Rise of the Godking - Chapter 160

Chapter 160 - Pursuit

It was an odd, but completely explainable nature of society to complain and grouse about people of privilege behind their backs, especially because the same could not be done to their faces.

This applied to the Ushanbos, too, whose domineering manner always rubbed people the wrong way. In the city of Marillein, for years, the citizens had a habit of gathering together to curse these individuals who were much better off than them in every way, and over time, through means that could not be discovered if even the most eminent historian looked into it, the types of curses that the Ushanbos hated the most had been discovered.

Alex, apparently, only knew about it because of an incident around a couple of years back when this had been leaked to the Ushanbos by a man who had sought to make money by giving the information. Instead, he had been whipped to within an inch of his life, and the people who had reportedly done the cursing had been chased through the streets of the city until the beggar king had had to step in, himself, to calm the members of this eminent family down. Even after that, they had only let go of the matter after being compensated heavily by the man, and to this day, the people of Marillein hated the fact that they had had to bow down to the pressure that this family could bring to the fore- pressure that had even led to their leader having to speak for them, and pay so that they would keep their lives.

While talking about the family, Alex had spoken about this incident and Daneel had filed it away, not caring about whether it would be useful or not. Now, seeing how incredibly valuable it had turned out to be, he remarked inwardly about the strange workings of fate just as a fist-sized meteor came into being above one of the hands of one of the Ushanbos standing behind the leader, and flew in his direction. As he jumped back, it struck the earth at the exact spot where he had been standing a moment ago, pelting tiny pebbles and gouts of flame in front of his face.

Although he felt a faint bit of shock after finding out that there was at least one mage among the three, which hadn't been very probable according to public information, he covered it up quickly and simply winked as he turned around and fled in the direction of the exit teleportation matrix of the island they were on. This shock flared and tripled when three meteors flew to the spot where he had jumped to, and even though he managed to use the shock wave to propel himself forward as if he had intended it all along, cold sweat appeared on his brow and he decided that the time for showmanship was past, at least for now.

All three of them were mages. This was even more of an impossibility, and although he wished that he could turn around and ask them how this was so, he just ran forward, taking quick steps on the clayey soil of the island on which he had decided to wait.

This meteor was also a spell he had never seen before. The system had already been given instructions to take control of his body if there was even a slight risk of him being impaled by any of the attacks being sent forth by the Ushanbos. So, while it handled the tough task of keeping him safe, he idly studied the spell and was amazed at how sophisticated it was.

It was made of earth, fire, and curiously, ice. As he dissected it down to its very core, sifting through the patterns of the split particles used to create it, he observed that the whole point of the meteor was to hold its shape, giving it the ability to utilize physical strength in addition to the elemental forces that surrounded it. This was why the ground had cracked after its impact. A simple fireball would just have dissipated after encountering something it could not burn. As for the purpose behind the ice…it was a clever trick that resulted in the impact being even greater than what it normally would have been.

The ice was trapped deep inside the meteor, designed to only be revealed to the atmosphere after the outer shell made of earth was broken. When it came into contact with the fire, the sudden change in temperature resulted in an explosive reaction whose output was pressure, adding to the physical impact of the earthen shell. By the time he was done learning all these secrets, Daneel felt enlightened about how the elements could be used in such a smart manner to bring about more strength than they would ordinarily be capable of.

All this while, he hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings, but he could already tell from a few growls that had emanated from the three behind him that they were thoroughly incensed by the fact that he seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. The system had been making him duck, leap, bend in impossible ways and once, even roll on the ground to escape the carefully calculated attacks of the Ushanbos, and now, it looked like they had decided to conserve their energy until he ran out of strength, himself, as no magic had flown forth in the last few seconds.

This was exactly what he wanted. With a spring to his step, Daneel made it through island after island, pausing only barely to flip through the colors that flashed on the teleportation matrixes to choose where he wanted to go. They were always one step behind him, making it obvious that their improvements in the tempering of their body were not as significant as those of their seed.

The same could be said of him, too, as he had suddenly become a much more accomplished mage than a body refiner, but he has the system which was utilizing energy from the vajrams to lend him speed whenever it was needed in a safe way, maintaining the flow of energy while ensuring that it wouldn't burn him to a crisp. It made sure that an exact amount of distance remained between him and his pursuers, and with nothing else to do, Daneel even started to grow slightly bored as all four of them made their way to the destination he had chosen.

[Island indicated by host shall be reached in 1 teleportation.]

This was the message that roused him from his ideal planning regarding whether he could hope to capture one of these Ushanbos, and take them to Graiton where he could try to steal all of the magical knowledge that was definitely waiting to be unearthed inside their heads. Putting all such things aside for a time when the battle was done, he looked back briefly and grinned at them again, making them hasten the pace that they had been following for the last 20 minutes.

The moment he laid foot on an island that was dry and sandy, with no signs of the globe that adorned all the others they had gone through until now, he slowed down slightly as he searched for something. He found nothing, but this didn't discourage him in any manner.

The Will would definitely spring up to help him when it witnessed him going up against people on whose hands the blood of hundreds, or maybe even thousands of slaves was present. Coming to a halt around a couple of hundred meters away from the matrix of crystals, he turned around and adopted the same position in which they had seen him when they had emerged on that first island.

As soon as they spotted this, caution and wariness became visible in the way they looked at him. They slowed down, searching for a trap that was not present while they walked in his direction. They stopped completely when two hundred meters separated them and the prey they had been chasing for so long. Sweat ran down their braids and their dark faces, flowing in tiny rivulets around their eyes that still held the fire that had sprung inside them when Daneel had insulted their home, and their strength.

Seeing that the time was perfect for what he intended to do, he proclaimed, "I'm warning you. You've killed and tortured so many slaves that your lives are worth nothing. Turn back and flee, and I'll let you go. Otherwise...you will pay, right now and right here, for everything you have done."

They froze for a moment, then smirked, looking at each other as if they knew something he didn't. Daneel suspected that it might even be because this wasn't the first time they were being spoken to in this manner, but either way, after a second, the leader nodded to one of his underlings who was dressed in grey robes embroidered with silver leaves.

The moment this man stepped forward, he raised and lowered his hands in an explosive manner, almost looking like he was cocking them as if they were a pair of shotguns. Flame burst into life around each fist when he was done, and after raising those blazing hands, he leaped in Daneel's direction.

Daneel only grinned when he finally felt a faint stirring deep beneath the earth he stood on. He reached out to it, and for a moment, the familiar, undeniable power of a Will filled him.

Raising his hand, he prepared to make the three kneel with a single word. Just as he called on the Will to strengthen his aura, though....it disappeared, all of a sudden, and he found himself facing down an infuriated mage whose fists looked like they were ready to burn two gaping holes in his chest, all alone.