167 Run!
"Oh, this is one of the many abilities of my little bathtub. Right now, for the next few hours, anyone six people with any injuries can take a bath in it and experience the same medical abilities of that one pill of yours." Nick began bragging proudly.
Claire looked at Nick in disbelief.
"Master, this humble student wants to learn from you!" Claire broke the oath she had sworn immediately. She didn't care anymore. Nick was just too outstanding! And he had so many nice things that she hadn't even heard of before!
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Claire had broken an oath to the heavens so as promised heavenly lightning began gathering...but...the lightning had gathered outside, right on top of Master Crow's secret layer!
Inside the Palace.
"Mrs. Claire, you just broke a heavenly oath! Are you trying to get us killed?!" Loyd looked around anxiously, looking for the fabled Heavenly lightning that smites those that break their oaths to the heavens.
"Huh?" When Nick heard the words 'Heavenly Oath' and 'Broke' in the same sentence, he lost his composure and began looking around as well. He had broken a Soul devouring oath last time, and a Freaky looking creature had followed him into this palace to punish him. And now that Claire seemed to have broken an oath much scarier than his own, he got worried that his poor palace might suffer…
Heavenly oaths are easy to make but nearly impossible to break. Once a person refused to abide by their oath, nine serpents made of heavenly thunder would strike him down with all their fury!
"Don't worry guys. I wouldn't do something so dangerous unless I was confident." Claire had initially wanted to let Nick worry a little as punishment for his crazy actions earlier, but on second thought she decided against it. The main reason for this was Nick's crazy, unpredictable character that seemed to change within seconds. She didn't know if Nick would just throw her out of the palace without even giving her a chance to explain later. So, instead of regretting it after being kicked out, it would be better to clear the air right now.
"Oh, what makes you so confident?!" Nick asked, a little intrigued. But this didn't mean he trusted her words. Nick had already decided to throw this woman out if any signs of thunder appeared around the palace.
"It's nothing special. My Daddy gave me a thunder absorbing talisman a while back, which can absorb any kind of thunder from this lower world. And although heavenly thunder can be extremely frightening, its powers are still restricted by the laws of this world and will weaken extremely soon after entering, making it within the limit of this talismans absorption abilities!" Claire took out a piece of flat paper with many markings on it and showed it to Nick.
"Oh..." Nick nodded his head in praise. But before Claire could be proud, he asked her a question that scared the crap out of her! "This talisman might indeed protect you from the heavenly lightning in the lower world. As you said, the heavenly lightning will weaken extremely after entering a lower world. However, maybe you haven't noticed but we aren't in the lower world anymore… Are you still so confident in your talisman now?"
"…" Claire looked at Nick in a confused manner for a second, and then looked at the horrifying sky of this place which seemed to be churning with horrifying spatial tears and tremors. Finally, after going through all this the realization struck her and she began to shiver as she turned back to look at Nick.
"So, you're saying this place isn't in the lower world?" Claire asked calmly.
Nick nodded with a bright smile.
"Then is this place somewhere in the void?" Claire asked another question. The void was an empty area in between worlds. And the lightning punishment there would be more deadly than in the upper world!
Nick nodded again with a bright smile, even though he didn't really know if this place was in the void thingy or not. According to the system, this place had no coordinates and rested between time and space and Nick didn't know if that meant it was in the void or not.
"Then, this talisman…"
"Useless," Nick replied with an even brighter smile which shone along with the campfire.
Sniffle, sniffle, sniffle.
"Waaaaahaaaaaahaaaa!"
Then, came the waterworks!
Claire began weeping and wailing aloud as she took out item after item from her storage ring. First, an armor, and after putting it on, she took out another armor, and then another one, and then a shield, and then another shield…
Claire began stacking on armor crazily as she sobbed and cried. And then under Nick's astonished eyes she took out something that resembled a CD disk and walked into the palace. Once inside Claire first strapped the Disk to her waist which immediately erected an energy barrier around her, and then she grabbed the doors of the palace and attempted to shut herself inside…but, the doors wouldn't budge and she only ended up looking like an idiot.
"What are you doing Claire?" Nick asked cautiously.
"Shut up! This is all your fault! I am going to die because of you…wuuuuu, why did you make me swear that oath?! Wuuuuu, why did you make me break that oath?!" Claire snapped at Nick.
Nick could swear a heavenly oath that he had done no such thing! He hadn't even known about the oath until just a few seconds ago. He was in the toilet for god sake!
Although a little annoyed Nick still tried to help Claire by asking the Old geezer how to help Claire…
"There is no need to worry boy. Didn't I say this place is in the middle of nowhere? The only way the lighting will find this place is through the tunnel you used to enter it back in that mountain cellar. Which means it will have to pass by the lower world to get here, and that means its powers will be weakened before getting here and can still be handled by that talisman the girl is holding." The Old geezer showed off his knowledge.
"Wow, I can't believe you can actually be helpful…" Nick replied honestly.
"…" The Old geezer silently looked up in misery. Helping this asshole was a thankless job!
"It was a compliment." Nick tried to point out. But the Old geezer just ignored him.
"Claire, there's no need to worry so much. I have absolute control in this space, so even though I can't guarantee to completely stop the lightning, I can still weaken it to the level of the lower world!" Nick patted his chest as an assurance.
"Really?" Claire looked at Nick with watery eyes.
"I swear!" Nick promised solemnly once again. Since the Old geezer had said it so confidently then it had to be true.
Claire then sat down on the ground like a deflated balloon as tears streamed down her cheek silently. Whether those tears fell out of happiness or relief Nick didn't know.
Nick focused his sights on the outside. Because according to the Old geezer, the lightning would pass by the mountain on its way to the palace. So Nick wanted to see if the mountain would suffer during this process.
Outside the palace.
"Speak, hog! Or I will be having Hog stew for dinner! Where did you send Nick and the others, and how did you do it?!" Master Crow threatened while pointing at the little Piggy who was standing on a wooden table.
Oink! Oink. Oink! (Hey, brother, I don't know where the others went either! I am as lost as you. And I was left behind so stop rubbing salt on my wounds please!)
Master Crow frowned.
"Master, what did it say?" Shadow Five asked upon seeing his Master frowning over what the Hog said.
"Do I look like a Hog to you?! How am I supposed to understand what it said?!" Master Crow snapped at Shadow Five, completely enraged. Why did he get stuck with the country bumpkin out of all the other Shadows?
Oink. (Sigh, brother Nick understood me…)
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
"Why is the storm getting even more violent?" Master Crow made a casual remark. But he wasn't worried. What could a little thunder do to the mountain let alone him?
Psht!
Oiiiiink!
Master Crow had ruthlessly shoved a large needle into Piggy's waist, which caused Piggy to squeal and cry in pain. Piggy just couldn't understand why the man did this to her. But hearing the piggy Oinking again irritated Crow.
Psht!
Oiiiiink!
"Stop making beast noises! I know that you are special enough to know how to communicate!" Master Crow yet again shoved another needle into Piggy's waist while avoiding all her vitals. The main purpose of this process was to cause extreme pain after all.
In Master Crow's opinion, there was no way a beast capable of Mass-teleportation only spoke in the beast tongue. And he figured the beast was trying to play dumb by Oinking all the time.
Oink! Oink! Oink! Piggy squirmed and wiggled about trying her best to escape from the Crow's clutches but it was useless.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Suddenly the sound of thunder sounded out again. But this time, it caused a tremor so large that it slightly shook the mountain Crow was in!
"What is going on?!" Master Crow looked worried for the first time. Since when did lightning become so scary that even its sound could make mountains quake?!
"Master, did you summon the thunder?" Shadow Five asked with awe written all over his face.
"…" Master Crow began to wonder if he should also stick one of the needles on the table into Shadow Five's head and see if he could fix it.
Outside the mountain.
Clouds surged violently and amidst them, Dark red serpents made entirely of lightning would peek in and out rapidly.
And then, after another minute of gathering, nine, fully formed Dark red lightning serpents looked down on the mountain. And the smallest one of these serpents roared out and charged down violently!
Boom!
Half of the mountain top vanished! While the inside began trembling and showing signs of collapse.
The explosion startled Master Crow, and when he looked up, he was stunned to find eight red lightning serpents staring him down through a hole caused by the explosion.
Run!
"IT'S HEAVENLY THUNDER!" Master Crow roared in fear as he flew out of the mountain at breakneck speed. But as he flew he felt a little heavier. And when he looked down to find the cause, he found a smiling Shadow Five who had latched onto his thigh and was holding for dear life...
