Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 310: Conditional Agreement

Oli did as he was told, waiting for the man to take out a pole that held the bag of fluid nice and high. A needle was taken out with a thin tube attached at the end. It wasn’t yet connected to the bag of fluid, not until the man rubbed some sort of cleaning solution on Oli’s forearm and stuck the needle. Only then did the man connect the needle to the bag, making sure the bag and the pole that secured it were just outside the formation and easy to access.

After fitting the metal headband on Oli, the man backed away. “This is your final chance. Will–”

“Yes!” shouted Oli.

“Good. Remember your cause and your determination. You’ll need every morsel of motivation you can grasp in order to not break. Now enter the soul jade. I’ll activate the formation shortly.”

Nodding, Oli complied. He let his mind sink into the soul jade and waited patiently.

With the time dilation of the soul jade, Oli wasn’t sure how long he was waiting or how long it took the man to activate the formation. However, Oli knew exactly when it was activated without any delay.

The empty abyss that was the inactive soul jade became a raging storm of energy in the blink of an eye. At the same time, Oli’s eyes shot open wide and his mental self tensed up without any wait. His mental body felt minuscule and insignificant under the pressure of the strange, nearly transparent energy. It was similar in appearance to Oli’s spiritual energies but slightly whiter in color. Also, the energy was definitely not spiritual.

.....

That rampant energy swelled around Oli without impunity. Even though he felt like only a mental being for the moment, the physical pain was easily enough to alarm Oli and force him out of the soul jade. However, Oli remained in that space. He was forced to endure the feeling of the energy ripping into his pores and pumping Oli with overwhelming agony. Without realizing it, Oli was trying to combat the energy with his own essence but was failing miserably. Soon, all three of Oli’s essences were active, though his gravity essence was far less substantial than the other two, and those essences were unable to even stall the storm of energy.

Despite being mentally trapped in his own soul jade, Oli’s body was tensing and flexing subconsciously. It had to while being ravaged by the ensuing energy.

At the side, the man stood there with a deadpan expression. He watched as a small column of that almost clear energy wrapped around Oli. It stopped just before reaching the bag of fluid and faded away after traveling five-krin high.

A silenced barrier then surrounded the man. He took out a strange crystal barely larger than his palm. It was dark purple, almost becoming black.

The man then sent a strand of energy into the crystal. Just as the crystal became dimly lit, the man spoke, “There’s a slight change in plans. He agreed but now you have more to negotiate.”

*****

“Enough. Enact punishment as you see fit.”

“Thank you, King Portro!”

“Now go. I have private matters to handle.” After sending out his most recent visitor, Portro looked to the guards at the door. “You as well.”

The guards nodded and stationed themselves just outside the door before closing it, leaving their king alone in the giant throne room.

As soon as the doors closed, the giant, emerald green viper squinted his eyes. Portro’s gaze darted around the room until landing in a faraway corner. “Come out.”

“Ah... I guess I’m not as stealthy as I’d like to be...” sighing, the intruder chuckled, stepping forward while unveiling his shroud of dark essence.

Still squinting, Portro leaned forward with his towering body. He showed no fear while scanning over the blonde human in simple garb. “What brings you here, and why come in secret?”

“Not much. I heard about a strong serpent king that recently took over the region, so I thought I’d come and have a look for myself,” replied the man, shrugging and stopping about ten-krin in front of the behemoth serpent.

All of a sudden a slight grin crept onto Portro’s face. “Hmm... An early-king who comes to visit a recently established region... Most people would interpret your actions as a challenge to the new ruler, especially considering your secrecy.”

“Maybe...” Shrugging casually, the man asked, “What do you take it as?”

“Shouldn’t I too take it as a challenge?”

The man then began to stretch his back and shoulders, adding, “Well, now it sounds like you want a fight. Can I at least ask you something before you challenge me?”

“A cocky human... my favorite meal,” remarked Portro. “But go ahead. Playing with my food helps work up my appetite.”

Finishing his nonchalant stretches, the man brushed his plain white shirt and plain black pants to remove any dust from his appearance. Finally, the man grinned slyly and took something out of his void ring. “Does this look familiar to you?”

The cheeky and confident grin on Portro’s face vanished without a trace. Shock and startlement set in as Portro demanded, “Where did you find that?!”

“This trash? I got it from someone I hope to call an ally,” chuckled the human king. “What? Did you know this guy?”

Holding up the disembodied head by the hair, the human king pointed with his other hand, pressing into the head’s lifeless cheek. “If you knew this guy... then you might be in more trouble than you can handle.”

“What’s your purpose here? Speak now before I devour you whole!”

“My purpose? I just wanted to confirm the collusion between a newly appointed king and a rival prefecture. And given the border attacks that prefecture has secretly caused, your involvement is too suspicious to ignore...”

“Hand over the head and I may let you live.”

“Oh, you’ll have to kill me if you want this.” The man broke out in hearty laughter, storing the head and replacing it with an ornate sword. “I’m Rhyner Trighton, and consider this challenge a battle to the death!”