The Systemic Lands

Chapter LVIII – Day 825 – Battle Of Wits And Traps

Chapter LVIII – Day 825 – Battle Of Wits And Traps

I frowned as I chased after Champion Michael. He was running into a level 4 zone. If he thought monsters would kill me before they killed him, he was mistaken. Right into the darklands at night. His Body stat was high, but I was constantly gaining on him, and he could not escape by Sense stat.

I would not allow him to escape, no matter what. He clearly valued his life and I was going to torture him for what he had done and to get answers about where my son was. He could try and run, but there was no escape.

He was probably hoping the greater amount of energy and the darkness would make me lose him. That was foolish. I had honed my ability to sense energy and with the gift of the Heavens, it was easy enough to sense where he was moving.

The monster here was weak. Blades flying through the air with eyes. The few that got in my way I easily smacked aside without slowing down. The chase to wear down Champion Michael was half the battle. To put pressure on him and force him to use his energy before I crippled him.

He had tricked me once with that surprise annihilation attack, but he would not get me again with it. Running like he was, was a fool’s errand. But like all dogs, he needed to be taught first. A tower came into view. A tower in a level 4 zone? Was he really going to go into it?

If he did, I would have no way to catch him. I rushed behind him. Blasts of powerful energy came at me from the pyramidal golems above, but I easily blocked the attacks. I was pinned as they cycled their attacks and he retreated into the air, heading back South.

The bladed monsters poured out of the darkness behind me, attempting to pincer me as he soared away. I kicked off the ground into the air and then off a barrier to move to the side to get a clear shot. I rapidly through ten needles into the golems. The needles sank in slightly and then I detonated them.

The golems were destroyed as the last of their beam attacks missed me. The bladed monsters came at me. My hands and feet lashed out. I economized my movements, striking a blade, sending it into another to destroy two with one attack. Each step, crushed a blade beneath my heel or sent it spinning into another blade, clearing the path in front of me.

I fought my way through the horde of monsters. Weak! I kicked off in pursuit again, once I had dispersed enough of them. They would not be able to keep up with me and no longer blocked my path. I had considered just going airborne and chasing after Champion Michael, but I had destroyed the monsters for two reasons.

The first was to make clear to him, that he might have wounded me, but his combat ability and skills were far beneath mine. It was meant to etch the fear of my very being into his bones. I would say for ten generations, but he was never going to have a child or survive once I was done with him.

The second reasons was that the golems pursued relentlessly from their towers, while most other monsters didn’t. I would need to focus on capturing him and I didn’t want to deal with other distractions interfering.

He could only run for so long before I would catch up with him. I had more stats I would outlast him. I continued to chase him to another city. He paused at the plaza for quite a bit. Buying something? Perhaps supplies? What was he hoping to accomplish?

He changed directions heading for the wall of the city and I moved to intercept him. He had taken too long, and I would catch him soon. He leapt up onto the wall with one of his skills and took off his packs. So he was going to fight me up there or have a bomb of some kind. Then he leapt at me.

I frowned as he leapt at me. He sped up towards me and I realized what he was doing. I quickly formed two barriers in front of me as he activated his skills. Dammit! Ahh!

I blanked out for a split second and slammed into a building. I quickly got to my feet and moved, another annihilation attack, that I was grazed by as the white light of the energy quickly dispersed.

“I can do this all day.” I turned around and went back to the plaza. I could feel the issues in my energy circulation. I needed to fix my body immediately.

I should have used my barriers to move, not block. I had become too used to blocking everything that was lesser. Michael was not a lesser being. I would not be hit again. I had been too focused on attacking him. I had become weak in my mind, distracted, unfocused.

Taking a deep breath, I settled myself and focused on the task ahead. I would catch up with him and kill him. While he had gained some ground on me, he would not escape. I was sensing the currents he left behind in the air, his trail of energy.

While it only lasted a short time, it was easy enough to follow even at a distance while he was moving and expelling energy. One of the many pieces of knowledge that the Heaven’s had granted me. Tracking, a beast was a noble skill. It was a hunt after all. I had finally found my prey, and I would not be letting him escape.

Unless he had a clone skill like that cursed Astrologer, there was no way he would be able to lose me. He could run, but he couldn’t hide. I got another restoration and quickly set off again. My body was off and there were issues, but the damage could be dealt with in time and a lot of focus.

I would need to correct and align my energy once the chase was over, but that was no matter. Once he had crushed feet and crushed hands, it would not be so easy for him to escape anymore. I would then take my time and make sure he lived, while extracting everything from him and paying him back for all that he had done.