163 No hurry

"That…was you?" Nick asked sarcastically. He didn't believe the Old bastard one bit.

"Hell yes, it was! Why?! You don't believe me?!" The Old geezer got irritated. He could have just done a random smack and then left but he had wanted to etch his awesomeness in Nick's head so he had shown off. But the bastard was now refusing to believe it was him that did it?!

But the Old geezer had forgotten, that Nick, unlike most people, didn't think normally… Because somehow, his good deed, had somehow…backfired?

'Why are you bragging as if you have done something commendable?! It would be better if you stayed quiet, but why are you asking for praise now?! If you really wanted to do something good then why didn't you fling the ScareCrow a hundred meters away so that I could teleport, why did you only knock him into his chair?! Stupid Old man!' Nick was annoyed. Such a good opportunity, lost!

"S-stupid?! Me?!" The Old geezer couldn't believe his ears. Did he just get insulted after helping somebody?

Nick ignored the Old geezer. He didn't have time for this now.

"Claire, Shadow Two, Loyd, hurry before he gets up! Pick me up and start running!" Nick anxiously yelled out. Waking the still dazed group up.

They didn't know what had just happened. One minute everything was fine, then the next, the powerful supervillain got smacked away?!

But unlike the others Claire's thoughts were different. She could recognize that shriveled up hand anywhere. It was following this hand that had led her into this continent after all.

Snap! Snap!

Loyd hurriedly ran off, leaving Nick behind, for the second time… But thankfully Nick still had Claire, who used her energy to lift him up along with Elder Frost before she ran after Loyd. And Shadow Two soon followed suit.

Shadow Five looked around in shock for a split second before he gave chase. Even though he knew he didn't have a chance he still had to try. If Master Crow knew that he just stood there stunned while they tried to escape, lord knows what would happen to him.

But then…

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

"Where the hell do you think you rats, are going?!" Master Crow stood up, flinging all the rubble around him away, along with the dust particles on his clothing.

Shwa!

As if to toy with them, Master Crow followed behind the group at a moderate pace. And with a wave of his hand and a large patch of dark mist covered the only entrance.

"Go back, there's no way out this way!" Nick had his Dragon eyes on, so he could see what Master Crow had done to the entrance even though they were still far from reaching it.

"Down here!" Claire seemed to have either trusted Nick or seen that Master Crow had closed the entrance by using her own means because she changed directions and jumped into the hole that led to the cellar. And even though Shadow Two wanted to stop her, he was just too late. Claire had acted too fast. Shadow Two was still bleeding from his nose as he ran straight for the mounting entrance ignoring Claire.

Loyd had started off in the lead but due to his cultivation being lower than both Shadow Two and Claire he was soon left behind. So, after seeing Claire jump into the cellar Loyd didn't mind Shadow Two who was still heading to the mountain exit as he followed Claire into the cellar.

But…as soon as the group appeared in the cellar, they just stood there exchanging looks of misery. It seems like they had voluntarily walked into their prison.

Nick kept trying to teleport into the palace the whole way. He hoped that they might be lucky enough to get farther than a hundred meters due to Master Crow's negligence, but alas, they weren't that lucky.

"Hehe, since you have walked into my little cellar then don't even dream of leaving!" Master Crow's words reverberated throughout the mountain as if his words were spoken by the mountain itself. And soon, the hole that they had just jumped into was enclosed using the same dark mist that closed the mountain entrance. It was weird, the mist seemed to have solidified as soon as it closed the hole up.

"I will let you guys play in there for a little while…hehe." Master Crow giggled slightly as he walked slowly towards Shadow Two, who was still heading towards the mountain exit.

The reason he didn't hurry to catch up to the group was because his injuries were gruesome to look at. And he didn't want Nick to feel an ounce of satisfaction of looking at him so wounded. But Shadow Two was a different matter, he had to catch Shadow Two at all costs and find out exactly what had happened. Crow just couldn't understand how someone so weak was able to harm him!

Master Crow craved that kind of power gravely.

Bang!

Bang!

Claire and Loyd began launching several attacks at the dark mist covering the cellar exit but they couldn't even make a dent in it. And they even attacked the walls of the cellar but they seemed to have been reinforced with some of the dark mist as well because their attacks only caused some dark mist to flake down.

"Don't bother with attacking anymore! Can't you see it's useless?! Just hurry and get me to the other side of the cellar, quickly!" Nick snapped. The cellar was large. And the large number of cages that were stacked in a row didn't seem to have an end.

"Huh? Brother Nick! Why don't you teleport us out of here?! Yes, we're saved!" Loyd seemed to have thought of something and he got really excited.

"Shut up, idiot! Don't you think I would have done that already if I could?!" Nick wanted nothing more than to slap this idiot, but what a pity, he didn't have his hands…

But Clare didn't talk back to Nick like Loyd did. She just did as she was told and she took Nick to the other side of the cellar.

Nick then closed his eyes and tried to enter the palace again. With his metaphorical fingers crossed.

Success! Nick was inside the palace!

Excited Nick hurriedly exited the palace and sent Loyd inside. And then he tried sending Claire and the old man she was carrying. And although the old man went in with no problems since he was unconscious, Claire still needed to sign the contract.

"Master…" Claire hadn't even gotten her question out when Nick interrupted her.

"Don't ask questions and sign it if you want to live!" Nick didn't have time to play with this woman. He needed to hurry before Master Crow returned or he would be screwed.

"Hmm." Claire frowned and hesitated. She had her own means of escaping from Master Crow's grasp even though it would cost her heavily. So, she wasn't too keen on signing a contract with mysterious origins.

"Sign it in the next five seconds or you're on your own. No hurry. Take your time." Nick calmed down and decided not to hurry the poor woman. He had generously given her five seconds and if she didn't sign it by then, he would just let her think it over a little longer with her new buddy Master Crow.

Claire gritted her teeth and finally convinced herself to trust this man. After all, the contract seemed to be quite straight forward. She couldn't betray Nick, which she wouldn't do in the first place since he would be her Alchemy teacher soon. And she couldn't disclose the secrets place he was about to take her. Other than that, most of the other clauses in the contract were minor and covered the bases. But none of them restricted her in any way.

And not even three seconds later, Clare had disappeared from the cellar and was taken to the palace. With Nick following right behind her.

Shadow Five was walking alongside his Master trying to catch up to Shadow Two. He didn't stay by the cellar because he knew there was no way those weaklings could escape under his Master's grasp.

"Uhh…" Master Crow frowned. There was no dark mist attached to the others, but Nick still had a tiny patch of dark mist attached to his severed limbs to make sure they didn't regenerate. Crow had done this because he had seen Nick grow a new jaw easily. But just a few seconds ago, he felt his connection with that tiny patch of dark mist disappearing, before returning just as quickly.

This happened at the same time Nick went into the palace to check if he was far enough to do so, and came back.

Master Crow had dismissed this thinking it was just his imagination. After all, how could something like that be possible? But now, he found out his connection to the dark mist had disappeared again, and with no intentions of returning like last time!

Confused, and honestly a little anxious Master Crow stopped foolling around and had some of the dark mist covering the mountain entrance turn into a hand that grabbed Shadow Two and carried him back like a little chicken.

While Master Crow flew back to the cellar to see just what the hell was going on!

Boom!

Showing how worked up he was, Master Crow, didn't lift the dark mist to the cellar to enter, but instead blasted a large portion of the ground before diving in.