Chapter 4: Why Are You Taking Me With You?

Anom looked at the shaking room wide-eyed. How did she do it? That was the only question on his mind.

Cassana didn't give him time to think further. "Get ready. We're going back. Uh, I mean, I'm going back and you're coming with me."

"Get back? But to where? And what about those people outside? Don't think that I'll carry you out with me." Anom stated, feeling weird as he listened to her.

"Humph! Fool." Cassana gnashed her teeth, but after looking at the stone, she helplessly waved her hand.

Whoosh!

The light screen glowed as it showed images from around the ruin. The exploration team members started panicking as the ruins shook. The team grabbed the scattered tools and started running towards the exit.

"Restore!"

Anom was about to get more surprises. As she finished speaking, or more like giving a command, all the broken pieces of wall and the like started floating. And that was not all!

Anom kept looking at the retreating team. The screen followed them constantly. Suddenly, the team stopped while staring in the direction of the exit.

Anom frowned. As he tried to think about the reason, the team separated into two and ran towards the passage walls.

What was that? When the team parted, something flashed at a high speed. Whatever it was, if it collided with someone, it wouldn't end well.

Just as he turned to Cassana, a sound came from the doorway.

Shuush! Something came crashing towards him, almost scaring him. Fortunately, it stopped a few meters away from him.

Anom found that they were the pieces of the 'big-breasted statue' that he saw in the storage.

"How did they get out of the box? More importantly, WHY THE HELL ARE THEY FLYING?" Anom was at his wits' end. He felt that he was in a dream and would wake up any second now.

"You'll dislocate your jaw; close your mouth." Cassana said to Anom, "Get ready to put the stone in place."

Anom looked at the floating pieces as they moved towards the platform in the middle of the room.

In front of his disbelieving eyes, they assembled together to form a complete statue. Even the broken hand slipped out of his hand and was back in its place. Only the stone in his hand was left. Small pieces of rock and fine particles of dirt gathered at various damaged details, such as the face.

The statue finished its restoration, giving off a gentle glow. Anom kept his eyes on the statue. As soon as the face finished forming, he lost his breath. He had just admitted Cassana was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. But the statue in front of him made him change his mind.

If Cassana's features were those of a fairy, then this statue depicted a goddess. A face filled with all the charm a woman could want, along with her alluring face and the loose dress she was wearing, made her look like a goddess. Her mature features, along with that supple body, posed a fatal attraction to anyone, regardless of gender.

"Forgive me, Mother God. I'll come back soon and receive my punishment." While Anom was lost in the charm of the statue, Cassana put her hands on her sides and gave a deep bow to the statue.

What does she mean? Is she some kind of idiot believer who wants to reunite with God by committing suicide? Wait! She said she'd take me with her. Anom took a step back as he stared at her cautiously. Although she looked like a weak girl, Anom knew that such hard-core believers could get dangerous once they got lost in their faith.

"Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go and put that stone in the hand of the mother god. Arrh, make it quick. I want to go back." Cassana shouted as she stepped forward when she saw Anom not responding to her words.

"Hey, step back! I'll put this thing back. No need to come here." Anom quickly got near the statue and slowly lowered the stone towards the hand. As nothing was making sense anymore, he could only go with the flow.

As soon as the stone touched the flat disk on the stone palm, the vibration of the ruins stopped.

Anom blinked his eyes as he stepped back. Only that he couldn't. His left hand, which was holding the stone, was stuck. He used all his strength to free his hand, only to get disappointed.

"What's happening here? Can you do something about it? Tell your mother god that she's a beauty, but I'm not into statues. Tell her to free my hand." He could only ask Cassana, as she looked like she knew what was happening.

"Shut up! Don't you dare speak about Mother God like that? And you can only free yourself after we get to my world."

"What world? Do you want me to believe that you are from another world? So now we're going to your home world? No thanks! I still have more stealing to do here. I still have many novels that I haven't finished yet. I will remain here, so undo whatever's happened to my hand." Anom was really pissed. Nothing was clear to him anymore.

"I can't. You have to come with me." Cassana shook her head. She knew that the only one who could explain what happened here was her Mother God.

Anom's face was tense for a few moments. He took a deep breath and took out his blade with his right hand. He put it above the wrist of his left hand.

Only this way remains, then. I'll have to develop some one-handed thieving skills now. I don't know where in hell I will end up if I follow her. Anom made up his mind. With a shout, he hacked at his hand while closing his eyes.

Tang!

Huh? He opened his eyes only to find his hand intact. There wasn't even a cut. He tried to poke his wrist with the blade.

Ta! Ta! Tak!

He noticed that it was the barrier that helped him with the traps. The only difference was that now it was covering his body like his clothes. He tried to poke his chest with the blade. And yes, the barrier was still there.

Anom looked at Cassana only to find her looking at him with a smirk.

"Why do you want to stay here so badly? Is it because of your family? Or some last wish you want done? Tell me, maybe I can help." Cassana asked with a smile so annoying that he wanted to beat her up.

Anom stood silent for a while before replying, "I have no attachment here. I just don't want to end up in an unknown world. And why in hell are you asking for my last wish? Are you trying to tell me that there's a chance to die while traveling to another world?"

"Don't worry. It's a good world. We have received very good ratings regarding the operation of our world." Cassana said so proudly. "Besides, the world stone has already protected you with its barrier. I can't even kill you now."

What the hell! She's still thinking about killing me. And what does she mean by good ratings? It's like I'm listening to a food joint employee.

"So what should we do now?" Anom freed his mind of random thoughts and calmed himself. Now that it had come to this, he could only keep up with the flow.

Cassana looked at Anom. More specifically, she was looking at his right hand. "Give me your hand."

"Huh? My hand?"

"Give your hand!" Cassana said so in an arrogant yet embarrassed manner.

"But...why? And what's happening to you? Why are you turning red? Don't die on me. Solve this problem first, at least."

"Shut up. If I want to go back, I have to hold onto the world stone, which is now in your hand. I don't know what will happen if we operate it just like this. So we had better stay close so I can react in case anything goes wrong."

Anom looked at her weirdly before saying, “If so, then you should give me your hand.” He then asked, "Why do I need to give it to you?"

"M-my hand? Yo-You dare hold the hand of an angel?" Cassana grew more embarrassed as the conversation progressed.

"What? You got some contagious disease from another world or something? Then you had better stay away from me."

"YOU! FINE! Here!" Cassana said as she moved her hand towards Anom.

Anom, who was having fun teasing the poor spirit, grabbed her hand.

So soft! He only thought about it lest he make the angel blow up.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Concentrate on the energy of the barrier. That's what connects you to the stone." Cassana explained as she closed her eyes and spoke, "Return!"

The rumbling had already died down. Anom looked around and found the statue giving out a blinding light, forcing him to close his eyes.

All of a sudden, he felt weightless. Like he was floating. He opened his eyes and looked around.

"Whoa!" He could only stare in amazement at the scene around him. He was alone. All around him was darkness, and inside the darkness were dots of light scattered all around him. They looked like stars, but when he looked at some nearby dots, it looked like there was something inside them.

"They are worlds, just like the one you came from."

Anom heard a melodious voice before he was pulled out of the star-studded space.