Chapter 307: _One Month Later
One Month Later
BOOM!
Ambrose narrowly dodged being blown to bits, jumping off a cliff with Grave Keeper in his grip. Black flames consumed the land behind him, the roar of an S-Rank beast thundering.
However, he didn’t appear to be stressed.
Not even a little.
In a flash, he teleported, appearing on the ground hundreds of meters below. He tumbled, immediately bringing his gaze to the burning cliffside.
"Fire breath?" He scoffed, lips curling in a smirk. "That ability is so last month."
The beast behind the attack showed itself, as if hearing his remark. It was a massive wolf-type beast with fur made of black flames, charcoal red eyes and crooked bat-like wings.
In other words, it looked like it crawled straight outta something Orion doodled.
[You know you could still get killed, right?] Aura reminded just then. [Quit being cocky and end this before it ends you.]
’What? I’m not allowed to have a little fun?’
They didn’t have time for banter.
The beast lunged, wings unfurling as it opened its jaw. It broke the sound barrier in one swoop, getting a few feet away from Ambrose in less than a second.
’Oh, shi—’
He blipped, reappearing several feet away from the spot he was standing seconds ago.
The beast crashed like a boulder, sending dust and rocks shooting every which way. It was on its feet in a heartbeat, snapping its head to Ambrose with a growl—
—Just in time to witness him pointing a hand at it.
"My turn, you overgrown chihuahua."
BLIZZZTTTT.
Burning ice shot out from his palm in an icy blue beam. It didn’t strike the beast directly, instead vanishing through a portal Ambrose created in the very last second.
Another portal opened up behind the beast, sending the attack slamming straight into the back of its head.
It whimpered in agony, the flames across its fur flickering like a dying bonfire. Ambrose didn’t give it breathing space, dashing with Grave Keeper raised in an overhead arc.
SLASH!
He landed gracefully, the wind blowing back his messy blonde hair. Time seemed to stop for a moment.
Then black blood soaked the rocky ground like rain, the beast’s head rolling to the side with a heavy thud. Its body twitched a few more times before collapsing as well.
[What... in the name of everything unholy was that last move?]
"Hey, that’s my line." Ambrose finally exhaled through his mouth for the first time in a few minutes, twirling Grave Keeper between both hands. "And what do you mean?"
[You know damn well you didn’t need to use that portal move to finish off the beast. You show off.]
He shrugged. "I mean, I’ve got to practice with Gabriel’s powers somehow, right?"
She didn’t answer right away.
Instead, a screen slid into Ambrose’s vision, making him squint.
[Physical manifestation loading...]
His eyes widened. "God, please no—"
"You’re becoming way too reckless, dumbass." This time Aura’s silvery voice echoed behind him. "A month ago you wouldn’t have dared play around with an S-Rank beast. Because a month ago you understood they were still potential threats."
"Well, Aura," he spun around, eyes locking on the ethereal figure now standing before him, "a month ago I wasn’t this powerful."
Aura’s physical manifestation... a system function he unlocked only last week after completing a daily quest.
She took the form of a gorgeous woman in her early twenties, donned in a silk silver dress that drifted into the wind like woven starlight.
On top of that, she had glossy white skin, silver eyes that beat his in brilliance and silver-white hair.
The AI shifted a foot forward, only to appear directly in front of Ambrose in a blink. The latter didn’t flinch, rather twisting his mouth in that way he always does when annoyed.
"Can you not stare at me like my mother when she scolded me?" Ambrose avoided eye contact. "I know what I’m doing. Always have."
"Or," she tilted her head, eyes glinting thoughtfully, "this is your way of trying to avoid confronting the reality of the seal breaking problem with Orion."
Ambrose sighed.
She just had to go there.
During the past month, the seal holding back Orion’s powers had dropped to 67%.
Every day was a different kind of insanity with the kid and his imaginations. Just yesterday he accidentally willed the Kardashians and Jenners into their house—in the middle of lunch too.
Ambrose and Devon had to spend several minutes convincing them to not charge them for kidnapping.
The most annoying thing was none of them still had a way to train his abilities.
They could preach all day about control and learning to keep imaginations minimal and mundane... but really, how do you go about making a six-year practice that?
"Aura, can we not do this now?" Ambrose rubbed his forehead, pulling out the black key and black mask. "I just... for the first time I can actually relax. I don’t have to suffer or fear getting brutally injured or killed in missions like this."
The AI’s expression actually softened at that.
Just a bit.
"Ugh. Fair enough, I guess." She rolled her eyes, placing a hand on her waist. Her gaze skipped to the beast’s corpse. "What will it be? Sell its aether core or another undead puppet?"
"Oh, definitely selling the aether core. Duh."
"Of course."
"What? No EP this time?"
"You’re lucky I’m not considering stripping you of a few thousand."
"... Screw you, Aura."
★★★★★
The duo crossed through a Black Key portal door, Aura slipping back into Ambrose’s mind as the blinding white light magnified.
[You now have a total of 266,050 seduction coins. Keep that up, and you’ll be a millionaire both in actual money and—]
Her words died when the portal door finally closed behind Ambrose.
The Guide stood like a living statue, breath hooking in his throat.
He was back in his front lawn... except the place no longer looked like his front lawn.
Yes, his house was intact. But the sky was crimson; the sun blackened completely. Screams resounded from neighbours, accompanied by the screeches of unseen entities.
A chill raced down Ambrose’s spine. "... What in the unreleased Hell Boy clip is going on here?"