Chapter 91 - Purifying the Central Mana Core

"Uh-oh."

Two syllables were all Rynold could muster as he faced the fist that was pommeling down to the ground. Luckily, though, Rynold just barely dodged the attack by a hair's width.

Thanks to the last Accord Sphere, Rynold was merely thrown off by the shockwave. It still hurt, truth be told, but it was a lot better than being squished under a fist. He would've lost a couple of ribs back there if it weren't for the sphere's interference.

Accord Sphere - Variant: Maxim. This last Accord Sphere was made to be Rynold's attack drone. A drone capable of attacking its own sure was useful, but the drawbacks were still somewhat significant.

Rynold designed Maxim to contain two modes of attack. The first mode was set to shoot out bolts of energy of lower output.

Admittedly, Rynold could've added some extra modifications for extra firepower, but he decided against it. That's because this mode was designed to clear out low-leveled monsters. The effectiveness of shooting low-energy bolts would only annoy strong opponents, after all. Maximizing the rate of fire rather than the actual power of the shot.

The second mode was the one used to deflect the fist that was coming down. It was unorthodox to think that a small sphere could push a gigantic thing to the side, but that wasn't exactly what had happened.

In reality, Maxim discharge energy that would offset the attack by a tinge, changing its trajectory. This was how Rynold managed to dodge the fist that would've otherwise crushed him. This second mode was sought out as a contingency. A last-minute failsafe in case things would instantly knock Rynold out of battle. However, such game-changing power requires time to charge up.

That meant, after this one attack, there were no more second chances for Maxim to get Rynold out of trouble. Furthermore, Maxim would need time to recharge which makes both first and second modes inaccessible.

Getting jolted awake from the impact, Rynold focused his gaze. He admitted that he got distracted, something that would inevitably kill him if he didn't get his act straight.

Dusting himself off as he slowly stood back up, Rynold stared intently at what stood before him.

He was thrown quite a few feet away from the impact. So, what he saw from where he was standing was the creature that struck him. It was unmistakably huge, but out of the corner of his eye, Rynold saw Oliver charging towards the Central Mana Core without fear.

It would've been great if Oliver easily made his way there. Unfortunately, nothing was ever that simple. As Oliver approached the Central Mana Core with each step, the other creatures started to be aware of Oliver's presence.

"Shit."

Rynold moved. Since the creatures were relatively big, they weren't fast enough to strike Oliver down. But, Rynold did not want to wait for it to happen.

With his gauntlets and drill extended, Rynold ran up to the nearest monster and swiped at its feet. Even though he activated Flaming Spire, his single attack dealt little to no damage.

Seeing as how he can't even hurt the creatures, Rynold decided to do a slash and burn. Disregarding whatever fighting style he originally had, Rynold ran to the next monster and did the same. Their goal was never about killing the damn things anyway.

Clicking his tongue and continuing his attack, Rynold soon gained aggro of all the monsters in the vicinity. It was an endeavor that took a lot out of him since he had to dash all around the cavern. Now, he could finally rest easy as Oliver finished the job.

Well, if only it were that simple.

Thinking with a string of unending curse words, Rynold soon found himself in quite a predicament. The monsters in the room, as big and slow as they may be, soon targeted Rynold. With their target being much smaller than they were, the monsters had a hard time trying to take Rynold down.

From Rynold's point of view, though, he had a much harder time trying to dodge the attacks that were coming his way. Even though the attack pattern was monotonous and simple, Rynold still had a hard time because of the attack range. Axiom was helping with Rynold's calculations with the monster's trajectory of attack, but it was ultimately useless.

Because of the gigantic fists that were coming one after the other, Rynold soon became what could only be known as a pest. Rynold has taken the role of a fly in a room full of pest control experts, desperately trying to make his way out alive.

Oliver, on the other hand, was having a fantastic time.

Catching a glimpse of what happened with Rynold, he couldn't help but chuckle. It was funny seeing Rynold jump around and squirm. Regardless of what Oliver felt though, he kept running. There was no time to point and laugh as the mission at hand was more important.

Crossing the distance in a decent amount of time, Oliver's Equip spell soon ran out just when he reached the Central Mana Core. From there, he pressed his hand against it, trying to figure out how a small vial could possibly purify a gigantic Mana Crystal.

That was when he made a grave mistake.

The dark Mana from the Central Mana Core started to get siphoned out. Without any sense of the matter, Oliver didn't know what was happening.

Dark Mana continuously poured out from the crystal and was being absorbed by him. It was a completely unexpected turn of events that made no sense. Well, apart from one Oliver could think of.

"What the hell...do you think you're...doing?!"

The devil laughed in response. "I've been waiting for this," the devil responded with a conniving voice. "Human, say goodbye to your last day in this world. There is nothing you can do to stop my return!"

Rynold couldn't even tell what was happening to Oliver because he was too preoccupied. Even if he knew what was going on, Oliver doubted that Rynold could do anything to stop it

Oliver panicked and tried to find a solution. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to separate his hand from the crystal or interfere with the process in any way. The best he could do right now was to just hold on to his fading consciousness, but, even then, that was proving to be quite the challenge.

He stared intensely at his own hand as he felt the dark Mana flowing through his veins. Oliver could just as easily die from this. Well, at this point, he was basically a dead man walking. There was truly no way out unless Oliver decided to take very extreme measures.

At this moment, there was no other choice.

Bracing for what might happen, Oliver grabbed the vial from his inventory with his other hand. This could either go really poorly or could not be effective at all. Nonetheless, it was still better than doing nothing.

Holding the vial in his hand, Oliver smashed it against his other hand. For a moment, Oliver thought that it might not work, until the sudden warm feeling that he felt slowly embracing his hand.

Oliver felt his hand slightly nudge. The forceful grip that was keeping his hand tied down to the crystal slowly eased away until he regained full mobility of his own hand.

The connection broke a few moments after the vial seeped into the crystal. Oliver looked up at the Central Mana Core and saw the dark tint of the crystal slowly fade into a clear, white color. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold, but Oliver had other priorities to take care of.

"Well, nothing I can do, huh?" Oliver started sulking. "Looks like you were wrong about me, Devil. I found a way and the process of bringing you back was interrupted. You won't be getting in this world any time soon."

The devil, contrary to Oliver's expectations, was silent. It was as if he didn't care what happened here today. Even though Oliver could slightly feel the devil's presence in his Mana Core, the devil didn't speak or react at all.

It was weird, Oliver thought. But, he decided to not pursue it. Whatever the devil was planning for hereon out, there is no way Oliver would let him do as he pleases.

"Well, that was stressful," Rynold said as he approached Oliver, his clothes in disarray. "Anything interesting happened over here?"

Oliver looked at Rynold curiously before answering, "not much," in a very nonchalant tone.

Nodding while looking at the Central Mana Core, Rynold was satisfied with the outcome. According to his standards, the plan had worked perfectly on their part, even though he didn't know what had transpired here.

"Let's just hope that Neana and Chris are doing alright," Rynold said as he started walking out of the cavern.

As the two started walking, Oliver looked back, deciding that he'll keep what happened to himself.