Chapter 3148 Foreign Land (Part 2).
Chapter 3148 Foreign Land (Part 2).
Chapter 3148 Foreign Land (Part 2).
"You should rather hit yourself. If would be less painful but much more hilarious." Solus laughed to the elf's face and many Chroniclers raised their weapons.
"Stop! We have suffered great losses today, but I need her alive." The Yggdrasil said and the elves reluctantly obeyed. "Do not fear, my Chroniclers, justice is at hands. Soon our prisoner will be bonded to one of your brethren.
"She will be reduced to a slave and forced to obey every command. I'm certain we can find something to relieve your anger." At those words, the elves smiled and it was Solus' turn to frown in anger.
"Dream on, psycho." She replied.
"Say what you want while you can, Elphyn Menadion, because soon the day will come when you'll regret rejecting kindness. We could have worked together to make Mogar a better place but you chose violence.
"Remember, everything that comes next is on you." The World Tree ignored her and conjured a Gravity array that forced Solus on her knees, binding her hands and feet with their vines.
***
Zeneka Region, outside the remnants of Vidun's hiding spot, in the middle of nowhere.
"What was that?" Derek turned in the exact direction of the Fringe, feeling a spark of Solus' pain as the Annihilations blasted the Engine open. "Why do I feel so weird? Why do I feel the need to go in two completely different directions at the same time?"
Even in a quasi-Abomination form, the Voidfeather Dragon's homing instinct was as strong as ever. Derek could feel the pull toward his treasures, no matter the distance. Solus was very far to the north while Elysia was southwest.
Derek remembered nothing about them. He knew nothing about Mogar. Yet he knew that something was missing. That he was forgetting about something very important. The problem was that he had no idea what it was and no reason to care.
He was Derek McCoy again, a broken man with nothing left to lose and nothing to live for.
"Master!" Ragnarök flew into his hand, whining like a happy puppy. "Daughter. Father. Light. Wife."
It roughly translated into: "Let's go back to your daughter. She must be missing her father already. We can look for your lost light with the help of your wife."
Too bad that Derek had no familiarity with talking swords and after seeing what had happened to V'horr, his paranoia was cranked up to eleven. He tossed Ragnarök again and again just for the blade to jump back in his hand or on his hip.
"Holy shit, an ego sword with a crush on me! Ego weapons were always bad news in Dungeons & Looting and hot babes in dumb comics. Can you turn into a hot babe?"
"No." Ragnarök's spite at the question was palpable.
"Can you tell me who I am?" Derek asked.
"Master."
"I guessed as much since you've not killed me like the knife ears, I meant my race. What's this thing?" He tapped on his image reflected on the blade.
"My blade."
"Fine. Where are we?"
"Empty field." Ragnarök replied, confused by the silly question.
"I know that! I mean, is this still Earth or are we in a parallel dimension, another world? What?" Derek felt his anger rise as his hunger amplified his violent impulses.
"Mogar. Not Earth. A planet."
"Holy shit, I got reincarnated again. It seems that every time I die, I travel further away." The memory of his death on the alien ship made him shudder. The hunger and agony he had experienced back then weren't something he wanted to repeat.
"Do you have any idea if this is the same solar system as planet Earth and if not, what is it called?"
"Solar system?" Ragnarök had no concept of such things and even with their now tenuous blood bond, Derek felt it.
"Never mind. Let's take a loOK!" He had used the same strength that on Earth would have made a human take a step.
Mogar's gravity was just a bit stronger than Earth's while Derek now had the body of a bright violet-cored Divine Beast. The step turned into a jump over 10 meters (33') high that ended with him falling face first on the ground, opening a meters-deep crater.
"Holy shit! Gravity here is much weaker than on Earth. Heck, even inferior to Mars." He remained still, checking that he had no broken bones before realizing the "truth". "I've still got my body from Earth so I'm a superhuman here!"
He tried to get up and ended up jumping again, crashing down a second later like a ton of bricks.
"Scratch that. I'm a cripple here! I can't even walk." He grumbled. "Think, Derek, think. What would John Carter do?"
He rolled over, assuming a low stance on all fours to clamber out of the crater slowly. It was frustrating and embarrassing but it allowed Derek to notice a detail he had missed in the daze of his second reincarnation.
His fingers dug through the ground like it was mud and crushed pebbles like they were sugar cubes. He stopped for a while and felt the soil deform under his touch until deep depressions formed around his hands and feet.
"Newton's virginity, gravity isn't the issue here. I'm heavy as fuck and my body is more than sturdy enough to support my mass. I'm the smallest kaiju ever!" Seeing plants and grass wither the moment he approached them, Derek pondered if he might also be radioactive as well.
"Wait a second. Pitch black skin, long fangs, deadly touch. Either I'm a goth on steroids or I may be an undead!"
"Sun." Ragnarök said. "Up and bright."
"And since I neither have turned into dandruff or started to shine like a disco ball I'm not a vampire, no matter how badly written." Derek nodded. "The kaiju also sounds like bullshit. What am I?"
"Tiamat." The annoyed blade replied.
"Now you remember!" Derek grunted, resuming his ascension. "At least I got a cool-sounding name instead of something cringy."
Derek came out of the crater and started to move faster and faster as he regained control of his muscles. Or rather, his body got used to the transition to his Abomination form, triggering the corresponding muscle memory.
After a few dozen meters, his crawling speed was the same as a regular man sprinting. He got up slowly, keeping his center of gravity slow and taking small steps yet he was so fast that he dug deep furrows in the ground with his boots.
"How can I learn this fast? I've never been dumb, but this is genius level." He said as he went from crawling to squatting, walking, and then running in the span of one minute.
As his muscle memory kicked in, giving him more and more confidence and control, Derek started to accelerate, reaching 60kmph (37mph) and speeding up the more he put strength into his striders.
"How fast can I move?" Derek had no idea if his current body had adrenaline but he could feel the rush as he went over 150 kmph (94mph).
For a man dying of cancer whose only family had been killed by a drunken driver, excitement was the last thing he would have expected yet there it was.