SL: Chapter 710 – Day Unknown – Grudging Victory

“Radiant Beam! Void Beam!” I pushed 60,000 points worth of energy into the attack, striking the containers in a massive annihilation explosion. The containers were blown apart. The one’s closer to the sphere had melted. Pieces of the containers went flying away from the blast, away from me.

The sphere was hit as well. It developed a large crack, almost splitting in two and began to hemorrhage a tremendous amount of energy. Its glowing white surface was quickly dimming. Acid Shot x10. I hit the sphere with another attack. It was clearly becoming unstable.

“Time to go,” I said as I flew towards Clarissa. The sphere was finished. It was an anti-climatic end to a grueling battle, but that was what happens in a battle of attrition.

“The opening is a bit small, but it should be fine. We will have to leave our helmets behind,” Clarissa said as the astrolabe she had set up began to spin.

“Any time now?” I asked her as I looked nervously at the small astrolabe.

“The sphere’s energy is disrupting things,” she replied while moving Magnite plates around us to try and block the energy out. I released a portion of my remaining energy, pushing away the sphere’s energy from around the astrolabe.

It began to spin faster, then the rings locked into place as a portal opened up in the air. Glancing through it was far above the ground of the Systemic Lands, but it was a way back. “Go!” I told Clarissa as I ripped off my helmet. She did the same and went through the portal, and I followed in immediately after her.

It was a tight fit, my shoulders barely clearing the edges of the rings, but I made it through. We were in free fall. I reached out and pulled Clarissa into a princess carry as we continued to plummet towards the ground. The tiny portal closed behind us.

“Slow down?!” she shouted at me over the roaring wind. I shook my head. I didn’t want to fight a high level monster in the air. And the terrain beneath us appeared to be level 3. Not dangerous for either of us. I looked for roads but didn’t see any.

“Brace yourself!” I shouted back at her. Air Burst. Air Burst.

I landed on the ground the ground and then sent Clarissa down. “Thank you for that Michael,” she said. I had thought about doing something else when setting her down, but that would have been a huge violation of trust. Better to give us both a moment before getting into the drama.

“No problem. Figure out where we are?” I asked her, while looking around.

“No. But if I had to guess North of Purgatory most likely. The layout of the zones looked similar to there,” she replied. We were in the frostlands but the cold didn’t bother us. A blue cat monster rushed at us. Acid Shot. I casually killed it and checked the sky. No sky monsters, which was nice. High level flying monsters were always annoying to fight.

“We won, I can’t believe we won. That was impressive,” Clarissa said. I knew why she was buttering me up, but I didn’t want to ruin the mood just yet.

“Thanks, you too. Sorry about your men,” I replied.

“They knew the risks going in. They died doing what they enjoyed, rushing into dangerous situations and fighting dangerous opponents. You sure the sphere is dead?” she asked me.

“It was breaking apart the last I saw. After losing all that energy, it definitely isn’t coming back and if it is, not for a very long time. But I would bet on it being dead,” I replied and Clarissa let out a sigh of relief at that. I was kind of hoping for a meta point as confirmation, but the Almighty System was being as stingy as ever.

“Good. I don’t want to go through that again. I am not meant for fighting, or even support. That was far too stressful,” she said.

“You actually did quite well and kept your head on straight. Good idea with the wedge and hammer,” I replied. It really was a good idea to wear down the sphere more quickly.

“Thanks. I feel like there should be a celebration or something. A shame we didn’t appear near my base,” she said. That would have been too lucky. I was just glad we were back in the Systemic Lands. Anywhere else and I didn’t favor our chances of survival.

“I know I look rough,” I said my clothes were bloody and my body wasn’t in much better shape either. While my head was fine, since I had protected my helmet, the rest of my body was in really rough shape. There was also internal damage from the energy I had taken in. I didn’t think I would be kicked out from the store, but I would need to be careful for a much longer time period.

“A city then. Supplies, figure out where we are and then go from there. We can both get a regeneration. Got hit with a beam attack as well,” she said. I had seen the wound, it was on her leg and looked a lot worse than mine. She had stats, but nowhere close to my amount.

“I won’t say no to a vacation. Good job at getting us out of there, I was worried for a moment,” I said. Getting trapped in the rainbow dimension had been a much greater concern than defeating the sphere. I was glad we were able to make it back without too much fuss.

“Too much research and too much stress learning all of it myself. At least we made a good team one last time,” she said. There it was, she knew what was coming, but I decided to play along.

“One last time? You know there are other threats out there, like the sword,” I said.

“The sword can wait. For a while at least. I plan to enjoy a nice long rest and settle down some place,” she said still dancing around the topic like I was. Neither of us wanted to give in. We were both stubborn people. Unfortunately for Clarissa I had the upper hand in combat.

“A vacation does sound nice. Too bad there are no beaches, or a nice holiday themed zone,” I replied.

“Then we would probably get murderous clowns or some other nonsense like that. Some place quiet. No monsters. No one asking for stuff. No reports. Now that is a vacation,” she replied. Neither of us wanted to bring up the topic, but I wasn’t going to let it go. It was time to rip the veneer of peace and tranquility off and get into the matter at hand.

The value of the portable store was too much to casually gloss over. While Clarissa might be hoping that I wouldn’t say anything, I wasn’t one to shy away from difficult conversations or situations.

“So, now what?” I asked while looking at her and then at the portable store cylinder on her waist. The tension shot up immensely at that.

“No. I am telling you no,” she replied. It was amusing she thought that mattered in the slightest. There was only one real truth, those with power made the rules and between the two of us, Clarissa had no power.

“You took it while I was Emperor. Not after, while I was Emperor. Are you going to pay up my half, half a trillion points?” I asked casually. The fact she had hid it was more annoying that anything. It was a strategic asset she kept to herself. No consultation, no consideration. Well turn about was fair play. Since she didn’t consult me about keeping it, I didn’t have to consult her about taking it.

“Will you? Pay up half a trillion points to me if you take it?” she countered. I didn’t answer that. I would never give up that many points. Not even to my own mother, which actually meant something, since she was wandering around the Systemic Lands with Michelle at the moment.

It had the value of a meta point but could also be purchased for a trillion regular points. And most importantly of all it was actually useful. It was a key strategic item that I wasn’t about to let escape my grasp. “You can’t beat me Clarissa. Even with whatever skills and energy you have. My stats are too high. I will just dodge and wear you down,” I explained, hoping to avoid a fight.

“Probably, but without the portable store, you can target me. With it, I can disappear Michael. It is my safety net. One I am not going to give up,” she countered.

“Even if it would lead to your death,” I replied. I could tell she was afraid, but I wasn’t going to attack unless absolutely necessary.

“And escalate things between us? We just accomplished something impossible, just take the win,” she replied, and I shook my head.

“You take the win, and I will take the portable store. You knew this would happen the moment you showed it to me. While I wouldn’t make a fuss when there was a larger threat hanging over our heads, now that the sphere is destroyed, I am claiming it by right as Emperor or former Emperor, whatever,” I said.

“Then kill me and be done with it,” she said and spread her arms out.

“A touch based skill of some kind? Or some other trap? Since you know I don’t want to kill you? You plan to lure me in close when I try to take it by force. I could just melt your legs and one arm off first, let you drag yourself back to a city,” I countered. I saw the blood leave her face at that. I disliked threatening someone I considered a friend, but a portable store was far too valuable.

“You are an asshole, you know that, right?” she asked me as she pulled the cylinder off her belt. I let out a sigh.

“I know. But you also know, there is no other response. It is too valuable,” I countered as she tossed it over. I hesitated before catching it, but I kept staring straight at Clarissa. I caught the cylinder and confirmed it was the portable store. I had thought she might have one last trap in reserve, but that wasn’t the case. She had used everything she had in the previous battle. I could respect that. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could say that would make things better between us.

Saying something now, would just be rubbing salt in the wound I had just carved out. Well, in time someone would get another meta point, and they might ask for a portable store. She could get that one when it showed up.

Looking at the portable store, it almost wasn’t worth ruining what was left of our relationship, but the value was too great. I apologized to Clarissa in my heart, which meant nothing, and didn’t say anything. I considered her my oldest friend still alive in this place and while it wasn’t a betrayal it was a deep cut.

“Let’s find a city and make our way back to my base. Your airship is still there,” she replied softly. She clearly didn’t want to discuss the portable store anymore. I felt bad, but at a certain point feelings had to be set aside.