Swoosh!
In the vast emptiness of the void, space cracked as an injured figure rushed out of it in a hurry, gasping as he looked behind, closing the crack shut before his pursuer could pass through.
He sighed in relief, patting himself as he looked around, noticing a stretch of planets close by as he calmed down, muttering, "System, where is this place?"
<Ding!>
[Replying to Host, this place doesn't exist in user database. Requesting permission to extract data.]
"Granted. Find out if this place is safe or not." The injured figure, a man wearing what seemed to be Taoist robes said, alert as he remained vigilant.
<Ding!>
A mysterious energy wafted out of his body as his System seemed to be scanning through the entire place. But suddenly, erratic messages popped up all of a sudden.
[Error! Error! Failure to scan Loca#[email protected]!]
"What the…?" The man was shocked, having never encountered a situation where his System failed to find out anything. And most of all, this was the first time he sensed it glitch.
Boom!
He flew forward a bit, intending to first heal himself in a safe location when suddenly, a mysterious force slammed into him, causing his skin to crack as he was sent flying.
"The heck?" The man was stunned as he hurriedly took out his sword, forming an arc as he held it steady, alert against any attack that might arrive next, muttering, "System, scan for any signs of enemies."
[H-Host, error!]
The System seemed to be glitching even more now, failing to even use its typical abilities. Alarmed, the man prepared defensive spells, noticing that from one of the planets that seemed to be habitable, two entities flew out at terrifying speeds.
One emanated a greenish-black light while the other emitted yellowish-white light, rushing parallel to one another, rushing straight at him.
"What the…" The man was shocked as he was just about to retaliate when a voice resounded from the greenish-black light.
"Quick! Run away!" Yulna shouted in a hurry, "And, tell your System to contact others and request for reinforcements. Tell them that Rhizen is here!"
"System? Contact others? Request for reinforcements?" The man was shocked, in disbelief as he muttered, as if talking to himself but in truth was addressing his System, "You mean to say…you're not unique?"
"But…you told me that there was just one of you. Did you lie?"
[N-No, Host! The enemy is a Devil that uses charm and illusion tactics to weaken the foe mentally before going in for the kill.]
The man originated from a cultivation world, a place where he had been cultivating for more than three centuries. When he was young, he obtained his System and had relied upon it to redefine his talents to become a peerless expert.
At present, he had already become strong enough to challenge immortals that had cultivated for ten times his lifetime. During one such occasion, he fell to a trap and was injured severely, being chased by his enemies following that.
Left with no other choice, he rushed into a spatial crack and ended up here. And all through his life, he was of the belief that he was special, for only he had a System. And, his System too indoctrined that belief in him.
But, to hear Yulna say otherwise, he felt conflicting.
As for his System, as it had been in he cultivation world all along, busy strengthening its Host, it wasn't aware of the fact that all Systems were searching for Rhizen.
Even though it too learnt of that information, it hadn't paid much heed to that, for Rhizen was only active amongst apocalyptic worlds.
And as part of cultivation worlds, they would never encounter one another. But now, it had to first ensure its Host didn't lose the truth built between them. That would mean all its efforts would go down the drain.
Therefore, it first labelled Yulna as an enemy, despite the fact that she was alerting them with their best interests in mind.
"It makes sense now. So, that's why your scan failed." The immortal nodded in response, staring at Yulna with a solemn gaze, "You're a tricky opponent."
With that, his spiritual energy seeped into his flying sword, expanding its size before he grunted, causing it to flash right at Yulna, intending to sever her into two.
Luck Arts—Coincidental Luck (Xuna)!
Rhizen smiled subtly upon seeing the immortal target Yulna instead. He had used his power of luck by siphoning the amount stored by Xuna. Even though he was only able to use this once, for Xuna's luck was way too little, it was still effective enough to cause a misunderstanding for a short duration.
That was enough to gain the initiative for him. Though, what he didn't foresee was the act of him using her Coincidental Luck impairing her, allowing her to be captured by the Pitcher Plant King.
"Humph!" Xuna snorted in response as she condensed Fornol Sunflower on her palm and unleashed a beam of sunlight at the flying sword, affecting it using the intense heat as it slowed down, beginning to melt.
The immortal was shocked in response as he hurriedly erected a sword formation, using them to defend himself while bringing out a banner that emanated a baleful aura.
"Idiot! Your enemy is this guy here!" Yulna shouted in a hurry, "Irrespective of what System you are, Rhizen is your enemy. You need to ask for reinforcements!"
"Cheap tricks!" The immortal snorted as his banner unleashed a baleful aura, beginning to gradually freeze the entire space around him, the biting cold akin to the energy from corpses.
'Of course, these idiots from cultivation worlds are absolute retards.' Yulna felt an urge to rip her hair from frustration, 'But, why is his System going along with it too?'
Yulna eyed Rhizen, shuddering at the sight of him as she hurriedly began to fly away, not intending to be trapped between Rhizen and that retard of an immortal.
Rhizen alone was enough to pummel her to bits, not to mention this immortal who only made things difficult for her. Thanks to that, she was sweating internally.
But, she wasn't alone, as the immortal's System too was the same, flustered at what it could do as it had lied already. If it went back on its words now, it would only harm the rapport between it and its Host.
As it already labelled Xuna an enemy, and since Xuna was calling Rhizen their enemy, the immortal began to consider Rhizen an ally, or at least someone he didn't have to fight with.
Therefore, if it forced him to fight Rhizen, despite his unwillingness, his distrust to it might build up, which only meant bad news for it going forward, even having a chance to regress everything it did for the past three centuries.
And worst of all, it was unable to connect to the Astral Network, one of the major reasons for its fluster.
But, Rhizen too wasn't as confident as he displayed himself to be, only now sensing that the Luck values of Xuna and Yihan plummet rapidly, displaying that they were on the verge of death.
This meant that he truly was running out of time and had to wrap this up quickly. Otherwise, his investment and his only source of Coincidental Luck, Xuna would be killed.
Left with no other choice, he could only take action first, transforming into a Whale that condensed a massive scorpion tail and aimed at Yulna, shooting forth hundreds of toxic spikes.
"Shit!" Yulna was alarmed as she unleashed a beam of sunlight at the spikes, melting through them before condensing a pair of wings that shimmered with corruption, taking her towards the planet.
Her goal was to escape first. And given his nature, Rhizen might chase after her, which would imply that the immortal wouldn't be killed. A retard he might be, but he was still a System Host.
And since he managed to enter this universe, there was a possibility for him to leave too. For Yulna, it meant a pathway to leave this place, thereby allowing her to alert the rest of the Systems regarding Rhizen's current location.
Thanks to her Tower of Corruption, Rhizen couldn't leave this world either. She would rather sacrifice it just to hold him back.
Yulna sped up, racing towards the world as she suddenly opened her palms, revealing hundreds of insects that flew out and grew in size, creating a cloud that covered her path of retreat.
Using the chance, she quickly plunged into the world, sensing her insects be wiped out in an instant as she blasted into a sea, quickly digging into an underground water channel to move somewhere else in hiding, masking her energy to the limit.
Only then did she notice that Rhizen wasn't chasing after her.
In truth, all he did was send enough Homing Feathers her way. After killing all the insects she released, a bunch of them combined into a humanoid figure to chase after her. In her fluster, Yulna mistook it as him chasing after her and ran away faster.
She fell for her feint, eyes widening in alarm, "Shit! I've been had!"
"Idiot, he's the only way to leave this world with less risks!" Yulna rushed out of the sea in a hurry, intending to reinforce the immortal.
In the meantime, Rhizen stared at the immortal, flashing a smile before tens of thousands of Homing Feathers slammed into the immortal.