Roy's punch was clearly useless, as no matter how much he tried to reinforce it with Earth magic, or any other magic for that sense, he would still be unable to even scratch the cat's back.
Talk about being a weakling, he was even less than that in his dictionary. But there was nothing he could do about it.
It wasn't like he was even planning to have a decent fight with his enemy in the first place. He knew that he would be his match only if the sun raised from West.
So even though he threw his punch it was still only a feint, as he quickly used his Magic Power to create a small bump on one of the cat's paws, to throw it off balance.
With its arrogance, the cat had clearly not expected such a dirty play from her prey, as it got angry almost instantly.
But this wasn't the end of Roy's strategy as he did his best to pick up the moment the cat was caught off-guard, and out of balance to use all his remaining Magic Power to transport it, and himself inside Gaia.
Since he knew that there was no way for him to beat the rank 2 beast head-on, Roy had decided to rely on human slyness.
He had become assured of his plan only when he had seen the size and estimated the weight of this thing.
If it was a small and fast animal then he would certainly lose his life with this strategy, but fortunately, it wasn't.
How did he plan to deal with it? Really easy actually, he was planning to rely on Gaia's ten times higher gravity in order to completely suppress this damn cat.
Looking at its weight it was certainly possible, not to mention that these cats weren't renowned for their speed, or endurance.
That could be easily seen as the moment that Roy and the cat appeared on the altar of Gaia, the cat almost immediately got pounded on the ground.
She had fallen with her back on the ground as her legs were on top of her adding to the weight of her body, making her unable to move.
It looked like even her whiskers were being pulled on the ground, as Roy wasn't in a much better shape himself.
Since he had almost lost all of his Magic Power right now, he was also being pulled down like crazy by the gravity.
If he hadn't managed to make himself appear closer to the Stone obelisks base, then he would most probably have been crushed to death right now, by his own body weight, just like that damn cat.
Gathering every ounce of power left on his body, and every dreg of his stubbornness and tenacity, he managed to slowly draw himself closer to the base.
Once he made it there, then he would be able to rest and recuperate, but if he didn't then he was destined to die there and then.
There was no other choice for him, he had to do whatever he could to reach the base. Even if all his bones cracked, and were about to be broken.
Even if all his teeth fell from his jaw from how hard he was clenching them, even if all his blood left his body, he still had to reach the base.
That was his only hope!
For that reason, he decided to block all his other senses and nerves besides the necessary ones that would help him reach the base.
It was truly painful! He had heard about the pain that women go through delivery, but right now he was damn sure that this pain surpassed that one.
He was still wondering how the heck he had been able to keep his clarity until now, as he could hear his own bones cracking a moment ago.
He truly couldn't believe himself. In his mind right now, he was nothing more than a tenacious roach trying to survive this damn life-threatening situation.
With those thoughts in mind, even though he had almost lost all connection to the outside world, and what was happening around him, he continued to draw himself closer to the base.
Slowly, but surely, he was making progress with his walk towards the base, even though he could feel that it was getting harder and harder.
Even though he had tried to close all his senses as he was, he was still unable to block the pain coming through him with every little distance he went through.
It felt like it took a century for him to even reach half the way, and it would take even longer to continue the other half, which was nothing more than one foot away.
He had to! He had to reach there if he wanted to live! His life was depending on how good could he crawl that last foot of distance.
But that damn pain was so strong that he was slowly losing conscience. If that happened then he was truly a goner, there was no way he could survive this situation.
With the determination and the tenacity of a roach, he continued to crawl towards his safe heaven, slowly, centimeter after centimeter.
He couldn't give up, he kept telling himself those words. He couldn't give up, he had a damn long life to live, a peak to reach, and a grand harem to enjoy.
Thinking about his harem it seemed like a new source of energy was born inside his body, as the distance, he crawled each time started to increase.
The thought of all the beauties he would have to enjoy, all the delicacies he would have to try, all the miracles he would make to happen.
The more he thought like that the more power he found inside himself, as he was surpassing every limit of his body and walking forward.
His speed of crawling seemed to increase too, he could feel that he was getting there. If he continued like that then he would certainly reach that base he so much wished.
But the higher the outcome rate, the higher the expenditure, so just as he reached the border with his fingers, he felt like all the energy inside his body had finished, and his vision blurred.
Before he could even understand what was going on, he was losing his conscience. He had managed to arrive only up to here.
Even though he was doing everything he could in order to keep his clarity it seemed like he was trying to light a wet candle, it was impossible to be done.
'Ah Damn~!'
"So, this is my end!? After all this shit, I am going to die in here? I refuse to accept it, but it seems like I have no other choice, I am destined to die here.
Perhaps this is for the best! It's just that I would have loved to meet that family in this World. I would love to fulfill my promise to that Soul!
But it seems impossible! I am truly going to die here!
Damn Cat! In the end, I wasn't able to win the fight, it got me down too. Well, perhaps I will have a bit of better luck on my next try!"
As he was thinking like that, his thoughts were becoming more and more distant to him, the figures of his father and mother were slowly growing hazy until they finally started to disappear.
No matter how unwilling he was, it seemed like this was the end of his road, and he had no other choice but to accept it.
'RAWWR, MEEOWWW~!'
Just as he was about to completely lose his clarity he heard that damn cat disturbed his peace and calm once again.
Waking him up from his deep sleep with that damn roaring, and then her purr, jolting him awake once again.
The pain coursing through his body was definitely unbearable, but that immediately reminded him of the situation he was in.
He couldn't afford to lose conscience here, knowingly or unknowingly that damn cat had awakened him from the deepest sleep of his life.
It had theoretically saved his life because practically he still had to roll his body over the line and totally enter the base of the Stone obelisk.
That was his oasis in the desert, that was the only choice that could help him stay alive. He couldn't give up right now, so he clenched his teeth one more time, as he continued his crawling.
He didn't know for how long he could keep going, but one thing was for certain, he had no idea of giving up.
He would continue to crawl forward for as long as he could, only when his body had totally given in to the pressure, and gravity would he accept his death.
But firstly, he would have to make sure he did everything he could in order to stay alive, no matter what.
Furthermore, his 'parents' wouldn't forgive him if he gave up here. They had done everything they could in order to help him escape the claws of death.
Even if the old Roy was now gone, he was still here, he had to try and return. Even if they didn't accept him, he would still need to turn back and try his best to help them.
He had a promise to fulfill with the old Roy, he couldn't give up on that so easily. Furthermore, he had accepted them as his family.
But above all this, he would be letting himself down if he accepted this end after all he had been through.
Thinking like this, his lost energy seemed to have recuperated a bit, as he continued to pull himself towards the Stone Obelisk's base.
He felt like an eternity passed but he was finally able to make it, as he immediately lost his conscience without being able to see what that damned cat was doing…