"Wonderful!"
"Now that this is over, I will be sending you off now," Azazel said to Cain.
Faster than his eyes could follow, Azazel moved to his side and grabbed him by the shoulder. The space around them seed to twist and Cain found himself standing before a strange-looking arch. The arch was decorated with images and motifs of strange creatures, skulls, and faces...
The most terrifying thing about the arch was the materials it had been made from. It didn't take a genius to recognize what bones looked like after all.
"This is a teleportation gate. It will send you back to the planet you ca from. Rember... In the next thirty days, you will be transported back here. Make sure you round up all unfinished business you have before then. If you lose the tag, I'll co get you myself!" Azazel said.
"So you're letting go, just like that?!" Cain almost couldn't believe his ears.
"Only for thirty days... Trust . There is nowhere in this universe you will run to, where I wouldn't be able to find you."
Turning back to the arch, Asazel imdiately began a chant...
Standing behind the demon in silence, Cain could only watch. The runes and ancient texts on the arch lit up one after the other, and he could feel the mana in the air being quickly funneled into it.
A few shimring transparent gems appeared in Azazel's hand, which he quickly threw into the arch. Suddenly, a strange light burst forth from the archway, lighting up the space between both ends of the arch. An incredible amount of energy washed over Cain's face as he stared at the portal that had just ford.
"Alright. This is a portal to your world. You will return to the place you ca in from." Azazel said.
Rembering the situation that brought him to the planet Protheus, Cain's face turned pale imdiately,
"Erh... Can't you just send sowhere else?" Cain said, looking a bit disturbed.
Seeing the discomfort on his face, a huge smile appeared on Azazel's face...
"No can do... Interplanetary Teleportation Arches require anchoring. Even if I wanted to, you would still end up very close to the coordinates of the anchor."
Rembering the strange object in the belly of the beast that had swallowed him, Cain realized that Azazel might as well be telling the truth.
"Ha... Well, I can't ask too much of you." Turning to the demon who had saved his life, then proceeded to put said life in nurous instances of danger, Cain bowed his head in gratitude.
A look of panic quickly appeared on Azazel's face, but he hid it quickly...
"It's fine. As long as you don't die before the thirty-day mark. I have plenty of things to use you for, so you'd better not die.," Azazel said with a chuckle.
"Then I'll be off..." Cain said. Taking a step forward, he took a deep breath and stared into the black portal that was filled with specks of glowing lights.
'Here goes nothing!' Taking a huge leap, Cain jumped into the portal, leaving the planet Protheus.
'My Lord... Please be safe.' A dark look spread onto Azazel's face as he continued to stare at the portal for so ti. Clenching his fist, the portal deactivated, and he turned around, slowly leaving the Teleportation arch.
***
Cain had been on Urbus for about a month...
He had no idea how many days, weeks, or months had passed on Urbus. However, he did know that he had been gone for a huge amount of ti.
Just like Azazel had said, he appeared right before the sac containing the crimson fluid and the orb that had forcefully dragged him to Protheus.
'This must be the teleportation anchor. What is it doing inside a mutant beast?' Cain could only wonder.
He quickly swam away from the sac so he wouldn't be dragged into Protheus again. As he swam, he relied on his mory to return to the stomach of the beast.
'There are so many dead bodies!' Cain reasoned that the {Alabaster Levithan} had gone on a feeding spree after he had left because the sheer volu of dead bodies within its stomach was enough to fill nurous graveyards.
Taking a look around, Cain spotted a decently large mountain of corpses and climbed onto it.
'Back to square one. How the hell do I get out of here?' This was one of the reasons why Cain wanted Azazel to send him sowhere different.
Suddenly, Cain felt the body of the beast quake, resulting in nurous waves being made within the belly of the beast.
'What's going on?! Is it going on an eating spree again?' Cain thought as he braced himself.
Water ca streaming down from above and into the beast's stomach, telling Cain it had opened its mouth.
'Now's my chance!'
Gathering strength into his legs, Cain pushed against the pile of corpses. Activating {Burst Step}, he was able to continually increase his speed as he dived into the downward-flowing stream of water.
Riding the current of water upstream was difficult, but not impossible as his body was reinforced by a layer of Ki he added onto his skin. Mana was expelled from beneath his feet, pushing him forward gradually. Riding a current upstream was one of the most difficult things that could be done, but he was able to push through because he didn't want to stay in this dark place anymore.
However, just a few seconds later, Cain could see that the mouth of the creature was closing up. The amount of water was also gradually decreasing, making it harder for him to swim upstream.
Steeling his resolve, Cain activated {Azure Burst}. Blue flas burned around his body, bubbling the surrounding water.
BOOM!
Like a torpedo, he swam through the water. Just before the creature closed its teeth completely, Cain managed to swim through the gaps.
'I'm free!'
Maintaining his speed, Cain continued swimming until the duration of the skill had run out. Coming to a gradual stop, Cain watched the huge creature turn away from him and swim further into the depths of the inky black.
Once he saw that the creature was give, he kicked against the water at full speed, swimming toward the surface.
***
"The ocean seems oddly calm..." Jenny said as she stared out into the endless black sea.
"Gahhh! I feel like I'm going insane! Three days! We've been here for three whole days! I'm tired of eating fish! The ocean air is too humid!
Everything just sucks!" Li said, his hands on his head as he bawled loudly.
"Can it!" Sue said as she played with a fla on her fingertips.
"Jenny, we have been here for too long. I'm with Li on this. Don't you think it's high ti we did sothing?" Stan said to Jenny who had a lump of black tal in her hand. A purple light shimred on the surface of the tal, causing it to reduce in size until it was as small as a finger and was shaped like a bullet. Sitting beside her were nurous bullets just like that.
"I understand what you an, but right now, we can't afford to split the team. Hunter and the others are scouting ahead, but they aren't back yet, so it is best if we sit still for now." Jenny said as she inspected the bullet she had made. Several runes and engravings were carved onto the surface of the bullet, making it seem as though it had been sculpted by a machine.
"But I can't wait any longer. Damn them and their plans. I didn't sign up for this bullshit!" Li said, a few becoming evident in his voice. Although this wasn't the first ti Li had exploded, for so reason, it seed more serious this ti around.
"You best now worry too much. Let your mind be as calm as the ocean's surface. If you worry about such things, you might just develop heart problems." Steve who was able to hear everything as they weren't particularly quiet said in a mocking tone.
"And how does any of this concern you?" Li said with venom in his voice.
"Well, you are a part of this team. If you have a heart problem in the middle of a battle, you might end up endangering everyone else." Steve said with a smile.
"Screw you!" Li said in a low nacing tone.
Watching the exchange with narrowed eyes, complicated thoughts ran through Susan's mind.
'This team is held together by very thin strings. We haven't fought a lot of battles together, so the bonds between us are very thin and fragile.'
They had only been cooperating because of the situation with the devils. Now, there was no need for them to stay together. If Jenny and her friends decided it was ti to leave, Susan knew she had no right to stop them...
"Stop provoking him, Steve. They have no obligations to stay." Susan said to Steve.
Turning to Li who had a dangerous look in his eyes, she stared straight at him and said, "You are free to leave. You are right... We aren't a team, and the bonds between us are so fragile, they can snap at any mont."
Everyone fell silent when they heard Susan's words...
They knew what she had said was right. They were just a couple of students that had managed to survive for so long, and as a result, had gotten big heads about it. Before the apocalypse, they would have never even spoken to one another, but now, they had to put their differences aside to work together.
However, this was no longer necessary...
They no longer needed to work together. They could simply carry the people they wanted to protect and take their leave. They had no reason to stay...
"It seems you aren't so stupid after all," Li said with malice.
"Say another word and I'll smack your mouth with lightning bolts, chump," Steve said, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he stood up slowly.
"Try it, boy. I'll burn you till you look like hot coals." Flas erupted from Li's hands as he stared Steve down.
"Don't bother," Susan said to Steve with a shake of her head.
Seeing this, a frown ca upon Steve's face. Turning to Jenny who had a conflicted expression on her face, Susan continued,
"We don't own you and you don't owe us. That's all I have to say. What say you?"
Hearing her words, the conflict on Jenny's face seed to fade away as she let out a sigh,
"That is true. You do not owe us anything, and we do not owe you anything as well. The bonds between us are also weak, and I have to take care of them and respect their opinions as well. I hope you understand..." Jenny said with steely eyes.
Hearing what Jenny had to say, the frown on Steve's face beca even deeper...
"Hm..." Susan said nothing more as she continued to stare at Jenny.
"Give my thanks to Cain when he cos back. Tell him I'm grateful to him for keeping his promise up till now, but I have to listen to their opinions" Jenny said, pointing to Sue, Li, and Stan.
Turning around, Jenny prepared to make her leave when all of a sudden, the surface of the water erupted, and a massive pillar of water ascended to the sky.
Reacting just in ti, Stan ca to the front of the group with swift steps and slamd his fists together. The runes on his arms lit up, and an ethereal elliptical shield of bronze appeared midair, blocking the water.
Once the pillar of water had dispersed, a figure revealed itself. Blue flas burned on his body, turning the water on it into steam.
Everybody had their eyes wide as they stared past the steam and unto the person within the steam...
Turning to glare at Jenny and her team, Cain spoke slowly and clearly,
"None of you... are leaving."
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