Chapter 1465 You Cannot Take Him Author's Note: Do Not Unlock Yet --------------------- "Karis, tell me where the Rion is," he demanded, his voice echoing slightly in the memory-filled void. Karis lifted her weary eyes to meet his, a spark of defiance still burning within. "I can't tell you, Thalos. I won't let you destroy what I've planned." Thalos's frustration was palpable, but he masked it quickly and tried a different angle. "Why deny me of my share? This was never the plan so stop being selfish." Karis shook her head slowly, her voice soft but firm. "The Nereus Sector cursed me. It made me a criminal. I blame this place for the loss of my child. I won't let anyone else suffer as I have. What I'm doing with the Rion... will make sure nothing like this is repeated. Just leave the Nereus Sector for your own sake." Thalos scoffed as his patience wore thin. "Tell me where the Rion is, Karis. This is not a game." Her resolve hardened as she repeated her refusal. "No, Thalos. I must finish what I started." At that moment, Thalos burst into laughter, a sound that seemed jarringly out of place in the somber atmosphere. Karis stared at him, confusion and surprise written across her face. Thalos, catching his breath, waved his hand dismissively. "I don't need you to tell me, Karis. Look around you." As he spoke, the memories swirling around them began to shift. The images of past tragedies and struggles faded, replaced by more recent memories. Karis watched, horror-struck, as scenes of her arrival in the Nereus Sector with the Rion played out around them. The memories showed where she had headed, whom she had contacted, and even where she had hidden the Rion—all displayed vividly in the shimmering dimension. Karis's eyes widened with realization and dread. "How...?" Thalos's smile was thin and cold. "You see, Karis, the mind, no matter how strong, starts to crack under constant reliving of grief. It opens doors, makes it easy to navigate to the memories I want to see. Your plan, your contacts, the Rion's location—I know it all now." Karis felt a chill run down her spine as the implications of Thalos's words sank in. Her last defense had been breached, her secrets laid bare not by torture or threats, but by her own memories. Thalos continued, his voice now a whisper that seemed to fill the space. "You thought you could outsmart everyone, didn't you? Use the Rion to your satisfaction? But you're just a pawn, Karis. And now, I hold the board." Karis, now realizing the extent of her vulnerability, felt a mixture of anger and desperation. "You think you've won, Thalos?" Thalos nodded slowly, his expression serious. "Yes, I have. And I will. The Rion will be mine, and with it, I will choose to do whatever I please." As the revelation hung heavy between them, Karis's mind raced for solutions, ways to salvage her plan. But with every option seeming to slip through her fingers, her situation felt increasingly hopeless. Thalos, satisfied with the shock and defeat on Karis's face, began to fade from the dimension, his parting words echoing around her, "Goodbye Karis." ---sss "I cannot let you take him," Gustav stated while grabbing the unconscious clone. However, in the next moment, a star-patterned construct appeared around the body, causing it to vanish. "Sorry but you can't stop me," Mack responded while the unconscious body appeared beside him in mid-air. 'Damn it!' Gustav gritted his teeth before leaping into the air. Thwwoosshhh~ Heavy wind blasted in every direction as the ground of the forest cracked and trees swayed to the side from the intensity of Gustav's speed. Mack who had already turned away to leave was taken by surprise as the figure in the fox-like mask who he didn't know was the real Gustav, appeared beside him in just a split second. Gustav immediately reached out to grab the clone protected by the triangular star-shaped construct and from the corner of his eye he caught the slight astonishment on Mack's face. However, Mack was much faster as he pulled the floating unconscious clone away and thrust his right palm forward. Bang! Gustav was met with a violent clash as his entire body was sent flying across the air upon collision. "Don't push me," Mack warned after attacking with no intent to inflict gracious injuries. He turned around and flew forward with the floating unconscious body beside him but didn't get very far before a red streak blazed across the sky. 'Looks like I might need to knock him out...' Mack decided while turning around swiftly. Gustav's figure appeared right before him with his arm outstretched once more. "Space construct" Mack chimed before Gustav could make contact. Triangular star-shaped enclosures suddenly appeared around Gustav's figure and he instantly found himself unable to move. 'Damn it...' The space left Gustav completely incapacitated. There was only one way he knew he could get out of it but he couldn't go through with it because he would be risking exposing his identity. "Chaos construct..." Mack voiced while pointing at the sky. A massive, glowing, purplish circle with multiple triangular shapes covered the sky and blotted the view of the entire sun. Gustav was frozen in place but he could sense the incredible pressure from the sky. In the next instant, a powerful torrent of purplish energy rained from the sky like a waterfall. It charged downwards with immense speed and power, slamming into Gustav's frozen figure. Bang! it rained down upon the forest which was as large as a town, racing everything in view to the ground. The fire was unable to breed because, in just a second, the entire vicinity was turned into a charred wasteland. The trees were gone along with rocks, grasses, highlands, mountains, and almost every atom in view. All that remained in view was a massive, darkened surface with molten lava in some areas. "Judging by your strength, that won't be enough to kill you but at the very least you won't be a nuisance anymore," Mack said before turning away once more and flying into the distance. "Those geezers better not complain about the destruction, tch," He grumbled. Down beneath the pile of ash and molten liquid, a figure sprouted out of the surface with a sizzling cooked flesh. Reddish marks could be seen all over his burnt skin and hair as he raised his face to stare at the sky. "Powerful indeed..." The figure voiced with a tone of aspiration. "You've done it now," He added while his body began to visibly regenerate at very insane speed. Silver scales started appearing all over his body as the space around him twisted and violent winds stirred. Horns protruded from his head as energy gathered around him and he ascended from the surface of the decimated environment. Thrrihhhh~ His figure suddenly vanished like he teleported and in the next instant, a loud ripping sound rang out heavily. Grrrhhhhhhh~ The surroundings quaked with intensity as a massive line was torn in the skies. People across multiple cities in the world looked up to the sky and could see the line that cut across it. Their faces were fraught with clueless expressions but the sound wave that came next, made them cover their ears in horror. THRRRAAAHHHHHHHH! It sounded like a thousand thunderbolts merged into one, ringing before each person's ear. Some of them already had blood leaking from their eardrums. They didn't know that what was coming next would be even worse. ~A few seconds earlier~ "Huh?" Mack turned in mid-air as he sensed something. "Nature cons…" Before he could complete his sentence, the skies ripped open with rifts appearing all over. BOM! It sounded like thousands of loud explosions went off as an incredibly quick streak rammed heavily into Mack. Both figures tore across the sky at such insane speed, that more rifts appeared in their wake. Mack was completely astounded as he tried to free himself from the figure that clung to him with unprecedented grip. "How are you still conscious?" Mack voiced as he held onto Gustav's arms and began slowly spreading them. When he noticed he was losing hold, Gustav spun repeatedly and flung Mack away. Fwwhhiiiii! Mack found himself catapulting downwards at a speed that not a single mixed blood would be able to follow. Before he could try to stabilize himself, he slammed into the surface of an ocean, causing a massive torrent to blast upwards. Boooomm~ It was as though another explosion had gone off as Mack hit the bottom of the ocean instantly. A cyclone was generated as a radius of more than fifty thousand feet was cleared of water and walls of ocean waves spread to other areas. Mack broke through the ocean bed and continuously kept falling further underground from the force of the throw. The clone's unconscious body which still had triangular-shaped star constructs around it was flying toward the ocean when Gustav grabbed it forcefully. "Gotta put this in my personal space," He voiced with a struggling tone as he tightened his hand around the construct in a bid to break through it and retrieve the clone's body. Unfortunately, the construct seemed unbreakable despite the amount of pressure Gustav inflicted on it. 'I have no choice but to use it,' Gustav could only pray that it didn't get noticed as a stack of multicolored rhombuses phased out of his left palm area. Trrrihh~ "Just the construct," Gustav instructed. In the next instant, the construct was consumed by Cohilia, leaving Gustav's unconscious clone untouched. Gustav reached out to grab the clone before it could fall but before he made contact with it… Fwwiii~ A yellow streak came out of nowhere and snatched the clone from him. 'Damn it… I wasn't fast enough,' Gustav gritted his teeth. Mack had the clone in his grasp as he appeared hundreds of feet away from Gustav. "You… I cannot ignore your level of strength even though it is beneath mine. Someone as powerful as you are will not be able to go unnoticed since there are not a lot of mixed-bloods on this level of strength… who are you?" Mack questioned with a perceptible tone of interest. Although Gustav's demon fox-like mask had been disintegrated when Mack attacked earlier, one still couldn't tell how he looked at the moment. This was because Gustav activated Ultimate Combination, which had completely altered his human look. "I am nobody," Gustav answered with the same fake middle-aged voice he had been using all this time. "Who knows… I might just leave the kid to you if you revealed who you are," Mack grinned lightly while proposing. 'No you wouldn't,' Gustav said internally and he was right. Who in their right senses would let go of the original and a clone at the same time? "I will no longer take your acts lightly if you keep this up," Knowing he couldn't get Gustav to spill the beans, Mack warned heavily. "Just give him back and I will be out of your way," Gustav remained unyielding as well. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 "I can't do that," Mack stated. "Spac…" Before he could completely cast any ability, Gustav moved like a lightning bolt. Thrraazzhh! He arrived before Mack in an instant while throwing out a glowing icy fist. 'This will be very damaging if I don't evade or counter,' Mack was a bit faster but he knew he only had two choices at this moment since complete evasion while holding onto the clone was impossible. Fwhiii! He let go of the clone and raised his right arm to block Gustav's attack while arching his left arm backward to thrust a counter-palm strike at Gustav's gut. Booom! A loud crash that reverberated across the entirety of the earth rang out as Gustav's fists collided with Mack's arm. Mack's face barely displayed an affected look as his palm rammed into Gustav's knee at the same moment. Gustav had raised his knee to block the palm strike and now they had both hit each other with enough force to split the earth in two. BOOM! The entirety of the earth quaked intensely as they were both sent catapulting backward. 'He tricked me… that attack was much more powerful than I sensed.'