"I don't think I can get him off without hurting him. I'll just have to do it. I can heal him. Right." But still, Diaman could—for a second his grip tightened on Shira's arm. Shira widened his eyes then frowned back. "Do it."
Diaman shook his head. "No, there are other ways." He lifted Shira off his feet and held him. "Seal his arm. We're getting out now."
"Let go of me." Shira struggled, his legs dangling off the ground. "I'll carry you out, you don't have to be so—"
Before Diaman could complete his sentence, Shira kicked him in the balls. He groaned but didn't let go. He spun on his heels to head for the main door since he couldn't hold Shira while following the vent.
He ran towards the door with Shira in his arms, constantly headbutting him. But the pain wasn't anything to Diaman. A moment from crashing, a figure stood in front.
Diaman skidded to a stop inches from the glass door. On the other side, he saw a large figure With a featureless face—just a humanoid body and two glowing crimson pupils.
Shira stopped headbutting Diaman and looked at the figure behind the door. "What the hell."
"Shit, it's here." Diaman dropped Shira to his feet. They glanced at each other then walked back slowly.
It didn't move, didn't speak, just stared at them. "It must have leaked out of a dungeon."
"I think so." Diaman kept his voice steady despite being unsure and scared. He concentrated on the alien figure and the system revealed its stats.
[ RULEKEEPER (ROGUE) ]
[ RACE: ENTITY ]
[ RANK: ???? ]
[ HP: ???? ]
[ MANA: ???? ]
[ SUGGESTED ACTION FOR HOST ]
[...]
[ RUN! ]
The system can't even measure how strong its power is. It's far greater than anything he's seen. What even is a Rulekeeper?
[ HOST BODY IS PREPARING TO ]
[ INITIATING PROTOCOL ]
[ TAKING OVER HOST BODY! ]
"NO, don't do that!" Diaman didn't realize he had said it out loud. Shira looked at Diaman like he had seen a mad person.
"You run. As fast as you can."
"You're fucking joking, right? Still pretending you don't know me."
"I'll buy you time. You run while it's still idle."
"I'm staying." Shira formed ice around his fists. "Besides, it doesn't look like it has mana."
"It has it, just not on our comprehension. So you turn around and you run, you hear me?"
"What? You're capping."
Diaman grabbed Shira by the arm. "Stop it. Get out of here right now."
"I'm not leaving you to fight that thing." They both looked at the Rulekeeper, still standing, looking straight at them.
"You don't know me and I don't know you. Get out now." Diaman raised his voice.
"I'm not falling for that." Shira yanked Diaman's grip off him. "I know you."
Diaman's lips parted but he couldn't form a word.
¡NON-ANOMALY!¡
THE STORE VIBRATED HEAVILY, SENDING ALL THE STANDS FALLING. THE LIGHTS FLICKERED FROM THE SOUND OF THE RULEKEEPER'S VOICE ALONE.
"So it can talk."
¡DEPART FROM THE ANOMALY OR FACE JUDGEMENT TOGETHER!¡ A spear materialized in the hand of the Rulekeeper—long, stainless steel with runes carved on the spear head. The Rulekeeper aimed his spear at Diaman.
Without any hesitation, Diaman turned to Shira. He was already regretting what he wanted to do, but he had no choice. Shira wouldn't listen, and even if Shira were to fight by his side, he wouldn't be much help. So he infested Shira with T.godii.
Shira convulsed as the parasite fixed at his nape.
"Get back to your hostel fast and don't turn back," he ordered him. Like a puppet, Shira turned away and ran towards the back door.
Diaman tightened his eyes shut for a moment. He never wanted to violate Shira's brain, but that was the only plan he could think of to get Shira out.
¡ANOMALY, YOU HAVE BEEN SENT TO JUDGEMENT FOR BREAKING THE WORLD RULES. ORDER MUST BE RESTORED!¡
Diaman squared up, ready for a fight, but—
The Rulekeeper slammed his spear to the ground and the world shifted around Diaman. Everything around them shattered to white glowing bits. The Rulekeeper waved his hand toward Diaman and the bits shot at him.
Diaman didn't allow them to reach him. He didn't know what they would do, but it had to be bad. He ran away from the strike. It followed him like a missile. Slowly the bits grew in numbers, turning into a sandstorm of white glowing bits. Diaman curved through an alley, avoiding it, but was cornered as it came from the other side.
Shit. He looked up and jumped onto the building roof. He turned back but couldn't see the Rulekeeper. "I expected this would happen. I just leveled up and got caught instantly. Argh."
His body blurred as he kept running randomly. He can't go home without putting his mom in danger. But at least he had given Shira time to escape.
"I just pray he doesn't come back." He disabled T.godii when he noticed Shira was already 50 meters away.
"Now I can take care of this."
[ NO, ABORT ATTACK ]
"Not like he would just let me leave."
I think he's staying inside the sandstorm. I don't know what he does—I could name it something. I don't know. I got an idea. Diaman jumped off a building, landed, grabbed a stone. He gripped the stone hard, attempting to pour mana into it.
His palm flowed with mana. He then tossed it into the sandstorm. It engulfed it and turned it to bits.
Diaman watched over his shoulder, still running away from the sandstorm chasing him.
"That's what it does. It can move and degrade things to bits."
"I expected something more complex."
"If that's the case—" Diaman turned and ran towards the bits instead.
"Infest PLURINITE. ENGAGE."
[ INFESTED PARASITE ]
PLURINITE (ACTIVATED)
VECTOR: SELF
'I don't have time to create a new parasite mid-fight, so I'll just heal faster than it degrades.' Diaman dove into the storm and he was engulfed. Molecule by molecule his body began to eat away but was instantly regenerated with PLURINITE, so he was protected. He ran to the center of the storm.
At the center, he saw the Rulekeeper standing still with his spear stuck into the ground. The storm didn't engulf him, just spun around him like a barrier.
"Got you."