16 Chapter 016

Alvin looked at the now open box and started thinking about the Sword of Dominance.

He had received the sword around 3 months ago. He had previously chanced across the Hunter potion formula, and had favourable thoughts towards it. He had already gotten the first main ingredient and all the required supplementary ingredients and was looking for the second. At that time, he heard of the presence of a valuable mystical item suspected of belonging to the Hunter Pathway. He decided to go and check it out, but failed, due to a higher Sequence Beyonder present who claimed the item. He hung around for a while, just in case, and just as he suspected, some other not so weak Beyonders made a distraction and mounted a sneak attack. A number of them rushed inside the building the item was supposedly at. Alvin hung back due to caution, and sure enough, the enraged higher Sequence Beyonder blew up the building. The numerous Beyonders scattered, and Alvin too retreated. He ducked into an alleyway in the distance and saw a corpse in there. He recognised it as Slimy, someone suspected to be the Beyonder of the Marauder Pathway. He was seemed like he was afflicted with numerous curses, and succumbed to them. And in his hand, he was clutching this Sword of Dominance.

Back then, he logically assumed that Slimy got his hands on the sword and attempted to escape, and got hit with numerous curses while doing so. He did manage to escape, but succumbed shortly after. And he was lucky to be at the right place at the right time. So he picked up the sword, the weird thing near this corpse which he now knew was his Beyonder characteristics, and all the cash and valuable in his corpse and went on his way. He didn't think much of it back then, but he was beginning to now.

He looked at the box with caution, and then retrieved the Coin of Wonders. He tossed it, asking of going into the box was dangerous.

The coin started spinning in midair, slowly at first, but then started gaining speed. It spun wildly and out of control, and bounced around on the floor. It then slowly stopped spinning. But when Alvin looked at it, he found the coin standing on its side.

"The divination results were interfered with huh? That's a first. This box must be demigod level stuff at least. I should be careful" thought Alvin.

Alvin thought of exploring the box later, but his intuition told him he should go in as soon as possible.

"While the fact that the Hunter potion I took was partially digested immediately after I took the potion means that the methods I used before, of starting the hunt only after sufficient preparations, the usage of traps, patience, and determination are all correct, I feel like I am missing some things" thought Alex. "And now, I feel strongly that I should try to explore this box now. Is this the instinct of a Hunter? So should a Hunter trust his instinct?" thought Alex as he slowly extended his spirituality into the open box.

All his senses turned blank as he entered the box, and he could only see a deep shade of red. He tried to focus, and could make out what appeared to be a grand hall, except everything was a deep shade of red. He looked at the distance, and there seemed to be a passage leading to another room, still in a deep red colour.

He slowly started walking around. The walls, cutting, couches, chairs and everything else felt like the usual materials they were made of to touch, but they were a dark red shade.

He suddenly heard a sound from the opening of the passage. He looked over, to see a red spectre like creature floating towards him.

"Finally" it yelled in a harsh voice, as it sped up, and barreled towards him. He swung out the Sword of Domination towards it on instinct. It felt like he was hitting water, as if it went through the spectre with some resistance. The spectre screamed as if it were hurt, but it still pounced on Alvin and entered his body.

Alvin felt deep helpless. He could feel that once the spectre entered his body, he had almost no chance of surviving. Suddenly, he heard a harsher scream, which seemed to be coming inside of him. He looked down, to see the spectre shoot away from his chest, as if it was being flung out. The seemed to be a formless ripple emanating from within.

"The soul attack Soest had kept within me! It's not been 6 hours!" thought Alvin, pleasantly surprised. The spectre sped away from him, and stood near the entrance of the passageway. From a preliminary glace, it seemed in a horrible state compared to before, with cuts, tears, and wounds all over its form. It regarded him carefully.

Alvin knew that the attack could not be replicated. Soest has put it in him to buy some time in case he was attacked. It had served its purpose already. If it was used for what it was intended for, Nighthawks would use the brief delay to besiege the target.

"Fake it till you make it" thought Alvin as he charged at the spectre yelling, "Dieeeeeeee!"

The spectre too showed cowardice, as it fled without a moments delay. It ran into the passageway, leaving behind a red barrier behind, presumably to prevent him from chasing it.

Alvin quickly started to search for an exit, wanting to escape before the spectre came back. He looked around in vain, until his eyes finally fell on the throne like seat. For some reason, he felt a strong urge to sit on it.

He hurriedly walked up the throne and sat on it. He then looked around, to see a narrow slot on its right armrest. The slot looked perfect to fit in the Sword of Dominance. So Alvin did just that. The sword slotted in with a click. Alvin, who was on the throne felt a rush inside his head, kind of like the time the memories of the previous Alvin Hans came to him.

"How interesting," he said happily after a few moments of stillness.