Chapter 248: The True Terror of the Unknown, The Watcher in the Manhattan Rift! Rift-Born Beasts
What they saw was a car with the sign of a shadow halberd. Below it was written: "Shadow Halberd Guild".
"Looks like we are going to meet them sooner than we thought, Sylvia." Caelus spoke to her telepathically.
"Yeah. But if they dare to do anything, I will kill them myself." Sylvia replied back.
After they dropped off, Dickenson took them to a lady in a black professional suit with a serious look on her face.
"Well, Dickenson, you are late."
"Is that so, Emilie?" Dickenson smiled. "The two problem children at my school needed more lecturing before I brought them here."
"Are these the two?" Emilie said, slightly taken aback.
These two looked like models. Should they not be at a fashion show rather than here?
"It is you, Sylvia Reign!" Emilie suddenly jumped in shock. "I am a big fan of your music. Nice to meet you."
Sylvia’s lips twitched seeing the enthusiasm shown by the lady.
In the end, they were taken to the rift after Emilie successfully received an autograph from Sylvia.
.....
As soon as they arrived, they saw the Shadow Halberd Guild members. They all wore calm looks, and they were surprisingly around the same age.
"These are a few of the people that can match your combat scores here in our two boroughs. They were specially assigned to these rifts for training and clearance."
"But be cautioned, Caelus and Sylvia." Dickenson readjusted his glasses. "Killing can happen inside, and there are many spatial variations."
"Who are they?" one of them asked confusedly. He was Fedrick of the Golden Light Guild. Dickenson knew him.
Dickenson spoke softly. "These two are from my school, Fedrick. If you find them in the rift, make sure to help them out."
Fedrick readily nodded with a smile. "Nice to meet you, friends."
Caelus and Sylvia nodded with matching smiles.
The others, on the other hand, just stared.
"Hm? No guild title?" one of them exclaimed. His name was James, and he came from the Silver Pickaxe Guild.
He frowned because having no guild tag meant these people would only make things worse for their party. Every rift, without fail, had a powerful Ascended-Tier monster, which was a rank above Transcendent-Tier. Beating it was incredibly hard. These two would only become dead weight.
As for these two having the same power as them? He did not even give it another thought. The idea that guild players were superior to non-guild players was a truth everyone collectively acknowledged.
But since these two were brought here by Dickenson himself, a member of the Golden Light Guild, they could not complain.
The rift itself was not visible because it had not been activated yet, but it was somewhere around them.
Soon, Emilie cautioned them. "Everyone, the rift is opening."
She pointed at the empty air a few meters away. The next moment, the world flashed black and white as a rift slowly tore open before them.
Bzzt!
The following moment, Caelus’s vision glitched subtly as Origin Sever automatically activated.
He saw a node appear in his vision instead of the spatial rift. His heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran down his spine as he stared at the node.
He felt like something was watching him.
The node. It was watching them and everyone else around.
Caelus acted hastily. Ruyi Jingu Bang formed in his hand, and he thrust the staff toward the rift.
Everyone was confused seeing this.
"What happened, Caelus?" Dickenson rushed forward and asked.
"Could it be that you also felt a sense of discomfort staring at the rift?" Emilie came forward and asked. "This has been happening a lot to other players recently. They said that something was staring at them, and some even collapsed from fear. We believe this phenomenon occurs because spatial rifts are not something normal humans look at on a daily basis. It holds the secrets of space. It is a DNA-level fear that some humans possess toward the unknown, and the rift’s structure simply makes humans fear it by nature."
"Yeah. I think so. I believe it is that," Caelus replied as he calmed down.
The node had been destroyed by his Origin Sever. Only then did his palpitating heart ease. Ruyi had also returned to his hand by now.
Just what was it?
Caelus rarely felt scared of things. Anything that made his heart beat unnaturally was not normal; it indicated a higher-level conceptual power at play.
"Alright. If you have calmed down, then we can proceed with entering the spatial rift." Emilie tapped her wristwatch a few times, and a holographic interface appeared before her. She made some adjustments as all the participant names appeared on it.
"Yes. I am fine," Caelus said.
At the same time, he noticed a glance from the Shadow Halberd Guild. They were staring coldly at him with seeping killing intent.
It seemed like they knew him and were waiting for him to enter the spatial rift to deal with him. Caelus glanced at Sylvia, who was looking at him worriedly.
"I am fine," Caelus said. "I will explain more once we enter the rift."
Sylvia nodded.
At the same time, from the corner, a girl wearing a hoodie and chewing bubblegum was casually staring at Caelus and Sylvia. She seemed to have noticed something as she blew her gum into a bubble, popped it, and began chewing again.
She was Candy Charlotte, a member of the Azure Sweet Guild.
Soon, they began entering the rift one by one.
Caelus tightly held onto Sylvia’s hand. Luckily, no one recognized her. On the way here, Emilie had suggested she wear a mask, or else everyone would know who she was.
The colors left their vision as the entire world began crumbling. For a fleeting moment, their minds froze in the empty expanse. Then, with a massive explosion, colors began to burst within their vision as they shakily arrived on solid ground.
They had arrived inside the spatial rift.
The world above them had no sun. It held a shade of red and below them was was tall grass.
Danger could come from anywhere. Sylvia and Caelus were cautious. They did not want to die.
Just then, the ground beneath them began to stir.
"Be careful, Sylvia," Caelus cautioned as they both rose into the air. Caelus supported her using his telekinesis.
Boom!
The ground tremored as a silhouette shot out from that spot. Caelus’s pupils widened upon seeing it.
It was a massive beast. Its body was segmented and covered in dark, jagged crystals. It looked like a giant centipede, but its mandibles dripped with a glowing green acid that sizzled as it hit the air.
[Rift-Born Obsidian Centipede (Apex, Level 15)]
"An apex beast right off the bat?" Caelus smiled. The rifts were truly dangerous, but they were also a treasure trove for someone like him.
The centipede screeched. It twisted its long body in the air and lunged directly at them. Its many legs sliced through the wind, creating sharp whistling sounds.
"Sylvia, take its eyes," Caelus exclaimed.
"Understood," Sylvia replied.
She activated Sanguine Genesis. Thick red blood flowed from her wrist and instantly hardened into two sharp javelins. With a flick of her wrist, the blood javelins shot forward like lightning.
Puchi! Puchi!
The javelins pierced the centipede’s eyes flawlessly. The beast let out a deafening shriek of pain as green blood sprayed from its wounds. Its trajectory faltered, and it began to fall back toward the earth.
Caelus did not miss this chance. He summoned his Ruyi Jingu Bang.
"Get bigger, Ruyi."
The staff expanded rapidly, glowing with a bright white light. Caelus swung it down with all his might, bringing the heavy weapon crashing onto the centipede’s head.
Bang!
The impact shattered the beast’s crystal armor. The centipede’s head was crushed into the dirt, sending a massive shockwave through the surrounding area. Its long body twitched a few times before going completely limp.
[Ding! You have successfully eliminated a Rift-Born Obsidian Centipede at level 10.]
[You have obtained +1 level.]
[Level: 8 -> 9 (116/1,800)]
[Combat Score: 30.5 -> 33.5]
Boom! Boom!
Origin domain’s power rushed through, assimilating into them as their cells lit up like fire as the origin powers seeped in and strengthened it to the limit.
