His figure flashes into the lifeless area. The moment he entered, he felt the force from his mind being suppressed by another force similar to it. Now he could only scan the radius of about 5 meters ahead.
He stopped for a few seconds, Before He moved forward cautiously.
A few seconds later, he arrived at the spot where the light would have been.
He saw a huge hole leading underground. He then entered quietly . Inside, he was greeted by a huge and straight tunnel six meters in diameter and 10meters in height.
Pushing his senses to the max, he followed the tunnel.
A few minutes in, his instincts alerted him, and without a moment's hesitation, he shifted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding a sharp, barbed stinger that shot out from a crack within the tunnel wall.
Bang!
It embedded itself into the ground where he previously stood. The stinger then retracted back where it came from.
He was shocked that a creature could get so close to him without him sensing it. He scanned the darkness for the source of the attack.
a giant scorpion-like creature emerge from the wall; it was covered in a silver shell, it had 10 legs, and one claw with a long spiky tail stinger at its end.
He was confused because he didn't sense any energy from the creature, similar to when he scan stones.
His eyes flashed with curiosity; he wanted to cut it open and study it.
From the speed of its earlier attack, he didn't felt that the creature could threaten him.
His hind leg contracted.
Whoosh!
He launched himself at the creature, instantly arriving in front of it, aiming his razor claw at its head, intending to kill it with one blow, but right when he was about to make contact—
DING!
The creature's stinger blocked his claw; Their clash produced a metal-like sound that echoed through the tunnel.
the impact sent his arm backward a little.
He wasn't expecting that; the stinger was faster than before, but it was its hardness that really shocked him.
The creature pulled back its stinger for another attack, but how could he allow that? Utilizing his speed, he instantly kicked the creature with his knee.
BAP!
His knee hit under the creature's head, sending it flying into the tunnel wall, but right before the creature made contact with the wall, it flipped its body mid-air and lodged its legs into the wall.
Seeing this, he decided to get a little serious. He gazed at the creature, and the outline of the black star within his eye flashed for an instant.
BLAZE!
The creature lit up in black flames.
What he expected didn't happen; the creature didn't react , scream, nor did it turn to ashes, but he could see its shell melting slowly.
A second later, the creature's shell shone then the flames went out.
Then the creature vanish from where it was and appeared in front of him in an instant, its claw aiming to clip him in half. He jumped above, easily dodging its claw.
Right then, the stinger attacked him; he twisted his body in mid-air, dodging it. He raised his right leg while still midair and then heeled the creature's head, causing its head to sink into the ground.
THUD!
His eyes flashed again, once more lighting the creature with black flames. Then he stomped the creature's head into the ground, bang! the force causing its lower half to rise in the air.
The stinger attacked him again, aiming at his head, but he vanished, reappearing behind the creature.
Standing on his hind legs, he grabbed the creature's tail, lifted it off the ground, spun its body, then slammed it.
BOOM!
The ground cracked. He then grabbed the stinger and stabbed the area underneath the creature. The stinger easily penetrated the creature's shell, then he dragged the stinger downwards, slicing the creature's body open.
Splat!
Blood and organs spilled out on the ground; its body twitched a few times before stopping moving completely. He let go of the creature's stinger.
He learned a few things from this fight: one, don't underestimate any creature based on first impression—even though this creature didn't cause him any harm, it still took more effort than he expected; two, creatures who have a hard body like this one, always use their own body against them—it's much easier.
the battle ended quickly
only lasting a few seconds.
He decided to investigate further; he could inspect the creature's body when he passed back.
His figure flashed deeper into the tunnel. Soon he arrived at the entrance of a huge chamber; his eyes scanned inside.
Inside was a giant pool of blood and flesh and he could faintly see the body of the creatures who entered in the light earlier inside .
Next to the pool was a pathway that led up to a wooden throne. Seated on the throne was a naked purple humanoid corpse, about 10 feet tall.
He gazed at the creature for a moment, then he flashed towards the exit of the underground.
The moment he took off, a cold voice echoed from the chamber.
"COME HERE!"
Then a force similar to the one in his mind but stronger descended on him.
He felt his body become inf heavier, as if a mountain was placed on his back. His speed slowed down, then came a pulling force attempting to drag him into the chamber.
'No!'
He tried to counter it with the force from his mind, but it was instantly suppressed.
"Hahaha, futile!" a laughter echoed from the chamber.
He sank his claws into the ground, trying to hold his body in place, but that was meaningless…
His body was pulled into the chamber, leaving a trail of deep claw marks on the ground.
His body was dragged mid-air over the pool of blood and flesh, and in front of the corpse on the throne, his arms and legs spread out.
A cold voice hissed from the corpse:
"Good, good, excellent. Strong bone, special eyes, mental energy at the warrior veteran rank, and most importantly, a talent grade I've never seen before. With you, my resurrection might succeed, but before that, let's first devour your mental energy."
He didn't understand the words that the creature in front of him spoke, but he could somewhat sense their intent. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything.
Suddenly, a light flashed from the creature's head; it penetrated his head.
A glint flashed in his eyes.
The dark dimension.
A figure appeared in the depths of his subconscious.
The figure looked like a healthy version of the humanoid creature on the throne: 10 feet tall, with purple skin, a body ripped with explosive muscle, and long, wild hair.
The creature appeared in front of his Ego who had its head lowered.
With a cruel expression, the creature reached out its hand to touch the ego's head.
"Do not resist."
Right when the creature's hand was about to make contact, its body froze, and a shocked and frightened expression appeared on its face as it screamed:
"Impossible! How can this be? How can you— how can you a veteran rank creature have a will?"
The ego slowly lifted its head with a human-like smirk plastered on its face. The outline of the black star within his eyes flickered brightly.
'Got you.'