BOOOOOOOOM!
The blast in the distance made Gio thank the universe that he imdiately took off.
If 46 was really the one who started the madness back there, then he was incredibly skilled.
There was only one reason why every single person regardless of affiliation entered the battle within seconds.
The power that was displayed was too imnse for them to ignore.
Gio was sure they’d realize whose side they were on and find real enemies soon, but that had nothing to do with him.
’Where the hell am I going?!’
He didn’t have anywhere to escape to. Even if he tried to locate himself on a map, there would only be forest for tens of miles at the very least.
’Fuck!’
Cursing to himself, Gio flew through the forest with the only goal of getting as far away as he could.
That was when he received the call.
He looked down at his holowatch and accepted it the mont he saw the caller’s na.
"Gio!"
Farrah’s voice ca from the other side.
"Are you running?"
She seed to have been filled in on the situation already.
"I am, but I don’t know where!"
"That’s fine. I’ll lead you, so follow my–"
Boom!
Gio slamd his foot into the ground and pivoted, avoiding a ball of red light that slamd into the ground in front of him.
He gritted his teeth and turned around.
"Change of plans. I’m being chased."
"You think you can run from ?!"
Whoosh!
Gio took off again with more red suns flying at him from behind.
"Tell what’s going on. I can’t help you if I don’t know what you’re dealing with."
’Dammit!’
The winds blocked his voice from reaching his holowatch, so he didn’t bother imdiately responding to Farrah.
He couldn’t take the second to do so. He wasn’t being pursued by soone ordinary.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cots fell everywhere, turning the forest into a battlefield. Gio’s eyes turned black, illuminating spots in the air that were suddenly filled with energy.
Whoosh!\
He dodged to the side and avoided an invisible wall that was created in front of him. In the sa mont, he took the chance to talk to Farrah.
"That asura is chasing ! I need safety as soon as possible!"
"Sorry? But he–"
"How did you know?!"
A roar cut her off. The man behind Gio looked like a crow screeching in the distance, but the malice in his words was made palpable by energy as they left his mouth.
They assaulted Gio’s ears, making him bite his lip until he drew blood.
’This is bad.’
Director Khan definitely felt weaker. His aura wasn’t as strong and the energy filling the world was only enough to cripple Gio.
It used to possess the strength to evaporate him easily. Sothing was up.
’But that doesn’t matter. He’s still way above .’
Bang!
Gio burst forward, using all of his abilities to accelerate to new heights. However, no matter how fast he went, he could still feel his enemy gaining on him.
"...whatever it is, if you’re being chased, then..."
Farrah’s words ca in broken sentences, but he still managed to hear the most important parts.
"There’s an earpiece in your mask. If you double tap it, it’ll connect to your holowatch."
He did as he was told and tapped the side of his head. With a slight "Ding!" sound, Farrah’s voice moved to his ear.
"Connected?"
"Connected!"
Bang!
The timing was still terrible. In those seconds, Director Khan approached far closer, keeping only a few tens of feet between him and Gio.
"Rat! Return what you stole before you die!"
BOOOOOM!
A huge red sun dropped on Gio’s position. He had no way to avoid it.
He put a barrier over his head that shattered instantly before it was replaced by another. He roared internally and pushed against the energy that slamd down on him before sothing slamd into him from the side.
Bang!
"Keugh...!"
Gio coughed as his body rolled over the ground.
Boom!
A body appeared over him and crushed him into the ground.
"WHERE IS IT?!"
The roar almost shattered his eardrums. Director Khan’s glasses cracked and fell off, revealing the maddened red pupils beyond.
Gio struggled, grabbing the man’s arms and trying his best to pull them away from his neck.
"Khhh...!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Virtual energy flew into the world. It turned into a hamr that slamd into Khan from above. It turned into daggers that stabbed at him from below. It turned into flas and water that tried to burn and suffocate him.
Yet, he reacted to none of it. He tightened his grip around Gio’s neck and pressed on.
"TELL !"
Even if Gio wanted to talk, he couldn’t.
Though, he didn’t have that kind of plan from the beginning.
He gripped the dirt and summoned Hekat’s power. All of a sudden, a pillar rose from below and threw both him and Khan into the air.
The surprise barely loosened the man’s grip, but it was enough of an opportunity for Gio to grab hold of.
Bang!
He didn’t stop carrying crystals on him when he left the Wasteland. He just didn’t have as many opportunities to use them.
They flew from his belt and turned into blades that impaled Khan’s fingers. Blood flew into the air, yet he still refused to let go.
"You won’t be able to get rid of like–"
[Aura Explosion]
Booooooom!
The force sent them flying in opposite directions. Khan barely moved, but Gio was slamd into the ground by his own energy, tearing his shirt away from his body and freeing him.
The breath in his body was completely expelled when his back hit the dirt, but he found the strength in himself to roll over and push his foot into the ground.
Virtual energy could do the rest.
In the next second, he was running again, breathing heavily as he filled his body back up with air.
There were scars all over his back and chest. His shoulders were pulsing and turning purple. The ache all over his body from that small interaction was damning, but Farrah spoke before he could concentrate on it.
"You’re moving again. Were you caught?"
"Yes!"
"Understood. Quick escape or long escape? The forr will land you in an unknown amount of danger, but escape is more likely. The latter relies on you running away until we can reach you."
"ETA?"
"Five minutes to the clearing. Another five to get people to wherever you’ll be by then."
"Fast!"
"Understood."
Gio didn’t have the freedom to speak more than a single word at a ti. He certainly didn’t have the freedom to run until they caught up.
’He’s weak enough to run from, but not weak enough to survive against in a fight. I don’t know what happened, but I need to get away from him.’
"Turn to your right and move northeast. If you can peek over the canopy, you’ll see a much taller tree in the distance."
He couldn’t, but he trusted her word.
"There’s a Riftworld inside that tree. It was recently discovered through satellite imagery and hasn’t been explored yet. It isn’t leaking enough energy to be considered imdiately dangerous, but I can’t confirm that you’ll be safe inside."
Gio heard every word.
Entering a Riftworld ant opening up a can of worms that could either be a blessing or a curse. He understood what she ant by "unknown dangers."
’But I also have a high likelihood of escaping.’
He could lose Khan much easier in an environnt neither of them knew.
Asuras couldn’t enter Riftworlds.
It wasn’t as if their bodies would be torn apart or anything of the sort. Physically, they could absolutely walk in if they wanted to.
’But Riftworlds are part of monster territory, and asuras are monster slaves.’
When asuras entered Riftworlds, they took the position of property. Rather than being targets for extermination, they would beco targets for humiliation and subjugation.
Unless an asura could guarantee that they were stronger than every being in the Riftworld combined, entering a Riftworld ant never leaving again. It ant becoming a slave in the truest sense.
Though their bodies wouldn’t be torn apart, they would be affected by the environnt in ways ordinary humans would not be.
’That’s the position of an asura even if they like to act like they’re on the right side of history. In the end, the monsters don’t want us alive. The humans they keep alive are going to end up no different from animals; living and dying according to the will of a race who considers themselves superior.’
There were several other complications on top of those that contributed to it, but Gio didn’t care about the "reasons." He only cared about the fact.
A Riftworld was a way to guarantee that Director Khan would leave his tail.
As for the matter of escaping the Riftworld...
The thought of it didn’t even appear in Gio’s mind.
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