Chapter 1236 (2/2)

Neveah’s smile warped into something hungry as she stepped forward. “No need to hide, friends. Come on out to play.”

For a second, there was no response. But then a booming laugh cut through the low drizzle of rain. “Alright then, no need reason not to speak amicably before we kill you.”

There was a fluttering sensation of Mana and a circle of runes appeared alongside the track on which Sydney and Neveah were walking. A veil parted and suddenly three individuals appeared, staring intently at the duo. The individual at the front of the trio was wearing a loose cotton shirt that was now so soaked that it clung like glue to his skin. When he smiled at the two of them, his top row of teeth were made of gold.

Sydney’s eyes slid past the unfamiliar figure to two individuals that she recognized immediately. The first was a serpent with fluttering wings and hypnotizing eyes. The second was a tall man that wore a heavy suit of liquid obsidian.

“Nemesai,” Sydney said lightly for Neveah’s benefit. Obviously Neveah was active on Earth, but it was hard to tell how well she understood Earth’s situation. To her credit, Neveah slowly nodded her head, seeming to concur.

There are two unknown Nemesai currently… I suppose this is one of them. Sydney thought to herself.

With his shit and dirty hair plastered to his face, the man with the golden teeth looked like a skeleton dressed up in paper skin that barely provided him with a semblance of humanity. But he still stepped forward with a wide smile and spread his arms. “Right you are. We are the Nemesai, and here, out of view of your precious Champions, we are your worst nightmare. I am the Bandit King. I hope you realize what an honor it is for you to be killed by my hands.”

Neveah casually tossed Roy’s body to the side. His body squelched loudly as it tumbled into a puddle. “I doubt you can kill me. I will let you try though… and punish you if you fail.”

The Bandit King’s smile widened as he took another step forward. “Ohhh… got an attitude, don’t you, pretty? Well-”

“Bandit King,” The Winged Serpent abruptly cut across his fellow Nemesis. “We are retreating.”

Both Neveah and the Bandit King turned to look toward the Winged Serpent with shared expressions of shock and disappointment. Those dangerous eyes of the serpent measured Sydney and Neveah, then shook its head. “The plan was to ambush them while they were fighting with the Great Toad Lord. Since we missed the opportunity-”

“Shit, they probably haven’t even started yet!” The Bandit King bellowed. “It’s been what, ten minutes?”

This time, the Obsidian Duke spoke. “We tried to explain, this planet is unusual. The population is powerful. We cannot just-”

“Fuck that, I’m going to have some fun.” The Bandit King spun around with a leer across his face. But almost immediately, be paled and leapt hurriedly backward. Neveah had reverted to her Bone Wurm form and rushed forward. Her pale wings spread outward and her body moved so quickly that she was just a blur in the grey rain.

Despite his surprise, the Bandit King was still a powerful Nemesis; one he saw the threat, he responded decisively. He produced a brutal pair of daggers that were stained with blood, but Neveah’s wings were faster than he could adjust for. The tips of her wings flicked outward and yanked open his defenses. Neveah thrust her arm forward, aiming to bury a chilling bouquet in the Bandit King’s chest.

There was a sound of cracking stone as the Obsidian Duke imposed himself between the two and was forced to endure Neveah’s blow. Shards of obsidian fell to the ground. For a split second he strained, but then Nevaeh continued to press forward and knocked both the Obsidian Duke and the Bandit King to the ground with raw power.

“They have the benefit of images and we do not,” The Winged Serpent hissed. It began to conjured a series of runes around its body, but Sydney raised her hand and unleashed a blast of lightning that interrupted the Skill. Hissing, the Winged Serpent produced new runes that shot forward and landed on Neveah’s body before Sydney could intervene again.

These runes threw her several meters backward, but Neveah eventually ripped them off of her like they were fat leeches and charged forward again. But the few moments of space gave the two Nemesai enough time to get to their feet. The Obsidian Duke interposed himself between Sydney and the Winged Serpent to give its fellow time to conjure a portal.

Sydney considered using her full strength to stop the Nemesai from retreating, but honestly, she saw no reason to force the fight at the moment. They were alone in the Toad World; fighting here was dangerous. If both parties wanted to wait for a better opportunity, so much the better.

“Her image… is so strong…!” The Bandit King hissed. His eyes were red with fury as he glared over toward Neveah.

As the portal began to form behind it, the Winged Serpent nodded. “Yes, but that means that soon one of their images reach the requisite power and the lock on our images will disappear. And then-”

“Then what?”

Everyone froze as Neveah stopped charging forward and instead spoke. Then she raised her hand and Sydney could feel the Aether in the air freeze as though Neveah’s claw gripped this entire world by the threat. After a few seconds of straining, the runes of the portal faded.

That’s the same Skill that the Toad Lord used on us… Sydney thought solemnly.

Neveah grinned at the three stunned Nemesai. “If you tell me that you are going to get stronger soon… how can I let you leave easily? Creatures like you will kill the people of this world whenever you get the chance. And I’ve become quite fond of humans.”

Neveah crackled her knuckles ominously. A towering dragon of bone appeared above her, thick smoke rolling out of its snout. “I think I have the responsibility to remind you that your actions have consequences. Since you came out to play, you are going to finish my game.”