Chapter 177- Cursed Luck!
Channeling his mana, Rin activated shadow manipulation. Instantly, his shadow expanded to cover his and his two companions' body. Then, without hesitation started pulling them down with him.
Seeing what he was doing, Cid's expression turned from amusement to sheer shock. He couldn't believe his eyes at all. When he first got restrained by Rin's powers, he assumed it was that he can control some form of black liquid and use it however he wanted.
Never in his wildest thoughts did he think that this power was none other than shadows. That realization hit him harder than anything else.
'There is no way… This guy… This mere human has that power… How could it be?' He thought to himself as his thoughts froze completely.
'How can it be?! Was this really the person he was looking for?! No way! I have to see for myself! I can't let him escape at all cost.'
Whether his eyes were betraying him or not became somehow a possibility even for a master of trickery like Cid. Truly ironic.
Rin's body quickly submerged in the shadows and Evelyn and Elise who were still in a complete daze were also effortlessly being pulled inside.
Seeing that, Cid regained some of his composure and quickly tried to stop him. With a swipe of his hand, Elise and Evelyn started moving again. Their arms that held Rin tightly started pulling him outside with great force.
Especially Evelyn who possessed an immense amount of strength.
'Shit!' Cursing under his breath, Rin used his full body to try and drag the two of them along with him. Even though he was by no means strong enough to pull off such a thing. However, he could only at least try and hope for the best.
"Come on, Evelyn. Are you really going to let him control you?" He asked in a quiet tone. Desperation was clear in his eyes. This was his last hope before he will have to take a decisive choice.
Staring into the eyes of the beautiful woman, he couldn't see a speck of life in them as they continued to drag him out of the shadows.
"Elise… Don't let him control you like this." He said but again, no response from his dear companion.
"It's pointless! You aren't going to escape or save your little friends. It was never meant for that to happen."
"Shut up!"
"Did you really think that words could work on them?! Hahaha, did you assume your all-so-familiar and warm voice would reach their brains? How admirable!"
"I said shut up!"
Yelling, Rin couldn't do anything other than his only viable thing right now. The thing that although was his best bet from the start, was something that he didn't want to do.
*Swish*
As Cid was basking in the light of his own glory, the two hypnotized women that were half submerged in teh shadows were suddenly pushed back, exiting the darkness.
"Huh?!"
Then, quickly, the shadow moved toward the door.
"No! Don't let him escape!" Yelling at the top of his lungs, he forced Elise to stand up and then, he made her use her power… gravity manipulation.
Instantly, a crushing pressure weighed down on the whole place. It was as if a huge weight was put on Rin out of nowhere that halted him for a second.
"Ugh!" Rin felt his body being squashed even though he was inside the shadow domain. The reason for that is simple, even though shadows are technically not real objects but are the mere after-effect of light cast on an object. So, they can't be touched, sensed, or used in any form, normally that is.
But, this is where Rin's power comes into the equation. His power basically turns these conceptual things into something real, something that could be touched or sensed.
So, while entering that world protects him from most things in this world, it won't protect him from worldly laws. One of the worldly laws is gravity itself.
'S-She really grew stronger…' Rin didn't know whether to laugh or cry at how absurd this situation is.
Elise, the person he trusted the most in this world, was attacking him with the intent of harming him. He had never thought a day will come when he will have to face her in a true fight.
'I won't forgive him…'
Anger welled up in his heart as it rose higher and higher than he ever felt before. Then, with sheer strength, he broke through the crushing power of gravity and quickly dashed out of the house.
"Follow him!" Cid shouted as he ordered Evelyn and Elise.ραпdα `n?ν?| сom
Meanwhile, he quickly tried to use his power on Rin to hypnotize him. Even though this wasn't a very favorable thing to do. Not only would that make him unable to ask questions from Rin, but he would also be unable to return him to his conscious form unless he does that for everyone else too.
'Dammit: He must not escape! The bearer of that power! I must know jow he got that power!'
However, the moment he tried to hypnotize Rin, he realized something…
'I can't… I can't control him… What the hell is this?!'
Even though Rin was still in his domain, Cid can't feel a connection with him as he does with everyone else. It was as if Rin didn't even exist in this place. There was not a single trace of his mana in the whole city.
'Is it because he has the power of that person? Dammit, this is bad! He mustn't run! He might be my only way of returning home!'
Rin's shadow quickly moved toward an alley near the house. His speed was quick but since he was being followed by Evelyn and Elise.
Their impressive agility made the chase basically all done for in a few seconds.
'No you won't!
Changing his direction, Rin entered a random house where Elise won't have the opportunity to hinder his escape.
Then, passing through, he exited from the other side with ease, something that took his two companions some time to do.
"Don't allow him to escape! Everyone!" Cid on the other side quickly ordered every single person inside the city to stop Rin at all costs.
Quickly, swarms of humans closed every route ahead of Rin. All of them were staring straight at him, with their arms extended to try and catch him.
The sight was as weird and ominous as it could get.
With great speed, Rin tried to move past all of the hypnotized citizens. WHile many would assume that doing this would be an easy task. However, the reality of things is that Rin had to use an unimaginable amount of mana to execute such a thing.
One of the traits of Rin's power is that it's attracted to shadows by nature. So, anytime he is inside the shadow realm, his powers turn into a gluttonous eater that wants to collect as many shadows as possible to make the domain bigger.
This meant that to not hinder his escape, Rin had to individually detach every shadow that gets connected to his shadow by default. Now, multiply that task by tens or even hundreds and it becomes a chaotic mess that could fry the brain of a normal person if they tried to do it too.
By the time Rin was out of this maze of shadows, his mana was already depleted greatly and exhaustion was starting to take over his body.
But, not even a few hundred meters away from him were Elise and Evelyn who were still chasing him relentlessly.
'You owe me a dinner after the end of all of this, Elise!'
Eventually, Rin reached the gates of the city and passed through. Following him, Elise and Evelyn finally stopped and didn't continue further.
'So they can't leave the domain even for a second? Good to know.' Rin thought as he noted down this small detail in case he needed it.
But, just to be safe, he only stopped his run when he reached the woods nearby. The moment he made sure no one is following him, he exited the shadow and laid down on the ground, breathing heavily as if he just finished a two-day marathon of continuous running.
His face was glistening with sweat and his eyes were wide from sheer exhaustion.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… The worst had happened. Fuck!"
Cursing his bad luck, Rin pulled out a mana potion and chugged it down quickly.
His eyes went back to the city and he could only feel even more anger and frustration rise in his heart.
For this seemingly simple mission to turn into a huge mess like this one, it was truly laughable.
"How am I even going to face Elise and Evelyn again… They can easily beat me."
Fighting both of them or even Evelyn alone was something he must evade at all costs. His only target can only be the mastermind… Cid himself.
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