NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 187 - The Phoenix

It just showed that Clement prepared these traps as a diversion for the actual one to work. And Clement made that net with materials that I couldn't easily break free. It also had abilities of some sort that drained my mana at every second. 

If this continued, this net would kill me even before Clement could reach this place.

A dark figure emerged from the shadows as it marched towards me. Every step that shape shuddered the ground, which sent shivers down my spine. An immense aura clouded the surroundings, as the man raised his sword around his hips.

After a few seconds, Clement revealed himself in the shadows, together with his man running at his side. Those players armed themselves and prepared for battle. But upon raising his hands, those soldiers heeded Clement's directions. All of them stood by and watched the scene, with their guns and swords aimed at me.

"Just like a fish out of water," Clement exclaimed, while chuckling up a storm. "I finally caught you, Red. I cornered you.'

"You used these traps and caught me with underhand tactics! What are you even saying?!"

"It doesn't matter! Do you want me to prove to you that I'm better than you?" Clement asked, and pulled off the net shackling my movement. "There! Come and fight me if you can, Red!"

I didn't know if Clement was an idiot or a genius masterman behind cheap schemes. But I didn't want to know the answer and escaped this place as soon as I found the opening. As soon as Clement pulled the net, I lunged outside the forest.

However, upon looking back, Clement revealed a hideous smile carved on his face. It was as if he knew I would run away as far as possible. 

After averting my gaze from Clement, thousands of bullets followed my trail. Those shells came from the soldiers beside Clement, who had already aimed their guns in my direction. 

If a normal adventurer would fit in my shoes, they would have already died from these racing bullets. However, I was in the field.

As soon as I activated my lightning speed, those bullets never hit my body. All of tem crashed against the barks and stones, which eventually destroyed them. I was already up ahead, trying to survive from this madness.

But I spoke too soon when my lightning ability wore off within a few milliseconds. I rolled down the ocean of weeds and hit my body against a sturdy boulder. 

Cracking sounds echoed throughout the woodlands, which came from my left arm I used to protect my head. I miscalculated the speed of this lightning. And that led me to this downfall inside the ruined forest.

"Did I lose them?" I asked myself, while slowly getting up from the ground. 

I couldn't feel anything on my left arm, which hindered me from moving around. After a few minutes, I finally stood from the soil and marched from where Clement found me.

However, despite using my lightning ability, Clement had caught my tail. 

A bluish electrical current zoomed in front of me. That thunder came from Clement's ground, which widened my eyes. Within a moment, that thunderbolt punched me in the face. I coughed out a smear of blood, since three teeth came right out from my mouth. 

That jab made my body hover in mid air and eventually hit the stone I landed earlier. But my body destroyed that boulder by the force coming from that blow. It was enough to even tumble me on the ground afterwards, letting me eat the dirt inside this forest.

"That hurt, you fucker," I cursed, while spitting the blood that obstructed my throat. "I will kill you for that!"

It was difficult for me to hold onto my promise for Match. But if I didn't do anything about this bastard, I would be the first one to die.

I activated my glowing eyes once again and faced Clement's youthful face. I brushed off all the dirt clinging on my sleeves and revealed my penitent's blade.

"That won't work on me, Red. You know I have a bigger sword than you," Clement mocked me, as he prepared his feet to zip right through me again. "And I mimicked your lightning ability. I told you the game developers could add anything they wished for, even though they're inside this game!"

Right after Clement said those words, he activated his lightning ability once more. He did the same attack earlier and slammed his hands against my face. Clement's fist sunk on my cheeks and shoved me to the side.

I spun for the second time within this fight and ended up near the towering trees. My body needed more time to recover after letting myself get hit by this douchebag in front of me.

"How can you use my lightning ability? Fenrir told me that I was the only one who could use it?!" I cried, and wiped off the sweat dripping from my face.

As soon as I stood from the soil, another jab crashed against my back. The pain from that punch radiated at every muscle inside my body. Clement's punch was strong enough to push me on the ground within seconds.

"I could use any ability I see as long as my system and I could understand it. Since my system is like the internet of the real world, I could know any descriptions you throw onto me….Oh, wait. You don't even know what the internet means, do you? Don't worry. It's none of your business."

Clement had the same lightning spell that I use to dart through in any direction. I needed to learn that spell for a few weeks before I could even use it. Our team almost died because of me when I couldn't understand the ability's descriptions.

But Clement had it easy and learned it within seconds. He claimed that the internet inside his head gave all the answers Clement needed to use it. It was like what that bastard had mentioned before.

I couldn't decipher the terminology Clement used, which was the "internet".

I tried using my lightning ability again, but it failed when I kick-started the spell. Upon gazing at my mana pool, it said that I didn't have enough arcane to use the lightning spell. My system told me that I already exhausted the ability.

"When could I use it?" I asked my system.

A window appeared beside my mana and showed that I needed five minutes to activate it once again. It only meant that I needed to stall time against Clement and wait for five minutes before using it.

It was a challenging feat, but I would do my best to do it. All I had to do was to stay in the middle and try my best to buy time for me to run away.

"You have really nice spells, Red! I hope you could show me some more. So I could use it!" Clement exclaimed, and continued hitting me with his fist.

However, the time finally came. And Clement used every advantage he had to overpower me with his lightning spell. And when he did, I bowled in every direction for every punch Clement did to me. He covered my face with purple hues, which marked all the strikes he made on my body.

"This one's for my father! This one's for the game you ruined! And this is for the ones you killed!" Clement shouted.

But as soon as he yelled the latter part of his sentence, my ability finally kicked in. My system blared a high-pitch tone and notified me that I could already use my spell. Within a few minutes, I used my lightning ability and raced towards the forest. My spell would be enough to reach near the borders of the dragonewt kingdom.

Even if it didn't, all I had to do was to try it out.

But when I activated my spell, a flash of lightning appeared at my sides. Instead of moving forward, my body became stuck in place. I couldn't move a muscle even though I activated my ability.

"What the hell?!" I said, and forced myself to my limit.

However, my efforts did not reward me as Clement already had the upper-hand. Upon glancing at my back, Clement's hand gripped the end's of my hood. That man raised his sword in his other hand and plotted to attack me from behind.

However, that sword never reached my chest. It was all thanks to my crimson cape behind my back, which was also the clothing Clement hauled.

My hood burst into flames and covered me with yellowish embers. Some blaze even turned blue and burned every weed beside me. 

My eyes also boosted my strength and arcane as soon as that happened. Every cell inside my body jolted from their hibernation when the danger level increased.

Clement's eyes widened upon witnessing my transformation. I finally had the upper-hand thanks to my burning cape covering my body.. It even allowed me to fly around without having any wind magic on my feet.