Chapter 291 - Side Story 2 He had discovered this a bit too late because just as he wanted to leave, the ground started vibrating. Vrrrhhhyyyyyyhhhhh! "Huh?" Gustav exclaimed as he noticed the ground started to split open in different places. [Sprint has been activated] Gustav activated sprint and dashed towards the forest area about three thousand feet away. He noticed that the ground was not only vibrating, but it also elevated, so he wasn’t interested in staying around to see what would happen next. Because, instinctively, he knew it was definitely going to be something he couldn’t handle. Gustav was right by running in the opposite direction because at this moment, his senses warned him of immense danger. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 As he dashed across the place, dodging the pile of stones placed on the ground in different spots, the ground behind him was splitting up in lines like they were chasing after him. The moment he was close to reaching the forest of trees up ahead, the head of a massive creature burst forth from underneath the ground. The creature’s head was rhombus-like in shape, whitish in color, with one massive eyeball in the middle of its head and another massive eyeball underneath its large mouth that happened to be in the middle of both eyes. Its head was full of weird wriggling whisker-like things that protruded out of its skin. As it shot out of the ground, the weird stones that were in a bunch around the place could be seen glued to its massive body that was like that of a snake. Its body skin was grey in color, and those bunch of stones were not actual stones. Instead, they were a part of its skin. The tip of these bunch of stone-like things opened up, and fumes of green gases oozed out of it. The creature was so massive that it would only need a single lunge to arrive before Gustav. Gustav only turned around to stare at it for an instant. In that instant, he scrutinized the creature’s features and turned back around to run at full speed. ’I can’t win against that,’ Gustav said internally as he activated combination. [Sprint + Dash] Zwwwoosshh! An air streak was cut across the place as Gustav’s body dashed through the forest of tall trees with immense speed. The creature stared in the direction of the forest as it noticed dust forming a long trail. Its two massive black eyes squinted as it opened its massive mouth that was in between. Swwwiii! The creature who had obviously noticed Gustav delved downwards towards his position. Ghrriii! Ghrriii! Ghrriii! Trees were uprooted from the ground as its head smashed into them while they moved. In almost an instant, it arrived behind Gustav, who had already gotten quite a distance away earlier. Luckily Gustav had already predicted this, so he was already descending. Vrroouuu! Gustav’s body descended, causing the creature to miss him as its body kept extending forward and was only a few centimeters above Gustav. "Uh?" Gustav noticed one of the pointy bunches of the stone-like objects on the creature’s body slashing towards him from ahead. The creature was still moving forward due to missing Gustav, but this stone-like object was heading towards Gustav, who was lying on the ground with immense speed. Grab! Gustav reached out and grabbed the rock as it arrived before him. Swwoooooosshh! He was lifted into the air, along with the large snake-like creature who started turning its snaky body around after missing Gustav. Gustav was lifted far into the air as the creature straightened its body to stare at the forest region again. A trail of destruction had already been left in its wake. From above, it could be seen that lots of trees had been separated from the ground, leaving a lot of space within the forest. The creature noticed Gustav holding onto its body through one of those bunch of pointy-like stones. Fwooommm! Green fumes of smoke shot out of the holes at the tip of the stone-like things on its body. The entire forest was suddenly covered in green smoke. Gustav hadn’t expected this. The moment the smoke was shot out, it covered his entire body and forcefully penetrated his nostrils. [Toxin Immunity has been overidden] [Host body functions has been paralyzed] Gustav lost control of his body as the smoke infiltrated every nook and cranny of his insides. He tried holding on, but he couldn’t. His fingers slipped from the stone-like objects, and he fell. Zwwwwoooonnn! His body descended from the sky at fast speed with no signs of movement. Swwiiiiihhh! The snake-like creature twirled its body around with fast speed and dashed towards Gustav’s descending body with its mouth wide open. Just as it, Gustav’s body was only a few inches from being gobbled up, a red flash of light suddenly appeared out of thin air above Gustav. The light formed a pair of red wings as a man putting on a mask emerged from it and grabbed Gustav, who was still falling through the air. He pulled Gustav into the light, and they disappeared together. [Paralysis will wear off in ten seconds] Gustav saw this notification the instant his sight cleared up. He noticed he was now in another part of the borders with a masked man. The masked man was about seven feet tall, clad in a long black cloak that covered the upper part of his body completely. His boots were also black in color. His entire frame was dark, and he looked quite menacing. Even the glow that surrounded him was a dark red one. "So, you finally revealed yourself," Gustav voiced out while still lying on the ground. The man squatted in front of Gustav and stared at him. You must have inhaled that gas which means you’ll be paralyzed for the next twelve hours... Are you not even scared of what I might do to you?" He said with a husky and low tone. "Nah... You have been watching since. If you wanted to do something to me, you’d have done that already," Gustav replied without a tone of worry. "Hmm... You are one weird kid, I’ll say," The man proceeded to ask before standing back up. "So, what did you want? Why have you been watching me? Who are you?" Gustav asked in quick successions while standing to his feet. "What? You’ve regained control of your body already?" The man asked with a tone of surprise.