R-a - Volume 3 - Chapter 8 (Patreon)

R-a - Chapter 166 (in editing -v2)(Longer one)

“Who are you? What do you think you’re doing?!” Simone’s voice was a quiet hiss as she lashed out at Micheal, all while remaining absolutely still.

Micheal had to hand it to her, the Rury Gang’s Boss was a tough woman. Despite her obvious fear, her voice never trembled as she questioned Micheal.

“If you’re from him then you might as well kill me now. I’m still too weak.” Micheal could practically feel the frost in her tone as she spoke, frigid viciousness mixed with raw anger.

‘Huh…’ For a small moment, he didn’t know how to react. This was not at all how he had expected this to go down.

He quickly recovered just a few seconds later, replying in a calm tone,

“No, I’m not working with ‘him.’ But why don’t you tell me about him while we walk down into the entrance of that cave?” Micheal’s question was more of a command as he flicked his wrist, causing the metal threads to pull Simone forward. At the same time, his eyes roamed his surroundings, making sure that the coast was still clear.

The security of this bandit camp was both unexpectedly stringent and a bit lax. They had layers of outer sentries, a rather unusually well-organized sight, but kept a relaxed interior. He couldn’t hear any arguments or fights breaking out, no shouting or anything even remotely disruptive.

For a random bandit camp, the Rury Gang was unexpectedly well disciplined and orderly. It was all the more confusing, given the history that Micheal knew.

Simone complied, unsurprisingly. Micheal gave her absolutely no leeway to refuse, knowing that she was currently much more powerful than he was in terms of stats.

The difference between a Third Rate Warrior and a Second Rate Warrior was extremely significant. In terms of physical power, a normal Second Rate Warrior would be able to handle 10 normal Third Rate Warriors without too much trouble.

Of course, Micheal was about as far from the definition of a ‘normal’ Third Rate Warrior as possible. But that didn’t mean he would be careless.

The two of them left the top of the boulder and quickly moved to the side, where the opening was placed at. Micheal peered into it as they moved, glancing around.

The inside of the cave was surprisingly spacious. There were a set of stairs that descended a few meters underground, and then a stone passageway that ended in a large grey door. A set of blue, glowing crystals had been installed in the walls, lighting the insides of the cave up.

‘So this is it.’ Micheal thought as he glanced around, his eyes narrowing slightly. He could make out several long strands of symbols on the sides of the walls, and a few ornate symbols on the door in the back.

As they moved up the passageway towards the door, and out of sight of the main camp, Simone continued to speak.

“If you aren’t with Rex, then what do you want from me?!” Her voice was full of exasperation, trembling only slightly.

“Rex? Baron Rex?” Micheal questioned, staring at her intently. He retracted some of his metal threads, leaving only a few up to prevent Simone from doing anything.

“Yes, the Baron… He’s why I’m here in the first place. Are you really not related to him?!” Unfeigned confusion was spread about evenly as she replied, in sheer disbelief.

‘Huh.’ Micheal frowned.

None of this was matching up with the history he knew.

Baron Rex was one of the four strongest humans on the Second Layer. As of right now, he was an extremely strong First Rate Warrior that was almost a Supreme Warrior. He was also the leader of his own Syndicate, with a huge army of warriors at his disposal.

The Rury Gang had, allegedly, sprung up out of nowhere and begun their raids and banditry. They were a violent group that murdered wantonly, a plague upon humanity.

There shouldn’t have been that much contact between the two groups prior to several months from now.

‘Did history change?’ It couldn’t have altered that much, just by what he did on the First yet. After all, he had raced up here at a breakneck speed.

‘No… it’s not that it changed…’ A sudden realization struck him.

‘It’s that the history I know might not entirely be true.’

Micheal had read about the history of each Layer, records that were recorded in a mix of detail and vagueness. Some Layers had very detailed data and tracking information, while others held history that was fragmented and confusing.

Information about the Second Layer was one of those fragmented ones, as he very well knew. Micheal had been relying more on his own knowledge about what went down. After the Great Disaster, a great deal of information had been lost.

And when it came to the Rury Gang and the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance, it appeared that there was more here than meets the eye.

‘History is written by the winners, after all.’ He focused back on the present as he looked at Simone. As he looked at her, he thought about Cameron for a split moment.

‘I can’t mess up again.’ He clenched his fists as he thought of his failure, determination flaring in his eyes,

‘I need to do it perfectly this time. So…’ He nodded to himself.

“Simone… I think you and I may have had a misunderstanding…”

.. .. .. .. .. ..

A short amount of time later, Micheal and Simone sat across from each other inside of a small stone hut. The insides of the hut were far nicer than the crude exterior would imply.

A comfortable couch, several nice chairs, a marble table, various pieces of furniture that, for any other race, would be an extraordinarily odd sight out in the middle of a huge forest.

For humans, with their magical Shop and mystical Spatial Rings, such a sight was easily explained.

Micheal currently had a frown on his face as he looked at Simone. He was sitting on an aged wooden chair, resting his hands together on the table in front of him.

“And so you’ve been here for the past several months, huh?” Micheal spoke aloud, examining Simone’s expression.

“Yeah, that’s about it.” Simone sighed, looking back at him warily. She respected the clear danger he posed, and as a result, was currently cooperating with him.

Over the past few minutes, Micheal’s opinion of the Rury Gang had taken a complete 180.

After realizing something was off, Micheal had quickly defused the situation with an easy explanation.

He claimed he had been told they were a group of vile bandits, and that he was here to wipe them out, with a promise that there was a great treasure hidden here.

When Simone heard this, she nearly had a fit out of rage. She then earnestly began to explain what she knew.

The Rury Gang was not a bandit gang. In fact, they weren’t even a ‘Gang’ at all.

They were, officially, the Rury Group, an alliance of warriors and explorers that had teamed up on the First Layer after living in the Main Cluster for a year. All of them were Second Wavers that had arrived in the 7 Layers two years before Micheal.

The group had been through a great deal together, fighting enemies and forming alliances, gradually building up in strength and might. They became one of the little powers in the Main Cluster, under the Big 3. Simone was considered a very strong A Ranker, and could’ve easily joined any big organization if she so chose.

Eventually, however, the general consensus of the group changed.

After growing stronger, many members wanted to leave the First Layer and move on to the next. Not everyone was satisfied living in such a hellish world, many people wanted to seek out something better, to find a new world to live in, a way to return to Earth.

And so, the Rury Group went up to the Second Layer.

And it was here that the Rury Group ran into Baron Rex.

If the S Rankers were the human monsters of the First Layer, then the Barons were the human monsters of the Second.

All four were geniuses and incredibly skilled. Despite only living in the 7 Layers for a small number of years, they had already grown incredibly strong, comparable to Byren Martial Artists that had trained for hundreds of years.

And, as time went on, they only grew more and more powerful. While they were considered extremely strong First Rate Warriors right now, Micheal was well aware that they would rise to become Supreme Warriors in the near future.

Humanity, with their ‘Shop’ Attribute, was famed for their rapid rise to power. There was a good reason why Micheal and Humanity’s Last Army managed to reach the final, Seventh Layer, even if only for an instant.

According to Simone, she and her team had arrived at the Starting Grounds around 6 months ago. They teleported in with little fanfare, taking only a single day to fully group up.

By this point in time, the Syndicates were in full control of humanity, enforcing a rule of order and law. The Human Alliance wasn’t all bad, after all, there were certainly upsides to it.

Simone and her allies were fiercely independent. As a result, they didn’t join any of the Four Barons and instead went out on their own, intent on creating their own group.

And as part of that intention, Simone actually drew from something she’d gained on the First Layer. An interaction she had with someone Micheal was very familiar with.

The Seer.

Simone had become a strong enough A Ranker on the First that she earned the right to speak to the woman. And the Seer, in turn, told Simone of a vision of her future.

The vision itself had been unclear, but the general gist was that she would go through a dangerous, inescapable trial where failure meant death.

Simone, naturally, had been horrified to learn that. The Seer’s visions were famed for their truthfulness, if often paired with vagueness.

The Seer had offered Simone some consolation, saying that destiny was, ultimately, in her own hands. The Seer’s visions looked at someone’s fate at the current moment in time. That fate could switch or change, based on the knowledge of its impending arrival.

Nothing was set in stone.

And alongside that consolation, the Seer mentioned that there was hope for Simone. When the trial came upon her, she needed to search an ancient forest for ‘That which has been lost but will rise again.’

Without knowing when or where this trial would take place, Simone refused to live a passive life in fear on the First Layer. Instead, she chose to lead her force to the Second Layer and tackle it head-on.

And after she arrived, she immediately began to search for ‘an ancient forest’ that held what she looked for.

Unfortunately for her, the trial she was ready to fight against was far more overwhelming than she had thought.

For, just a couple of weeks after her group became independent, they ran afoul of Baron Rex.

She and her team had been out hunting in a large valley. Since her group wasn’t part of any Syndicate, they were restricted from staying in most areas controlled by the Human Alliance.

Still, there were plenty of Byrens that were willing to interact, trade, or hire humans for various things, and her group was getting by quite well. The Ancient World was a world dominated by martial power, and Simone’s power put her as a Second Rate Warrior, a personage that couldn’t be ignored.

In particular, the Artifacts humanity could purchase were rapidly growing in demand, especially Spatial Rings.

Simone’s Rury Group had been hired to clear out a grove near a large village that had been infected with Winter Wolves, Low-Tier Magic Beasts that could breed prohibitively quickly if ignored. They were to be rewarded with a slew of Spirit Crystals.

The powerful energy cores contained a fount of energy that was very useful for increasing a human’s, or any race’s, Ki Cultivation. It was almost impossible for a human to hunt one naturally, given that Spirit Crystals were automatically converted to Points when a creature was killed by a human.

Regular Spirit Crystals couldn’t be converted to Points. It was only ones that were still within a living being that had just been killed that could be automatically absorbed. Humanity’s research into this odd subject ended up concluding that it had something to do with the ‘Soul’ of a dying beast and how the Shop worked, though they were unable to clarify further.

When they were in the midst of their hunt, a strange man appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He had applauded them as they hunted the Winter Wolves, giving out pointers and cheering them on, though not helping directly.

Their fight took a full 2 hours to finish, yet he stayed and watched all of it.

And then, as it was over, he came down and directly challenged Simone.

‘You have spirit, but you lack strength. Come, all of you. Experience true power and aspire to be better.’ His words were extremely arrogant.

He then directly attacked while laughing out loud.

And, as they found out, he was absurdly powerful.

A simple wave of his hand sent half a dozen warriors flying through the air. A stomp of his foot shattered the earth, throwing up shards of stone and great spears of rock. His movements were incredibly fast, each one full of predatory power, even in a world where gravity was 30% heavier.

In mere seconds, everyone except Simone had been defeated.

And, as Simone learned, he hadn’t even been serious.

Simone possessed the Silver Scaled Snake Type Ability, a strong Limited Type Ability that gave her a plethora of unique powers. She could control some breeds of snakes, her body transformed to become far more limber and stronger than a regular human, and she could partially transform her body into a powerful ‘Battle State.’

She went all out as she fought against this irrational human, and was still helpless.

And then, at the very end of the fight, the Baron revealed his true power.

His body shook and abruptly blurred, transforming and expanding. In a single, frightening moment, his body distorted and grew to become huge. His arms and legs transformed, his entire body-shape changing.

Baron Rex transformed into a dinosaur.

A gargantuan, 8 meters tall predator, with enormous teeth, glistening clawed feet, and bulging muscles. He had scaled, leathery skin that was colored a faded brown, two massive main legs, two much smaller clawed arms, and a giant tail that ended with a spiked ball.

He looked much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but was significantly larger than most breeds from Earth, revealing how he got the ‘Rex’ part of his title.

On the First Layer, Transformation Type Abilities were somewhat rare. Even the strongest users typically had Soul stats that were too weak, greatly limiting their power. Apart from Vampire and Werewolf Types, which technically were Transformation Type Abilities, though they weren’t often considered that, very few other Transformation Type Abilities were well known.

On the Second Layer, however… This was the Layer where Full Transformation Type Abilities shined.

Baron Rex was a Full Transformation Type Ability user, making him an Adapted Human as they came to be known. His Soul stat was at a high enough point that he could fully draw out a Full Transformation, no longer limited to the Partial Transformations of the First Layer.

And, with his extremely rare Limited Behemoth Predator Type Ability, he made full use of that power.

Simone lost the battle miserably.

However, instead of killing them, Baron Rex spared their lives. In return, he ordered them to grow stronger and more powerful, to use their hatred to fuel their strength to become strong enough to challenge him. He was incredibly outlandish in his demands, and seemed to care little for their feelings as he told them to struggle.

His speech was one that Micheal found suspiciously similar to the Vile King’s mantra…

The man then left them while still laughing nonchalantly, abandoning them to deal with their injuries on their own.

That wasn’t the end of it, however.

After the Baron left, Simone explained, some of his subordinates arrived in turn. And, as Simone and her crew lay unable to defend themselves, she and the rest of the Rury Group were all poisoned by these very subordinates and given an ultimatum.

The poison was a slow-acting one that magically sealed itself in their bodies, one they were unable to find any cure for. If they wanted to be healed, according to their poisoners, they would need to defeat Baron Rex and demand it by force. Otherwise, they would die within a span of two years.

And, one thing led to another, and here they were now.

Simone followed the advice of the Seer, and eventually found her way to this hidden forest, through a mixture of luck and desperate searching. However, she had had no luck so far when it came to getting past the door of this mystical cave, despite being certain she could grow vastly more powerful if she just took a single step forward.

“Huh.” Micheal looked at Simone, resisting the urge to rub his forehead in frustration.

Something was happening here… but he wasn’t sure what it was.

He felt like he was missing a key piece of the puzzle, some bigger picture that he was unaware of.

Baron Rex was a fighting maniac, this was something Micheal was well aware of. But of the Four Barons, he was the least likely one to resort to subterfuge, like poisoning someone. He might be an asshole, but he was a straightforward asshole.

However, as Micheal reflected, he could definitely see how Rex’s attitude was very similar to someone being influenced by the Vile King. It was entirely conceivable that he was one of the two Barons that Constantine had infected. Perhaps that was why the future played out as it did, so heavily maligning the Rury Gang.

It was also possible that Simone was lying to him. However, after all she had said, and what Micheal had observed, he was heavily inclined to believe her. He had years of experience working with people, and so much of what she said was genuine and correct, based on the history he knew for certain.

After a moment, Micheal let out a sigh.

Whatever the answer was, he would figure it out later. For now, he should just focus on the present. And right now…

His eyes flicked to his left, glancing out a stone window in Simone’s hut. In the background, he could see the dimly lit entrance to the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance.

“Well, Simone, then I really do have to apologize. I’d like to make up for my mistaken attack on you.” Micheal’s gaze returned to zero in on Simone,

“You’re trying to get past that stone door, right?” Micheal made a jerking motion with his hand towards the cave entrance.

Simone crossed her arms and looked at him gingerly before nodding,

“Yes. Otherwise, we can only wait for death.” Her words were measured as she spoke, giving away nothing.

Micheal smiled,

“Then I have some good news for you.” His eyes gleamed,

“I know how to get you past that door. And not only that…” His voice took on a deep edge,

“If we manage that, I may know a way to cure the poison you’ve been hit with.”

.