portal once Fenris left.
"Yeah...send me to the Terra Dragon Deity, the one that almost killed Adelmira. A minor Deity isn’t gonna cut it, so I’ll take the risk," I remarked firmly.
"Uh, are you sure about that? That Deity won’t agree to train you, you know," He pointed out.
"So, what? If he won’t give me what I want, I’ll just take it by force. And if I die, I’ll just come back stronger, remember?" I shrugged in response.
"This might be kinda insensitive to ask, but why don’t you just kill yourself, say, four or five times and get stronger that way?" He suggested objectively.
"I’d be lying if I said I haven’t considered that, but...I think I’d prefer to save my extra lives for when they’re necessary. Like, what if I’m in a situation where I’m guaranteed to die multiple times, but then die for good because I used up one too many of my extra lives, you know?
And, well, to be frank...when the time comes and Hell invades our world, I’ll probably end up taking on some of the strongest enemies. At the risk of bragging, after the Deities, I’m probably the strongest being in the living world, don’t you think?" I replied inquiringly.
"Yeah, that’s a pretty fair assessment. You’re likely at about par with or even stronger than most, if not all, minor Deities at your full power. Well, some with strange, difficult to deal with abilities might give you some trouble, but in terms of sheer strength and speed, you can even give the Elemental Deities a run for their money, as we saw when you fought Vapora," He nodded thoughtfully.
"Mhm, to sum up the situation, I’ll be just fine with taking on the Terra Dragon Deity. Fighting an opponent that can manipulate the ground and leave me with little to no stable footing...that’s a challenge that should prove quite effective," I surmised, cracking my knuckles in anticipation.
"Well, if you’re sure, I guess. Here you go, this leads to where the Terra Dragon Deity is residing," He responded, opening a portal.
"By the way, can this Dragon fly too?" I asked him.
"Hm? Yeah, it can. It had emerged elsewhere when it awakened, and then flew to Syria after the Monsters were dealt with, which is where it is now. I’ll drop by once a day to bring you food and stuff, but there’s also a small stream nearby, along with herds of deer and other animals," He informed me.
"Sounds good, but you better not use that an excuse to avoid bringing me proper food," I warned him.
"Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I’ll do my part," He smiled wryly.
"You’d better. Alright, then...guess I’ll see you later," I replied, as I walked through the portal.
I emerged in an area with several rock formations and small plants with patches of green in some spots. And a bit further up ahead, the ground was all broken up.
This scent, it’s not too dissimilar from the Aqua Dragon Deity...looks like it’s right over there. I then made my way through the unstable footing towards the scent, and as the creature came into sight, I felt its Aura.
"Hey, you! I’m here to use you as a training tool to make myself stronger. It’s in your best interest to cooperate, otherwise you’ll be in for a world of hurt!" I called out tauntingly, as I approached the Dragon.
"Hm? Another one? What a nuisance...I shall give you one warning, human. Leave now, or I shall kill you like I did to the last human to make such a foolish request," He growled in response, staring down at me with an air of intimidation.
"You? Warn me? That’s laughable...," I smirked, trailing off as I unleashed my Dark Cheetah form.
"So, that is the decision you have made. Very well, then...die," He stated icily, as several earth spikes burst out all around me, converging in towards me rapidly.
I swiftly whipped my shadowy streaks across around me and broke the spikes to pieces, before crouching down on all fours and leaping straight at him in one, fluid motion.
As I closed in on him, his eyes widened in alarm, clearly caught off-guard, before I coated my fist with dark energy and slammed it onto the right side of his face.
His head abruptly turned to the left with the force of the impact, his front legs getting lifting off the ground slightly as I upset his balance. I then rapidly spun my body across and slammed my heel onto the side of his neck, cracks appearing on his scales at the point of impact.
He then let out an enraged snarl as a massive earth spike burst out from the ground, shooting up towards me. I shifted my weight across in midair as it closed in on me, evading it before planting my feet on the side of it and kicking off to get some distance.
He then opened his jaws and charged up a swirling mass of dust and sand, before firing it out at me with immense force and speed. I quickly charged up a Negative Blast in response, firing it as his blast closed in on me, hitting it and canceling out the momentum as dust and streaks of dark energy burst out upon impact.
"Huh, not bad," I remarked, as I landed several meters away, meeting his gaze as he growled, "But is that all you’ve got? Come on...I’m not even taking this seriously yet!"
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
———————————————————————————
Okay, all the Outliers have begun their training...by no means will it be easy, but they need to come out of it alive. Because if they do...hopefully, all of them will be strong enough to fight a Demon of Sin solo. Yeah, that’s probably hoping for a bit too much.
Oh, wait, there’s still Adelmira. Hm, should I have her pick one of the minor Deities that we’ve located? Assuming she wants to, that is...her experience with Geod, the Terra Dragon Deity, might have scarred her a bit.
Too bad Bastet isn’t an option, I sincerely doubt he’d agree to train her, especially after what Aurora and Fenris pulled with attacking him out of the blue.
I really don’t want to go back to the campsite, but I need to see what she’s decided...I guess I could just call her instead, but it’s probably better if I do this in person.
I let out a sigh as I reluctantly opened a portal to the campsite and stepped into it. I’ll just have to suck it up and rip the bandaid off, that’s-...huh? What the hell? Where am I?
This looks like the inside of my Dimension technique...but it doesn’t feel like mine. And more alarmingly...I can’t leave. I can still open portals, but only inside of this place...what just happened, how did I end up here?
"It’s good to see you again, Neo Cronje," Came a familiar voice from behind me, making my blood boil.
"I should have figured it was you...Laplace. What the hell do you want, huh?" I responded icily, as I turned around to face him, "Aren’t you supposed to be an observer, you bastard? Just what exactly are you planning?"
"Oh, nothing really. It’s just...I’d dearly love to see a human who masters the Space Skill to a level that rivals my own mastery of it. But that would be impossible through any conventional means, so...I’ve decided to train you," He smirked in response.
"Excuse me? Sorry, but I’m going to have to decline your offer. I’m not interested in any so-called ’help’ from you," I growled warily.
"How amusing...the way you say that, it’s like you think you actually have a choice in the matter! Here’s the deal...if you want to leave my Dimension, you’re going to have to break out of it yourself. The only way to do that, is to overwhelm my Dimension with your own.
Telling you that makes no difference as things stand right now...you don’t have the understanding nor the capability to pull off such a thing. Whether it takes days, weeks, months, years or even decades, it won’t matter, I have no intention of letting you out. So, to re-emphasize...if you want out, then break free yourself. And in the meantime...try not to let me kill you," He laughed in amusement.
Damn it, this son of a bitch...I don’t have time to deal with him right now! But I can’t break free of this place...I guess I don’t have a choice. I have to play along with this stupid game of his. Fine, then...I’ll play along for now. I’ll let him make me stronger...until I’m strong enough to kill him myself...
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
