Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 49 - Fighting The Silver Core!

Theo and the others froze, their heads slowly turning to the source of the voice.

There, a thin man wearing worn military clothes stood with a wide grin on his face.

"I knew I sensed someone following me," the man continued, letting out another high-pitched chuckle. "...But to think my next test subjects would walk right in."

Theo snapped out of his daze, tightening his grip on his spear immediately.

’We need to go outside,’ he thought, eyes narrowing. ’And fast.’

Someone who could capture a D-rank creature alive was clearly a hard opponent, especially when he couldn’t even use his most powerful spell.

But... to get out, they’d have to get past the man first.

’’Why are you doing this?’’ Iris suddenly shouted beside him, having finally snapped out of her daze too.

The man tilted his head, almost as if the question itself was offensive.

’’Why?’’ he repeated, a wide grin plastered across his face.

He chuckled for a moment.

’’We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it once you’re strapped to a table.’’

Before the man could say another word, Theo raised his hand slightly.

Within a second, two flickering lightning bolts formed and instantly shot towards the man.

’’A little eager, aren’t we?’’ the man said, shaking his head once as he flicked his fingers.

Two large earth pillars shot up from the ground just in time.

CRACK!

The lightning bolts crashed into them, stone exploding outwards everywhere as the pillars collapsed.

’’Damn,’’ the man said, coughing from the smoke.

His gaze narrowed, settling on Theo as it cleared.

’’Now that’s interesting...’’ he muttered, his expression slowly turning more serious.

Theo glanced back at the others, nodding his head to the exit.

The others nodded, preparing themselves immediately.

’’Escape?’’

The man asked, shaking his head. ’’There’ll be nothing like that.’’

Without hesitation, he slammed his hands into the ground.

The ground trembled, a massive wall slowly rising from the ground behind him.

Within seconds, it sealed the entrance off completely, making it impossible to escape.

Theo’s face darkened, and so did the others.

"I don’t know what gave you the courage to come here," the man continued, a wide grin on his face. ’’But since you’re here, show me what you can do.’’

A dark purple glow shone from his hands, forming a ball the size of a tennis ball in an instant.

Without wasting another second, he flicked his wrist.

The sphere shot rapidly through the air, heading straight for Theo.

Theo’s eyes narrowed, his body tensing as he prepared to cast his second water spell, the spiked water shield.

Just then, thick vines burst out of the ground in front of him, twisting together into a dense wall.

THUD!

The purple sphere slammed into it.

For a split second, nothing happened.

Then, a loud sizzling sound echoed through the cave, making everyone’s hairs stand on end.

’’I’ll take defense,’’ Emma said, her voice just loud enough for the three of them to hear.

Theo nodded, his gaze locked on the man. ’’Owen, protect Emma. I’ll take offense with Iris.’’

Owen immediately ran towards Emma, his sledgehammer raised in front of him as he slid to a halt in front of her.

Theo glanced at Iris for a moment, then nodded. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She raised her spear off the ground with one hand and summoned small metal shards with the other.

Without hesitation, Theo dashed forward, his spearhead lighting up as lightning bounced around its tips.

Iris covered him perfectly, shooting off the metal shards in an instant.

’’Come on now,’’ the man said, shaking his head slightly. ’’That’s no fun.’’

He slammed his foot on the ground, sending violent tremors through the cave.

Another massive wall appeared in front of him, blocking Iris’s attacks while also blocking Theo’s path forward.

Theo gritted his teeth, dashing aside to the right.

But another wall immediately rose from the ground there, blocking him once more.

’Shit,’ he thought, glancing around. ’He’s boxing me in!’

As two more walls rose from the ground behind him, Theo didn’t hesitate.

He slammed his spear into the rising wall, using its momentum to swing himself out of the box.

Seeing Theo jump over, the man’s expression changed to a mix of surprise and displeasure.

But that wasn’t what he needed to be worried about.

A set of green vines rose from the ground underneath him, tangling around his legs within seconds.

’’Annoying,’’ he muttered, slamming his purple glowing hands into the vines.

The vines melted nearly instantly, the poison sizzling as it went through.

Using that time, Theo closed the remaining distance.

He swung his lightning spear towards him with all his might.

The man’s expression darkened.

He stumbled back just in time, the spear barely missing his neck.

Without wasting another second, Theo followed up with another attack while Iris’s spear shot towards the man from behind.

’’That’s enough!’’ the man shouted, gritting his teeth.

He slammed his hands together, forming a round earth bubble all around him.

Theo continued his swing, pouring more mana into his spear as he slammed it into the shield with all his strength.

SHHH!

The lightning spear melted through the earth, leaving a steaming hole wherever it went.

Before he could do anything else, the entire sphere exploded outwards.

"—!"

A violent wave of earth blasted in all directions, forcing Theo back as chunks of stone slammed into his body.

He slid across the ground, barely managing to keep his footing as dust filled the air.

’Move!’ he thought, his instincts screaming at him.

Not even a split second later, large earth spikes shot out of the ground around him.

’’Theo!" Iris shouted, her voice filled with panic.

But Theo didn’t even have time to react as a spike pierced through his upper arm right away and locked him in place.

A second later, the other spikes shot up extremely tightly around him, completely locking him in place.

’’Ugh.’’

His mind raced, the adrenaline blurring out the pain.

’Shit,’ he thought, gritting his teeth. ’I can’t move much and my right arm is useless.’

’’I’ll keep you for later,’’ the man said, his jaw clenched.

Without another word, several thick layers of earth swarmed around Theo, forming a thick bubble around him.

Everything went silent for a moment.

His heart pounded heavily in his chest, blocking out all sound as darkness surrounded him.

’What do I do?’ Theo thought, clenching his teeth so tightly they ground together. ’If I form a lightning spell in here and I don’t break through at once, I’ll just be killing myself.’

His eyes darted to the spike stuck in his arm.

He barely managed to wiggle his hand towards the spike, planting his palm on its surface.

’Let’s try that!’

Water began to form around his hand, trembling slightly as if it could collapse at any moment.

It slowly spread around the spike.

Then—

CRACK!

The surface of the stone fractured under the pressure.

Theo forced more mana into his palm, letting it seep deeper into the cracks.

CRACK! CRACK!

Finally, the spike holding him shattered completely.

’’—!’’

Theo ripped his arm free, stumbling slightly as blood ran down his sleeve.

He planted his hand on the wound, this time forcing lightning mana out.

’’Argh!’’

The scorching temperature cauterized the wound, sealing it shut and stopping the bleeding.

He took a few deep breaths, forcing his mind off the pain.

’I can’t stop here,’ he thought, glancing at the stone around him. ’Who knows how long they’ll last without me!’

Water surged from his hand again, this time spreading across the surface of the sphere.

It wasn’t a spell, costing him large amounts of mana to keep under control.

But it was worth it.

The water slowly seeped into every small crack and gap.

He gritted his teeth.

’Break...’

Finally, cracks spread over its surface, the pressure fracturing the stone.

That was all he needed.

He cut the flow of his water mana, taking as much space back as possible.

Then, a violent yellow lightning exploded from his hand.

Theo stepped forward, swinging his fist with all his strength.

BOOM!

His fist slammed into the weakened wall.

The lightning tore through instantly, shattering the entire section apart as stone exploded everywhere.

Theo burst through the opening, rolling out of the collapsing sphere.