Chapter 355 - We Will Have Him If You Don't Want Him
The woman's pace wasn't fast. She was simply taking a relaxing walk towards Der, who was still being pressured into being unable to move his legs. It was clear to all six of them, that each step she took, to Der, was a step closer to the embrace of death.
As soon as the trial commenced, the figure of Alesia and Gai'ha respectively appeared behind and in front of the woman. Alesia was behind, and she had sent her twin swords slashing against the tendons of this female warrior. Gai'ha, on the other hand, had took back control over the many swords which contained a bit of her aura, and sent them in her direction. At the same time, she slashed her own sword against the woman's neck.
The flying swords came as fast as lightning, but the moment their tips touched the woman's body, they met with such a resistance, that their motion was stopped completely, almost as if she was an unstoppable and yet unmovable object at the same time.
Similarly, the swords of the two girls slid past her neck and feet as if they were training swords, and therefore, not sharpened in the least. All of this happened while the woman took her second step towards Der, which she took ignoring the two girls completely.
Following Alesia's and Gai'ha's failed attempts, came the dwarf's, who had at some point appeared in the sky above the female warrior. His appearance had attracted her attention, which she demonstrated but looking up at him, and meeting against the incoming massive hammer directly with her face.
The instant the hammer landed on the woman's face, the arms of the dwarf broke, and his hammer was sent flying back. The type of resistance he had felt, was the same he would have felt by trying to hammer a nail into slab of metal. The very impact had bounced back into him, causing him to have to suffer the full damage caused by the blow.
After casually repelling this attack, the woman took another step forward, but before she could press her foot against the bloody flowery ground, she felt a sudden and powerful punch hit her ankle backwards.
While the punch had done absolutely no damage to her, since it was simply suspended on air, the foot jerked back with enough speed to interrupt her forward motion, and cause her to fall on one knee. As she landed on her knee, still surprised by the balance robbing hit, her face found itself in front of a closed fist whose knuckles were covered by a metallic bar.
A loud boom was heard as the punch landed squarely against the woman's face, and sent her flying for hundreds of meters in the air.
On the faces of the observing warriors, was an expression that showed a clear pleasant surprise. The reactions of Alesia and the others were lightning fast, and despite the odd nature of the trial, they had been able to form a solid tactic to force her to waste time. Now twenty seconds had passed, and while the increased distance had reassured Der and the others, that feeling was erased the moment the woman reappeared in the exact same spot she was before being sent back by the young man's punch.
Seeing that he had failed, the young man stepped away, leaving space for the smiling blue eyed man. He was standing sideways in front of the approaching woman, while moving the closest hand to her in her direction. "Is it my turn to dance?" He asked while smiling at her.
However, the woman ignored him, and slowly paced in his direction as if she wanted to run him over.
"Not the kind of dance I wanted, but okay." Said the blue-eyed man as the woman reached him. He then stomped heavily against the ground in front of her, causing a crack to form, and expand in the direction of her foot. This crack was enough for her to lose her footing, and stumble forward.
As the woman fell forward, the blue-eyed man appeared in front of her to catch her, then, by using her forward motion, he threw her on the ground on her back, like a sack of potatoes.
Once again, the observing elite members of the Dominion of the War God looked with satisfaction. Close to a minute had passed, and the woman had only covered a tenth of the distance between her and her target. If the group would have been able to keep hindering her motion this way, they would have all passed the test.
The woman found herself lying on her back, and surrounded by the five champions she was testing. Each of them had dashed in her direction, and was holding one of her limbs on the ground, but unfortunately, her power transcended theirs.
When she bent her knee and pressed her foot on the ground in order to get up, Alesia was dragged with the motion.. her whole weight and power accounted for nothing. Similarly, the young man that was pressing on her right arm with his foot, was forced back.. Making it look like he wasn't there to begin with. The blue-eyed man, who was now pressing against her left shoulder with his right arm while sitting over her stomach, was looking down on her with a smile that, instead of showing a carefree expression, showed a hint of embarrassment.
The woman grabbed the blue-eyed man's wrist, and with a push of her waist and a twist of her body, she sent the dwarf that was holding her right foot down flying, and forced the blue-eyed man to end up underneath her.
She then stepped over his stomach and got up on her feet, before resuming her walk in Der's direction.
This went on for the following four minutes, where the woman had been able to ignore the many strategies of the group of champions, and arrive just five meters away from Der despite the many times his five companions had been able to hinder her movements.
Only a few seconds were left, and Alesia and the rest had tried everything they could to stop the woman from approaching their leader. However, they were now laying on the ground, covered in accidental injuries, and out of ki, immortal essence, or aura, leaving the woman to walk freely towards a Der who appeared to be a caged animal that was waiting to be slaughtered.
"They are.. Ghh.. more than worthy of.. Cough.. Pass the trial." Said Der to the woman, while looking at his tired companions. He then added, "Please, don't kill them.. Just me.."
These last words were pronounced right when the woman had arrived at arm's reach of Der, and she had already raised her weapon.. ready to hack down on his body with it. However, after hearing his words, she stopped. She then said, "I judged you unworthy of passing the trial the moment you refused to kill your enemy.. And I had all of the intention to kill your whole group for that."
She then turned to look at the five individuals that were laying on the ground for a few moments, before turning to look back at him, and adding, "But you are right. They are good warriors, and they don't deserve to die for you.. Your team passes the trial, but you don't."
As she finished speaking, she once again lifted the arm with which she was holding her sword, and prepared herself to slash down with it, but right as her hand went down in a slashing motion, an invisible and indestructible barrier appeared in between the two of them. At the same time, the pressure that was holding Der to the ground dissipated, allowing him to once again move freely.
The very moment the woman hit this barrier, she immediately sheathed her sword.
The many elite warriors that were observing until now, immediately appeared next to her, forming a barrier of ki warriors, as if in an organized response to what was going to happen next.
In front of Der, out of the blue, a door appeared. This door lacked any sort of detail, and aside form a metallic, and a wooden frame, there was nothing worth mentioning. It was simply standing straight, surrounded by nothing but air.
Alesia, Gai'ha and the other three looked at the door with confusion, while the many elite members of the Dominion of the War God appeared to be fully aware of what this door meant.
Before this door could open, the space in front of this group of warrior started to deform, forming a hand-shaped bulge, which stretched the space unnaturally. It didn't take long before this stretched point of space, unable to withstand the pressure any longer, ripped open, allowing the hand to move through.
This hand moved back into the rift until only a few fingers could be seen, which were joined by the fingers of another hand, which hooked on the rift's edges, and forced the hole open wide enough for a human to walk through.
From this human-sized rift, walked out an old man clad in a leather armor, and beast pelts. His power was hundreds, if not thousands of times more terrifying than that of the other elite members of the Dominion of the War God combined.
It was only after this warrior arrived, that the metallic handle of the door began to move, and the door was slowly pushed open.. revealing the body of a short and husky man with a long beard. No power could be felt coming from him, and yet, the newly arrived warrior did not dare to look down on him.
"Hello dear fellows." Said the short man while showing a bright smile, and polite attitude.
"Observer, what can we help you with?" Said the powerful warrior of the Dominion of the War God with alertness, and yet, while keeping his calm.
The short and husky man, unable to differentiate between the man that had spoken, and the many warriors that stood behind him, turned to look at him, and responded to him with a big smile, and by saying, "You youngsters might not know, but your faction has an obligation towards the Universal Government. We allow your brutal traditions, and for foreign mercenaries to waste their lives here, but whenever an immortal cultivator with a chance of developing the trait of the general during their ascension to high immortality appears, they must be sent to us. I have been observing quietly, but now that you have decided to take his life, I was forced to take action."
These words were a shock to Alesia, Gai'ha, Der, and the others, which were looking at a seemingly harmless and funny looking man, demand something from a group of bloodthirsty warriors that had been doing nothing but fighting for the past tens of thousands of years.
"I have no knowledge of such an agreement.. I will have to verify. If your claims are.. Accurate, you will then be allowed to take him with you." Responded the powerful elite member of the Dominion of the War God.
"I didn't come to ask for permission. I was just giving you an explanation of what will happen." said the husky man before turning to look at Der, and saying, "You are coming with me."
Der, who was now able to move, instinctively took a step back, and said, "No. I can't leave my friends here. If you want me to come, you have to take them as well." He was afraid that, if he was taken away, his friends would be killed.
"Observer, I can't allow you to leave until I verify your words." Said the man in leather armor from behind him.
The short and husky man that this warrior called 'Observer', turned to look at Der, and with a hint of irritation, said "Our rights are restricted to you and you alone." He then turned to look back at the warrior, and added, "And you, you were going to kill him either way, why do you even care. Verify after I am gone."
As he finished speaking, he pointed a finger in Der's direction, and created a bubble of spatial essence that lifted him off the ground, and moved him through the door. In his eyes, was the unwillingness to leave Alesia and Gai'ha behind.
The warrior immediately unsheathed his sword and tried to attack the Observer, but his attack was stopped by the same barrier that had stopped the woman's attack, despite the power of their attacks could not be put on the same scale.
While the blue-eyed man, the dwarf, and the teenage warrior were already aware that they had no part to play in what was happening, it was different for Gai'ha and Alesia, which Dashed in the direction of this invisible wall, and banged on it desperately as tears formed in the corners of their eyes, and came down their cheeks.
The Observer looked at the two of them apologetically, then followed the bubble into the door, which closed behind him, and disappeared immediately after.