Gina immediately prepared to escape from here.
Usually, escape would never be the first thought on Gina’s mind. Gina had always wanted to grow stronger, and she knew that meeting and fighting against strong opponents was the most certain way to do that, but right now, Gina didn’t have just herself to worry about. Gina was carrying another life inside her, and if she had to escape in order to ensure that their baby was safe, then Gina would do it every single time.
Jason had warned Gina a while ago about the dangers of opening random Dimensional Tears and jumping through, since you never know where it could lead. The Dimensional Tear could take you to a safe Rank II world, or you could land in a Rank IV world made up of bloodthirsty monsters by accident, and that would be the end of your life. But Gina knew she didn’t really have much of a choice in a situation like this. Gina couldn’t feel any hostility from this woman, but she could tell that this woman was more powerful than her. It wasn’t even a matter of feeling the mana or innate strength of your opponent. It was just an instinctual thing that every warrior who had ever been on a battlefield possesses. On an instinctual level, most warriors can somehow tell whether or not their opponent is more powerful than them! And right now, Gina knew she was seriously outmatched.
’She’s probably a TITAN. Her mana feels similar to Jason’s, so she might be a Rank I or higher, but I can’t really feel it, so I can’t tell what rank she is.’
The woman opposite Gina looked around with a condescending expression on her face. Her name was Enkidu, and she had followed the footsteps of the Beast of the Apocalypse to come here in search of her idiot. Enkidu floated down towards Gina gently, and when she was close enough, she spoke in perfect English.
"You are Gina Fey, are you not. The companion of Jason Marc. You don’t need to look so guarded. The stories of your exploits have been circulating across the Primordial Expanse for the past few months, so it should come as no surprise that I’d know who you are and what world you’re from. My name is Enkidu, a member of the Court of Apostles. I didn’t come here to harm you. I just need some answers help me find my partner. Do you know what world the Apocalyptic Beast went into?"
An apostle? Gina had never even heard about this court before, and she had no idea what an apostle was, so she couldn’t decide if this woman was trustworthy or not just from that information alone. Gina was still a bit skeptical about talking to this strange person, but she eventually shook her head to say that she didn’t know. But Gina’s eyes widened slightly all of a sudden as she heard a voice in her head.
’Babe, are you there?’
Gina felt an intense surge of happiness pour out from every single pore in her body, and she had to struggle not to let her guard down and cry in relief! That was Jason’s voice! Jason was fine! Gina really didn’t know what she would have done if she found out that Jason got hurt!
"You’ve found something, haven’t you?"
"!"
Gina’s eyes suddenly shot open when she heard Enkidu’s voice from right in front of her! Gina hadn’t even seen Enkidu move! And the shock of the sudden closeness forced Gina to fly back in retreat! Enkidu lashed out and grabbed Gina by the forearm with a frown on her face, and Gina felt her heart rate spike as Enkidu slowly opened her rainbow colored eyes to glare at Gina!
"I asked you a question, Gina Fey. You’ve found something, haven’t you? Tell me what you found right now!"
The mere sight of those rainbow eyes did something primal to Gina in the same way that seeing a lion would terrify a deer, and Gina felt true fear enter her body! It was like the primary desire for survival that every creature possessed suddenly took over Gina’s mind, and Gina immediately launched an attack!
Woosh!
Gina slashed her hand through the air, and Enkidu glared sharply as she saw a massive wind blade flying toward her! Enkidu put her hand out to touch the wind blade, and it immediately vanished into breeze! Gina used that moment of distraction to quickly fly away from Enkidu, but Enkidu pointed a finger at Gina, and Gina was shocked when she saw hundreds of vines shoot out from the ground and race towards her! Gina created even more wind blades, and she sent them towards the vines and sliced them into pieces before they could wrap around her! Enkidu narrowed her eyes in annoyance when she saw this, and she suddenly stopped chasing Gina and raised a hand. A massive typhoon surged to life on Enkidu’s hand, and Enkidu sent a blast of wind straight for Gina! Enkidu was sure that she was stronger than Gina, and from what she knew about Gina, wind was Gina’s primary element. So Enkidu decided that she would use that same wind to destroy Gina’s confidence so Gina would finally calm down and listen to her!
But Enkidu felt her eyes widen when Gina slammed her palm against the incoming attack and immediately forced the winds to split to either side of her and avoid her completely!
’What? I didn’t feel any mana from her just now. Don’t tell me...’
For a split second, Enkidu was too shocked to even move, and she could only stare at Gina in surprise. Enkidu knew a lot about magic and nature, and she was certain that she could recognize even the weakest nature-type mana the moment it was released around her, but she hadn’t felt even the slightest bit of mana when Gina deflected her attack! There were only two types of people who could accomplish a feat like this. The first group were the Arcane Art users like her who could control nature without using any mana, and the second group were the Sages.
’How can someone this weak already be on the path to Sagehood? It doesn’t make any sense. She isn’t even a TITAN.’
Enkidu narrowed her eyes at Gina in disbelief, and that split second of confusion allowed Gina to take some time to catch her breath while anticipating another attack. But before the attack could come, Gina heard Jason’s voice again.
’Gina, why aren’t you saying anything? And why aren’t you on Vanta anymore? Where are you?’
Jason’s voice came through the mental link again, and this time, Gina could sense the worry in it. Gina had been silent for a few seconds, so she could understand why Jason would grow concerned, and she quickly answered back.
’I don’t know the name of the world I’m in! But it’s the same world where you ran into the Beast –’
"Stop."
All of a sudden, a man was in front of the two women, and Gina felt her body freeze up! The link Gina shared with Jason froze as well, and Gina realised that she literally couldn’t move even if she wanted to. Gina had frozen in time, and it was as if every single cell in her body had locked up and wouldn’t respond no matter how much she told them to move! Gina watched the man in front of her with wide eyes, and she wondered who this was. The man had long white hair and an aristocratic face, and he was wearing a suit of armor made from gold and silver with a long golden spear in his hand. He had a glare on his face that showed he was not happy, but Gina couldn’t sense any hostility directed towards her, so she knew that his anger was meant for someone else.
But the thing that shocked Gina the most was the power she could sense flowing off the man.
’This isn’t magic. It feels similar to Jason’s power whenever he uses his shadows, and it’s also the same thing the woman used when she attacked me earlier. Are they Arcane Art users as well?’