Poison God's Heritage

*** Please Read the Author's Note at the end***

There are times when bravery is rewarded. There are times when cowardice is also understood. And there are times when you have no option but to run if you wish to save your life. And then there are times when even running cannot guarantee your survival.

Against any other foe in this Base, we would have had a semblance of hope, although they are powerful, the Rakshasa of the white and black and even gray color are all within the scope of what we can handle.

But once the level gets cranked up to the silver one, only death awaits.

A person might think that, since the group with me had already defeated many Origin Realm cultivators and came up on top, all four of us who were only at the Void Stage, and still managed to secure better spots than those at the Void Shattering and even the Origin Stage cultivators, we have still managed to be the finalists of this tournament.

But one must not forget one simple factor that allowed us to win.

The Eight Suns forbade the use of Origin Qi, lest the other cultivators at the Origin Realm could simply sweep the entire competition in a matter of hours.

It was simply to give a chance to the rest of us by tying the Origin Realm cultivator's hands.

What a sad thing to believe that one is actually capable of contending with others who have the ability to use a Qi that is on a completely different spectrum. It is the same as comparing a cultivator at the Saint Qi stage, and one at the Ascendant Stage.

Immeasurable difference in ability foretells a death that awaits those who are arrogant.

And right in front of us was the presence of death itself. Manifesting in the shape of a two-legged almost humanoid formed Rakshasa. Its skull which elongated all the way to its back was shimmering in and out of visibility, as if it was forcing itself to remain visible.

A primal predator of incredible prowess, able to easily eliminate all of us without it even having to break a sweat.

There was not much to discuss, not much to speak of, and not much to talk about. My hand went directly to my pistol, and immediately let loose the entire chamber.

The echoes of the explosions were loud enough that it warned every creature in the vicinity of our presence.

Loud and soul-wrenching screeches echoed through the hallways as the Rakshasas who were running all over the place without a clear goal purpose or prey to hunt seemed to all switch their direction.

We were in a position where the entire base was on to us.

The smoke cleared up from the bullets I shot, only for me to realize that the creature didn't even try and block them, it took them head-on.

Several bullets embedded themselves deep into its skin, and soon, were slowly and steadily pushed out, leaving no mark, scar, or even protrusion.

This was an obvious sign of our incompetence against it.

The Scythe of Death was dangerously close to our necks.

It would only take little effort for the Grim Reaper to harvest all our souls.

But I was never a man who'd die without going all out.

"We're no match, Everyone, run for the hatch, I'll stall him," I said.

I knew all of them and all of their abilities, they could not stop it, they couldn't even make it budge. Because although they are all strong, they lack flexibility.

Their power is all in their own cultivation base, Zhang Tian's laws are not applicable to this being as the mere fact that it can use Origin Qi can override any law that Zhang Tian can use.

The bullets I shot had incredible incendiary power, but they didn't even singe his skin so the Fire Lord's flames are useless.

Dao Shen's devouring arts are of no value, as he cannot devour a Qi that he himself is unable to use.

As for Law, his luck is great, but it isn't infinite. And there is nothing that can crush luck better than overwhelming power.

The four didn't even hesitate in running away.

A laughable sight from the perspective of the Silver Rakshasa. After all, though they were sprinting at full speed, it was confident it could easily catch up to them.

I shot several more rounds at the Rakshasa to keep its attention on me.

It didn't really care for the bunch as it could easily catch up to them, and from the point of view of the Rakshasa, they were going to a dead end.

It didn't understand what a hatch is and didn't know that there was a path leading downward.

The Administrator was in the hands of Law who was doing his best to run ahead of the group.

As for me, I needed to buy time.

Now, if I was, anywhere else, other than this stupid bastion, I wouldn't have had any issues with this fight. Continue reading stories on m|v-l'e m,p y r

Because, although I'm far too weak to defeat this thing, I could easily trap it and cause its mind to go haywire.

Simply put my Domain of Delusions. If I use that, not only will I buy time, but I will also confuse the beast. And no matter how insanely smart it is, to have your entire perception flipped upside down is bound to cause you to hesitate at the least.

To not be able to move where you wish, to not be able to act as you wish, to have up and down, back and forward reversed is bound to make even the smartest most acute, and intelligent being suffer for at least a small time.

But…

I cannot use it.

Here in the Bastion, My Divine Sense, which is by the way incredibly potent and powerful is heavily limited.

It is because of this Soulsteel all around us. It saps away at one's soul energy the moment one tries to use Divine Sense since it is also a part of one's soul.

And the range of my Domain extends to barely beyond the skin around me.

Which is frankly nothing.

So, this means I cannot use my domain dome to trap the Rakshasa.

That option is now unavailable.

A second possible way for me to win is to use the Heaven Swapping Ring. After all, I could simply swap my position with the Rakshasa and run toward my friends.

But once again, it only extends to the range that my Divine Sense extends to.

That means even if I can see him, even if I can use the Ring, I cannot activate it due to this dumb fucking condition inside this base.

The third option is to fight it head-on. Which honestly is, the dumbest idea I've had in a good while.

But when one is trapped, a man's options become limited. Fight or Flight, and since the 'Flight' option is also banned.

"Golden Titan's Madness!"

My entire body was overcharged with incredulous amounts of Qi. Once I go "big mad", there is no stopping me.

The Golden Titan's Madness muffles sanity and pain which are natural inhibitors of the body from tapping on its full potential.

With the limiters removed and muffled, the body can exert its full potential but there is only one caveat. You lose the ability to distinguish between friend and Foe.

Since the four of them are far away, I wouldn't have any issue with that, the Golden Titan's madness thankfully only lasts for one minute, and in that one minute, I can only watch, not act.

My body, charged with immense amounts of Poison Qi lunged toward the Rakshasa, I couldn't use a sword or a weapon, and could only use the body's own tools, fists, teeth, and my feet to battle.

However, my grip which was aimed at the Rakshasa's neck was easily parried away, while the Rakshasa simply swung its tail at my chest, slamming me right into the nearest wall.

The blow looked simple, slow, and not that powerful, however, every bone in my body felt the impact, my ribcage felt as if it was struck with a sledgehammer, and my back had lightning run through it from the sudden shock.

The Golden Titan's Madness muffled pain, it didn't stop it.

It was only the first exchange and I almost died. But I can't stop myself now, I have to keep going.

The fiend was still not moving from his spot, he only casually glanced at me and at my allies. It was toying with us since it knew well that we're unable to run away.

I lunged back at him, but was once again stopped in my tracks, toyed with, beaten and utterly and mercilessly slammed into the ground continuously.

The fiend knew not to kill me and was doing just enough damage that it was painful enough one would want to die, but not beyond the threshold of killing a person.

Every exchange cost me at least two to three bones, though they broke and shattered, they easily mend back thanks to the regenerative ability of the Golden Titan's Madness.

My sanity was slowly slipping away, and I couldn't allow it to fully dissipate since I wouldn't know how I died if I did so.

This entire exchange didn't last more than thirty seconds, in it I probably broke most if not every bone in my body and repaired them. In it I saw death multiple times, but still I could gamble like that due to one reason.

Twenty-two thousand years they waited, and now the opportunity to get new blood, and use it to release themselves had come. They will not kill us. They need to capture us.

My Golden Titan's Madness ended, without achieving any noteworthy results. But one, looking all the way to the end of the path, they had already made it to the hatch.

While although I was still stuck here with the Silver Rakshasa, they can escape on their own.

Having fully regained my sanity, I felt the pain of going into that mode racking my body and felt like it was being torn apart.

My hands gripped tightly on the floor from the agonizing pain. Enough that my nails scraped and bled on the ground.

But in that second of agony, I felt as if a door had opened inside my head.

I had my eyes closed, but I was still able to see. An impossible thing without Divine Sense, so how could it be?

Then I noticed something, my hand which was on the ground. The large ring which was made of Soulsteel was connected to the ground, and allowed me to feel the Bastion itself.

"Help Me," I heard.

The Bastion was speaking… and I could hear it.