Chapter 57
The man on the platform sees Ark coming toward him. He starts smiling, raises his right hand, and then lets it down.
Immediately, shadows emerge, followed by slaves and some dog-like beasts with no fur on their bodies—only muscles covered in scale-like skin. Their sharp, pointy ears, when raised, look like spears. Their mouths are filled with spear-like teeth capable of piercing even steel. These beasts can be seen all over the place.
They start flying toward Ark. But in the next second, they begin to slow down, and after a few twitches, they stop moving completely. Ark simply continues flying through the middle of them. The more that come, the more bodies begin to appear in a 100-meter radius around him. Everything that enters this radius stops moving and dies.
But their bodies remain completely intact—only their eyes look empty, as if their souls are no longer there.
When the man on the platform sees this, he raises his hand again and says:
"potS, llallafkcab. OuYeratonsihhctam."
All forces fall back immediately, and the man on the platform rises from his chair and starts walking down, his axe floating behind him. When Ark is about 100 meters away from the platform, he stops and watches the 3-meter-tall man. He looks like an ancient Egyptian from Earth, from the time when the pyramids were built. A man with healthy brown, tanned skin and a muscular body—not overly bulky, but perfectly balanced between speed and power. He has normal black eyes; He wears a short skirt that reaches just below his knees and sandals laced up to just beneath the knee in a zig-zag pattern with leather strings. His upper body is completely bare. Around his eyes are black markings, drawn in wave-like patterns.
Ark, intrigued, asks:
"Did your people visit Earth at some point in time?"
The man looks at Ark, then begins flying toward him while answering:
"Yeah, but I was only a small boy at the time and didn't care much about it. I heard some of my people tried to build portals on your planet so our two races could prosper together. But when almost everything was ready—when the pyramid portals were nearly complete—your people tried to kill those few of ours who went to Earth. They thought they could take our mind power—our telekinesis—because they saw how we used it to move giant rocks to build around the portals. The more they saw, the more greed overtook them. Of course, our people killed them easily and shut everything down, leaving behind only an empty husk inside the pyramids—just stones. All the technology was taken back. No more contact with your people."
Ark nods and says:
"What is your name? And are you the ruler of your planet, or of a kingdom?"
The man looks at Ark, not understanding why he's asking, but since he has time, he answers:
"I am S'kaib Re'emkuyar. I am ruler of a galaxy."
Then Ark replies:
"Pretty awesome. Do you want to rule an entire dimension?"
S'kaib looks at Ark with a confused expression and says:
"Do you want to buy your way out? Do you think that by giving me the Third Dimension to rule, you'll survive? Not a chance. This entire dimension isn't worth a single drop of the Celestial's Essence Pool. I'm not interested."
The axe behind him moves to his side, and a transparent, water-like film appears over his body. The axe starts to spin like a helicopter blade and then vanishes from its spot, flying so fast toward Ark that it leaves afterimages.
Ark, as the axe approaches, says:
"It seems you misunderstood me. This dimension is my home—it's not for sale. I only wanted to fix my ancestors' mistake, but I see now that you don't deserve that chance."
Ark raises his hand, and a magic circle appears in front of him. The circle releases a wind that freezes even the atoms. When the wind hits the axe, it begins to slow down, losing momentum. But the axe is too heavy—it still flies forward. Ark forms another circle, and from it, an earth wall rises, looking stronger than even the hardest steel. When the axe hits the wall, a shockwave clears the space around them for hundreds of miles. The resulting sound knocks out some of the weaker enemies.
After the bell-like sound fades from the battlefield, many are left with bleeding ears, some unable to even stand upright.
S'kaib frowns. His axe was stopped so easily? He begins to grow angry. The axe returns to his side, floating again.
Ark simply watches him, waiting for his next move.
But S'kaib starts walking toward Ark, the axe floating behind him. After a few steps, he disappears—his speed surpassing even Urrokon's. He dashes left while his axe flies right.
In half a second, he reaches Ark. A sword, formed from his mind power, appears behind him and shoots toward Ark's neck. At the same time, he punches toward Ark's chest, while the axe comes from above, ready to split Ark in two. S'kaib also uses his mind to keep Ark's body in place.
Ark remains calm. He breaks S'kaib's mind power and uses his left hand to catch S'kaib's punch, stopping it. He covers his right hand with spirit energy and catches the descending axe, stopping it as well. Then, he uses his mind power to form a shield in front of his neck. S'kaib's mental sword hits but fails to pierce the shield—it stops completely.
Ark turns his head toward him, staring into S'kaib's eyes. Then, Ark's eyes begin to glow red.
S'kaib feels something terribly wrong when he sees those red eyes. He tries to pull away, but Ark's grip is like a vice—he can't move his hand.
In the next moment, the laser hits.
S'kaib creates another shield atop the transparent film on his body—his only defense before the laser strikes. For a few milliseconds, the mental shield holds—then shatters like glass. The laser hits the film next. It holds for a few precious seconds, just enough time for S'kaib to break free. He commands his axe to fly high, then sends it crashing into Ark's middle. The laser stops, and Ark is forced to retreat.
S'kaib gasps for air like he's run a marathon. Those few seconds felt like years. He turns to Ark and sees him smiling. Then he hears Ark say:
"I think you just used up all the luck you had left in your life. Ha ha ha! But now I wonder—if the same situation happens again, will you die like one of your 'slaves'? Or will you gamble more of your lifespan... for a maybe?"
The scorn in Ark's voice enrages S'kaib. He loses control. His eyes turn completely white. A white armor begins to form on his body—chest plates molding to every muscle, forearm guards, knuckle spikes, shin guards up to the knee. A knee spike nearly 20 centimeters long forms. A crown with spikes pointing upward and downward frames his face, stopping just above his eyes and extending to his cheekbones. His back remains open—only a small, spiked orb, no larger than five centimeters, appears there.
His entire aura changes. He now feels like a mad beast—one capable of turning anything into minced meat in a second.
Ark watches the transformed S'kaib. Something feels wrong. How could a lifelong mentalist lose control so easily? Something doesn't add up. He stares at him. Of course, Ark could discover everything about him in a second if he wanted—but where's the fun in that? So he waits for the surprise.
S'kaib calls his axe to his hand. It no longer hovers—he grips it himself. He starts walking again. In the next instant, he appears in front of Ark with the axe raised high over his head, bringing it down with such speed and force that it cracks space itself.
But Ark forms a magic circle over his head. The axe passes through it like water—then, another circle appears above S'kaib's head. And from that circle... the axe emerges, coming down on its master.
Ark smiles. He forms another circle beneath S'kaib, and gravity appears while it keeps multiplying. S'kaib begins sweating immediately, using all his power just to stay standing.
Ark says:
"Let's see what you're hiding."
S'kaib then uses his mind to form a new shield over his head that now forms into an actual white shield. Then he uses his mind power to help his body move, but his axe hits the shield, and again a shockwave even greater than the first-time forms, but the shield holds, the axe is stopped. Then he gets out from the magic circle with the help from his mind power, again he hears Ark;
"So it was all only a play, the mad beast act? You wanted to make me let my guard down? Or is a deeper meaning to your act?"
S'kaib looks at him and says;
"That was the price our people pay for using power greater than our body allows, that is what happens with the weaker ones, they become mad beasts, only the strong ones like me can change their fate. And maybe there is a deeper meaning.". Then he smiles and starts to walk again towards Ark.