Chapter 251: The Most Valuable Thing


    When the ind appeared, everyone was stunned. They had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now they finally saw what awaited them.


    The ind was huge, and vast streams of water were falling down, gradually revealing it. The ind was slowly rising out of the watery depths.


    "What''s going on!" One of the men eximed as he watched the ind slowly rise upward.


    "Huh, so it''s a floating ind. That wasn''t in the vision." Wain muttered smiling.


    The ind''s dozens of rivers turned into massive waterfalls that plummeted swiftly downward. The ind looked like a magical continent with all sorts of regions from above. Fromnds of fire and ice to dark forests and shining mountains.


    Gisle signaled the pilot tond on the ind, but he failed to do so. The barrier went nowhere.


    However, when the ind stopped Wain''s chest brightly glowed blue, and several ck arms appeared in the void and slowly reached out for him. The same thing happened to Gisle and everyone else touched by the map.


    "Wain, pass the map to the others, quickly!" Gisle shouted, realizing what was happening.


    Wain nodded, and a small piece of paper flew out of his chest like aet through the chests of all the people on the ne. Their eyes glowed brightly with blue light, and ck hands appeared just as near to them.


    "Don''t resist. Let them consume you and drag you into space. Think of it as a special ticket to the ind." Gisle said.


    "Boss, what happens to the ne? If no one is on board, the ne is finished." One of the men asked.


    "Don''t worry about that. Quickly get supplies from the warehouse and head for the ind. The pilot will try his best to make sure nothing happens to the ne. That''s it, talk''s over!" Gisle said stiffly, and the men began to follow hismands.


    Wain didn''t fuss. He waited while the hands of darkness slowly reached for him. They gradually engulfed him like ink. Wain did not resist, for the many times he had entered spatial rips, he was already used to the feeling.


    Whoooooosh.


    He was pulled into a portal and found himself in the middle of a forest. Other people slowly appeared next to him, but only twenty people. That was one-fifth of the total number.


    "Shit... It looks like the others were transported to other ces. That''s problematic..." Wain muttered.


    Among the people he knew here was Va. This reassured him because the others wouldn''t be pestering him to be their leader.


    Before beginning his journey, Wain decided to check something. He closed his eyes, and his Seal of Darkness glowed brightly. Wain frowned and then sighed regretfully.


    ''All exits and entrances are blocked. I can''t feel any spatial rifts. It''s as if they don''t exist at all.'' Wain thought.


    Tremble.


    Suddenly the ind trembled, and everyone heard the same message.


    [Congrattions, you have arrived on Merger Ind. You can be proud of yourself for making it here. Since the ind has appeared in your world, you will have a small advantage of ten minutes before...]


    ''What will happen?'' Hundreds of people thought simultaneously, but no one had an answer.


    [Tell me, what do you think is the most valuable thing in the world? Money, perhaps? Souls? Rtionships? Maybe rare metals and incredible treasures? Or the feelings of your nearest and dearest? No, these are all just worthy candidates. The most valuable thing is - time, it''s always in short supply, and you are no exception].


    Whooooooosh.


    The next moment, the number ''60'' appeared on everyone''s left hand. A secondter, it turned into 59:59.


    "What? Have we been put on a timer?" Wain was surprised.


    [When your timees to an end, your story and life will be nothing more than ashes. However, time can be extended. You will have to find ways if you want to live.]


    There were no more messages. The only thing people knew was that something would happen in ten minutes and that their life was now only one hour.


    Wain nodded weakly and ran deep into the forest. He could see the ind from above but wanted to take another look around, being here already. He ran toward the tallest tree. It was huge, like a world tree, and its crown covered most of the forest.


    The leaves of this tree were unusual but silver. They glittered in the sunlight and created little iridescent chains above.


    When Wain reached the tree, he stopped as a huge, white serpent was sleeping in front of the tree.


    Its scales were as strong as steel, and a majestic aura emanated from it. Unlike humans, the serpent did not have a counter. It could sleep as long as it wanted.


    The Ring of Damned shone brightly, and a tinum sword appeared in Wain''s hands. He used the Shattered Part and attacked the beast sharply.


    The serpent felt an aura emanating from Wain, and woke up at the veryst moment.


    It twisted at an odd angle and dodged Wain''s direct attack. The serpent''s eyes glowed brightly, and it turned into a white sh, bearing down on its foe.


    Wain frowned and retreated sharply. He thrust his arm forward and used the Magic Missile. The white beam headed for the serpent''s head, the beast, had no time to defend itself. However, it didn''t need to.


    When the beam reached the serpent''s scales, it bounced aside and pierced the nearest tree.


    ''This snake is pretty strong, Magic Missile has some serious punching power, but even so...I couldn''t hurt it. Okay, it looks like I''ll have to use more serious measures.'' Wain thought, and three ck spheres appeared on his sword.


    Wain swung his sword, and a dark wave of energy came down on the serpent. It tried to dodge, but its body was too long andrge. The dark wave managed to touch the tip of its tail and cut it off.


    Roooooooooaaaaaaaaaaar!


    The serpent roared furiously and opened its mouth wide. A sphere of energy piled up in it, and a momentter, a huge beam of energy rained down on Wain.


    He didn''t dodge. Instead, Wain swung his sword twice, using the remaining spheres for those attacks.


    The ''X''-shaped de sliced the beam into four pieces and copsed on the serpent''s head. However, even this failed to kill the beast.


    Most of its scales were destroyed, and the flesh began to rot due to the corrosive effect, but the serpent was still able to fight, and it was in a boundless rage.


    The serpent attacked again, putting all his strength into it. It was as fast as the wind, but that was no obstacle for Wain. He jumped up high at thest moment and thrust his sword into the serpent''s head.


    Wain swung the sword several times and made additional cuts, turning the beast''s brain into a bloody mess. His cloak and face were stained with blood, but his eyes remained cold and merciless.


    The soul of the serpent flew into Wain''s body.


    [Soul of White Serpent (Whole)


    Chronicle: First


    Rating: Ascendant]


    Wain was surprised that the serpent''s soul had such a high rating. He decided to crush the soul and try his luck, and a red book appeared before him. Moreover, the meter on his hand began to change.