The ape-like humanoid waited for a few minutes until she heard rustling emerging from the dark depths of the silent canopies. She wore a smug smile with a tinge of vileness seeping out.
“At least they aren’t worthless. I want to see who caused this and made me give up my hope… hold on. Why can I only feel the presence of my men? Did they come back empty handed or…?”
Shivers ran down her spine when she thought of the implications. Her coronet that she wore turned into a violet burst of flame, which coiled down her arm into her hand. The violet flame manifested itself into a long purple staff that towered over even her. She spun it around into a defensive stance, prepared for any outcome.
Her subjects appeared from the brushes like nothing was wrong, but upon further inspection they had no sign of intelligence. They were like zombies walking back toward their queen. She felt the fear deep into her bones as she could not find the culprit behind their state.
“Who is out there!? Do you know who I am and what I am capable of!? Come out you coward!”
Her bluff led her nowhere and she knew she had no choice but to flee for life. Her pole disappeared just like before but this time it went down toward her feet, becoming boots with exit holes. Before she launched away in a hurry, a sound of movement was clearly heard, echoing through the surroundings.
“Oh Queen Fiery Ape, you cannot escape even if you tried. Play nice while we have a quick chat.”
The voice came from the darkness and she heard enough to try to escape. She used all her force in her powerful legs, but she could no longer love her body at will. She was frozen in place just like how her heart stopped at that very moment. She could only manage to turn her head to witness a single glowing eye appear in the canopy. The longer she looked into it the more she felt tired. Before she was lost completely, the mysterious figure made his entrance. He was tall and lanky with abnormally long limbs. His hair was pure darkness, flowing down his entire body and the eye she saw was revealed on his forehead by his parted hair.
“It is quite nice to meet you. You don’t need to know who I am, but I need you to forget about what happened here. I can show you this mercy since you have an important role in the ecosystem of this forest. I cannot say the same for your fellow friends, who can never find their way back from Samsara. Disappear, Queen of the Fiery Apes, it is not your destiny to bear the overlord in this era.”
The queen felt herself regain control of her bodily functions but she felt indignant to leave in such circumstances. Nonetheless, she had no choice but to accept her destiny as the man before her said. She rose from the ground and disappeared deep into the inner zone of the Red Forest. The queen made plans to raise her successor as she traveled. The lanky man watched her leave before he walked the other direction back into the forest, followed by the brainwashed fools he caught. Once more silence prevailed in the area.
Meanwhile, our group of young students made it all the way back to their base without any hiccups. It made them each feel that Yuki was possibly overreacting, but for the better, they kept that to themselves. Inside their base camp they sat in silence as the dread began to seep into their quiet minds of the dire battle they were just in. Dread turned into weariness for their youthful brains, and without any complaints, it was a mutual understanding, without words, to rest their eyes for the time being. Snores could be heard all night long, however it was not enough to wake each other up through the entire night until the following midday.
Everyone awoke one after another and eventually their stomachs could be heard growling. Without further ado Yuki distributed prepared food she brought along with the help of her father. After eating the weird mood that was felt throughout the air was slowly being broken apart. Cal nudged Damien from the side to grab his attention.
“How powerful was that attack? I never witnessed something so devastating, not even my father would demonstrate his full power! Don’t you think that was a little too extraordinary?”
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“I’m not sure myself. But wasn’t Erik awesome? I definitely sensed that his swordsmanship reached a new level!”
Damien adeptly changed the topic, since he did not know how to explain himself without exposing his secret. In response to his compliments, Erik smugly put on a proud smile and lifted his head up high.
“I am only a step away from breaking through to the Sky Realm with my sword! In no time I will overtake Damien! I can even tutor you, if you want Cal. All you have to do I ask.”
They continue on with their playful banter, slowly creating bonds that had not existed before, and might’ve never existed if Damien never appeared. While this was happening, Yuki’s bright red eyes were stuck on Damien the entire time. Damien noticed it only after a few moments because his eyes would wander to her naturally every so often. Luckily; the glasses he wore veiled exactly what he was looking at.
‘Why is she just staring at me? Oh no, do I have something on my face? Or maybe, just maybe she…’
His thoughts were interrupted the moment Yuki got up and stormed her way over to him. Damien felt like she read his mind with some sort of sixth sense. He could only try to play it off.
“Yuki, do you want to join us?”
She did not answer, instead she grabbed Damien by the collar and dragged him outside the base. Damien looked to his friends but none would look him straight in the eye. He understood their position all too well so he had no complaints. Yuki dragged him far enough where their conversation could not be heard by the others.
“You can fool those dimwits, but you can’t fool me.”
“What are you talking about exactly?”
“Damien, don’t act stupid with me. You made hundreds of our points disappear, so you are going to answer my question in return. And don’t use that you saved my life bullcrap. You really think my father left us without any insurance? I would’ve been able to handle it if it came to that.”
Damien could only bite his tongue from such a meticulous reply. It left him with no room to retort.
“What do you want to know?”
“How was your attack so strong? That was something no Earth Realm Dao Magic could ever accomplish. I know the Dao you comprehended is grand but that’s not enough! What are you hiding? Explain yourself!”
Damien looked straight at her and removed his glasses that had always covered his eyes since they had met. His fiery orange eyes were finally revealed to the first person outside of his grandfather. Taking them off was just an instinctual action Damien took but it somehow helped him determine that Yuki had no malicious intentions.
“Can I trust you?”
Yuki firmly nodded her head with no hesitation. Damien put his glasses back on and began his explanation from the time he went with Cal to the library. Everything from finding the Phoenix Breath Cultivation Technique to his miraculous success. He ended it by showing her a strand of his Mana Mist that was glittering with gold. Yuki received it in her hand and felt the purity and immense power it contained in such a small, gaseous state. Her face turned to one of shock, which Damien had never seen before. The reason she was shocked was due to her thinking of the future, when this Mana Mist would transform into a liquid. The density would amplify manyfold that she was scared even thinking about it.
“So this is why you are able to compete with the Sky Realm even though your Mana is in the Earth Realm. Us dragons have a similar technique, but it is nowhere near this effective. Your secret is safe with me, don’t worry.”
Yuki left it at that as she found the reason behind his strength. Damien on the other hand felt a sense of relief that he had someone he could share this with. Unknowingly he created a closer bond with Yuki that could only be made by sharing a secret.
They stayed where they were at, due to Yuki still being curious of his abilities. She made Damien go through countless experiments where she would receive his attacks to understand where his strength lied. Damien was even forced to cultivate in front of her which only led to deeper shock. Time passed by quickly and the sun was ready to set. At that time Cal and Erik appeared with a couple of dead beasts in their tow. Cal showed his concern for Damien but realized he was not hurt anywhere, oddly enough.
“Finally found you two. We got lost so we tried our hand at some isolated beasts. I even managed to catch the delicious, but rare Tri-Horned Boar! Let’s go back and cook it while it’s fresh!”
‘I wish this would have lasted a bit longer…’
The trope headed back to their cave to have themselves a cookout. While they walked back none of them noticed the lanky man, who confronted the Queen Fiery Ape, floating where the setting sun was shining.
“Interesting little guy. Lord Father will be pleased with this information, but… seeing that he was very cautious of him, he might want me to nip him in the bud. For now I’ll keep it to myself or I wouldn’t have a clear conscience since he trusted Yuki so easily with his information. This mission has gotten a little less boring.”
The sun completely set with his final words. Just as the sun disappeared, so did he, into the darkness where light will never meet.