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Chapter 61. Plans in tatters.

  The trio of Jack, Ramia and Rebeca were relatively relaxed as they sat down for their talk, with Jack having already prepared a rather pleasant, though not nearly as mind captivating as last time, tea and an assortment of snacks as they got right into the thick of things, with Rebeca explaining the needs of her side for the swords they would like to order made as well as inquiring regarding the cost and time span in which Jack could deliver such an order, as well as other minute, yet just as important questions, each and every concern addressed by either Jack himself or Ramia. It was to be expected though, for each different preset of the swords would need different set of materials and not all of them were kept on hand in Rebeca's peoples warehouses. Most were not, truth be told, thus that's where the older, though visually not that much any longer due to Ramia having apparently had access to vitality elixirs with which he had regain most of his youth, man came in, citing the average market prices for any materials they would need to outsource before the crafting could truly begin, as well as the time it would take for said orders to arrive in Valkia.

  They had gotten well underway with their negotiations, having finished the first stage, ready to begin the next step when suddenly, jack whipped his head to the side, his attention seemingly entirely taken away from the conversation, causing the other two people present to stop as well and simultaneously look towards Jack- Rebeca in confusion and Ramia with a sense of foreboding. Jack was not a man easily distracted, so whatever was stealing his attention right now was most likely big. His fears were proved true the next moment as Jack shot to his feet and a roar, if it could be called that for the sound that emanated from him was not one that interacted with the physical world. If anything, Ramia would bet that this roar touched his soul directly, conveying the meaning in an instant, both urging and ordering at the same time.

  "Outside. NOW!"

  Without a single word of complaint, both Ramia and Rebeca followed right behind Jack as he rushed forward, surprising both with the speed that he moved at, disappearing from their sights in mere second. They did catch up with him soon enough as they barreled out of the mansion, joining the rest of the Stolen Constellation and their three servants, only to have their mouth hang open at the sight that could be seen from anywhere within the city.

  Large, shadowy, skeletal finger like tendrils extended from the ground all around the town, as though a gargantuan creature hiding deep below the place was rising its hand and closing one of its fists around the town, locking it away in its grasp. With each second, slight tremors that had began with the appearance of the 'hand' grew in magnitude, waking and alerting more and more people who quickly exited their homes just like Jacks group had gone, only to stop and stare at the unreasonable sight before them, frozen in both fear and wonder.

  "WITH ME!" Jacks voice broke his own group out of their stupor, taking on the role that he as a guildmaster was supposed to have, guiding the non combat group out of their own property and in a certain direction.

  "What's going on? Where are we going?" Rebeca was the one to question things- obviously- as she was the only person present who was an outsider. Without stopping or slowing down, Jack answered, though what he said did not help calm down or explain things to the woman.

  "The towns done for. We have to move while we can to try and get out."

  "My team! I have to get them." Rebeca spoke, her eyes darting towards the direction of their homes, only to make a split second decision as the next words Jack spoke painted a clear picture.

  "You go now and you will die one hundred percent. Nor can I afford to waste what little chance we have to survive by taking on more numbers." he added a second later "Look, your servant girl got lucky." as they met Ramia's shopkeeper who had been waiting for him near the entrance of their mansion and was staring at the sight of the monstrous finger-tendrils enveloping the town, only to be grabbed by hand and dragged along until she collected herself and began moving on her own.

  Their group attracted nigh none attention, with most people too stuck on the insane sight before them to care for anyone else, and so, a mere ten or so minutes later, the group had reached the towns wall that looked as though it had come alive- numerous small, black mass tentacle like tendrils wiggling all across its surface. It gave off repulsive, nausea inducing feeling, as though warning not to approach, lest one contracts some particularly nasty disease or worse.

  A familiar item to all but Rebeca appeared in Jacks hand and was dropped to the ground a second later, with Jack taking a deep breath and clapping his hands together. His fingers remained connected for a short while longer as he moved his palms away from one another, forming a small orb of black, pure energy in between his separating palms. Once the small, black energy orb was approximately five centimeters wide, he violently tore his hands away, seemingly tearing space apart with the small, black orb of energy as the origin point, creating a weird, vertical eye like rift above the previously dropped 'phone', displaying nothing but pitch black darkness on the other side.

  "JUMP THROUGH. NOW!" Jack roared, beads of sweat pouring down his forehead- the strain on his body was clearly quite massive as his people had never actually seen him pushed to this state. There was no need for Jack to repeat his words, with Viki leading the way and jumping through the second his words had left his mouth, followed near instantly by Alonso and his squad, then joined by Ramia and his girl servant. Only Rebeca hesitated for just a split second, but by the time the rest were through, she too had resteeled her own resolve and followed through. She did not know why, but Jack's words about the whole situation seemed to resonate with her own foreboding feeling, all but confirming his words true, and no matter how much she had come to like her current team, there were tasks that she had to see done and could not be realized were she to perish here. She jumped through moments later, slipping through disorienting pitch black darkness, only to suddenly fall to the ground, her head still spinning and vision impaired, only for her ears to register a half shriek, half tearing sound that ended with an explosion that knocked her down once more, forcing her consciousness away.

  -------------------------------

  Atarnius sat on a rather decorative and seemingly expensive throne like chair, his vision filled with the slowly closing grasp of their doing as Valkia was slowly- relatively speaking of course- stolen away from the rest of the real, changing it into a separated sealed space for their mistress to stalk and feast untill her thrist had been sated. There was not an ounce of sadness or regret regarding the thousands of lives that would be reaped during his mistress feast, leaving the place with nothing but dust and death behind.

  Why would he feel remorse though? The humans were filthy, pathetic creatures that expanded and fucked around like some sort of rodents, exploding in numbers that no amount of culling could stem. Indeed, they were worse than an infestation of rats, for the latter could be smoked out once the residents of the place said infestation had taken root became aware of the fact. Humans however, were too stubborn and arrogant, as well as more dangerous than rats, resulting in the current state of the world.

  Fewer and fewer elves left their own villages, hidden away in forests and magical barriers, resulting in the decline of their overall might and presence. It was only a matter of before humans start actually besieging their homes, all in hopes of enslaving what remains of their great people, making them toys for their bedrooms or trophies to be paraded around to represent the wealth and power of their owners. No, that could not be allowed to stand, thus Atarnius had pledged his service to his mistress.

  One by one, their efforts would see certain key locations of human expansion devoured, collapsing the entire structure and giving the rest of sentient races the time needed to recover and mount a counter attack- one whose necessity they all seemed quite oblivious about- on the by then weakened humans, eventually resulting in the same thing the despicable, hairless monkeys had planned for everyone else- submission through massive expansion, though brought about by conquest instead. And then, then their world could slowly return to the state it was rightly supposed to be- with humans serving as the slaves they were made to be. All with a sliver of brain matter knew humans could amount to nothing more.

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  And so, he gazed upon the town unraveling before his eyes, pleased with the perfection of his work, as well as the promised rewards that would be bestowed upon him one his mistress was doen feasting. And yet, like some scorned, unrepentant scum, the humans seemed hell bent on defying the natural order of things, all too spiteful to let things happen as they should, as not even twenty minutes in, he sensed some mana fluctuations on one side of the barrier he had overseen the creation on. And this was no mere mage attempting to fruitlessly struggle against the inevitable. No, the feedback he received through the formation control matrix was damn near screaming at him for the damage wrought. A hole had been torn in one of its sides and worse still was kept open and since their continued work was quite reliant on the fact no one knew what was happening, thus such a chain of events was not at all desirable. No it was quite the catastrophic happening indeed.

  Atarnius shot to his feet, abandoning his comfy and somewhat oversized chair, and rushed towards the offending section, reaching the place in less than thirty something seconds, at which moment a rather confusing, perhaps downright terrifying sight came into his view. A single man stood near the wall, his hands spread open as a few meters in front of him, a tear in space- if such a thing was even possible- could be seen in all of its glory. Atarnius had heard of tales long forgotten of mages capable of manipulating the space itself, allowing them to teleport from one place to another without the presence of enormous gateways, but he also knew well enough that such skills had long since been lost to time.

  And yet, before his very eyes, one such legend had come to life, endangering everything he had been working towards.

  "NO YOU DON'T!" he cried out, his hand- an aged, ancient looking staff firmly in his grip- stretched forward as a dark, sickly light shone at the staffs tip, moments later spewing forth a ball of negative energy that seemed to slam in the unidentified mans back, pushing him out of his position and tumbling forward straight into the opened portal.

  "GOOD RIDDANCE!" he laughed, well aware of the things that happened with space tunnels that were disrupted. The end for those inside was not a pleasant one as the poor sods were shredded into microscopic pieces, or as the gifted would say- torn into atoms.

  ---------------------------

  Jack was aware of the unwelcome guest even before the bastard screamed out his anger and launched the negative burst towards him, thus he had enough time to use his cheat like spirit to coalesce a mana shield directly on his back, absorbing whatever damage his body would have taken. That did not negate the kinetic energy he received, pushing him towards the portal he was barely maintaining. Unlike the fool, who seemed under the misconception that this would be the end of him, Jack had the time and capacity to focus on something else- namely the fact that a god damn Raknazarr void spider had found its way to this plane. Sure, they were not much of a problem for divines, actually being considered quite the delicacy in that realm. Here however? One could create quite the problems if left to grow unchecked. At least there was a small mercy Jack realized. The spider was still quite young, forced to rely on enthralled humanoids to do its bidding, creating formations in which it could freely enter and feast and judging by the size of its target, Jack calculated it would need at least another few centuries before it would truly become a world level problem.

  Still, since he was likely the only person with the knowledge of the threat it potentially presented, and quite unwilling to see this plane turned into a desolate wasteland, it would have to be him who solves the budding problem. Thus, in the split second that he had, he did what he had not yet done in this second playthrough of his, tapping into his power over destruction and spitting out a small, uncontrolled ember of destruction that would engulf everything it came into contact with until nothing remained, and once the barrier would dissolve, so would the ember with it, leaving nothing but emptiness behind. A fitting farewell gift, Jack rightfully believed as he grinned the smallest of grins as his body was swallowed by the spatial tear that closed behind him.

  Jack was sure of two things as he was plunged into the spatial tear. First, his team was well on the other side by the time he was launched into the tunnel, removing the greatest fear he had. Secondly, the tear would not kill him, though he could not rightfully tell where he would be tossed towards. He knew he would remain on this plane, but beyond that it was anyone's guess where he would land. Either way, he would have to figure shit out from there. What do do and where to go. He had everything he needed, except a home base he supposed, what with the ruination of Valkia and what not, so his options were limited.

  He could- but would never- collect another group of people to create a new Stolen Constellation while trying to reach the real team, but what would be the point in that? Not like he was entirely cut off from them. They could still farm matter for him, and thanks to the upgrades he had made, they would still be able to get new stuff he made, as well as communicate with him through their calls. What to do? What to do? His mind wandered as he seemed to spend minutes in the void tunnel, his body being thrown who knew where, until finally, before his mind had settled on a plan, he was thrown out, landing with a thud on solid ground.

  "Fuuuck. Not fun." Jack groaned as he came to his own senses, feeling wrung out and so much like shit, he could only imagine this was how super hang over people with unbearable migraine felt. Still, he was no mere mortal, once again relying on his immense spirit to pull himself together and take in his surroundings.

  "No one around- check. Civilization in sight- negative. Body condition- wrecked, but still operational. I can work with that." he groaned as he went through the list of immediate concerns, followed by a relaxed, at least attempted one- exhale as he fished a spare 'phone', dialing Kaede as soon as he had his hands on it.

  "Hey kiddo. Everyone arrived safely on your side?" he asked, his voice a bit rough still, but not betraying just how shit he felt.

  "Yes, everyone's here and accounted for." a half sob or relief came from the other side, Kaede was clearly both terrified and relieved at the same time, betraying a clear problem at hand.

  "How long was I out?" Jack asked, well aware of the shenanigans spatial tears and those stranded in them could work with.

  "Three days." informed the voice of Izumi, much more composed that Kaede, though that was to be expected.

  "You in the loop?" he asked a moment later.

  "As much as we know. Viki told everything she knew, and we know by now that Valkia has disappeared from the map, replaced by an empty space as though the town was never there. We have been searching in the vicinity for any traces of you, though have had no luck, much like with contacting you."

  "Space time shenanigans. Will get used to it." Jack half groaned, once again reminded about the aftermath of the whole ordeal. "I need a bath. Badly." he laughed, wincing at the pain the action delivered. "Okay, first thing first. Ramia and Beca with you still?"

  "Ramia is here, Rebeca soon after they came through, cursing and murmuring something about finding who is responsible and skinning them alive while a horde of goblins had their way with said person." Izumi reported.

  "All right. Stop all search efforts, and make a vote or something. Ask Ramia bout the places you could go and set up a new base, preferably with a large range of monster habitats that would allow you to level without encountering much in a way of bottlenecks while reducing the time needed to travel back and forth. I am who knows where and don't know how long it would take to reach you. Thats the bad news. There are good news as well though. Matter rings should still work, and I can deliver the new gear you will eventually need through the new shared spatial ring, so we are not screwed in that department. No, as far as the world might be concerned, we are still fully operational, so don't stop on the account I am not present there. Might as well do some crazy shit myself. Spread my wings and what not."

  He then inhaled slowly, putting forth his arrogant and overconfident voice "I expect you all to have reached level twenty five at the very least if my guess is even remotely close to the actual distance we now have between us. Make me proud kiddos, and don't you ever despair, for I am still here with you."

  Another few minutes went by as each and every member of his guild then chimed in, their desire to express their relief at his survival evident, until finally the call ended, leaving Jack alone with his aching body and thoughts. "Well, well, well, you damn little shit." he suddenly spoke, his gaze directed up, seemingly towards nothing. "I will take this as an open declaration of sabotage. I was so damn willing to just sit back and chill, but noooo. someone had to go and push my kids over the ledge. I am taking a continent for this shit you pulled, and if more instances like this shit happens, I will take more, until nothing will be left. That, I can promise you as a 'god of destruction'."

  A rumble of thunder resounded from the sky, the absence of any storm clouds making it all the more weird. Still, Jack knew his threat was heard, and noted. Would it be taken seriously? He did not know, though the will of the world also did not know just what had stepped on its little field either.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 25

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +12

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage,

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