Mystical Journey

‘You have no idea how scary the White Claydolls are!’ Black Sethe snickered.

Garen didn’t pay much attention to him as he was concentrating on driving the car. He’d only recently obtained his license, but the way he controlled the vehicle was already considered quite skilled.

As the cars in front passed by, there would be cars from behind catching up to him, while the vehicles on both sides constantly sped past each other.

‘White Claydolls may be the most common troops among the Void Creatures, but it possesses an unyielding body with no regards to fatigue and pain, strong regenerative powers, and mighty strength. I reckon you wouldn’t want to meet two White Claydolls simultaneously, as they can buff each other up to increase each other’s strength. Furthermore, they do not have any acupoints, no nerves, and were designed specifically as a war machine against us mages.’

Black Sethe explained in a sarcastic tone.

"Are there any ways for me to temporarily gain speed inside the dream realm?" Garen suddenly asked, but his hands were still on the steering wheels, adjusting the car’s forward moving motion.

‘Why would you ask this? Your own training is more important.’ Black Sethe asked in confusion.

"If I got myself into such a situation where I can’t move once more, wouldn’t you die as I die?" Garen rebuffed, "It’s a temporary solution."

‘There is, but it takes a huge toll on me.’ Black Sethe replied.

"That’s good to know." Garen’s facial expression didn’t change, "I felt that the attack just now was just a test and the real foes will come soon, you should be prepared."

‘Void Creatures’ sense of time isn’t the same as ours, so even if they wanted to launch a second attack, it wouldn’t be this quick. I understand Void Creatures are better than you...’

Bam!!!

In a loud crash, the car made a sharp turn as it spun around while braking, violently carving out a distance of tire marks before it came to a halt while positioned perpendicularly to the road.

In that instant, Garen felt that his brain had become sluggish and his consciousness was fading swiftly, reverting back to the situation like before.

Sethe’s voice could no longer be clearly heard, as though there was a thick cloth muffling it.

The sound of fire started crackling around him.

Through the car window, Garen could see that both sides of the cars were on fire and the flames appeared to engulf the sky. Not just the sides of the road, even random items on the road were burning.

The crimson red fire was dancing upwards, much like a red ribbon.

The surroundings and the situation on the road had quickly turned blurry, as the sky darkened all of a sudden.

Bam!

The back of the car was hit by a heavy blunt force and the entire car creaked loudly. The back half of the car had been flattened like an empty drink can.

Garen hurriedly flung the door open and ran out. As he turned around for a look, three White Claydolls that were about 4 meters tall were approaching him and were swinging their giant fists as they moved forward. Among the three, one of them was lifting its right leg from the car boot.

Garen felt that his body had become extremely slow to respond; both his legs no longer listened to his commands, and as he tried to run away with all his might, his legs did not budge at all, remaining rooted to his original spot.

‘Run! This is the illusory realm of the White Claydoll!’ Sethe’s voice was transmitted for a brief moment.

Suddenly, Garen was feeling energetic again, his body had returned to normal and everything was back under his control, even the surroundings have become clear in an instant too. He immediately knew this was Sethe’s assistance, and he turned around and ran.

‘Damn it! Three White Claydolls, this is troublesome! You have to leave their realm as soon as possible, I’ll tell you how to get out...’

Bam!!

Garen leaped onto a car that was parked on the side and stepped onto the car’s windshield. With a curled up body and a bent knee, his entire body was wound like a spring.

He didn’t even stop to listen to Sethe until he finished.

Badumm!!

In a large burst of noise, Garen suddenly bounced backward and was launched straight towards the three White Claydolls, much like an arrow that had been released from a bow.

‘You’re courting death!!" Black Sethe shouted in anger.

Roar!!!

Suddenly, a giant blood-red creature emerged from within Garen’s emotionless eyes, its horrifying roar erupting as air whipped around its body.

That was a dragon’s roar!!

The Nine-Headed Hydra’s soul consciousness had always laid deep within Garen’s soul, merging with him was indeed the final apex predator’s will, it was the ultimate desire to survive!

As the apex predator sitting on the top of the food chain, Nine-Headed Hydra had been bored of this peaceful world for far too long, and now it finally got a chance to rage.

The silhouette of the giant Nine-Headed Hydra appeared behind Garen, a horrifying silhouette towering over ten meters above ground with a blood red body and countless black smoke auras.

As Garen’s right hand extended and gripped in one of the White Claydolls’ direction, that hand seemed as though it was shrouded by the Hydra’s heads and rushed at the four-meter tall Claydoll with a violent roar.

The Claydoll had also let out a muted roar, and it swung its fists ferociously at the unknown power ahead of it with full frontal force, even though its body size was vastly smaller compared to the Nine-Headed Hydra.

The Nine-Headed Hydra was a little over twice its size.

The two sides seemed like an adult preparing to joust with a child.

Ba-dum!!

Much like a thunderous thump from afar, the White Claydoll’s arm was snapped, pushed back towards and stuffed into its body like an eraser.

A sudden red flush appeared on Garen’s face and his right arm had wilted, as though all of its water content in his hand had been lost and it was left mummified.

He quickly swapped to his left arm, lifted it and swung towards another White Claydoll.

His hand moved at an extreme speed and with an accurate hit, it carried the Nine-Headed Hydra’s rage and busted the White Claydoll’s head with one punch.

With a thump, its head exploded and mud-like white liquid spurted out of its severed body.

The claydoll staggered backward a few steps and fell to the ground.

The final claydoll took a few steps back. Its face now had a terrified look as it was completely overshadowed by the huge, Nine-Headed Hydra, and it seemed to be trembling in fear.

As it observed two of its comrades being severely injured, it dared not stop and it turned around and began running towards the horizon.

Garen stood there without a shred of emotions on his face, he could feel his surroundings change once again; what seemed to be crystal clear have once again turned blurry.

‘You’re a lunatic! Don’t pull me in if you’re seeking death!’ Black Sethe’s loud roar could be heard. ‘You actually dared combine with the soul of Nine-Headed Hydra! Do you think that kind of creatures’ consciousness was easy to combine? That’s a descendant of one of the top 100 Void Creatures, and you actually dared to combine with its soul! Count yourself lucky that you didn’t get consumed immediately!’

"I’m all out of power," Garen spoke softly.

‘With such mediocre strength! And you actually scared away three White Claydolls! This is the biggest joke I’ve seen in my entire life!’ Black Sethe said, seemingly surprised after being angry.. ‘If they had stayed to counterattack, then you would have completely perished! Even I can’t do anything to help you!’

"Didn’t we succeed in the end?" Garen readjusted his body which had wounds torn open due to the vigorous movements.

He then realized that he was still sitting in his car and his sitting position hasn’t changed at all. The only difference was that the lifeforce in both of his arms had all been released, and they felt uncomfortably empty inside.

"I think I’ll die sooner or later thanks to you!’ Black Sethe concluded his rant.

"Don’t you all idolize death?" Garen shrugged.

‘That’s them, plus this isn’t my actual body, it perished several thousand years ago and I am now merely an independent piece of memory.’ Black Sethe answered impatiently, ‘You’ve drained all my strength too, we need to recharge.’

Even though he couldn’t stop scolding Garen, Black Sethe actually couldn’t suppress his excitement.

Garen, who didn’t have the ability to even kill a single White Claydoll, had actually scared away three of them in that one instant of explosive power, this was completely out of Black Sethe’s expectations.

This kind of bravery to meet his own destiny, the boldness to make the bravest decision in that instant and simultaneous execution, this level of decisiveness, this kind of complete confidence in himself.

Black Sethe could suddenly see the shadow of his several thousand years old main body in Garen in that instant.

Perhaps, he could indeed be the next Bloody King....

At this moment, in the illusory realm that was supposed to be destroyed and was engulfed in flames suddenly had a hole ripped open in space.

A skinny white arm slowly stretched out of it and grasped onto the boundaries of the hole.

" Al... My poor brother..." A gentle male voice could be heard.

Jiiii....!!!

Garen immediately floored the brakes, he then turned around to take a look, the Nine-Headed Hydra in his eyes kept rolling. In this instant, it felt as though his eyes have been transferred to another dimension’s limit and could see something approaching.

‘What’s wrong with you?!’ Black Sethe asked in surprise.

Garen did not say anything for a while.

"Nothing." He started the car once again and sped towards his destination.

He didn’t know why, but he could vaguely feel that something was resonating with his soul nearby. This uncomfortable feeling was especially obvious and clear.

**********************

Isaros nimbly avoided the glass shards scattered on the floor and frowned as she peeked at the second floor upstairs. There were traces of blood on the staircase and the handrails of the staircase have been destroyed, as though they’d been crushed by a heavy object.

She tip-toed upstairs step-by-step.

The scent of blood in the air got thicker and thicker.

Oddly enough, the blood stains on the floor were getting smaller; as she reached the second floor, there was almost no blood stain at all, but the air around had a very thick smell of blood.

The room was pin-drop silent, no noise was heard.

Isaros’ cautious mind had taken over; she already knew that something was wrong from the moment she’d walked into the house, and the door was just a facade hiding the mess within the room that was littered all over with mostly smashed fragile items.

Suddenly, she turned around and instantaneously pulled the trigger on her handgun behind her!

Bam!

A gunshot was heard, and a black shadow evaded the shot quickly. Isaros had no way of knowing if the shot had connected with the target.