Ray's mutation energy surged rapidly, flowing out of his body and seeping deep into the ground below.
Beneath the surface lay a massive underground bunker filled with countless totems. Millions of them stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see, all neatly arranged in bundles.
The totems varied in shape—so resembled turtles, others cobras, and even a few were shaped like humans.
As Ray's mutation energy reached them, the totems began to glow brightly, their intricate designs coming to life.
One by one, they activated, until millions of them were lit simultaneously, radiating an intense and synchronised energy.
Zhh! Shing!
A strange, resonant sound echoed through the surroundings, an otherworldly vibration emanating from the activated totems.
In the room where Ray faced the wolf, flashes of brilliant light burst upward from the ground, illuminating the space in an almost blinding display.
"Hmm," Ray muttered, effortlessly dodging every ferocious attack the three-tre, two-legged wolf threw at him. His movents were so fast that they were imperceptible, surpassing the speed of light at his peak. There was almost nothing in existence that could touch him.
The wolf swiped wildly with its claws, undeterred by the blinding flashes of light around them. Yet no matter how ferociously it attacked, its claws never found their mark. Ray's speed rendered him untouchable.
Still, the wolf seed unfazed by its misses, its bloodshot eyes filled with madness as it continued its relentless assault.
Then, without warning, the wolf froze in place.
Two tres away, Ray's figure materialised, standing casually with his head tilted slightly as he observed the beast.
"Why did you stop?" he asked, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Isn't it fun anymore?"
The wolf crouched low, its body nearly touching the ground, its pupils fixed intently on Ray with the gleam of a calculating predator. Its muscles coiled tightly, ready to strike.
Without a sound, it lunged violently, its talon slashing through the air with terrifying precision and speed.
The first swipe connected with a sharp crack, the edge of its talon grazing Ray's skin just as his figure blurred and vanished into near invisibility.
Drip!
A bead of crimson blood slid down the wolf's claws, falling to the ground and staining it vividly.
"Khakagaka," the wolf cackled, tilting its head back toward the ceiling, its voice echoing amidst the bright light. It seed to mock Ray.
"It's ti to stop playing around," Ray said calmly, his figure appearing further away, his expression as nonchalant as ever.
The mont he reappeared, the wolf leaped at him with startling ferocity, its jaws wide open and claws poised to strike.
"You're getting ahead of yourself," Ray sneered. In an instant, he was directly in front of the wolf, his fist driving forward to et its snout.
Bang!
The impact echoed through the space, shattering the void with its power. Despite the strength behind it, the wolf's head didn't burst as expected. Instead, it retaliated, swinging its claws violently as a swirling dark orb manifested between them.
Thump! Thump!
Ray's heartbeat thundered in his chest, and a surge of alarm coursed through his body. His instincts scread in warning as his mind registered the dark vibrating sphere.
This sensation—it was dread, sharp and familiar, a chilling echo of the fear he had faced before.
"Hmm?" Ray frowned as he effortlessly dodged the dark vibrating ball with lightning-fast precision. In a fluid motion, he delivered a powerful hook punch to the wolf's jaw, following it with a relentless barrage of swords that rained down like a storm.
The void itself cracked and splintered, revealing a chilling, empty darkness that lashed out at the wolf, forcing it to stagger.
**Rawr!**
The wolf roared, its snout opening wide to conjure an enormous, pulsating black orb. The chaotic energy of the sphere flickered uncontrollably, devouring the void and everything around it.
Ray froze, his soul screaming at him to flee again.
"Fuck."
Distracted for a split second, Ray failed to fully evade, and the edge of the giant black orb grazed his skin.
Ssss!
The searing touch burned through his flesh instantly, nearly exposing the bone beneath.
Pain radiated through his body as every muscle cramped violently. Unable to resist the paralysing force, Ray collapsed to the ground, entirely frozen. His limbs refused to move, leaving him at the rcy of the oppressive energy enveloping him.
The mutation energy beca completely stagnant, unable to circulate any further.
Frozen in place, Ray felt helpless. Though his mind remained active, every other function seed suspended in ti.
The wolf snickered, basking in its apparent victory as it slowly approached him, ready to deliver a fatal blow. Though immobilised, Ray doubted it could truly kill him.
"It's ti," Ray thought calmly as the wolf's claws descended upon him.
Suddenly, the bright light ceased flashing, and countless chains materialised from the void, wrapping tightly around the wolf and binding it in place.
"Hmm," Ray muttered, sensing the wolf's condition with a hint of surprise. "This actually worked?"
The wolf roared and thrashed wildly, struggling to break free from the chains. Sohow, its imnse power—enough to wound even Ray—it was completely unable to resist the chains. Slowly and relentlessly, the chains dragged the beast back into the torn, rotting corpse, sealing it in place once more.
"Now, how do I move?" Ray wondered, frustration simring in his heart. His body remained cramped and immobile, leaving him unable to act.
"What was that black ball?"
He could do nothing but remain stationary, entirely vulnerable. While he doubted anything could truly kill him, being paralyzed like this was far from pleasant.
In this mont of stillness, Ray's mind worked at an incredible speed, processing and replaying recent events like a quantum computer.
That vibrating black sphere—it felt quite similar to a black hole, yet… not quite the sa.
"If I want to find a solution, then I have to look into the cause," Ray muttered to himself, his thoughts racing.
He quickly focused on sensing his body, scanning for anything unusual. Aside from the minor graze on his skin, everything seed perfectly normal. Even his soul remained completely unhard.
"Then?"
Following the trail of soft injuries, he gradually honed in on the minuscule changes occurring at the cellular level.
"It attacked my genes," Ray realised with clarity.
Genes, in simple terms, are sequences of DNA. A typical human body contains around twenty to twenty-five thousand genes, and these sequences define the physical characteristics of a person.
For a Celestial being who has surpassed the limits of their genes, the genetic material in their body becos essentially limitless. As they grow stronger, their genes grow alongside them. Each gene not only defines the characteristics of their body but also governs the vast power contained within.
This is what allows Celestial beings to possess infinite strength, speed, and other abilities—their genes evolve perpetually with their growth. However, the mont that attack grazed Ray, a strange energy seeped into him, directly disrupting all of his countless genes.
"No, it isn't as simple as that," Ray thought, his senses honing in on the core principle hidden in his body.
He realised sothing far more alarming. Ti itself was collapsing upon him, and every cell in his body had been frozen, stopped entirely by the force of Ti.
"What the fuck is this?" Ray muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.
He couldn't make sense of the situation for a long ti, feeling lost and unsure of how to proceed.
If he could move even slightly or channel his Mutation Energy, he might have a chance to devise a solution. But without either, he was completely and utterly helpless, trapped with no way out.
"Co on, Ray, one step at a ti," he murmured to himself, trying to stay calm.
Consoling himself, Ray began to slowly focus on his genes, carefully sensing how they were being disturbed.
The process was excruciatingly tedious and painfully slow, but he was making progress. After what felt like an eternity, he finally detected a faint, fleeting energy disrupting every single one of his genes. With each disruption, the energy seed to dissipate ever so slightly.
"Thankfully," Ray heaved a sigh of relief. If this strange energy had lasted indefinitely, finding a solution would have been exponentially more challenging, wasting even more precious ti.
As the disruptive energy dissipated, Ray focused intently, trying to capture as much data as possible. He vowed not to suffer the sa fate again.
After so ti, he felt a subtle change in his body. Slowly, his muscles twitched, and his Mutation Energy, once stagnant, began to flow again.
With renewed control, Ray floated, levitating slightly above the ground.
The Ti that had been frozen for him also gradually began to dissipate. Though Ray's understanding of Ti was still rudintary, he knew enough to recognize its effects. He was far from being able to manipulate it, but as he regained his ability to move, the obstruction of Ti seed to lose its grip entirely.
If Ti could kill him so easily, Ray mused, he would have already perished while facing the Sun or battling other Peak Planetary beings.
"I should have killed that wolf," he muttered, frustration evident in his tone.
After freeing himself, Ray casually stretched his body, trying to shake off the unpleasant stiffness. The sensation of holding back and allowing the wolf to live, only to be montarily bound by it, left a bitter taste.
"I'll deal with you later," Ray said coldly, his gaze shifting to the half-torn corpse. He called out, "Berry 12.0."
"Yes, Master Ray," a chanical voice replied, as an arm materialised in front of him.
"Have you recorded the data?" Ray asked.
"Yes," Berry 12.0 confird. "According to the reports, this characteristic is embedded in every human Gene."
"So we are all wolves, even ?"
"No Master Ray, this chain and that temple that you gave the data of seed to represent an unknown sequence that leads to another door and that wolf seems to be rely a guardian."
"A guardian?" Ray touched his chin in thought.
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