97 Chapter 97: The center of the world!

A tear in the space revealed a revitalized Derik who walked out boldly not giving hell about the current situation in the moonlight forest. Even this was not the actual gate of hell, it was still a space that led to the underworld, therefore death aura poured out as well, agitating the already crazed beasts even further. To his greatest surprise, he expected a little resistance from the horde of crazed beasts but to his greatest surprise that didn't happen. The beasts ignored him completely as if he was one of their own. Derik failed to understand how it happened but he chose not to ponder on the matter much and dashed forward towards the center of the world. With his increased speed, agility, and stamina granted to him by his werewolf side, Derik was able to pass through the moonlight forest which was over a hundred kilometers in less than 6 hours. By the time be arrived, his body tight black sleeveless shirt was already drenched in sweat, since he was the only one present, he took the time to recover and examine the location thoroughly. Past the moonlight forest is the center of the world which surprisingly is adorned with multiple stone sculptures. These sculpture portrayed eight mighty figures, bowing to a giant of a man shoes facial features were not portrayed in the sculpture. His eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on the sculpture of a familiar man who held a scythe in his hands while bowing. A broad smile appeared on his face as everything began to make sense to him. "Demos... That's you... Right? Who are the others and the man at the center?" Derik asked. "Yes... You are correct... The others are my colleagues... My fellow guardian spirits and I'm pretty sure you also had your suspicions and the man at the center is the creator " Demos responded immediately. Getting the reply he sort, Derik decided not to waste much time on the sculptures anymore and quickly shifted his attention to the massive darkish blue spatial rift on a high stone platform which gave out some sort of foreign aura. Not bothering to think this through, Derik shot forward like an arrow, throwing himself into the spatial rift without a second thought. The crazed high level beasts of the moonlight forest were greatly troubling the expedition troops of the four kingdoms in Aldemar... The least he can do now is take advantage of this head start and explore the dungeon before the various forces of the four kingdoms arrive... Inside the spatial rift, Derik felt like he was been pulled by an unknown force to the other end of the dark tunnel. During this trip that barely lasted a second, Derik felt nauseated. This reminded him of the same way he felt when the kingdom guardian, Kalos transported them to the palace where the team was punished and imprisoned after their short battle with team Gyro, led by Kuen Gyro. His vision blurred for over five seconds, even after he had exited the portal and when he regained his vision, he was stunned by what he saw. It was more of a maze, with so many structures and different points to follow, having over ten starting points. He knew this was probably meant to separate all the forces from different kingdoms to avoid unnecessary conflict. His eyes narrowed and the though of destroying the walls as he moved came across his mind but then Demos's voice echoed in his head"Do not release your power! Don't let them feel your aura... You may have the advantage of starting first but the fact remains that if the beasts here get as much as a hint you are here... You will be attacked and soon swarmed by all the beasts present in the first level of the dungeon!" Demos warned with a serious tone. Derik nodded instantly, pushing away the thoughts of breaking through the walls. He ransacked his brain, thinking of an easier way to do this. "This... Do you have a better idea?" Derik asked with a bitter smile on his face when he realized he had nothing in mind. "Derik... There is no short cut to power... Well, there are but in this case, there isn't!... Most people spend months here, running in circles but you have me here with you... With my help, you won't have to run in circles... You will definitely get there before the other expedition troops of the various kingdoms..." Demos tried to cheer Derik up. "Doesn't that mean the Gyro kingdom expedition troops will definitely catch up to me as well since they have a guardian spirit on their side as well... With Cyrus' help... They won't meet much trouble then" Derik sighed. "Then we both know you don't have time to fool around... Get going already!" Demos roared in his head.Not wasting any more time, Derik dashed forward to the path right in front of him. The maze was just made old brown walls filled with moss, even though only darkness could be seen above, the maze was lit up by an unknown source of light. Along the way, Derik relied on his keen sense of smell granted to him by his wolf side, to avoid most enemies. The few he couldn't avoid, he simply chose to outrun them. He initially planned to leave claw marks on places so as not to move in circles, but this plan was thrown aside by Demos who reminded him that other teams that may end up following the same path, may also make use of this method to quickly catch up to him. With no other choice, he kept moving only depending on Demos for guidance. Even though there is no such thing as day and night, Derik still rested occasionally and fed on the food resource stored in his storage ring. Whenever he slept, Demos took the initiative to alert him whenever danger was lurking nearby. According to Demos, it has been a week since he entered the spatial rift and the expedition troops of the various kingdoms had already cleared out the beasts in the moonlight forest. Each side suffering great losses! Demos warned him of the impending danger if he doesn't increase his travel speed. With that said, Derik worked more and rested less. With the presence of multiple expedition troops of the various kingdoms, sounds of battles and clashes echoed all over the maze, so Derik didn't have to bother much about revealing his magic power. Whenever he wasn't traveling, he spent the time understanding the new changes on his spells brought by his breakthrough into the bronze realm. With this, his proficiency in his spells rose and his overall strength increased as well. As per Demos' instructions, he stopped avoiding all monsters and practiced through battles with monsters which posed no threat to him. With this done, his aura was made known to everyone stuck in this maze and they instantly knew the person responsible for their misfortune was in the moonlight forest was there with them. They were all eagerly waiting for the day they will meet face to face with the man responsible for the death of their comrades and vowed to take their revenge on him. Unknown to them, the person they assumed was a top tier master was only a fifteen year old kid with the cultivation level of low grade bronze realm hybrid. Yes! Just like Gerald, Derik chose to base his strength on the combined might of his archery skills and magic power to create a magic Archer. In fact, at a point he began training on his werewolf side, trying to create his own techniques and combining this supernatural ability with his death magic. The truth remains that those who choose to follow the hybrid cultivation path end up advancing in realms at a slower pace but they are considered almost invincible to people in the same realm with them, defeating foes a grade above them effortlessly. In the blink of an eye, a month has passed, During the month, Derik had finally made it through the mazes and now found himself in a narrow passageway. Due to the fact that some unknown force was preventing Demos from watching the opposing teams for him, he could barely tell how much progress they have made. He could only hope that he wouldn't encounter any so early on the second floor of the dungeon. His body shot forward and with sheer speed, Derik was nearing the other end of the narrow corridor but his advance was stopped when he met something he only read about in books of folktales. Standing over two meters tall with the head of a bull and a massive golden ring stuck in its nose, this beast had in its hands a massive war ax which Derik was pretty sure would shred him into pieces if he collided with it. A bull with the stature of a man and massive war ax in its hands, just great. They didn't even bother giving him enough room to battle the Minotaur, how could things possibly get worse? He considered luring the beast outside this narrow corridor but then the entrance was shut by a massive wall that had so many magic runes on it and then the wall started moving forward slowly. At this point, Derik simply drowned in despair! Not only did the entrance get shut but it began moving closer slowly, limiting the fighting space even further. He considered trying to blow the way away but his attention was stolen by the deep, creepy voice of the Minotaur behind him. "Puny human... Hmph! This will be over in seconds!" The minotaur roared and dashed forward. Its massive body left to room for escape and there was no path of retreat from behind! Not to mention the beast was getting faster by the second! It seemed as if it was gathering momentum as it moved, getting faster with time. While hurling curses at his bad luck Derik threw his hand into the empty air and began chanting, "Ooo power of death, grant thy servant thy power and lend thee thy strength... Give me the power to vanquish all those who stand against thy power of death and by the end of this day, thy heads shall hang on the tip of thy spear… Death magic: Bone spear!!!" Derik roared and dashed forward. A cloud of death energy gathered on his right hand and took the form of a bone spear, His purple fiery eyes burned brighter than ever as he arrived and struck at the massive war ax which was sent swinging at him with his bone spear. Boooom!!! Like a cannon, his body was sent flying back for over 10 meters before rolling on the ground a few times. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stared at the minotaur in disbelief wondering how he was going to beat a beast that possessed such godly physical endowment!. His right hand trembled greatly as sounds of broken bones mending themselves could be heard quite loudly in this confined space. The Minotaur on its own part was only forced to move back by one step, it stared at Derik in disbelief and a glint of respect shone in its eyes. "A little human like yourself was able to stop my advance... I'm impressed... It's unfortunate you will die today!" It sneered and dashed forward again. This time Derik was desperate, the stone door that covered his only path of retreat was only 5 meters away limiting his fighting space even further. With no space to maneuver, he could only depend on his strength to beat this monster. "At times like this, logic won't help... You were blessed with powers of a werewolf, for once just let loose and enjoy the thrill of battle like all predators do..." Demos finally spoke after analyzing the situation for a while. Hearing this, Derik nodded in agreement called forth all the strength and speed of a werewolf. At this point he had no space and time to strategize, he could only rely on his animal instincts for once. Seeing the change in Derik's appearance, the Minotaur was shocked but didn't stop charging forward, but what happened next completely terrified it making it stop charging forward. "Death magic: Death empowerment!!!" Derik roared and his body was soon shrouded in a thick mist of Death aura. His fiery purple flamy eyes lit up in the darkness and a menacing smile could be seen even in the mist.Roar!!!!!Derik's roar shook the narrow corridor and his death aura speed forth. Those who bore evil intentions of vengeance began to rethink their plans and even silver realm warriors and mages frowned at this.