Volume One, Chapter 7: Escape

"Don't even think about running!"

Watching as the distance between them rapidly shrank, Torrekia furrowed his brow and veered toward the asteroid belt on his right.

With his current strength, he stood no chance against Batta. Not to mention, there were still pursuers behind him.

But if he used the asteroids for cover, perhaps he could circle around and escape.

"Not a chance!"

Sensing Torrekia's intent, the antennae atop Batta's head suddenly flared, firing a beam of emerald light.

Bang—

The beam struck Torrekia squarely between the shoulders, but instead of losing control, he capitalized on the force, propelling himself even farther from Batta.

Seeing this, Batta was so infuriated his jaw nearly twisted, and he hastily unleashed several more beams.

Among the Ultras of the Blue Tribe, their frailty was infamous throughout the universe. If Torrekia could withstand one beam, Batta refused to believe he could survive ten—or a hundred!

As expected, faced with such a barrage, Torrekia chose to dodge. Though he possessed a wealth of combat experience from his previous life, against overwhelming strength, trickery was meaningless.

All he could do was run.

As the asteroid belt drew closer, Torrekia steeled himself, crashed into another beam, and used its momentum to accelerate.

But this attack shattered his composure.

Diving into the asteroid belt, Torrekia moved with the lithe grace of a fish, weaving deftly through the tumbling rocks.

If he could use this advantage to confuse Batta's vision, then escape was only a matter of time.

“Damn Ultra!”

Close behind, Batta vented his rage by smashing two oncoming asteroids to pieces. His lasers, fired in reckless fury, detonated asteroid after asteroid.

Bang, bang, bang... Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Vast fields of asteroids were obliterated, scattering into countless shards.

Yet this did nothing to reveal Torrekia's location—if anything, it further muddled his line of sight.

"A perfect opportunity!"

Hidden behind one of the asteroids, Torrekia's blue eyes flashed. In a burst of speed, he darted out, using the debris for cover and slipping behind another asteroid.

Batta, however, continued his wild bombardment, his reason seared away by fury.

He thought only of killing Torrekia as quickly as possible, so he could return and restore his honor.

But the angrier he became, the more openings he gave Torrekia—and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Torrekia, I swear I'll kill you!"

At the very edge of the asteroid belt, Torrekia glanced back, his pupils contracting to pinpoints.

At the belt's center, a flash of green light erupted, spreading with the violence and shockwave of a nuclear detonation.

Boom—

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The blast hurled Torrekia into the void, slamming him against a small planetoid and leaving him unconscious.

"Heheheh, found you at last!"

A harsh voice snapped Torrekia awake. As his eyes opened, he found Batta's savage face looming close.

"Die for me!"

Batta stretched out his arm, seized Torrekia's head, and smashed him through the planetoid, slamming him onto another.

Such a blow would have reduced anyone to dust.

But Torrekia neither screamed nor so much as blinked.

"Heh, your bones are tougher than I thought." Batta grinned, energy gathering once more at the tip of his antennae.

"Heh." Torrekia sneered as well. "I've died before. Compared to that, what is a little pain?"

In his previous life, before he obtained Grimud's power, the suffering he endured wandering the stars far surpassed anything now—by orders of magnitude.

Not to mention, he had twice been dissolved at the hands of Taiga and Lenga.

To hear him boast even at death's door made Batta's eyes flash with cruelty. Instead of firing another beam, he slammed Torrekia to the ground and followed with a punishing punch.

Boom—

The planetoid's surface split into a web of cracks.

Torrekia's body sank into the rock, a ghastly fist-shaped dent blooming on his abdomen.

"So your bones are hard, eh? I'll beat you until they're dust, ha ha ha!"

Amid his savage laughter, Batta raised his fist again and brought it down hard.

Boom—

Already riddled with fissures, the planetoid shattered completely under the blow.

But this was the chance Torrekia had been waiting for.

Instead of lying half-dead as expected, he suddenly exploded with energy, harnessing the force of the punch to launch himself like a blue meteor, streaking into the distance.

Batta was momentarily stunned, unable to believe Torrekia could still muster the strength to flee after enduring two such blows.

But he quickly recovered, leaping into the air to give chase at full speed.

In Batta's mind, after withstanding two punches, Torrekia could not last much longer—dead or not, it would only take one more catch to finish him.

And indeed, Torrekia's current condition was far from ideal. In this life or the last, he would have long since collapsed, unable to move.

But now, he was Torrekia fused with Grimud's lingering soul.

Grimud—what a being! Even a mere fragment of that soul provided limitless energy.

Sustained flight was possible—but speed was not his strength, and the escape could not last forever.

Before long, both had left the territory of the Muchen Star's domain, racing deeper into the galaxy.

Their appearance, inevitably, caught the attention of several interstellar beings.

Among them was Grozam, the Frost Giant, who had just wiped out an entire planet.

Torrekia was heading straight toward him.

"An Ultra?" Grozam was momentarily surprised, but wasted no time unleashing a freezing blast, encasing both Torrekia and Batta in ice.

He drifted closer, and upon seeing the Ultra's features, was once again astonished. "A Blue Tribe Ultra, no less."

The Blue Tribe of the Land of Light never left their home unless the situation was dire. Yet here was one, in this remote region—how could he not be surprised?

Crack—bang!

The ice shattered as Batta roared in anger, "Who are you to lay a hand on me?!"

As a Muchen, any race in the universe would tremble at their approach, their hearts seized with terror.

And yet this stranger had dared attack him?

Already enraged by Torrekia's repeated escapes, now another foolhardy cosmic being appeared.

Batta was nearly apoplectic with fury.

"Muchen, is it?" Grozam cast him a cold glance. "Out of respect for your king, I'll let you go. But that Ultra—he's mine."

At the word "king," Batta regained a shred of clarity.

But as soon as he heard the rest, rage once again surged within him.

"You little wretch, you court death!"