Snake Girl and Escape
‘What’s going on? Isn’t she the leader of the organization?’ The Elias Governor doubtfully looked at the snake girl, only to find that she was similarly perplexed.
‘It doesn’t matter, the first task is to capture her! Those who try to insult our master’s glory must be punished!’ The governor would not have reached rank 4 as a Sacrificer if he didn’t worship the Nefarious Filthbird so fervently.
However, how could Leylin really allow him to make a move?
‘In any case, he is still a rank 4 elite from the Nefarious Filthbird’s group, so it won’t be possible to just take him down in one strike…’ The power of dreamforce spells was amplified to an alarming extent by the array, like charcoal being transformed into diamond, “Rank 4 dreamforce spell— Distorted Labyrinth!”
Dreamforce surged out violently to create an enormous labyrinth which enveloped the governor and the three Morning Stars who were assisting him. The walls rumbled under impact, and the Nighthawk’s cry could be heard as the dreamforce labyrinth began to morph and warp.
“Let’s go! I can’t trap them for too long!” Leylin transformed into a black hurricane that swallowed the girl up. Even though he’d conjured the spell himself, it was being sustained by the dreamforce the girl had summoned and not much remained. Leylin was not certain of how long it would last, so it was necessary to quickly flee the scene.
The snake girl’s scarlet eyes flashed as she sensed the bloodline power within Leylin, and she did not resist. The dark hurricane screamed with destructive power, drawing life force from the miscellaneous fish along the way. Only mummified corpses were left behind.
As they continued on, there were still some who tried to stop them. Soon, however, they disappeared into the horizon.
*Bang!* *Rumble!* After ten seconds, a great amount of lightning appeared above the dark red labyrinth. Shortly after the lightning struck down, and the elated chirp was let loose by the gigantic hawk.
*Crash!* The entire labyrinth fell apart, exposing the silhouettes of the flustered Elias Governor and his companions, “Chase after them and send out a warrant! Do not let that woman escape!”
The Elias Governor’s eyes had reddened and even his voice had become hoarse, frightening the surrounding bodyguards into chilly silence.
……
‘The Purgatory World seems to be different from the Magus World. The atoms’ chemical bonds seem to be sturdier. Consequently, more power is needed to manipulate them.’ Leylin was thinking of what had happened before when he used his full magic power as he ran away with the girl.
Ever since he had snuck into the Purgatory World, he had always maintained an extremely low profile. He had previously used the Metal Activation spell formation once, and that remained the only time he had used such a large-scale spell in this world.
‘This is worse than before, the physical laws here are even more severe. While the power of spells has decreased, the cost to activate them has instead increased.‘
Leylin looked at the A.I. Chip as it projected the newest results into his memory bank.
[Beep! Based on on-site detections and theoretical experiments, all levels of magic from the Magus World are weakened by 89% in the Purgatory World!]
‘This weakening effect is very strong. Could it be that the Purgatory World didn’t allow entry to other strength systems in ancient times?’ Thinking of this other idea, Leylin ordered the A.I. Chip, ‘A.I. Chip, search the database. Find the most suitable strength system for the Purgatory World’.
[Beep! Mission established. Scanning.] The A.I. Chip found the answer immediately.
[Based on simulations, the two most suitable power systems are: 1. Path of Sacrifices 2. Beast Spirit Magic.]
Leylin wasn’t surprised by the results, he had already guessed this outcome, ‘As expected, these are the most suitable systems. They seem to be the Purgatory World’s most fundamental paths.’
As a result of differing world laws, every world had its own unique points and paths to power.
This inspection made it clear that the path of sacrifices and beast spirit magic were the most suited to the Purgatory World.
‘It looks like I’ll have to rigorously train to a high realm in both methods…’ Leylin stroked his chin in thought. Although he was restricted by the Allsnake Curse, it only affected his bloodline force. While it was still a weakness, the curse had no effect on other paths to power.
“Fireplume!” Leylin called out, and a ball of black flames appeared in his hand.
“Multilimb Strength!” The phantom of a Multi-Armed Race member appeared behind Leylin, boosting his strength. These other cultivation methods were what had allowed Leylin to retain strength at Morning Star even after his bloodline force was sealed.
His bloodline force, however, was the main source of his strength. If the Allsnake Curse was not removed, he would be drained until he fell. Even if he encountered success with other power systems, the outcome was still set in stone.
Since he chose the path of bloodline as his main path, he had even let his own soul be affected by the bloodline. Consequently, other paths could only be considered the icing on top of the cake.
‘As expected, the Purgatory World will suppress the strength of those from other worlds.’ Leylin’s expression became gloomy. Dreamforce was another usable source, but its intensity was unpredictable. Therefore, Leylin did not hold many expectations towards it.
‘My bloodline force has been sealed, so I can only rely on other methods. When these other methods reach their highest realm, I will probably be able to use them to remove the Allsnake Curse.’
Leylin steeled his resolve, ‘The A.I. Chip will allow me to quickly advance in rank. The paths of sacrifice and beast spirit magic are of the utmost importance, and Fireplume and dreamforce come afterwards.’
As for Multilimb Strength, the original information that Leylin had gotten was extremely lacking. Even with A.I. Chip’s calculations, it had hardly improved. Thus, Leylin decided to abandon it as it could at most serve as support.
By this time, the snake girl had opened her eyes. She said in a frigid voice, “Put me down!”
“This place is over 300 nautical miles away from Port Elias, it should be safe for the time being!”, Leylin shrugged as he stopped on a barren island. The black hurricane disappeared, exposing both their silhouettes.
Only now did Leylin have the time to carefully size up the snake girl.
She had long, snow-white hair and scarlet pupils. The white scales on her face were patterned, giving her a distinct aura but not seeming sinister. These features paired well with her air of superiority, giving her a unique charm.
‘It appears as though all bloodline descendents of the Snake Dowager have this characteristic, with charm to spare! Could it be that she specialises in illusion techniques?’ Leylin was left speechless. The A.I. Chip, however, had had enough time to collect information.
[(Unknown Name), Snake Girl. Sex: Female, Paternal Bloodline: Alabaster Devilsnake (Mixed), Maternal Bloodline: Unknown (deduced to be a humanoid species) Strength: 79, Agility: 50, Strength: 65 Spiritual Force: 463, Soul Force: 46. Passive Abilities: 1. Illusory Forcefield: Shrouds the area around the body in a layer of illusion forcefield, lifeforms with spiritual energy below 200 cannot resist, losing their free will. 2. Dreamscape Attraction: The Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline possesses the ability to draw dreamforce.]
The A.I. Chip very quickly projected the snake girl’s image and specific data.
‘Morning Star realm. This snake girl’s stats are actually pretty good.’ Leylin nodded his head surreptitiously as his thoughts hovered around the ‘Mixed’ tag.
‘Even though her bloodline is of a Rank 5 creature, it is clearly not concentrated. It can’t even match the one I embedded in my Mask. No wonder I don’t feel any suppression whatsoever from her and her ability to attract dreamforce is so weak…’
‘But the ability to connect to Dreamscape is worth more intense research,’ although he already possessed a number of Dreamscape spells, he had reached a bottleneck when it came to using dreamforce. The appearance of an Alabaster Devilsnake, however, gave him hope to resolve this issue.
This rank 5 species had inherited the Snake Dowager’s talents in controlling dreamforce, to the point of being able to connect to Dreamscape. This ability was very useful to Leylin.
The most crucial point was that he now had in his grasp the pure bloodline of a rank 5 Alabaster Devilsnake.
‘Although dreamforce isn’t reliable, it is still useful as a contingency plan. This girl doesn’t seem to have the ability to travel to and from Dreamscape, but she might be able to give me some inspiration,’ Leylin shamelessly observed the girl, making her feel rather angry.
“Are you done looking at me?”, the snake girl snorted coldly.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to treat a clansman and your saviour like this,” Leylin smiled slightly, “After all, without me intervening I’m afraid you would not have escaped the Elias Governor’s hands.”
“So what?”, the snake girl appeared to be unyielding, “I clearly warned you to run away, so why did you not leave immediately?”
