novelraw Chapter 32: Atlantis
Chapter 32: Atlantis
Hearing the blast, Verso braced himself, his eyes shut tight as he waited for the shockwave of the golem’s suicide charge to reach him any moment.
He had expected himself to be launched off of the stage, but instead all he felt was a small wave of heat that washed over him making his body turn cozily warm before quickly dissipating.
’Huh?’
Confused, he slowly opened his eyes.
The Umbra Panther that was fighting him was now gone, likely forced back into Xavier’s soul space when he lost consciousness. But what made Verso heart skip a few heart beat was the stage that he stood on.
The grey marble was webbed with cracks looking like frozen lighting, the webs stretching from the other side of the stage.
He turned his head toward Xavier’s side of the platform to look at what was going on but what greeted him made his breath stop.
The stage on the opponent’s side was completely obliterated, replaced by a smoking crater with debris spread all around.
"Don’t worry, he’s fine."
Verso snapped his head toward the voice. Professor Ailene was walking toward the center of the wreckage, her expression difficult to read.
Behind her, the six winged angel drifted silently through the air, carrying a limp unconscious Xavier.
Seeing his teacher Verso stood up straight, though a sharp groan escaped his lips as his chest wounds limited his movement.
"I wasn’t exactly worried about him." He said looking at Xavier.
Ailene chuckled softly at his bluntness as she reached the center of what remained of the stage.
She raised her arm high, pointing directly at Verso.
"The winner of the duel is Verso!"
The crowd, which had only just begun to recover from the panic of the explosion, erupted in a loud roar.
The cheers felt very different now, they felt less about bloodlust and more about genuine, shell shocked awe for what they had just witnessed.
[Mission: Defeat Xavier. (Completed)]
The system’s mechanical voice chimed in his ear, but Verso didn’t smile.
Instead, a single tear welled up in his eye and began to move through the dust on his cheek. The reason for his sadness wasn’t the deep, burning slashes across his ribs but rather something else entirely.
’My golems...’
Another tear fell as he looked completely torn apart. In just a few minutes he had lost his front line. The four peak rank Primitives he had spent ten hours grinding for were gone just to secure this win.
To him, it wasn’t just the matter of losing a summon, it was about hours of his life turning to rubble.
"Are you okay?" Ailene walked up to him, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Just as she saw the tears trailing down his face she paused entirely.
"I am... okay." Verso said, his voice cracking with a bit of genuine heartbreak.
’I guess he’s just emotional about finally winning.’ Ailene thought, looking at his face with a hint of sympathy.
She had not realized he was mourning the loss of his materials more than the actual victory.
She smiled as she slowly turned to the crowd, her voice projecting across the entire practice ground.
"Everyone! The duels will end for today. We will continue again the day after tomorrow. Now, please head back to your classes!"
Hearing her instructions the crowd began to disperse, the air thick with the sound of students frantically gossiping about the match.
Seeing the students leave, Ailene turned back to Verso and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Let’s go get you patched up."
------
Later That Evening
Verso jumped onto his bed, letting out a heavy groan as his back hit the mattress.
He had spent an entire hours in the infirmary getting his chest stitched and bandaged.
Thankfully, because of the extreme nature of the duel he had been granted the rest of the day off to recover.
"Man, that’s sad," Verso muttered, staring up at the ceiling.
"I didn’t think I would lose so much over one mission."
The loss of his peak Primitives and an Mutant giant felt like a massive step backward, but as he looked into the air, a small blue window manifested in his vision.
---
[✦Mission Reward✦]
Claim Reward: New Realm ’Land of Atlantis’
---
"Accept." He said out loud.
[Realm Unlocked! Land of Atlantis is now available in the Realm Menu.]
A smug, predatory smile slowly replaced his mourning expression. If the system was giving him a new realm as a reward for winning such a strong fight, the potential for growth there had to be astronomical.
"Let’s hope it was all worth it."
He focused his mind, navigating the menu and selecting the new destination.
The familiar pull of the system took hold and within seconds he felt himself falling into a deep supernatural sleep.
[Entering: Land of Atlantis]
------
When Verso opened his eyes, he froze.
"No way..."
He was standing on the outskirts of an ancient, large city made of weathered grey stone and shimmering blue bioluminescent crystals.
The scale of the ruins was massive, with spiraling towers and temples that looked so big that it gave the feeling that the city belonged to a lost civilization of giants.
But it was the sky that made him stop breathing completely. This was because there was no sky.
High above the city, a massive swirling body of deep blue water pressed against a shiny translucent sphere which encased the entire ruins.
All while giant leviathan like beasts swarmed in the darkness of the ocean above, their silhouettes so massive they completely subdued the faint light coming from the top.
Looking at them, Verso felt a cold sweat break out.
Those were monsters he couldn’t even dream of handling yet, their aura felt so suffocating that it felt like they didn’t even need to look in his direction to kill him.
He looked around noticing that the city was encased in a perfect, preserved bubble deep on the ocean floor.
He turned his gaze toward the very center of the ruins, where a massive golden temple stood taller than anything else in the city.
"Well, I guess I know where I’m heading."