NOVEL NEXT Chapter 229: Invitation(Part 2)
"D-Damn it, [Fire Arrow]!"
"Pitiful," Scoffed Jules, blocking the attack with the face of her blade, before she swiftly shot towards the thieves.
She lunged forward as she closed in on one of them, who stumbled back in alarm, before she slammed the flat of her blade against the top of his head, knocking him out.
"Take this, [Fire-...]...!" The other one began to exclaim as he took aim at her, flames charging up between his hands.
Before he could finish his chant, Jules zipped towards her, flames swirling around her blade before she whipped it across, unleashing a pressurized burst of flames and blasting the thief away, sending him hurtling across the room before his back slammed onto the wall behind him.
He lost consciousness upon impact as the back of his head thudded against the wall, before he collapsed and slumped against the floor.
"Maybe that was a bit too much power, I-...," Began Jules, before trailing off as cracks spread out across the wall, around the spot the thief had crashed onto.
She tensed before nervously approaching that spot, wincing as the cracks deepened, bits of concrete falling off...before her eyes widened as that spot fell apart.
She hurried over, before her eyes widened slightly as a cavity came into sight in the wall, an object laying inside it.
"What the...? A hidden object? Is it an Ancient Magic Artifact? I probably shouldn't touch it," She frowned, before forming a flickering flame over her finger.
She used the flame to illuminate the cavity and get a look at the object inside it, peering in curiously and warily.
It looked like a clock, but there was something off about it. Jules couldn't tell exactly what was wrong, but it felt almost unnatural to her, as if it was something that shouldn't exist.
She then noticed something inscribed at the bottom of the clock, narrowing her eyes and moving the flame a bit closer to the object, to try and get a better look at the text.
"It says...'Invitiation from the God of Space and Time'," She read it out, before she stiffened as an unfamiliar, unsettling wave of energy suddenly burst out.
She then froze in place, unable to move. Time had frozen, and yet, she was still conscious, her mind racing as she tried to stay calm and figure out what was going on.
Suddenly, she found herself able to move again as her surroundings abruptly changed, with several others around her, including Raven, Aster, Tacitus, Celia, Colt, Lexia, Ravella, Rione, Akila, Nero, Wistari, Zesta, Kora and Antel.
"Huh? What...just happened?" Uttered Aster in bewilderment.
"The hell is going on? I suddenly couldn't move for a few seconds, and then...where are we?" Frowned Lexia warily.
"How did we get here? I do not see a door," Added Zesta with a grimace.
"Also, we're all wearing our combat gear instead of the outfits we were wearing at the party. How?!" Exclaimed Ravella incredulously.
"Huh, I was so distracted by this weird room that I didn't even notice that," Responded Rione with a bemused look on his face.
The fifteen of them were in a large, glowing white room, with several couches across the walls on either side of them, but there was no door or windows.
"There's probably a hidden door or something, there has to be. Well, we don't have to waste time looking for it, let's just bust straight through the walls," Suggested Raven, cracking his knuckles.
"Agreed, I don't know what this is, but we cannot just stay in here. Hit the wall as hard as you can," Nodded Jules, before Raven tranformed and shot towards the wall to the right as full speed, driving his fist towards it with all his strength.
Right as his fist closed in on the wall, he suddenly vanished from sight, before promptly reappearing in the middle of the room, his eyes widening.
"Wait, what?" Blurted out Kora in disbelief.
"What just happened?" Responded Raven incredulously.
"Maybe some kind of teleport trap or enchantment? In which case, Tacitus...," Aster prompted him.
"Yeah, alright-...huh? Never mind, I can't do anything about this. There's nothing to nullify, or at least, nothing I can nullify," Tacitus shook his head with a grimace.
"What if I blast the wall with my explosions?" Suggested Celia thoughtfully.
"Well, it's worth a shot, at least. Stand back, everyone," Instructed Jules, as Celia stepped forward.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Well, there's no danger if you do, but it's a waste of energy," An unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed out, everyone turning towards it in alarm.
A figure was standing there, leaning against the wall. A young man with black hair that had a blonde stripe down the front and a long lock of blonde hair over his right ear, his right iris was a deep, void-like black, while the left one resembled a clock, he wore glasses with a narrow, rectangular red frame. He had a slightly dark complexion, and wore a black t-shirt under a jean jacket, and black jeans.
"Impossible...I didn't sense him at all until he spoke. And...what is this feeling? I don't sense the slightest hint of Mana from him, and yet, my instincts are telling me that he's impossibly dangerous, this isn't someone we can fight," Raven thought to himself, a bead of sweat running down the corner of his face.
"Who are you? Are you the one who brought us here?" Frowned Wistari, reaching for her blades.
"Yeah, that's right. I am the God of Space and Time, and I thank you for accepting my invitiation," He smiled, Jules's eyes widening in realization.
"No, that...that was a mistake! I just came across that strange clock and read out the text inscribed on it, I didn't know that this would happen. Please send us back," She responded.
"Come on, you haven't even heard what this invitation entails, and you already want to leave? What's the rush?" He replied, leaning against the wall and adding, "This place exists outside the conventional flow of time, once this is over, you'll be sent to the exact time and place you were in before I brought you here. Now, as for why you're here, it's-..."
"We aren't interested, we'd like you to send us back now," Jules cut him off, getting a bad feeling about this.
"Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that. Hm...but, since you apparently only ended up here by accident, I suppose I should at least give you a chance to back out. Tell you what...if any of you can land one hit on me, I'll let you all leave. Here, let's get a bit more space in here," He remarked, before the room suddenly expanded immensely, the walls spreading out several meters.
"Huh?" Responded Aster in surprise.
"Well, go ahead. I'll give you, say...five minutes? Also, attack me one at a time, I don't want things getting too messy. Oh, and I won't move from this spot, so have at it," He smiled, as a chair suddenly appeared behind him and he took a seat.
"Alright, then. Celia, blast him," Instructed Jules, before Celia stepped forward and fired out an explosion at him.
As the projectile began to close in on him, the mysterious figure muttered something under his breath, the explosion disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"Hm? I think he chanted the word...Cut," Frowned Raven uncertainly.
"Let me try," Remarked Aster, before launching himself towards the figure with a powerful telekinetic burst from his heels.
He began to swing his arm across as he started to close in on the figure, who swiftly chanted inaudibly.
Aster froze in midair, before suddenly vanishing and reappearing on the other side of the room, his eyes widening as he looked around.
"Tch, screw this, let's all just rush him and-...," Began Lexia, before she was abruptly cut off as she froze in place, unable to move a muscle.
"So, who's next? Hm...oh, you there, with the scales. It looks like you're the most powerful one in this group, so why don't you go next? Try throwing everything you've got at me."
"No...there's no point. By the way your eyes move, I can tell that no amount of speed would be enough to slip through your notice. No matter how fast I am, I won't be able to catch you off-guard. But more than that, you...you can freeze time, can't you?" Surmised Raven grimly.
"Oh? Impressive, you picked up on that fast. Yeah, I can manipulate time and space as I please. That doesn't exactly make me completely invincible, but looking at the power scale of your world, there's nothing any of you can do that would be a threat to me. Now, then, if no one else wants to try their hand at landing a hit of me, why don't I fill you in on what it means to accept my invitation?"