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TOSDAG Chapter 26: Tumultuous Exploration
🕑 Added 2025-04-13 08:34:46 +0000 UTCThird Person P.O.V
Rocks fell around him as the grip on his ankle tightened even more, forcing a grimace of pain onto his face, but the worst came when he noticed the black chameleon begin to retract its tongue, trying to swallow him whole.
"You're not eating me, you stupid lizard!!" He shouted, pressing his palms against the tongue and ignoring the horrible, slimy sensation, he unleashed his ki.
"SCREEHHHH!!" The demonic beast screamed in pain, but instead of releasing Leek, its grip tightened further, making the Saiyan growl, clench his teeth, and shut his eyes against the agony.
"AAHHHH!!!" Leek roared in pain and fury too, expelling even more ki, burning the tongue that kept increasing the pressure on his leg.
But it was useless, though tongues were normally a sensitive body part, this one seemed strong enough, and the beast tolerant enough to pain, to keep its hold, applying enough pressure to make him feel like the muscles in his leg were about to burst, and his bones were on the verge of snapping.
At that moment, the chameleon beast crashed into one of the many stone bridges beneath them, the jolt made Leek halt his attack just as the sound of something splashing reached his ears, so he looked down and finally saw the end of the abyss that had intrigued him so much, but what he saw froze the blood in his veins.
The bottom of the abyss, where the attacking mole had fallen after destroying the bridge, was a massive pool of thick, bubbling black liquid, like tar.
The Saiyan watched as the mole thrashed upon submersion, trying to escape, but after a few moments, it sank completely.
Even from that distance, Leek could clearly smell the stench of the liquid, and with just one breath, he felt like vomiting everything in his stomach.
He did not want to fall in there, not just because he didn't know if it was poisonous, acidic, or unbearably hot, but also because he wasn't even sure if it was truly a liquid or a living creature.
After all, his ki sense told him the entire pool was technically "alive", though he couldn't gauge its power level, it was like trying to sense the planet itself, it was "alive" but not in the same way as him, the people in Glory City, or the demonic beasts.
There was no other way out, so the Saiyan decided to try using a technique he'd barely had time to practice.
150 meters.
He raised his hand and, pushing his focus to the limit, channeled his ki into his hand, trying to shape it, something far easier said than done, especially while gritting his teeth to keep from screaming at the pain in his leg.
120 meters.
The nauseating stench grew worse, almost breaking his concentration and making his eyes start to burn a little.
95 meters.
The ki cluster spread over his limb, but it flickered wildly around his hand, unable to hold a fixed form.
72 meters.
A chill ran down Leek's spine, his muscles tensed, and cold sweat broke out as he struggled to concentrate enough to execute the technique.
45 meters.
Then Leek stopped trying to control his energy; he knew he couldn't complete the technique under these conditions, so he switched to his next idea.
He stretched out his hand, aiming two fingers at the spot on the tongue where Ye Shuo had thrown the bottle of liquid.
23 meters.
"Swallow these fireworks!" He yelled, releasing all the ki he had been gathering.
11 meters.
The part of the tongue Leek pointed his fingers at swelled like a water balloon before exploding into a bloody mess.
"SCREEEECCKKKK!!!" The beast's pain-filled shriek lasted only a second before it plunged into the pool of black liquid, followed by the massive chunks of rock from the destroyed bridges.
Meanwhile, Leek, using the last remnants of his ki, hurled himself into one of the wall cavities to avoid being knocked into the black lake by the falling debris.
Landing on his side, the Saiyan covered his head as the collapsing debris shook the cave, destroying part of the entrance and triggering a minor cave-in that blocked the exit and cracked the stone walls.
The tremors continued for a few more seconds, only when Leek was sure no more rocks would fall did Leek lower his hands.
He stared at the now-sealed entrance, then sprawled out on his back, arms and legs spread, breathing heavily in relief at having avoided that foul-smelling black liquid.
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Third Person P.O.V
████████'s eyes widened in surprise as, through the black lake, he watched his target escape the trap he'd devised.
In his mind, he added more peculiarities to the list he'd compiled about this young man.
More power than initially estimated, but of an unknown type he'd never seen before.
What the boy had used did share some similarities with soul force, yet it was clearly something different, and this unfamiliar energy made it even harder to quantify his true strength.
Then there was the flight, something that he shouldn't have been capable of unless he were a Legend-rank spiritist or wielded an artifact enabling such an ability, and neither option seemed to be the right one in this particular situation.
But the strangest detail, without a doubt, was a part of the boy's body, a tail, something that ordinary humans shouldn't have.
Could he be a descendant of some clan tied to the Demonic Sect?
████████ considered the possibility but dismissed it after a few seconds, it was wildly improbable for several reasons.
First, no one with demonic blood would willingly collaborate with humanity, let alone risk their life for one, unless motivated by a prize enticing enough to ignore the urge to slit a human's throat.
Moreover, while the boy's energy was not exactly the same as the soul force, He also did not exude any kind of aura that resembled the innate one possessed by beings with demonic blood.
If anything, it was closer to lineages found among clans in the Draconic Ruins Realm, though ████████ couldn't pinpoint which one the boy belonged to.
"Mystery upon mystery, a puzzle to assemble, and answers to uncover." ████████ was intrigued.
Yet, as fascinating as this all was, he couldn't lose sight of his goal; the boy had avoided falling into the black lake, so now he'd need to lure him in another way.
Perhaps it was time for a more… direct approach.
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Third Person P.O.V
"Yeah, it seems that going out this way and finding a way to catch up with Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo won't be possible." After giving a couple of light taps to the pile of rocks blocking the entrance he'd come through, Leek shook his head several times while speaking in a slightly disappointed tone.
It wasn't that he wasn't able to make his way through the pile of rocks between him and the exit using his fists or energy attacks; the problem was that if he did something too drastic, it might cause a cave-in, and at minimum, such an action could collapse some tunnels and pathways, which would make his journey even more difficult or force him to take more "drastic" measures to find Huyan Xiong, Ye Shuo, and Hong Yue Mu.
While in the worst-case scenario, it could trigger a chain reaction leading to the complete collapse of this entire place, potentially killing everyone in these ruins, himself included.
And though this possibility was low, he didn't feel motivated enough to gamble with his life more than he already had by entering this place.
Having discarded that first option, the Saiyan chose the only remaining alternative.
Turn around and keep walking.
"I could really use some distraction in situations like these." The young man complained.
He knew it was somewhat foolish to wish for such a thing, especially considering he should remain highly alert to any noise or presence, as that might mean he was about to be attacked or, at the very least, being watched by a considerably powerful demonic beast.
But he didn't particularly like silence; he could ignore it completely to the point of forgetting about it when he was on the surface, like when he spent entire nights at the training grounds, where he could admire the stars and listen to the sounds of nature before sleeping, but that sense of tranquility didn't exist in a dangerous place like this.
Before, when he was with Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo, it had been more bearable because he wasn't alone, and though he could still sense their energies - just as he could sense what he believed to be Hong Yue Mu's, who now seemed considerably closer to him than to Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo, which was good news, it wasn't the same.
It reminded him somewhat of how he'd felt when he was just a soul, before ending up in this body and this world.
"Yeah, I definitely don't plan on returning to that place anytime soon, or even better, never." He said before covering his body with a layer of ki.
His reserves weren't completely full after escaping from that black chameleon, but he had a little over half, which was more than enough to move at a good speed without problems, and even if it weren't, this was no time to walk calmly in hopes of conserving and recovering energy.
"Looks like I'll have to push myself a bit harder." He said, as he ran, he expanded his ki sense as far as possible while maintaining maximum perceptual clarity.
He couldn't limit himself to 50 meters like before, after all, another unpleasant surprise from a particularly strong beast like that black chameleon wasn't on his wish list.
So this time he divided his attention between two equally important tasks:
The first: Reinforcing his body to move at the highest possible speed and fight if necessary.
The second: Using his ki sense to perceive as much of his surroundings as possible with the greatest clarity. This way, he wouldn't just know whether he was getting closer to or farther from his destination, but he'd also increase his chances of avoiding any unnecessary fights.
"Let's hope this is enough, because if it's not, I'll have to take drastic measures." He said to himself as he continued running.
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Third Person P.O.V
Huyan Xiong and Ye Shuo moved swiftly, not at their top speed, but at a steady pace, both following the trail of jade fragments on the ground, hoping to find Hong Yue Mu at the end of the path.
Now that Leek was no longer with them, avoiding demonic beasts would be trickier, so they decided to forgo subtlety and focus on their mission: finding both the Hong Yue family elder and the young Saiyan who had accompanied them.
This was especially true for Huyan Xiong, after all, the boy had saved him, and that wasn't even considering he'd soon become his son-in-law; the patriarch of Huyan family had no desire to tell his daughter that her betrothed had died while rescuing him.
"Huyan Xiong." Ye Shuo said, noticing the man accelerating further. "The boy said he'd find us, his energy detection is sharp enough for that, besides, he told us to keep going, clearly he's using Hong Yue Mu's position as the rendezvous point, right now you should focus on our task, not your worries"
"I know." After a few seconds and a deep calming breath, the Huyan family head replied more composedly. "It's just... it would be a bitter pill to swallow if something happened to him; my daughter asked me to protect him during this trip, how could I face her if he came to harm saving me instead?" He slowed back to match the Snow Wind elder's pace.
"Trust the boy." The older man added. "We saw him take down two Snow Wind Behemoth Lizards simultaneously; he won't fall easily." Ye Shuo said as he nodded to the man, he sincerely hoped they could find Leek.
In the time they had talked and interacted, the young man had earned his respect, not only for the power and potential that the Saiyan possessed, but also for his mentality.
He was certain Leek's presence could benefit both the Snow Wind family and Glory City as a whole.
So as he'd told Huyan Xiong, they could only rely on the boy's tenacity and strength to survive and find his way to Hong Yue Mu's location.
"Wait, look ahead." Huyan Xiong warned.
Ye Shuo's eyes narrowed as he spotted four Void Wolves dozens of meters ahead, peak Gold-rank beasts capable of temporarily turning their bodies into smoke to evade physical attacks.
No words were needed, both men instantly fused with their demon spirits, ready to eliminate the creatures and press onward.
#####
Third Person P.O.V
"Ugh, well, looks like my only option is to keep going this way." Leek grumbled as he turned right down a corridor after firing a concentrated ki blast at the ground.
He'd been speeding through these tunnels at full tilt for over twenty minutes now, and thanks to his ki sense, he'd managed to avoid paths occupied by peak Gold-rank beasts, sticking to routes with only three or four-star Gold-rank creatures at most.
This not only saved him time and energy, avoiding useless fights that would not gain him anything, but also helped him "mark" the most dangerous areas of this labyrinth, thanks to a simple ki blast fired quickly on the ground, leaving an X-shaped mark, making it clear which passages he avoided.
"Whoa." He skidded to an abrupt halt as his path ended with him in front of a circular hole about two meters wide.
"Ok, what the hell is this?" The Saiyan muttered, peering over the edge while extending his ki sense to detect any lifeforms below, and when nothing registered, he scratched his head, pondering his next move.
Gathering a small amount of ki in his palm, he created a tiny glowing orb and dropped it into the pit.
The light sank lower and lower until, after about fifteen seconds, it finally bottomed out and exploded with the power of a small firecracker, but emitted a light bright enough to illuminate what appeared to be some kind of room or hall.
"Okay, given the fall time, that's gotta be over a thousand meters deep, now... what should I do?"
Truthfully, he wasn't thrilled about jumping into a mysterious pit in a deadly dungeon.
What if he got cursed and had to crawl out through people's TVs?
"Yeah, maybe I should find another route that doesn't—!!" His ki sense suddenly screamed warnings as multiple presences barreled toward him from the path he'd just taken.
"Ten... no, twenty... wait, over thirty demonic beasts? Mostly peak Gold-rank with some Black Golds?!" Leek's voice showed his nervousness; given their speed and distance, the vanguard of this pack of demonic beasts would reach him in just under a couple of minutes.
He swallowed hard, weighing options, even if he channeled all his energy into a massive attack for the time it took them to reach him, he'd probably only take out maybe eight or nine peak Gold-rank beasts.
With them charging single-file, the front beasts would act as meat shields for those behind, optimistically, he might kill ten in one blow, but that'd still leave twenty-plus enemies, including three Black Golds.
"Goddammit!" Leek glared back at the pit. "Fine! But you'd better not curse me!" He shook a threatening finger at the pit.
"And you, horde of rejected mobs from some Souls game, go to hell!!!" He unleashed a barrage of ki blasts at the ceiling, and after three seconds of sustained fire, the structure began collapsing.
Hanging with half of his body already inside the pit, Leek continued shooting at the walls while holding himself up with one hand, until after a few more shots, the place finally collapsed as Leek dropped into the pit.
Soon, the entire passageway was buried in several tons of rock, and the rubble served as a barrier so that the pack of beasts would not follow the Saiyan through the pit.
X-X-X-X-X
The last 5 days I've been plagued by a horrible cold, and it's incredibly irritating to have a sore throat and fever while it's hot, I hope to get better soon.
Don't forget to vote in the poll posted for Legend-level members!
See you in the next chapter!
