Chapter 634 - A Brush with Death (1/2)

Chapter 634: A Brush with Death

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Link let out a breath and then turned around. Behind him was a huge, black disc with a diameter of more than 10,000 miles, bigger than the entire Firuman realm itself.

It was a large-scale energy vortex, and it was spewing out powerful energy flares from within. He estimated that the vortex’s energy was more than Level-20. Otherwise, his sense of danger would not be making every hair on his body stand on end.

Though he had reached Level-13 with his dragon body and managed to strengthen his scales with the Crystal Essence the game system had rewarded him with a while back, he would still be slowly ground away into dust by the minute if he allowed himself to be sucked in by a vortex of this magnitude.

He had left the Firuman realm far behind. Behind him, Firuman was now no more than an insignificant dot of light. Though the white mist of Mana surrounding it had thinned considerably, it still managed to obscure most of Firuman.

He looked left and right in front of him. He was surrounded by an empty white fog.

Without any reference point anywhere around him, no matter how fast he flew, Link did not feel as if he was making any progress through the Void.

By Firuman’s standards, I should be flying at around 10,000 miles per second right now. I’m still able to go even faster, so at most I’ll be able to hit 12,000 miles per second. But nothing’s changed around me. Flying in the Sea of Void is almost like traveling through the endless void of space back on earth.

Suddenly, his body shook for a moment. Then, he felt himself being pulled to the left by a powerful force.

At the same time, he could also feel a coldness creeping into his body, sharp like a blade. It felt like an unseen claw trying to pull his very soul out of his dragon body.

Not good, it’s a negative energy pitfall! thought Link, panicking.

Negative energy was high-level dark energy that could only be found in the Sea of Void. When large amounts of negative energy came together, they would form a singularity, sucking in everything around it, including energy, matter, and even one’s soul. Everything would then be compressed into a single compact point.

The frightening thing about a negative energy pitfall was that it would ambush you when you least expected it to.

The pitfall was incredibly dark. It would not give off any kind of aura, making it almost impossible to detect its presence. Anyone or anything caught by it was as good as dead. Even one’s soul would be decimated by the singularity.

In the Sea of Void, a dragon’s body continually absorbs residual Void energy around itself as fuel. Link swept his wings back, and cold white light began rushing out from them like a pair of afterburners, propelling Link into the dark, empty void in front of him.

Link immediately received an enormous thrust forward. His body was locked in place as he struggled to break free from the pitfall’s clutches. Still, his body inched inexorably towards the left.

The pitfall’s pull was just too powerful. No matter how desperately Link struggled against it, he still could not break free from it.

Not good. The pitfall’s just too powerful. I won’t be able to resist it much longer. I’ll need to use something else!

Link was still an amateur when it came to navigating the Void. However, before entering the Sea of Void, Link had read through the notebook that Piasce had maintained during his trips in the Void. Incidentally, Piasce had written in it a way to deal with negative energy pitfalls.

Negative energy pitfalls come in all shapes and sizes, but structurally, they all look the same. A pitfall’s outer layer is known as the normal region, while its inner layer is called the irreversible layer. Sandwiched between both layers is a thin membrane known as an event horizon. Once you’re pulled past the event horizon, the only thing awaiting you there is death. In the history of Omir, there have been accounts of Omirians bold and foolish enough to defy a negative energy pitfall, but no one has ever gone past the event horizon and lived to tell the tale. The moment you sense its pull, break free from it as fast as you can. If you’re unable to pull yourself away, execute the spiral burst maneuver immediately. Remember, act immediately. A moment’s hesitation may very well be your end.’

These thoughts raced through Link’s mind in an instant. His body had already begun picking up speed instinctively.

This time, he stopped pulling away from it in a straight line. Instead, he began accelerating perpendicularly to the direction of the pitfall’s pull. With the pitfall still pulling him back, he was now swinging an arc to his left as he pushed forward.

You need to push against it with everything you have. A negative energy field is like a rubber band. Once it’s ensnared you, no matter you fast you’re going, this rubber band will simply be stretched taut. However, its gravitational pull won’t falter one bit. In fact, it may even intensify. You will need to pull back at this rubber band until it snaps, or else it will drag you down into the depths of oblivion!

Link recalled what Piasce had written in his notebook. This thing resembled a black hole in some respects. However, there were still a few major differences between them.

Link continued to accelerate. Soon, he realized that he was now moving in a circular orbit with a diameter of approximately 5,000 miles in the dark expanse.

At first, his orbit was circular. As he sped up, it grew longer and longer until it transformed into an oval.

The Void energy in his body was depleting rapidly. Though his dragon body was still absorbing the energy in the Sea of Void, it became clear that he was not replenishing his body’s Void energy as fast as he was spending it.

By the looks of things, he could still hold out for another ten minutes. If he still could not break free within that time, he would have to accept his fate and be pulled into the negative energy pitfall!

With a deep breath, Link cleared his mind and simply focused on accelerating.

Time slowly passed by. One minute, two minutes, three minutes… five, six minutes… Soon, Link was flying at more than 15,000 miles per second. However, the dragon body could barely handle the strain of maintaining such a breakneck speed. The trajectory he had carved out in the Void was now a long ellipse around the vortex.

Still, it was not enough!

The rubber band of negative energy still remained unbroken as it stubbornly held on to Link. He was now at his limit. Despite his resolve, Link began to fear for his life.

Will I really die here? thought Link. The energy in his body was all but spent, and he was now beginning to feel out of breath.

No, just a little bit more. I can do this!

Link let out a roar as he gathered every last bit of power in him. When he was farthest from the pitfall in his elliptical trajectory, he swept his wings back once more. Boom! A powerful burst of Void energy gushed out behind him. Link could feel his body being thrust forward. Then, he began to slow down. His wings were now completely spent.

Sensing that he was about to be pulled back by the negative energy pitfall, Link turned around, opened his mouth wide and spewed out dragon breath back at it.

His wings might not be able to push him forward any longer, but he still had some energy left in him in the form of dragon breath, which was usually reserved for offensive measures.

Boom! Link let out a streak of white Dragon Void Breath behind him, giving himself another forward burst of momentum and allowing himself to continue his struggle with the pitfall.

Link had stretched the pitfall’s gravitational rubber band until it was now more than 300,000 miles long. Its pull seemed to have weakened as well.

Just a bit more, just a bit more…. screamed Link inwardly as he sensed that he was slowing down.

There was a click in his mind. The unseen force pulling at his body suddenly vanished. Its icy claw had slackened its grip on his consciousness as well. Link now felt his body floating gently forward at a speed of ten miles per second.

He had finally freed himself from the negative energy pitfall.

Link let out a breath of relief. His ordeal had finally ended.

After bobbing in the Void for a few seconds, Link began to feel his power slowly coming back to him. He then flapped his wings bit by bit.