Beast Evolution Forge-Chapter 182: Betrayal

Vell fired a few mana balls at the panda, just to see how it would react and as expected, it didn't even flinch.

"I see that you are strong but do you really think you can beat me?" It vanished and without even seeing it, it sent him flying through the forest.

He spun in the air and landed on a brunch, the damage he took healing instantly. His eyes scanned the area but still nothing. Then he activated predator eye and finally, he could see the mana clearly, heading towards him at high speed.

He formed spinning spears out of mana and shot them at the monster, it was shocked he spotted it but the attacks were nothing to it.

"Hm..." He fired more spears and just when it dodged, he made them explode, sending the monster back.

"Not bad. However, that's still not enough." It opened its mouth and it fired a mana blast at him like a canon. It tore through trees like they were paper and made the entire area heat up.

[That's a dangerous blast.]

"Eh." He transformed his hand into a giant mouth and ate the blast, absorbing the mana into his body, "All I saw was a tasty meal."

"What? where did you get the power of transformation?" It asked, reading another blast, this one looked even more dangerous, made of pure corrupted mana but Vell responded the same way.

He formed a large mana canon with his arm and also charged it up, ready to fire. The panda felt insulted that he was copying it.

"You are as arrogant as ever I see."

They both fired their mana canons simultaneously. The two beams collided in midair, creating a deafening explosion that shook the entire forest. Trees were uprooted, and a massive shockwave rippled through the clearing.

Vell held his ground, pushing more power into his attack. The panda did the same, its small form belying the immense energy it was channeling.

[This creature's power is beyond anything we've encountered before.]

'Not really, I met stronger or are you forgetting mother.'

The stalemate continued for several seconds before Vell suddenly cut off his beam and dove to the side. The panda's attack surged forward, missing him by inches and obliterating everything in its path.

"Quick thinking," it acknowledged, lowering its paw. "But you're still holding back. Why?"

He circled the clearing cautiously. "Maybe I just don't want to destroy the entire forest."

The panda laughed, a deep rumbling sound that seemed impossible from such a small creature. "The Tower will rebuild it. You know that."

In a flash, he activated his shadow step and appeared directly behind the panda, his blade swinging down with tremendous force. The panda simply sidestepped, catching the blade between two fingers.

"You're fast, I'll give you that."

"And you talk too much," he retorted, releasing the sword and launching a point-blank mana blast that sent the panda skidding backward.

The creature shook itself, its fur slightly singed but otherwise unharmed. "Not bad. You've grown stronger than I expected." Its eyes narrowed. "But you're still just playing with toys compared to what you once wielded."

He readied himself for another attack. "If you know so much about my past, why don't you just tell me instead of all this cryptic nonsense?"

"Because some things must be remembered, not told." The panda sat back on its haunches, suddenly calm. "Besides, it's more fun this way."

The air around the panda began to shimmer, distorting like heat waves rising from hot pavement. The creature's form blurred at the edges.

"I think I've seen enough for now," it said, its voice beginning to echo strangely. "You're on the right path, even without your full powers."

"Wait!" He lunged forward, but his hand passed through the panda as if it were made of smoke.

"We'll meet again, Vell." Its form was dissolving now, particles of light drifting upward. "Sooner than you think. And when we do..." it paused, its glowing eyes the last part of it to fade, "...you'll need everything you once had and more."

The clearing fell silent. He stood alone, his weapon still drawn, staring at the empty space where the panda had been.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THIS. HEY SYSTEM YOU BITCH, COME BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN ALL THIS!!!" His screamed and the ground shook, threating to crack under the pressure.

The tower message screen appeared in front of him, saying he had completed his mission but what really caught his eye was the reward.

[Are those...]

"Yeah...the skills that tower sealed away, they have been partially unlocked... and this message. But what was the point of meeting the panda, that part is still rubbing me the wrong way."

[Master, it's finally time.]

"What do you mean?"

[From this moment on, the tutorial is over. From the 3rd floor, that's when you will all be registered in the tower rankings and will compete with each to reach the top. You wondered why there are no players on this floor right? That's because this is a test floor.]

"...you sure love keeping things from me."

[I was always planning to tell you when you got here. From now on, you will compete with other players on each floor, the highest ranked when the mission ends, gets the best reward.]

"I see, that does make more sense I guess. Let's go meet up with the others and get out of here, I need to rest after all this-"

[WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, LUNA!!]

'What the hell, how did she enter my mana zone without me sensing her?' He thought as he looked at the spear that pierced his chest from behind. 'shit, I can't use my mana. whatever this thing is, its bad news.' He started losing energy fast and his legs gave out.

Luna walked in front of him slowly, a smile on her face. "Master master master... how the mighty one has fallen." she kicked him in a tree. "You have no idea how long I have waited to do that."

"Haha, so you had it all planned out huh." He said, coughing out blood. "So this is the part where you explain your big bad plan right? Let me give it a guess though, you want to free the hollow king?"

"Smart as ever I see. That's right. You may be his other half but you are not him, so what makes you think I would follow you?" She said, pulling out another strange weapon from her bag. "I really wanted to give it a try, to try an move on and acknowledge you as my new master but I just can't. My hart belongs to him, no hard feelings."

[Do you have any idea what you are doing?]

"Shut up. You off all people should understand how I feel, this person is not our master. Why are you just accepting him like its nothing?"

[You know nothing, as usual. I was surprised at first, you attacking out of the blue but do you really think just because he is not the master you are used to, he is weak?]

"What are you talki-"

"So that's it huh, you planned to betray me all this this time, hahahaha, this is so funny and stupid at the same time." He casually pulled out the spear and spun it in his hands with ease. "impressive tools you got."

"How did you...i struck you core, your body should be unable to move."

His wound closed up and he looked at her, his eyes now full of rage despite his face not showing it. "its funny how people like you make the same mistake every time." He threw the spear towards her, striking her in her leg.

"GAHHHHH!!!!!" As she saw him approaching, her plan crumbling to dusk, she saw only one way out but she needed to buy some time, "please way, I am sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, please-"

He grabbed her by the mouth, lifting her up in the air, "enough, I seek and tired of people trying to ruin my life. Just die." He crushed her head, killing her without any hesitation. He threw her body away and picked up her bag, looking inside.

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.

[A dimension bag, its like your inventory skill.]

"I see." His tone was dry, his mood ruined.

[Will you be ok?]

"Yeah, I didn't get attached to her anyways. Looks like I can only trust my girls from now on. Let's go." He stopped and made a ball of mana, threw it at her body and it exploded. "can't take any chances."

He arrived at their meet up location and he found that the girls were already done, just sitting around waiting for him.

"It was that easy huh?" He said, coming into view.

"Master!!" Ruby ran at him, wanting to be pat which she got.

"nice work everyone, glad none of you got hurt."

"It was a piece of cake." Wren said, turning into her weasel form and jumping on his shoulder. He rubbed her under her chin.

"We are now ready for the real tower climbing. Let's get going."

They all looked at each other confused. "what about Luna? she hasn't returned yet."

"Oh, her. See this?" He showed the hole in his clothes. "she tried to kill me so I did what I had to. Let's go." They all could tell he was pissed so they didn't press any further.

"Yes master!!" They said together as they disappeared on the portal gate.