novelraw Chapter 153: Meeting Sean And His Family
Chapter 153: Meeting Sean And His Family
The blow connected solidly, and the tiger’s head snapped backward with an audible crack. The beast staggered, disoriented.
The tiger recovered quickly and opened its three-eyed face, revealing rows of fangs. Crimson light began building in its throat—it was preparing some kind of energy breath attack.
Vogue’s Time dragon head opened its silver jaws. "Stop!"
Time froze in a localized area around the tiger instantly. Vogue felt it wouldn’t last more than 3 seconds. It was all Vogue could manage against a Luminous Realm opponent. But three seconds was enough.
Vogue activated his Thunder Law, and his dragon head released a concentrated beam of lightning that struck the frozen tiger directly. "Thunder Prison Palm!"
The electrical attack created a cage of crackling energy around the beast. When time resumed, the tiger found itself trapped inside a prison of constant lightning that shocked and paralyzed its muscles.
But the creature’s Luminous Realm power exploded outward like a shockwave, breaking through the prison almost immediately. Crimson energy erupted from its body, slowly dissolving the thunder cage.
Vogue knew he needed to finish this quickly before the tiger could unleash its full power. He summoned his sword from his inventory and activated his most devastating technique.
"Star Annihilation Technque!"
Countless transparent stars materialized in the air around him, each one representing a blade of cutting energy.
Vogue slashed his sword downward, and the entire storm of stars converged into a single massive sword beam that illuminated the entire forest.
The attack struck the tiger just as it broke free from the Thunder Prison. The blade energy carved through its Luminous-enhanced hide, creating a deep wound across its chest that exposed bone and internal organs.
"ROOOOAR!!!"
The tiger let out a roar of pure agony and rage. Its three eyes all turned blood red as it entered a berserker state, abandoning defense entirely to focus on killing the creature that had wounded it so severely.
What followed was five minutes of insane battle . The tiger’s claws raked across Vogue’s body repeatedly, tearing through his dragon scales and creating injuries brought to kill an ordinary person. Vogue’s blood sprayed across the forest floor with each wound.
But Vogue’s regeneration ability kept him alive and fighting. Every wound began healing almost immediately, though the damage accumulated faster than he could fully recover.
He traded blow for blow with the tiger, using his four arms to block and counter simultaneously. His Ice dragon head froze one of the tiger’s legs, slowing its movement. His Fire dragon head launched explosive flame attacks at its wounded chest, burning deeper into the injury.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of exchanging devastating attacks, Vogue saw his opening. The tiger overextended on a claw swipe, leaving its throat exposed for a fraction of a second.
Vogue activated Time Stop one more time, freezing the tiger mid-attack.
He drove all four of his arms forward in a simultaneous strike, each one channeling a different elemental law. The combined attack—Time, Ice, Fire, and Thunder—pierced through the tiger’s throat and exploded outward, completely destroying the creature’s neck from the inside.
When time resumed, the tiger’s head separated from its body and tumbled to the ground. The massive corpse collapsed with an earth-shaking thud, finally dead.
Vogue stood there panting heavily, his body covered in wounds that were slowly healing. He had won, but just barely. If the fight had lasted even another minute, he might have run out of energy and been killed.
[Luminous Realm Beast Defeated]
[Pain Points Gained: +15,000]
Vogue spent ten minutes resting and allowing his regeneration to fully heal his wounds. He couldn’t harvest the tiger’s valuable materials—that would take hours he didn’t have—but he did extract the beast’s core, a fist-sized crystal that glowed with crimson light. Luminous Realm beast cores were worth fortunes and could be used in cultivation or sold for tremendous amounts of credits.
After recovering sufficiently, Vogue continued his journey, moving more cautiously now that he knew Luminous Realm sunfiends inhabited this forest.
Finally, after another ten kilometers of careful travel, he reached the coordinates Sean had provided.
Vogue frowned in confusion as he looked at his destination. There was nothing here except a sheer cliff wall—a vertical rock face at least a hundred meters tall, with no visible openings or structures. Had he made an error?
He tried to send a message to Sean asking for clarification, but his communication device showed no signal. The energy of the forest was apparently disrupting electronic transmissions.
Vogue stood there studying the cliff face, trying to figure out what he was missing. Was there some kind of hidden entrance he needed to locate?
Suddenly, someone walked out of the seemingly solid cliff wall itself, emerging from the rock as though stepping through a curtain.
It was Sean, looking exactly as composed and friendly as always.
"Fuck! You scared me half to death!" Vogue shouted and glared at Sean, while managing to keep his heart from beating so fast.
Sean smiled apologetically and raised both hands in a placating gesture. "Sorry, sorry! I should have warned you that we’d have a concealed entrance."
Vogue gritted his teeth and glared at Sean, who continued smiling innocently. "You could have at least mentioned in your message that I’d be walking directly into an invisible wall. I was standing here like an idiot trying to figure out if I’d gotten lost."
"You actually arrived earlier than I expected," Sean said, approval in his voice. "I apologize for making you undertake this journey alone through the wilderness. My family’s head insisted it should serve as a test of your capabilities. He wanted to ensure you could handle yourself in dangerous situations before we brought you into something as serious as a Saint’s ruin."
Sean gestured toward the cliff wall. "This entire area is protected by an advanced illusion formation matrix that my family established years ago. Without the proper authorization token, any attempt to find or enter this place would fail completely—you’d just wander the forest in circles without ever locating it. The formation also blocks all communication signals to prevent accidental discoveries. Very few people even know this place exists."
He pulled out a jade token from his pocket that glowed with faint golden light. "Follow me closely and don’t stray from my side. The formation will recognize you as an authorized guest as long as you’re within three meters of me."
Sean turned and walked toward the cliff wall again, passing through it without resistance. The rock rippled like water where he entered.
Vogue took a deep breath and followed, stepping into what appeared to be solid stone. He felt a momentary resistance, like pushing through a thick curtain, and then suddenly found himself on the other side.
The space beyond was enormous. Vogue found himself standing in a massive natural cavern that had been converted into a temporary base camp. The ceiling soared at least fifty meters overhead, and the floor space covered several thousand square meters.
And the cavern was filled with people.
Vogue quickly counted approximately twenty individuals scattered throughout the space, all of them clearly people of considerable strength based on their auras. Most wore matching clothes bearing the Klein Family crest—a golden key crossed with a silver sword.
These were obviously the family’s elite members selected for this expedition.
Several people turned to look at Vogue as he entered, their eyes assessing him with varying degrees of curiosity, skepticism, and calculation. He could feel their senses probing his strength level, trying to gauge his realm.
Sean stepped forward and addressed the assembled group with a confident smile. "Everyone, this is Vogue Morningster—the dual-talent Ultimate Evolution candidate I told you about. He’s the key to opening the Saint’s ruin."
Everyone present nodded their heads in acknowledgment as Sean made the introduction, though Vogue could feel various undercurrents of emotion beneath the polite gestures. Some looked genuinely curious about him, others seemed skeptical that someone so young could be as capable as Sean claimed, and a few had calculating expressions that suggested they were already trying to figure out how to best use him for the family’s benefit.
The Klein Family head stepped forward with a warm, welcoming smile. He was an imposing figure—a muscular man who stood well over six feet tall, with pure white hair pulled back into a tight ponytail that contrasted sharply with his relatively youthful face. His presence commanded natural authority, the kind that came from decades of leadership.
"My son has spoken very highly of you, Young Master Vogue," the family head said, his voice deep and resonant. "And I must say, seeing you in person, you’re every bit as impressive as Sean described. The fact that you successfully traveled through over a hundred kilometers of wilderness alone and arrived here relatively unscathed speaks volumes about your capabilities."
He nodded his head with genuine respect, his smile widening. "Welcome to our expedition. I am Marcus Klein, head of the Klein Family. It’s an honor to have someone of your talents joining us for this endeavor."
"The honor is mine, Family Head Marcus," Vogue replied politely, returning the nod. "I appreciate the opportunity to participate in exploring a Saint’s ruin. It’s not something most people ever get to experience in their lifetime."
Marcus gestured toward several individuals standing nearby. "Let me introduce you to the key members of our team—the specialists who will be crucial to our success."
He first indicated a middle-aged woman who stood with perfect posture and sharp, observant eyes.
She was tall and athletic, dressed in fitted combat gear with dark hair streaks of silver, tied back in a bun. She was also a Luminous Realm expert.