Death... and me

Chapter 3994: Catching

"Wait, did you say the other side?" They asked Sister Orb.

[Yes. It simply disappeared and reappeared there.]

Roan looked at the place where the tiny snake was a moment ago. "We tried opening Spatial Gates before, but they don’t work in here. Yet, that snake managed to open one, and I saw something that looked like a Time Plate, although very small."

The others understood what he meant. "The only one who probably can open a Spatial Gate in this place is the Chronoblade Serpent itself. Well, that Time Plate that seemed to have been used to open the Spatial Gate was nothing like the others. All the Time Plates so far have several meters, some even tens of meters in size."

[But it has to be it,] Sister Orb insisted. [The fact that it fled, could see you, and used a Time Plate can only mean that it is the Chronoblade Serpent’s Soul.]

Kentucky turned back to his original form, ready to take flight. "Alright, let’s not waste time. Jump on my back. We are going straight to the Soul."

Everyone did that, and Kentucky shot into the distance. It’s just that they still had doubts.

"Alright... how can we capture it?" Foliana asked.

"I’m more curious about the quest," Tanxan mentioned. "The Quest is all about freeing the primordial beasts, right? Did it look imprisoned to you?"

"Maybe it is imprisoned inside that form," Rean commented.

There were too many questions, and they could only ask the Chronoblade Serpent itself. Of course, they could also check with their other sources, so Rean called Laiana again as Kentucky flew after the snake.

-A tiny snake?- Laiana was taken aback by Rean’s description of the events. -I’ve never seen Xyrath in such a form, that’s for sure.-

"Do you think he could be locked inside that form somehow?" Rean asked on his CD.

-Maybe.- Laiana spoke about what she knew. -Next time, when you see it, talk about my entangled tentacles again. Perhaps you will get a response from it.-

The twins’ group nodded and let it up to Kentucky to get there as fast as possible.

Since they weren’t looking for anything, Kentucky didn’t have to hold back. He crossed the skies like a streak of black and white lightning, passing by various groups and lone experts. No one tried to stop him, not daring to cause trouble for someone who could fly that fast.

Rean was using the Divine Sense Bending Skill, so those who saw Kentucky couldn’t tell which cultivation he had. Everyone thought he was definitely in the Divinity Realm at the very least. As for the Light Bending, it wouldn’t be of much use since the disturbance Kentucky’s flight was causing while moving at full speed was too big for Rean to cover. Rean only made sure their appearances couldn’t be seen.

In any case, it only took the twins’ group a single day to cross the entire Future Realm. Kentucky stopped above a valley, down there, a tiny snake was looking at them. Without a doubt, that was the same one as before, as this valley didn’t have any other snake of the same kind.

Kentucky came down, but didn’t approach too much. Instead, Rean came out and spoke. "Senior Xyrath, Laiana needs help with her entangled tentacles."

*Plang!*

As soon as Rean said that, the snake used its tiny Time Plate to open another Spatial Gate and disappeared once again. It was too fast, to the point that no one could stop it.

[Well... At least it didn’t go all the way to the other side of the Future Realm, just halfway...]

Rean and the others shook their heads. Following that, he contacted Laiana again and told her what happened. "Do you know a way to stop it?"

-Hum...- Laiana pondered a bit, an idea appearing in her mind. -Oh, right! It used a Time Plate to open a Spatial Gate. Back then, I found a way to mess with his Time Plates, even if just for a second.-

She continued. -As soon as he makes that tiny Time Plate appear, I want you to use your Time Power to slow down time.-

Rean narrowed his eyes. "But that is a very common thing to do. Wouldn’t something this simple be easily countered by a being of his level?"

-I haven’t finished yet. Once you do that, Xyrath will naturally fight back against the effect. As you said, he could easily negate it. However, once he tries to do that, I want you to do the opposite and try to accelerate time around the Time Plate. Time is the only thing that can affect the Time Plates, and this sudden change of direction can throw Xyrath off his game. But be aware that it will only work once.-

Rean looked at Roan. They still felt it was quite an easy thing to fight against. But perhaps Xyrath had some kind of problem that didn’t let him prepare for this kind of change. "Alright, we will give it a try."

-Good! Keep the line open. I want to hear everything.-

[Alright, follow my directions, Kentucky.]

Kentucky once again flew away, this time taking only half a day to get to the snake. It obviously noticed their arrival, looking straight at them despite all the concealing skills the twins’ group was using.

Rean and Roan worked together this time, though. They got as close as they could, trying to talk to it. Too bad it ignored them and tried to flee again after they approached.

The tiny Time Plate came out of the snake’s body, the snake trying to open another Spatial Gate.

Rean noticed that, controlling his Time Power to slow down time around the snake and the Time Plate. Naturally, the Snake countered it with its own Time Power, but it was at that moment that Roan took action.

Rean let go of his Time Power, and Roan accelerated the time. One would think that the snake would escape even faster now that everything was accelerated. Yet, it didn’t happen.

*Bzzz...*

The Time Plate seemed to react in a weird way, and the Snake had to work double to get the reaction under control. Just like Laiana said, it only worked for a second, but that was enough for the twins.

*Grab!*

"Gotcha!"

Rean finally caught the snake, which wriggled nonstop in his hand, trying to get itself free. The Time Plate returned to its body, but no Spatial Gate was opened this time. It was weird. Other than its power to open Spatial Gates, it was truly weak. Rean felt that if he squeezed a little harder, he would kill the snake.

"Senior Xyrath, calm down. We just want to talk!" Rean spoke, trying to get the snake to stop moving. Unfortunately, it looked more like the tiny snake was willing to die trying than to do anything else.

"Guess we can only have Sister Orb check on it..." Rean said, preparing to enter the Celestial Soul Dimensional Realm.

However, Roan stopped him. "Don’t do it the normal way. If it has a Time Playe inside its body, you know that the pulling force of the Dimensional Realm won’t bring it inside. Instead, you will disappear alone, and the Snake will be left behind."

Roan waved his hand, and a portal leading into the Celestial Soul Dimensional Realm appeared. "Let’s enter using the same way you did to the Time Plates."

Rean nodded, and everyone passed through the portal. Finally, it closed, and they disappeared inside the Dimensional Realm.