NOVPUBRushing to Jovan’s side, Eamon violently pulled at his shoulder, causing him to stumble backward, but his eyes remained vacant.
"Snap out of it, Jovan! Wake up, Jovan!"
Eamon’s scream was nearly in his ear.
But it had no effect.
In his desperation, Eamon slapped Jovan hard across the face.
The sting of pain jolted Jovan back to consciousness. He glanced at the master before him, then down at himself, the haunting memories of the recent bizarre experience flooding back. His eyes widened in terror, "Eamon, what just..."
"No time! We need to get out of here. Now!" Eamon interrupted, seizing Jovan’s arm, ready to flee.
But Jovan, eyes widening in alarm, exclaimed, "Eamon! Behind you!"
Before anyone could warn further, Eamon felt a gust of wind at his back.
A blood-red shadow streaked through the air.
"Look out!" In a desperate move, Jovan lunged forward, shoving Eamon aside.
A thick, fleshy tendril whipped out, striking Jovan. Instantly, his eyes bulged, his chest caved in, and he was sent flying, landing motionless on the ground.
Eamon watched in stunned horror.
The slick tendril retracted, narrowly missing Eamon’s head.
For a split second, he was paralyzed, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from his chest. Then, instinct kicked in. He scrambled to his feet and ran frantically forward.
By now, a crimson mass had fully emerged from the pit.
As it unfurled, numerous slimy tendrils were revealed, resembling a grotesque conglomeration of gigantic worms. The sight was utterly revolting.
The entity, silent and menacing, rose up.
It had no eyes, yet every single tendril pointed menacingly at Jovan, clearly targeting the one who had thwarted it.
Eamon dashed forward desperately to drag Jovan away when suddenly darkness loomed overhead.
He looked up to see brooding clouds, and raindrops pelted his face.
The fleshly tendrils, like gravity-defying liquid, arced towards Jovan, who lay on the ground, his fate unknown.
Eamon’s eyes widened.
"Run!"
Before he could finish, Jovan was utterly engulfed by the crimson tendrils.
Eamon heard his own rapid breathing; the world went eerily silent at that moment, past scenes flashing through his mind:
"Uh... hi, hi! My name’s Jovan, just passed the exam. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do, so if I cause any trouble for my seniors, please forgive me."
A green Jovan scratched his head, displaying a youthful smile.
"Eamon, they told me to learn from you, so from now on, you’re my master. I got my pay this month, let me take you out for a meal!"
Pushed and shoved about, Jovan wore a look of confusion mixed with the joy of having found his place, his plea tinged with a desire to please.
"Master, are you always so stern when you talk? That guy has a lot of connections, you know?"
Just starting to move with Eamon, witnessing his way of doing things for the first time, Jovan asked in a mixture of shock and admiration.
But now, this colleague named Jovan, this chatterbox who had been his apprentice for two years, disappeared before his very eyes.
Eamon felt like he could hardly breathe.
"Jovan..."
"He saved me..."
Eamon’s teeth clenched slowly, his head lifting, his eyes rolling with something that was either tears or rain.
Overwhelmed with an unprecedented rage, his mind went blank, and he instinctively picked up a rusty iron rod from the ground.
"Fuck you!"
Eamon roared, charging forward.
The fleshly beast that had enveloped his colleague suddenly shot out a tendril as thick as an arm, which, upon touching Eamon’s calf, wrapped around it tightly.
Yanked off his feet, Eamon fell into the mire.
He struggled to tear away the tendril, but it was like the finest quality rubber, slippery and unyielding.
No matter how hard he pulled, his face turning red, there was no change.
…
At that moment, Martin had just reached the entrance of the processing plant, his perception piercing through the veil of rain, already "seeing" the critical situation.
It wasn’t an illusion last night!
What he had sensed was the spirit power fluctuation of this very entity.
Suddenly, the voice of the system rang out:
"Random mission: Eliminate a Level 1 Worm Monster. Reward: 10 Organization Experience, Random Prize."
And Martin had already raised his hand, palm facing the dark colossus.
This was Martin’s first encounter with a monster, and a rescue at that, so he dared not hold back, pouring his spirit power forth like a torrent.
"Whoo..."
A fierce wind suddenly swept through!
His raincoat’s hood was ripped back, hair dancing wildly in the tempest, the coat itself flapping loudly.
Vivian struggled to push her bicycle forward.
As she saw Martin and was about to speak, the suddenly fierce wind nearly swept her umbrella away.
She clutched the handle tightly, squinting against the gale, and then she saw a sight she would never forget:
Amidst Martin’s fluttering clothes and hair, the falling raindrops seemed to meet an invisible barrier, streaming to either side, with visible currents of electricity entwining around him.
The sky darkened further, a ghostly blue lightning simmering and flashing within the clouds.
Vivian’s eyes widened, her mouth slowly opening in awe.
Unheld, the umbrella was caught by the gust, spiraling up into the sky.
...
Chapter9-Lightning that Illuminates the World
The fleshly tentacle of the Worm Monster suddenly tensed around Eamon, yanking him toward it, dragging his body through the mud.
"Go to hell, you beast!"
Eamon’s angry roar pierced through the air as he struggled furiously, trying to grasp anything, the ground itself, but he could not resist the relentless pull of the tentacle, getting dragged closer and closer.
The monstrous mass loomed larger in his vision.
Watching his life inch closer to death, the primal fear of survival surged forth, shocking his enraged mind into clarity.
He thought of his mother, ill and bedridden, the two of them dependent on each other for years.
But now, if I die, what will happen to mom?
At this moment, Eamon himself couldn’t identify his emotions—fear, regret, wrath, unwillingness, pain...
Regardless, as this thought emerged, he was mere meters away from the monster.
The creature’s many tentacles unfurled, its maw gaping open as if to swallow him whole.
In this critical moment, Martin’s attack was finally ready.
Around him, an invisible force reverberated, the surrounding subtle currents of electricity shot outward in all directions.
Martin pointed towards the heavens.
For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent.
Then—
A pale blue lightning bolt pierced through the clouds and the earth!
Intense light penetrated the rain, suddenly brightening the entire world.
The Worm Monster was struck instantaneously, fine currents flickering over its body, freezing in place, its sticky tentacles slackening their hold.
This astonishing scene utterly stunned Eamon, so much so that he forgot to run.
In the fixed gaze of his black pupils, another bolt of lightning struck.
The Worm Monster collapsed, its support gone, becoming a mere pool of liquid sinking to the ground.
"Boom..."
It was then that the thunderous roar of the first lightning strike reached them, a sound so immense that it seemed to make the whole world tremble.
"Boom..."
The third.
The fourth...
Vivian stood, staring blankly at Martin’s silhouette.
Ahead of the silhouette, in the rain, lay a blurry and massive sanguine shadow.
One after another, the lightning bolts fell ceaselessly.
The Worm Monster’s carcass had not even settled in its splash when it shriveled into some sort of congealed charcoal under the immense heat generated by the thunderbolts.
Then, washed away by the rain, it collapsed with a thunderous crash...
Finally, the spirit power Martin had expended was drained, and the pale blue lightning ceased.
The world was left once again with only the cacophony of the rain.
Within the curtain of rain, everything seemed to dissolve into indistinct shadows.
Lying in the mire, Eamon stood up slowly as his body grew cold. His lips trembled, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
In this moment, he seemed to have lost the power of speech.
Looking at the blackened char scattered on the ground and then back at the rain, he was completely at a loss.
Outside, within Martin’s mind, the system’s voice chimed in timely:
"Mission completed. Reward: Organizational experience 10, Power of Wishing."
"Note, although the Power of Wishing is a wish-granting ability at the rule level, it is ineffective against targets of the same or higher spirit power level as the caster."
"For targets with a lower spirit power level, its effects are also very limited, mainly non-combat abilities."
"Each use will cost a certain amount of the caster’s spirit power, failure to pay the spirit power after [Wishing] will result in backlash. Use with caution."
Martin, who was somewhat headache-stricken about how to deal with the aftermath, exhaled in relief.
Although this ability was practically useless in combat, if used within human society, it was nothing short of a supreme tool.
He had been aware of Vivian’s presence all along, but there had been no time to pay her any attention amidst the life-threatening crisis.
Now...
"Bang!"
The poor bicycle fell to the ground once again.
Martin turned around and walked over.
The thoroughly drenched Vivian instinctively staggered back in fright.
The enormous figure of the monster in the rain, the lightning continuously descending from the sky...
She couldn’t articulate what she was feeling at the moment.
What had become of this world?
A roommate she had looked down upon, quiet and reticent, had suddenly displayed powers to command the wind and harness electricity, transforming into a superhuman from movies and TV shows.
This contrast...
Truly left her with a complex mix of emotions.
And amidst this tumult of feelings, certain memories suddenly surfaced in Vivian’s mind.
She remembered a time when she had inadvertently seen inside Martin’s bedroom, where the walls were plastered with all manner of bizarre and otherworldly items.
At that time, she found it somewhat spine-chilling.
But now, could it be that Martin had always been a hermit, a sage hidden from the world, silently cultivating his powers?
Vivian suddenly felt ridiculous for having regarded such a person as an underachiever, a mediocre youth.
Truly blind to what lay before her eyes.
She had been planning, when tired of striving, to simply marry a wealthy man, yet she was oblivious to the presence of a truly formidable person by her side.
Watching Martin come over just to pick up the bicycle, she ventured tentatively:
"Mar... Martin?"
The words left her lips, and only then did she realize the uncontrollable quiver in her voice.
Seeing her face drenched with rain, Martin said, "This incident has caused quite a stir; the police will definitely investigate."
In his plan, now was not the time to reveal himself to the scrutiny of the state.
"I... I won’t betray you," Vivian hastened to say.
Martin shook his head, "You can’t deceive professional investigators, so the best way is to make sure you truly know nothing."
After all, being a modern young adult, heavily influenced by movies, anime, and novels, Vivian almost immediately realized what Martin intended to do.
Erase memories!
Or, alter them.
And memories are among the most precious things to a human being.
Such an act was utterly unacceptable to her.
But in this moment, all she could do was purse her rosy lips and look pitifully at Martin.
Before this man, her pride, her self-assurance, had already crumbled to dust under the barrage of lightning strikes.
Martin sighed inwardly.
To be fair, Vivian had done nothing in this affair, and there was no question of fault on her part, yet she was to have her memory altered by him without reason.
This weighed on his conscience with a tinge of guilt.
And it wasn’t just Vivian.
He was also poised to use the Power of Wishing to erase every trace of his involvement in this matter.
This included, but was not limited to, any video surveillance and the casual observer who might have seen him inadvertently.
Thus, there might be more memories for him to alter.
Yet, he had no choice but to do so, otherwise, the situation could spiral into unforeseen chaos.
Amidst the downpour, as their gazes met, Martin activated the Power of Wishing.
The world around them fell into silence, a mysterious sensation suffused his mind, as if his consciousness connected to something vast and profound.
Martin immediately transmitted his [Wishing] through thought.
In just a moment, he received a response.
There were only two traces of him in this incident: one was the location data of the shared bicycle, and the other was the sole witness—Vivian.
Martin looked around, realizing the situation.
Of course.
Although the factories were all equipped with surveillance, he hadn’t set foot inside any of them.
This place was already remote, the few houses nearby housed the workforce of Riverland, and at this hour, few were at home.
Moreover, with the torrential rain and such visibility, ordinary human eyesight could hardly distinguish anything beyond ten meters.
But if he delayed any longer, that might no longer be the case.
