Vrooom!
The vehicle sprinted at 150 kilometers per hour.
Even though the forest was dark, slowing down was not an option.
However, Timothy looked like something bothered him. "Did you see that? These people just came out of a freaking portal, so why are they fine?!"
He was suspecting that Adam's theory might have been wrong.
The wind pressure was too strong since the car had no rooftop, so only Brondon heard what he said.
"There are exceptions he said! I think that those armors are not for decorations!" Brondon replied.
But Timothy wasn't even half convinced. He was constantly bothered by the feeling that he might have abandoned Liu.
Still, they didn't know about the existence of Corruption: A twisted form of primordial particles that corrupt living beings.
This particle can cross every universe and corrupt the primordial particles that came in contact with it.
It was the root of all despair and misery, as well as the destruction of multiple universes.
And when Timothy and Brondon were talking about the nature of Lupic and Louis...
"You have something interesting here!"
...Lupic appeared behind them, squatting on top of the vehicle.
"Wha?"
Timothy reacted quickly but when he looked back there was no one there.
"I am taking this!"
Lupic was already standing on top of the container that was on top of Yelena, Brondon, and Timothy's lap.
Feldenis and Ma?ra were in the first compartment of the vehicle.
Out of reflex, after sensing the danger, Timothy and Yelena launched an attack simultaneously.
Drizzz!
Fwoosh!
However, they didn't hit anything and instead, it was their power that collided, causing an explosion.
Boom!
This caused Feledenis to lose control of the vehicle and it crashed on the tree's root.
Crash!
Fortunately, Brondon managed to protect everyone using his power to cushion the impact by creating a wall of sand.
"Pouf!" Timothy spat out the sands in his mouth.
"What just happened?" Feldenis asked.
"On your guard!!" Yelena shouted and jumped off the car.
Her companion instantly understood her instruction.
Brondon held the container and everyone formed a circle.
Yelena created fireballs to illuminate the surrounding because the darkness of the forest didn't help at all.
"He is still around! Open your eyes wide." Yelena said.
However, before anyone could react...
"Mmm, too bad for you. You should have just fled without this!"
Lupic's voice came from behind Brondon.
"Kuh!"
Lupic had stabbed Brondon with a dagger and crimson red liquid overflowed out of his side.
"Brondon!"
Before they realized what was happening, Lupic was already gone.
They didn't know about the nature of Lupic's power, but after this, they had a rough idea.
Teleportation.
Brondon fell to his knees. He was a tough man, but his face became pale.
He managed to hold the container, but his wound was critical.
"We need to stop the bleeding!" Feldenis shouted. "Ma?ra, help me!"
Feldenis was more or less prepared for a case like this but it didn't change the fact that Brodon was out of the fight.
Ma?ra and Feldenis tried to apply the first basic treatment.
However, Lupic was not so kind as to wait for them to save their friend.
Yelena bit her lip and urged Timothy. "Timothy, use your power to create a barrier around us!"
"I know that! However, can a barrier stop that guy? He must be a teleporter." Timothy answered.
He put up a barrier made by condensed lighting energy.
After hearing Timothy's remark Yelena frowned. "If he is a teleporter then this going to be difficult."
Timothy and Yelena knew about the existence of a particular gift known as teleportation.
Even among particular gifts, some were extremely particular.
Most of these extremely particular gifts were related to time and space. There were also those related to the mind.
For example, a form of space manipulation was Teleportation.
This was not a good situation for Yelena and Timothy who had yet to awaken their domain.
Yelena was already a level 8 and Timothy a level 7, but among them, only Liu could create her domain.
Yelena aimed to prevent Lupic from teleporting near them.
She activated her power and crimson red flames enveloped her body.
Then, the energy generated by the fire particles was condensed into a fire armor that looked like a Valkyrie's.
With this power, Yelena became a walking volcano.
And even though she couldn't create a perfect domain yet, her power could affect the immediate surrounding.
This meant that she could unleash her power even if it didn't come out directly from her body.
As for Timothy, he did the same as Yelena but like every level 7 gift holder, his control was still lacking.
After seeing Yelena and Timothy unleash their power, Lupic appeared out of nowhere again and made a very sarcastic comment. "Ouuuu! Scary, scary."
"Bastard!! I will kill you!!" Timothy shouted.
It seemed like he finally lost it for good. "First, Liu, and now Brodon? I will kill you!" Timothy added.
Lupic wasn't bothered by Timothy's words at all. "Mmm, that's a very interesting idea coming from a bug. Okay, show me what you've got. I hope you last for 5 minutes because I need to go after that."
Lupic's comment suggested that he was just a cat who played with some mice.
He didn't take Timothy and Yelena seriously because he was confident that he could beat them any time.
"F*cking sh*t!!!" Timothy yelled. Anger was apparent on his face, knowing that Lupic was mocking them.
"Enough talk!!" Yelena said, and dozen of spears of fire appeared behind her.
Swoosh!
The spears of fire darted towards Lupic.
However, not even a single one managed to graze him.
Yelena's attack just caused explosions all over the area without inflicting damage to Lupic.
It was not because Yelena's control was bad, Lupic was just too unpredictable and he could move from one place to another instantly.
"Die!!" Timothy shouted.
While Lupic was distracted by Yelena's attack, Timothy prepared his card.
It was a chain of lightning kind of attack.
It connected multiple condensed spheres of lighting and formed an area where the energy generated by the lighting was contained.
This was an attack aimed to trap Lupic, so wouldn't be able to avoid it, unless he teleported far from the area.
Drizz! Boom!
*****
Brondom was about to lose his consciousness.
He felt like his body was getting heavier and he felt cold.
Pieces of memory from a time when he was not yet with Liu and the others resurged in his mind.
"Hey, Dad, do you think that the foods in these pictures exist? How do they taste?"
A fifteen years old boy who had silver hair, pointy ears, dark skin, and a skinny body covered with ragged clothes looked up to Brodon. He was rather small for his age.
This boy wore a particular-looking collar on his neck, his wrists, and his ankles.
"Yes, they do. One day, we will eat them together. Hahaha." Brandon replied and stroked the boy's head.
"Really? I can't wait. It's a promise, right?" The boy replied, with a bright smile on his face.
This smile made Brondon hesitate a bit before continuing. "Yeah, we will not stay like this forever."
It was not an exaggeration to say that Brondon was a slave.
Their hometown was destroyed due to some political conflict involving Lords who wanted to expand their territory and their influence.
This was not something rare in this world, but the Empire didn't include such a thing in the history books.
The winner write the story, and no one wanted to be seen as a villain.
Brondon promised his son that they would eat real food together after they were freed.
But that day never came...
His son died of malnutrition.
Brondon lost all hope after that. He was freed after years of enslavement, but living was just too painful for him.
He wanted to kill himself...
Brondon and his peers were freed because it seemed like a new Lord was appointed to manage their planet.
Then, this Lord sent an envoy to assess the situation on the planet, and this envoy was Liu.
Liu met Brondon who was about to jump from a cliff and handed him a few dumplings without saying anything.
After that, she walked away.
Brondon was puzzled by Liu's action, but after he took a bite from the dumpling, tears dropped from his eyes.
It was the taste that he always described to his son.
He only felt this taste once in his life when someone from a very far away planet came to his hometown.
Brondon didn't know it but the people who were enslaved with him told Liu about his bravery and what he did to give them courage during these dark times.
Brodon kneeled in front of Liu and offered all of his gratitude.
After that, he offered to come with Liu and serve her even if he only carried her luggage.
But Liu said. "It's your choice. You are free."
Brondon cried two times for the first time in his life.
The situation wasn't even that grandiose or extremely dramatic.
Liu just treated him and his son with respect, and that was enough for someone who lived inside of a stone room for many years.
'Can I see Miss Liu again?' Brodon thought as Feldenis tried to stop his bleeding.
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