Scolding to himself Rain looked up at the huge wolf that seemed to be grinning at him.
[Bloodline: Wanderer of the Cosmic Void (fully sealed) → (99% sealed)]
Even a single percentage of unsealing its bloodline allowed it to use an ability similar to high level magic, teleportation. It made Rain involuntarily remember its origins.
The race of these monsters originally only dwelled in one place, namely space.
But even for a race that was born and lived in space, they had incredible power and affinity with the cosmic element. There was even a legend that their ancestor was the God who created all the universes, for which they received the title of the first children of space.
And they lived up to that title, as their skill in controlling space was unrivaled, making them almost omnipotent in their native environment.
Then how did they get captured by the Academy?
As usual, defeating a strong monster required an even stronger monster. In this case, it was the principal of their academy, Ophelia.
She was one of the few people in this world who could enter space without being corroded by its cold and, thanks to her unique bloodline, stay there long enough to catch these monsters.
However, these monsters, along with their incredible talent in controlling space, had an innate unwavering pride that made them prefer to die rather than serve humans. Therefore, even with her power, Ophelia was unable to subdue them and only had to seal their cultivation and bloodline to use them only as rift cores.
It didn't allow them to utilize their full potential, but these seals ensured that no one would be torn to pieces by these monsters.
And now that seal began to fall from the rift master in front of him, gradually allowing it access to its true power once more. It was not easy to deal with it before, but now it might be even more difficult.
'Why did this happen so much sooner than it did to the hero?'
Rain couldn't find an answer to that question because he wasn't given the time to do so. Rain ducked sharply, and the next second the tree behind him was shattered into tiny splinters by the monster's powerful claws.
Rain quickly did a roll and created distance between him and the monster, but even that could do little to help him, as it could now teleport in the surrounding space, which along with its advanced intelligence, gave it a huge amount of options to attack.
And unlike the hero, Rain couldn't rely on his luck or the World's Will to dodge them. But he wasn't too worried about that, because he still had his main trump card up his sleeve.
'Nari, if you're able to notice the spatial anomaly around, can you sense it before it teleports?'
[...I can try, but keep your guard up.]
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Rain focused his full attention on his opponent. It stared at him for a while with amusement in its eyes before silently disappearing from its position.
[Left.]
[Bloodline: Wanderer of the Cosmic Void (97% sealed) → (95% sealed)]
With murderous intent, they continued to exchange blows, each one making the surrounding air vibrate. Rain continued to dodge the powerful blows, parrying the others and using the sword techniques he had learned from Astrid and those he knew from his home world.
[Bloodline: Wanderer of the Cosmic Void (95% sealed) → (92% sealed)]
The rift master's seal was weakening and it was regaining its space control abilities, making each new teleportation faster than the last. As time passed, Rain was having trouble keeping up with it, even with the help of the system.
When he finally decided to change his approach, the monster's mouth opened. Rain immediately braced himself for another attack, but it didn't happen.
"You're pretty good at dodging... for a human."
For the first time since the battle began, Rain heard something other than a growl from it.
And its voice was surprisingly... normal? It was a rather high and beautiful voice, one that Rain wouldn't have been able to distinguish from a human's if he'd heard it on the street. And if it weren't for the huge arrogance in that voice, he might even have found it pleasant.
What surprised Rain even more was that he understood its words, even though he was sure he was hearing the language for the first time.
[This is one of the functions of the system that allows the host to understand and communicate with almost any creature, if it is intelligent enough.]
Nodding at the system's explanation, Rain quickly cast a glance at Aelorian, who showed no unresponsiveness to its words.
Coming to the conclusion that she really didn't understand its language, Rain lunged at his opponent again.
He understood the language of the rift master and could communicate, but so what?
Rain had come to this place with a specific purpose and regardless of its words he would not change it. And while his enemy was wasting time with words, Rain preferred to attack it.
However, the rift master continued to speak.
"Is it because you have the support of the Goddess of Darkness?"
Rain unconsciously froze for a second, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the monster in front of him.
'How did it...?'
***
Thanks for reading, everyone.