Ch 829 - No Escape

Alex cried out as he waved the celestial staff, making a circle in the air, completely surrounding the relic. The five sharp spikes once again merged into one, still barreling toward the spot between Alex's eyebrows.

"This relic is still really powerful, even without its spirit," he said, reaching out to grab it.

Nate, who had already escaped a half a mile away, was disappointed that his plan hadn't worked. Then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back, causing him to stagger forward, grunting in pain. He turned and saw Alex's arm outstretched, with his hand holding the staff aimed right at him.

He regretted ever coming to this strange planet. His relic was now gone, and he was clearly nowhere near as powerful as he normally was. The gravitational force on Earth was more than a hundred times stronger than that of the other planets he was used to, and that caused his powers to weaken even further.

He was still running for his life, trying to avoid Alex. He would rather be dragged into hell than be brought down by that man.

"Are you finished running yet?" Alex asked scathingly as he threw the staff, which grew larger and larger as it barreled toward Nate.

All Nate could do was keep running. He gritted his teeth as he rushed forward, but the staff was still chasing after him.

He turned around, his face red from exertion, and he tried to use the power of his four golden cores. But just as he was about to attack, he realized that the celestial staff was moving even faster than he had expected. Within seconds, the thick head of the staff slammed into his body like a ram, sending him flying.

A huge vibration could be felt and heard all around. Nate's bones had been shattered from the impact, and he had probably suffered internal injuries.

He felt sharp jolts of pain interspersed with tingling and numbness all over his body. He had little strength left, but he kept trying to fly away. Each time, he fell back down, helplessly descending back to Earth.

"It's over," Alex said, his voice menacing. "You can't run anymore."

He waved the staff again, pushing Nate's body down into the depths of the sea. As he increased the pressure, the stick grew and grew, sending Nate down further and further, until he had reached the deepest part of the ocean. Eventually, he was pushed all the way down into the Earth's crust and into the magma layer. The molten hot magma enveloped his body, burning him to a crisp.

Even his soul was charred.

Alex pulled the staff, lifting Nate up from the magma layer and returning him to the surface, bringing boiling water and smoke with him.

Against all the odds, Nate was somehow still alive, and he felt aggrieved and humiliated that he was being treated with so little respect. He was annoyed that he couldn't even put himself out of this misery by self-destructing his four golden cores. His entire body was numb. The terrifying celestial staff kept on torturing him, causing his entire body to convulse, and at the same time, it froze his golden core, preventing Nate from accessing it.

Alex obviously didn't want him to self-destruct, which was why he was using such a crude way of fighting.

"I want your four golden cores!" Alex called to him.

His power enveloped Nate's body as he attempted to take the cores. But then, the air around them became distorted, and a glowing white arm stretched out from behind Nate. It was small and transparent, and power hummed through it.

Although it was small, the hand ruthlessly dug into Nate's body, making a sizzling sound. It pierced through his skin and pulled four golden cores from within his body.

The hand carried the four golden cores away, trying to escape quickly.

"How dare you snatch my spoils of war from me!" Alex cried out, realizing that something had been stalking them the entire time, just waiting to make its move. He couldn't believe that someone would dare to do such a thing, and it made him more than a little angry. He extended his arm and reached for the transparent hand.

"Get back here!" he exclaimed.

Nate was about to cry from anger and exhaustion. He never would have thought that there were being more powerful than him in this world, and then he had met Alex. And now someone else had been bold enough to dare snatch the golden cores from right under Alex's nose.

"Those are my golden cores, not your toys," Nate said, feeling like he had been played badly. He wanted to cry, but no tears came.

"Look!" someone asked, pointing. "That aura is ancient."

When the group of warriors saw the pure white arm, they all recalled someone from a long time ago.

"It's Sigismund!" Antoine said as he recalled the familiar shape.

"It's actually him!" Evan said in surprise. "He's descended into the world. One of the three Saints. But if Sigismund has come back, could Augustus and Kristof still be out there, too?"