<h4>Chapter 176 Chapter 176 Wee To My World</h4>


    [NEXUS, BE ADVISED, YOU ARE NO LONGER IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD.]


    Yeah, no shit.


    [THIS IS AN ALL WHITE WORLD IN AN S-CLASS ILLUSION.]


    Nexus'' eyes darted about curiously.


    [IT WAS CREATED USING THE HARNESSED MANA HARVESTED FROM THE ORB.]


    Impressed, he nodded.


    [ESSENTIALLY, THIS MENTAL SPACE IS AN ABSTRACT CONSTRUCT WITH A COLLAPSE TIME OF TEN MINUTES.]


    His eyebrows piqued; "Just ten minutes?"


    [A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF PHYSICS WILL REVEAL THAT TIME IS RELATIVE IN EVERY INERTIAL FRAME.]


    Nexus'' brows shot up even highter; "Wait a minute, did you just call me stupid?"


    Ignoring him, the system proceeded;


    [WITHIN THE COLLAPSE TIME, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MANIPULATE EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD.]


    [YOU CAN CREATE, AND YOU CAN DESTROY.]


    Nexus'' eyes twinkled; "Aye, so I''m like a god here?"


    [AFFIRMATIVE.]


    [WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE TO APPEAR REAL, WILL APPEAR REAL.]


    "Damn," he chuckled- rubbing his hands together excitedly; "Must be my birthday or something. . ."


    Meanwhile, behind him, in the real world, Selina''s muffled breathing echoed through the air- shredding her nostrils in hot sts. She kept her face forward- nting her eyes on the red girl ahead- not even bothering about the mysterious orb shining in Nexus'' hand.


    ''And so it begins. . .'' she echoed to herself; "Here goes nothing. . ."


    -------------------------------


    Uneasy, and shifting with nervousness, she kept her grey cloudy eyes on the red girl. Brows furrowed, Selina cocked her head- wondering why she hadn''t unleashed her eyes yet.


    But the girl''s eyes had opened moments ago.


    Only this time, she had awakened in a different ce entirely.


    The moment her lids shot back up, and revealed her blood red eyes, surprise carved up a slice of her heart. Gasping, shock tore through her entire being like a flying sword. Lips trembling, and eyes racing, her innermost thoughts raged inwardly;


    "WHAT IN SEVEN HEAVENS IS THI–"


    It trailed off at the end. . .


    Before her, instead of the familiar sight of the green thickets, instead of the leafy throng of endless leaves- was the oppressive re of an all white room!


    The whiteness mmed down on her with a quiet anger that was almost divine. In her bones, a sudden chill raked through her- forcing her to shudder.


    ''What''s this? I never get cold. . .''


    The sheer whiteness of the room arrested her sense of sight. There were no shadows- none at all- just a bright spread canvas, gleaming- like it had been ced directly over the sun.


    In both her irises- the reflection of the room shone. Along her pale white skin, it felt like all her sweat pores had closed up shop for the day- trying to trap her body heat inside- in a bid to fight off the budding cold.


    Teeth ttering, and eyes twirling in circles, she shivered- sending wisps of condensed air through her nose. Silently, she pulled up her dress by the neckline- drawing it upwards.


    ''Where is–''


    Quick as lightning, it dawned on her. A surge of fresh blood rushed through her head- blurring her vision. Desperately, she fought to ept the truth;


    ''No way–'' she pondered in shock; ''Me? Trapped in an illusion?! Who''s powerful enough to do that?!''


    Through her ming red eyes- the gathering clouds of anger began to form.


    "Nice try!" she spat aloud- yelling into the soulless void; "But you''re about to find out that trapping an illusionist in an illusion is a friggin'' bad idea!!"


    Around the edges of her eyes- a dark look streaked through.


    Without any warning at all, she spread her legs and lifted up her long skirt- just above her ankle- revealing two legs draped in red ankle boots. Eyes zing, and nostrils ring, she lifted up her right leg- hovering it twelve inches above.


    Then, with determination shing through her eyes, she brought down the boot- hard and fast on the toes of her left leg! The hard heel struck her foot with a sharp sp!


    She yelped!


    Her eyes moistened immediately- as her lungs copsed- leaving her muttering in rasping? breaths. The sharp pain raged through her big and second toe. Under the red fabric of her boots, both her toes bled out freely- seeping through her socks in budding red.


    Grinding her teeth, she mped down on her tongue- forcing back the scream building on the crevice of her throat. Immediately, her slender hands let go of her long skirt. It fell to the ground- once again obscuring her feet.


    Forcing her eyes close- the girl concentrated on the pain- muttering silently;


    ''This isn''t real. . .only the pain is. . .this isn''t real. . .only the pain is. . .''


    For a brief moment, she remained static.


    Her frantic breathing slowed. And slowly, she opened her eyes- expecting to be back in the real word.


    Nope.


    Her heart skipped a beat as the illusion pped her on the face once again. Pain had failed.


    <TRYING TO ESCAPE ALREADY?>


    Nexus'' voice boomed from overhead- loud and majestic- like the rumbling of thunder.


    On the girl''s face, just under the edges of her eyes, faint cracks broke out. Heart pounding like a war drum, she jerked her head upwards.


    Her eyes saw nothing but white.


    ||WELCOME TO MY WORLD. . .||


    He thundered;


    ||YOU''RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!||


    Red girl twitched at the note of finality in his voice.


    "Show yourself coward! Are you gonna hide behind all tha–"


    Nexus'' hoarse voice burst out in a low viciousughter- taunting her- stripping her down with rich chuckles;


    ||HIDING? WHO''S HIDING?|| he snorted; ||I''M DIRECTLY ABOVE YOU CHILD. YOU''RE JUST NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO BEHOLD MY TRUE FORM IN THIS STATE.||


    An unfamiliar taste backed up on her tongue- bitter as bile. Realizing what it was, she swallowed, forcing it back down. It was FEAR- crude, oppressive, and loud.


    With her head arched towards the heavens, her throat bobbed as she engaged him;


    "Child? You dare call me child? We''re practically the same age!"


    ||YOU''RE A CHILD.|| he dered matter-of-factly; ||ELSE WHY WOULD YOU BE RUNNING AROUND TOWN. . .DRESSED IN THAT RIDICULOUS RED COSTUME. . .PLAYING ASSASSIN? ||


    "sphemy!" she cried; "You dare mock my n''s traditional garments? You''re going to pay big time! I promise you–"


    Red girl did not give a damn about her clothes.


    She was simply stalling for time.


    For some strange reason, pain hadn''t worked. So, she was trying to disrupt the flow of mana in her soul- hoping it would sever the illusion''s connection- and maybe trigger her physica–


    From above, his dark voice cut through her rant;


    ||YOU MUST THINK YOU''RE PRETTY SLEEK.||


    ||I SEE EVERYTHING HERE CHILD.||


    He echoed again for posterity''s sake;


    ||EVERYTHING.||


    The girl''s heart sank.


    ||THIS IS A POWERFUL ILLUSION. THERE''S NO BREAKING OUT. THERE''S NO BREAKING IN EITHER. ONLY I HOLD THE POWER TO RELEASE YOU.||


    He spoke with the thundering authority of an oracle;


    ||THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE IS THROUGH ME. IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY BODY IN THE PHYSICAL REALM, YOUR SOUL WILL REMAIN TRAPPED HERE TILL ETERNITY!!||


    The girl''s eyes widened- ring defiantly, clenching both her fists by her side.


    But her slumped shoulders betrayed her.


    His dreadful voice ran along the small of her back- tickling her like invisible fingers, toying with her- switching between cold fear, and full blown terror.