Chapter 193: Realm Between
Chapter 193: Realm Between
The warm blood touched his skin, making him warm and uncomfortable.
Adam's eyes fluttered slightly open, and with a hazy vision, he saw a hole in the ceiling and he felt the soft, dirt ground beneath his back.
"Hey, are you about to die?"
"Eh?" Adam asked, confused.
When he looked over to the side, he saw a silver-dressed woman crouching next to him.
Her face looked obscure as it was hidden by a veil, and her silver hair flowed gracefully over her shoulders like a waterfall.
"Who...?"
"Are you about to die?" she asked again with a voice that continued to echo in his mind long after those words escaped her soft lips.
"I guess..." Adam replied with a rough voice. "I am in pain."
"Want me to take away the pain?" she asked.
"If you can..." Adam said with a sense of desperation and hope in his voice.
"I'll take it away eternally." She reached out her hand towards his head.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!"
A shout came and halted her movements.
It sounded like Alastor.
"Alastor?" Adam frowned and fluttered his eyes open. "How're you in here?"
"You fool, you're at the Realm Between, where the boundaries between life and death are blurred." Alastor's voice echoed throughout his ear.
Adam's eyes widened further. "Why am I here and how?"
"Because you're about to die!" Alastor shouted. "That bitch next to you summoned you here. It's because my presence is bringing forth more godly beings to you!"
"Who is she?" Adam asked as he looked over to the veiled, silver-haired woman.
"Mistress Death." Alastor said. "A hateful bitch."
"Don't listen to him," her sweet voice echoed through his mind. "He doesn't know the sweet bliss of the death. He only knows the fear of it."
"She summoned you here to trick you into death." Alastor said. "Because she knows that it will bring death to me. You're still alive, very much alive just refuse her offer!"
"You can be with me forever, if you desire it." She said and moved her pale, cold hand across Adam's chest, leaving a trail of frost in its wake. "You won't regret it, I promise~"
Adam felt very comfortable, like he was sleeping in a bed made out of clouds with the beautiful Mistress Death lying next to him, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. "Adam, for fuck's sake!" Alastor screamed. "Are you really this weak-hearted?!" "Ugh..." Adam opened his eyes. "I just needed a short rest. Calm down."
"Huh?" The Mistress Death looked surprised as her seductive spell broke apart.
Adam pushed her aside and sat up, the bed made out of clouds disappearing into thin air.
"I refuse your offer," he said. "Let me return to the land of the living."
She looked at him softly and touched his shoulder. "Very well. If you find the land of the living too harsh, you always have a spot beside me."
With that, he left the Realm Between and found himself at the strange underground cave, the hole in the ceiling revealing a glimpse of the stormy night sky above.
It was raining as well, the sound of thunder echoing through the cave walls.
Adam reached out to his inventory and grabbed his last flask of the Rising Moon.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Without hesitation, he gulped it down, and his health nearly reached full once again.
The flask dropped on the dirt ground and shattered.
He still had some flasks of the Setting Sun, but that was only useful to heal separated limbs, not replenish health.
At that moment, the whole underground cave shook as the ceiling above crumbled apart because of a few lightning strikes, and from there, Renard came down, stepping on the air as if it were solid ground.
"Still alive? Tough sonuvabitch, aren't you?" Renard laughed, but again, not a single sound escaped his lips.
Adam struggled a bit, but eventually he stood up and faced Renard with a determined look in
his eyes.
"If I died that easily, it would be pretty disappointing, wouldn't it?"
"Hmph." Renard landed on the ground and frowned after seeing his boots turn dirty.
"Haah..." Adam breathed heavily and wiped the blood from his lips.
"I am saddened, truly." Renard said. "You, as my right-hand man. We could've become something great together."
"You've only a few years left, either way." Adam said. "The New World can't be taken over in just a few years."
"It sucks truly." Renard said. "I was born in the wrong era. When the Mortal Online was released, I was already in my forties. Every year, it started to become harder to advance. I had to work twice as hard as my younger peers.
"You're lucky. You have thirty to forty years ahead of you." Renard said. "I could've taught you. In a few years, you could've become the new headmaster and led the future of the Pro- Strong faction."
"I was always a bad student." Adam said. "You couldn't have taught me."
"You're a stupid student." Renard said and his hand turned into the head of a spear. "You chose death instead of a glorious future."
"That I am." Adam raised his hand and then showed a middle finger to Renard. "I am also a very rude student."
With a long lunge, Renard rushed at him, his hand looking like the head of the spear, and then he stabbed his hand forward.
The hand pierced through Adam's body like a real spear.
"Hand Spear," Renard said as he watched Adam cough blood and cry out in pain.
However, immediately after, a confused frown appeared on his face, as it didn't really feel
like he had stabbed through a living person.
Just as he expected, the person in front of him shattered like a mirror.
It was an illusion!
Behind him, hands wrapped around his mouth, both hands holding two flasks of poison, and then poured the poison down Renard's mouth.
There was nothing he could do in time to stop it from happening.
If he had a higher level of Kiryoku, perhaps, but he had spent the majority of his time with
Magick. Thus, he was one of the strongest magicians in the New World, but was very average
with Kiryoku.
Turning around, Renard stabbed his hand through Adam's body again.
"Hand Spear!"
"Cough!" Adam coughed out blood.
This time, the Hand Spear struck the real body.
"Die!" Renard screamed, but then everything started to turn hazy as the poison traversed
through his veins and into his heart.
If that happened to an ordinary person, they would already be dead, but Renard only became dizzy and slightly light-headed.
At that moment, Adam placed his hand at Renard's chest and shouted.
"Chi Strike!"
The Chi Strike ignored Renard's hidden chest armor and struck deep into his heart, causing
excruciating pain.
It made his heart stop for a moment, but then Renard screamed so loud that wind ceased and summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky.
The lightning struck Renard and sent Adam flying backwards with a jolt of electricity.
The shock of the lightning made Renard's heart beat again.
To reach his current level, Renard was a genius of his own right. A genius of combat. If he
wasn't, he would've died a long time ago, as because of his arrogant nature, he'd made plenty
of enemies.
However, he had always been able to be the last one standing.