NOVGO.NET Chapter 410: Time Stop Dilemma?!
Chapter 410: Time Stop Dilemma?!
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Jack falling and a shitty dragon cackling.
But just as he thought that would be it, that’s when it happened.
The red dragon? It suddenly moved! While Jack was still in free fall, it powerfully waved a claw, one still dripping with Jack’s blood and its own, as it spoke its will!
“𝕿𝖆𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖋𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌!”
— GLOW! GLOW! GLOW! —
With this, the lava pool seemingly came alive.
It started bubbling even more, the temperature rising instantly as if trying to vaporize him completely. Ashes? There wouldn’t be ashes once he fell in there! There wouldn’t be—
There wouldn’t be what again?
“…..?!?”
The lava stopped bubbling. The dragon stopped laughing. Even Jack’s overactive mind suddenly ground to a halt. And that’s when IT happened.
— FREEZE! SHATTER! —
Time froze, locking everything in place, only for a tear in space to appear on the other side of the cavern. What the hell was this?! An Event?! And out of it came an NPC.
A green-cloaked being, emanating endless power that none would dare contest, or almost…
[Intruder Detected! Containing! Protocol D-23 Initiated!]
[Malicious Code Detected! Escape Dungeon? Y/N?]
[Please Decide in the Next 5 Seconds!]
But then came a voice under the hood.
“₮ⱧɆⱤɆ’₴ ₦Ø ₦ɆɆĐ…”
A pustule-full hand, a blob of vile magic thrown at the System windows and exploding them?! Since when could NPCs affect the system?! More importantly, was that demonic druidic magic?!!
What kind of crazy combo was this?! And it was at that moment that Jack finally regained all his cognitive functions. Even this time-stop ability couldn’t stop his mind from going crazy.
Druid + Corruption ≠ Possible!
Time Stop? NPC, right?
Hacker? Doubtful!
Event? YESSS!
How should he deal with this?! Jack was hurriedly considering his options when long ears under a green hood perked up as the being made its way toward him.
It still seemed to think that he was frozen, too. Should he…
[₲Ø ł₦ ₮ⱧɆⱤɆ, ₳₦Đ ₴ⱧɆ ĐłɆ₴.]
[₮ⱧɆ Ø₦Ɇ ɎØɄ ₵₳ⱠⱠ ₱Ʉ₥₱₭ł₦ ₲łⱤⱠ…]
[₦Ø₩, ⱧØ₩ ₳฿ØɄ₮ ₮ɆⱠɆ₱ØⱤ₮ł₦₲ ØɄ₮? Ɏ/₦?]
Go in there, and she dies? Wait… Pumpkin Girl?!
At that moment, Jack didn’t care that the system boxes were bleeding, nor did he care about warming up his body, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“You, who are you? What do you know about her? Explain yourself!” He barraged the OP newcomer with questions.
Even now, she was still missing, which shouldn’t have been possible normally! How was it that a farm girl suddenly set out to explore the world all of a sudden?!
But he wasn’t the only one shocked. The being couldn’t believe its eyes either.
“ɎØɄ’ⱤɆ ₦Ø₮ ₣ⱤØⱫɆ₦?! ⱧØ₩ ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ₦Ø₮ ₳₣₣Ɇ₵₮ɆĐ ฿Ɏ—” Alas, that single moment of hesitation was all it took, and suddenly there was another TEAR in SPACE?!
Except this one was the complete opposite. If the first one looked ominous, this one looked straight-up demonic! It made the previous one tear look like a mid-boss at best!
And with it, the System came back in full power?!
[Ding! Protocol Activated! Summoning a God!]
[A Certain Goddess Happily Answers!]
[Invoking Thanatos!]
Even while still frozen, the Dungeon trembled entirely, everything inside it seemingly like popcorn in an industrial microwave: about to blow the fuck up!
Energy gathered, an NPC coughed blood, and then SHE arrived!
The putrid stench of inexorable death.
A laugh that promised utter doom.
Six demonic world-ending eyes.
… and shit hitting the fan!
Ţ̶̺̬̩̥̺̠̻̞͙̂̅̓̂̄͝͝h̶̲̝̋͊̑́́̇͋̇̈̚e̴̢̡̲̗̞͙̗̭̹͔͐̀ ̷̥͑́̓̒s̷̡̡̼͈͓̰͕̤̐͛̚͠ṱ̷̍͌̑͌̍̔͑̇͋̕ͅë̶̛̛͇̖̹́̍̔͗͆̈́͐ņ̶̦͍͕̻͈̫̮͔̱̈̇͐͑͘c̸̭̈́̈́̉̐͂͛̆̃͛̋h̷̭̳̳̰͓͓͚̉̈͋̾̂ ̵̳̹́̃̋o̴̡͂f̷̩̬̬̰̈̎̊͊̓̔̎ ̵̛̛͔͈̲̻̙͆̔̌̒̒̌̈́͝T̸̝͎̠̰̈́̓͋͛̒̓͝ĩ̴͇̙͇̅͗͝͝͝͝m̶̨̦̰͚̭̿͂̔͆͂͌̚͝ȩ̵̡̙̟̳͍̪̥̬͇̔͠ ̴̙͈̩̝̺̮̠̟̜̦̆̿́̃͑̔̐͝-̶̢̠͕̻͕̘̌̐̍͝͝T̴̥̬̝͗́r̵̙͍̹̤̯̰͖̾̎̄̆̅̈́̌͜a̶̛̰̜̞̣̋̈́̅̋͘v̵̨͛̔͒̃͒̎̕͘͝ȅ̷̢̺̻͎̺̌ḽ̷̛̫̫͙̟͍̬̞͉̉̿͐̀̔̕͜
̶̞̟̂́́͗̊̇̒͝B̷̧̡̡̛̖͙͚̠̭̞̓̕͝u̸̖̻̭͚̟̐̄̐͋͂t̸̨̟̠̣͖̣̞͎̓̍͆ ̷̧̹͍̥̘̝̣̞̙̒̔̓̒̈̿̆̅̅͜e̶̛̼̦͔̺͇̥͚̤͖̎̌̓̈́̍ͅv̸͖̼̓͑͆̓̑̂̉̐̉̓ê̷̯̕ņ̴̟̞̺͔͓̯̻̥́̐̇̑ ̷̠͎̬̖̣̊t̵̖̭͖̬̣̮̔́͛̓ì̴̦͎̰̦̰̹̯̀̃̎͘͝ͅm̴̩͚̝͕͖͍̱̬̿͑́͝ͅe̶̹̖̠͛̒̑̚̕ ̴̳͉̰̺͎͑̍̕̚ẇ̵̺̬̘̦̗̰̽́́͆́ő̵̧̱̼̰̓͜n̵̲̠̩̻̣͈̦̥̾̏́͋͜’̶̡̡̩̣̝̱͖̈̔̅̀̀̉͠ţ̶̜̻̝͇̲͔͇͎̜̆͂̄̐̈͋͗͛͝ ̶͈̺̜̣͇̮̔͒̅̊͜ş̶̭͕̻̮̫̺̃͐͐͋̀̀̕͜͝͝a̸̧̨̢̢͙̤̪̔̂v̷̧̛͈̼͈͓̥͖̟͐́́ͅe̵̛͚̥̣̳̬̟͝ ̸̢̮̠̦̰̆͊̈́y̷̨͓͉͍̤̤͍̠͖̍͜ǫ̴͓̱̩̺͙̔͋͜u̸̡̖̙̟͑̇͒́́̍̊̑̆
̵̨̯͖̰̱͇͍͚͎̐̈́H̶̻̫̰̠̳̺͔̯͈̑̂́̎͊̎͛̑̽e̸̝͗͋͑̑͌̊̑͌ͅ’̷̡̹͇̯̜͉͇͓͖̆̍̿s̷̡̧̳̤̜̜̟̯͇̐̀͗̐̊̕ ̵̰̗̞̍̎̋̇̑͝m̸͚͈̾̑͐̕͠i̴̛̻̖̯̮̰͕͔͇͌̾͒͝n̸͕͚͗̑ȩ̴̫̹̮̀̿̎͊͗͐͑͘͝͝ͅ!̷̡̙̠̔́̇̏͘ ̶̧̨̡͎̮̞̺̙̫̑́̿͊̍͜͠M̵̧͈̯͎̳͉͖̥͈̆̉ĭ̵̛̼̱̼̜̭̞̇̀̋̀̚͝ͅͅn̶͖͙̖̙͍̅̈̽̍̌͝ę̵̪̫̰̬̜̦̀͋!̴̳̮̘̊̀͆̍̔̚ ̸̧̻̝͚̬̙̪͉̱̋̾̽̈̾̓M̷̡̧̺̘͔̩̻͔͈̆ͅi̵̳͇̳̤͍̖̜̓n̶̢̝̤̻̼͗̀̓̅͑̆̍̿̏͠ȅ̶͇̩͒͛̈̊̾̚͝!̷̧̪̠̟̂́̓̆ ̴͉͕͉͇̺͌̔͒͂͊̇̕̚͠M̴̧̨̛̹͓̥̳̬͍̍̃̔͋̋̆͗̕͜ì̶̫̜̩̦̲̖ͅn̷̗̦͖̳͍̼̘̊̋͠e̶̢̡̡̢͕͇͉͈̿̀͊̀̊͗̐͛͜ͅ!̷̲̺͕̪̓̄̆́̔͝͠͝
That’s when the newcomer lost all countenance, the fear oozing through the green robe! And as six-eyes locked unto them, they obviously panicked as they backtracked!
They ran as fast as they could, straight to the fissure in space: dark, deadly, full of sharp dimensional winds, and yet it was nothing compared to a certain possessive goddess!
As for Jack, he was frozen…
’Move! Move, you useless husk!’
’C’mon, move, you goddamn body!’
’We gotta go after them! C’mon, unfreeze!’
He could already feel his senses coming back, but it would be FAR too late to catch up then! No, he needed to act, and fast! That’s when Jack suddenly… closed his eyes?!
[Eternal Unrest Skill Activating!]
[The Time-Stop is further weakened!]
[You’ve Managed to Free Yourself Somehow?!]
“Damn right, I did!”
— Summon! Summon! Summon! —
In a world utterly frozen except for a vengeful goddess and a fleeing NPC, Jack suddenly moved! Yet, even he was still somewhat affected by the earlier spell, seemingly weightless.
“Arise, my legion!” He summoned the weakest undead of all time. No catalyst, no time, only pure and resolve! And with this, the flimsiest bridge made of undead appeared!
— Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! —
Jack ran across it as an action star.
No, it was even greater than that. Surrounded by a weird shadow aura, he bolted so fast on it, even as it kept crumbling under him, and he only had eyes for the green blur!
’Almost there, just a little more! Just a little…’ He could feel it. And then he finally reached! His hand reached under the hood and powerfully grasped it, feeling long hair that…
— SLASH! —
The fissure suddenly closed by itself?! As for Jack, he was left with a disgusting lock of purplish hair that screamed of corruption and miasma.
Then a very painful second later…
[Thanatos is Returning to Her Realm!]
[Malicious Code Driven Away! ^_^v]
[Special Circumstances: Unlocked Minor Rollback! X1]
R-Rollback?! This was insane. It allowed one to reload a previous server save! Yet, at that moment, that wasn’t the main point. This whole thing had to be a quest chain!
1. Something had triggered it
2. Time Traveling NPC warning him
3. It could either be real or entirely fake
But which one was it?! Jack felt his head about to overheat, knowing that THIS moment would be a significant one. Truth? Lie? Truth? Lie? Both?!
As he agonized over this, the world slowly but surely retook its intended shape. Jack felt his body sucked in toward where he had been a few instants ago, and it would soon resume.
But just as he was going crazy, he felt it…
“Woo?!” (Ah, Master doesn’t want them to meet?!)
As Moon Moon “understood” the issue, Jack couldn’t help but guffaw. He had been so overwhelmed by it all that he had forgotten his lofty ambitions for an instant.
Pumpkin Girl would die?
As if he’d let that happen!
And even if it did, it wouldn’t be for long.
[Fight Resuming in 5 seconds. Use Rollback?]
“Hehe, there’s no need. Play it out!” Someone had tried to stop him? He’d clear the shit out of it and traumatize that poor NPC as payback for that unwanted prophecy!
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“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Jack falling and a shitty dragon cackling.
But just as the latter was rejoicing in their misfortune, it suddenly gasped in shock. What was happening here?! No, there had to be a mistake, right?!
The human and wolf were cackling, too?! And just like that, a domineering dragon suddenly felt its stomach twist in unease. Why had they changed all of a sudden?!
Because this was just another hunt…