Slowing down considerably, Zar discovered a hard, metal, cube-shaped object in the office-like room. Knocking on it a couple of times, he figured it was the safe he was looking for. The source of the resonance was also coming from inside it.
However, with today being weeks in the planning, he had, of course, accounted for the existence of this safe.
Taking an insect-like creature out of a bag hanging by his waist, he placed the huge pincers of the insect up to the side of the medium-sized safe. A second later, the insect clamped down on the safe's metal surface, releasing an acidic green substance that rapidly melted what it touched.
Tossing the insect aside, Zar patiently waited for the acid to finish dissolving the right side of the safe. Afterward, he reached his hand inside while avoiding all the dripping acid. His arm moved extremely fast, grabbing whatever was within before taking it out just as quickly.
Clutched in Zar's right hand was something that forced a wide smile onto his normally stoic face.
A Rank 3 Demon Core!
Suddenly—
*Ding!*
[The Infinite Beast Evolution System has found its destined Host!]
'A voice!?'
Before he had the chance to ascertain the source of the mysterious robotic feminine voice, Zar was suddenly pressed to his knees by a powerful aura.
"And who might this rat be?"
A powerful, masculine voice carried through the room, belonging to a tall, burly lion-man who appeared out of thin air. He stared at the kneeling Zar as if he were looking at an inconsequential bug.
Though, when he sensed something unusual, the lion-man smirked. "So you're a Godling," he mused. "You don't see one of your kind every day. But what would something like you possibly be doing in the home of my disciple?"
'Disciple!?' Through gnashed teeth, Zar's eyes widened. 'Then that means this Therian is the master of a Core Formation Realm cultivator!? How did no one in town know of his existence…!??'
"Hmm…"
Thinking to himself, the lion-man grabbed hold of Zar without physically touching him. He then pulled the young man close, taking note of the Rank 3 Demon Core curled in his hands.
"So that's what you were after," he laughed. "Well, as a Godling, I imagine something like a Rank 3 Demon Core is quite valuable and unreachable to you. But unfortunately for you, that won't make me sympathize with you."
While smiling in a friendly manner, the lion-man pulled on Zar's right side.
"!!!"
'Arghhh—!!!' Zar internally screamed, refusing to outwardly display the agonizing pain he was experiencing.
SPURT!
Zar's bloody right arm flew toward the lion-man. He caught it, his expression as casual as it was from beginning to end.
"For stealing from a superior Therian, taking your arm is on the more lenient side of punishments," said the lion-man as he took back the Rank 3 Demon Core before erasing the arm with a flick. "But today just isn't your day, for I'm not lenient."
"Wha—!?"
Zar's vision suddenly turned upside down, his mind spinning.
"Don't blame me," said the lion-man, his smile as cold as his heart. "Blame yourself for choosing the wrong place to rob. Because you saw my face, I can't afford to allow you to live and blabber to someone else about what you witnessed here."
Blabber!?
To who, you motherfucker!??
'Everyone… hates my guts… Who would I tell…?'
Zar regretted not saying that sooner; he regretted many things while watching his life flash before his eyes.
Not much difference occurred between each day of his. He woke up before the sun rose, went out and slaughtered anything he could find, then he'd eat and drink before repeating the same routine the very next day.
There wasn't much that happened to him which Zar regretted.
Rather, it was what didn't happen that he regretted so much…
It was this gnawing feeling of regret that made the headless Zar desperately cling to his fading life. He grabbed out with everything he had, more determined in that moment than in every other moment in his entire life combined.
Yet…
'It's no use…' Zar thought despairingly, his eyes in the process of permanently closing. 'I'm already dead.'
*Ding!*
BLING!
A bright blue light suddenly flashed, yet was only visible in his eyes. It enveloped him in an instant, and blanketed all of existence in the very next instant.
Then everything darkened…..
Before erupting forth with a massive cosmic explosion that brought about the Omegaverse!
The Law of Time found itself being manipulated. The cosmic explosion, more commonly known as the Big Bang, expanded outward at an absurd pace. But at some point, it simply quit expanding, and then a specific point in the Omegaverse was zoomed into.
It was the Super-Continent of Lageria, within the Kingdom of Fire, inside the Great Forest of Jargon.