The clearing was still littered with scorch marks and broken trees, the aftermath of two different battles that had shaken the forest.
Three beast-kin stood bound by invisible force in front of Arthur, their bodies were rigid, and their chests were rising and falling in a ragged, panicked rhythm. Even the air around them seemed heavier, which was true as Arthur had increased the air density around them. But he allowed them to breathe by not changing the air density near their head.
Arthur's expression was blank, without showing a hint of emotion on his face. Which somehow made it worse for the beast-kins.
Light flickered faintly across his eyes as he looked at the three. "You know," he said softly, almost conversationally, "I really don't have time for this. So, I'll ask nicely once."
The weight of his aura pressed down on the beast-kins like a mountain. The three beast-kin twitched, their knees buckling under the invisible force. One of them, a wolf-kin bared his teeth but didn't dare speak.
Arthur's tone didn't rise, but the space around them trembled faintly. "You'll answer truthfully. You know what happens if you don't."
He continued, "How did the demons enter the ancient realm?"
Still no one said anything after hearing his question.
Arthur sighed quietly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm surrounded by idiots with more pride than sense."
He flicked his wrist slightly, and his power rippled outward. One of the beast-kin gasped sharply, his whole body locking up as if gravity itself had suddenly increased tenfold.
The other two flinched as their companion's breath hitched, his body trembling under the unseen pressure. He wasn't bleeding, nor was he bruised, but the sheer agony in his eyes said everything.
Arthur then with telekinesis slowly bent one of the fingers of the beast-kin backwards.
"Arrrrrggggggg…!" The beast-kin screamed his lungs out. He then slowly bent all of the fingers of the beast-kin then he started to pry open the nails from his fingers.
Arthur spoke again, in a low and calm voice. "Do you want to talk now?"
The restrained beast-kin's will cracked almost immediately. "P…Please… I beg you please stop! I…I'll talk!"
The other two snarled, spitting curses. "Zarke you traitor!" one of them barked, as his eyes wild with fury.
Arthur's gaze slid toward them lazily. "You two should worry less about loyalty and more about whether you'll be breathing in the next five seconds."
With a flick of his fingers, their jaws snapped shut literally sealed by telekinetic force. Their muffled shouts turned into frantic, strangled noises but Arthur ignored them.
The one who had yielded was shaking now, but Arthur's eyes stayed locked on him, his tone became a bit softer. "Alright, answer my previous question." As he brought the beast-kin towards him.
"How did the demons enter the Ancient Realm?"
The beast-kin swallowed hard, his voice turned hoarse. "T…They didn't force their way in. It…It was… arranged."
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly. "Arranged? How?"
The beast-kin nodded quickly, desperation leaking into every word. "The previous generation… Those from our continent, the ones who entered the Ancient Realm long ago, were tasked with building anchors, gateways, hidden beneath old ruins. It was for the demons to enter the realm forcefully."
Arthur's jaw tightened, as he muttered more to himself than responding to the beast-kin. "So they built those portals for this purpose." As what he just heard coincided with what he had experienced, when he encountered the first demon in a ruined temple.
The beast-kin flinched and nodded repeatedly. "Y…Yes."
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he listened, his mind piecing together threads that were starting to form a very grim picture.
He leaned forward slightly. "How many demons entered the Ancient realm?"
The beast-kin hesitated. Arthur didn't need to say anything, the air around him tightened again, suffocating him. The beast-kin gasped out, "Hundreds! Maybe more! I don't know the exact number, but… but they came through multiple gates! Each built by different factions from the old explorers!"
Arthur's voice turned cold. "And what is the condition of the demi-human continent now?"
The wolf-kin's eyes darted downward. "It's… in chaos. The demons control half the continent now. The rest are under puppet governments. Most of the demi-human races surrendered long ago."
Arthur nodded hearing that as he rubbed his chin. "So they sold out their freedom for survival."
The beast-kin didn't answer. He didn't have to as it was the greatest shame they still carry with them.
Arthur folded his arms, thinking, and his tone grew more clipped. "Where's the largest gate now?"
"I…I have a map that could point you towards it." He said as he hurriedly bought out a parchment, where a map was drawn and handed it to Arthur.
Arthur was silent for a few long moments, the only sound being the struggle of the other two beast-kin and the heavy breathing of Zarke who was standing in front of him.
Then the sword spirit's voice echoed in his mind. 'What are you going to do lad? You know you would not find the demons in those places anymore, a few days had already passed here. They must be far from the places pointed in the map by now.'
Arthur nodded faintly. "Makes sense, but I would get a general direction on where to find them."
The sword spirit asked, 'You don't have any enmity with the demons, is it wise to antagonise them?'
Arthur chuckled, "Well I just want a good fight and they and the dragons are strong."
The sword spirit gave a boisterous laugh hearing Arthur, 'I like that you are a battle-maniac!'
The beast-kin stared at him as Arthur was murmuring something to himself, but he didn't dare to ask him about it. He then asked him while trembling. "W…What will you do with us now?"
Arthur's gaze drifted toward him. He then raised his hand slowly, and the other two beast-kin who were frozen slowly floated towards him, still unable to speak, and their eyes burning with hatred as they looked at Zarke. "Since you answered all of my questions…I will allow you to leave. And what would happen to the two is none of your concern…you can leave now."
Zarke hesitated, then he hurriedly left the area after giving a last look towards the two beast-kins filled with guilt, but his survival mattered more to him than his morals.
After Zarke left the area he let the pressure on the other two beast-kin ease. The two beast-kin collapsed to their knees, gasping for air, their limbs trembling violently due to pain.
Arthur turned his back to them, his tone final. "You guys can also leave two. But if I ever see you with the demons again…" His words hung in the air, sharp and absolute. "You won't get a second chance."
The two beast-kin didn't wait for him to change his mind. They scrambled to their feet and bolted into the forest without looking back.
For a moment, Arthur stood alone in the clearing, and his gaze was distant as he was contemplating on what to do next.
The sword spirit spoke again, its tone softer this time. 'You could've killed them.'
Arthur's lips curved faintly, though there was no humor in it. "Killing's easy. But fear lasts longer, and they could become assets in the near future."
The spirit chuckled slowly. 'You sound like a villain sometimes.'
Arthur just shrugged. "Maybe I'm just efficient."
He glanced once more in the direction of the temple, then at the fading footprints of Finn's group in the dirt. The world around him was growing darker, in more ways than one.
He turned towards a different direction, lightning sparking faintly around his legs as he vanished toward the horizon. "Alright, time to work."
…
Somewhere far from where Arthur was, multiple forests, and mountains away.
A storm of mana rippled outward from the center of a colossal canyon where Selene stood alone. Her long hair danced wildly against the currents, and her golden eyes glowed faintly in the dim light of dusk. The ground beneath her feet was cracked, as veins of mana pulsated faintly beneath the rock.
Around her, dozens of monster corpses lay scattered, wyverns, scaled serpents, and elemental beasts that once ruled the region. Their cores, glowing with faint brilliance, laid before around her. Even before this, she has collected a lot of monster cores all at the SS-rank which she used to improve her strength in the last few days.
Selene muttered softly. "That makes… thirty-two cores."
Her dragon heart pulsed, a deep thunderous thump that resonated through her bones. It wasn't just an organ, it was the core of their being.
She then started to absorb the cores and they began to dissolve, their condensed energy being drawn toward her chest. Her expression didn't change, but the air trembled as the canyon was drowned in waves of radiant light.
Thump.
The ground shook.
Thump.
Her veins glowed faintly under her skin. Her breath came out in steady bursts, misting the cold air. Every time her heart beat, it refined her mana into her essence, strengthening her dragon core.
Her draconic aura expanded until it covered the whole canyon. She gritted her teeth as her power surged through her body, too fast, even for her.
Dragons didn't advance through stages like mages or martial artists. They didn't meditate for years to climb ranks, a dragon's strength was tied to their heart, the core of their being.
And right now, Selene was pushing the limits of the realm she was currently in which was comparable to an Archmage after absorbing multiple monster cores.
The energy around her pulsed brighter, until it reached a crescendo, and then abruptly stilled.
When the glow faded, the canyon floor was bare, every monster core had vanished.
Selene stood there, her body radiating heat, and her skin glimmered faintly. For a brief second, white scales flickered across her arms before fading again.
She flexed her hand, and as she clenched her fist, it created a shockwave due to the speed of her movement.
She smiled faintly. "I am at the peak already. That's… faster than I expected."
Her tone was calm, but there was quiet awe in her eyes. She had just crossed a threshold that even genius dragons took decades to reach, and she'd done it in a few days.
She looked up at the stormy violet sky above her, the Ancient Realm's suns hanging like dim jewels. The atmosphere here was richer, denser with mana, and every dragon instinct in her could feel it feeding her growth.
"The Ancient Realm… it's such a god given gift," she murmured. Then she remembered her encounter with the demons who invaded the realm. She scoffed, this realm was created by their gods for their descendents to train, and seeing the demons taking advantage of this resource angered her.
For a moment, silence filled the canyon again. Then, a soft ping echoed faintly from the wristband around her left hand.
Her eyes widened. "Arthur."
The device. an interface linked to the Guardian AI of Spear of Heaven, flickered with blue light. For a few hours, it had shown nothing but static. She had lost the signal which showed Arthur's present location. She had assumed the worst and was ready to head towards his last known location, but she had already entered the trial ground and couldn't leave before completing it.
Her heartbeat quickened slightly as she tapped the display. And a small blue dot pulsed on the holographic map.
Selene let out a quiet sigh, one she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her usually stoic face softened for a brief moment, a rare flicker of emotion. The tension in her shoulders eased as she leaned against a nearby boulder, looking at the faint light on her wrist.
"You idiot," she said with a small smile. "You could've at least sent a message."
The wind picked up, swirling dust and broken mana particles around her. She closed her eyes briefly, letting the flow of energy calm her racing heart. Then, her expression hardened again — the dragon within stirring.
"Since the signal disappeared," she murmured, "he must've entered a pocket dimension."
She ran a finger along the map, tracing Arthur's coordinates, he was again moving. The next second she felt the restriction on the trial ground getting lifted.
She felt she should check up on Arthur and decided to head towards him.
The ground beneath her began to vibrate as she gathered mana in her core. Her form began to shift as the bones on her upper back started shifting, and expanding. The next moment two huge draconic wings appeared behind her, they were pure white in color and as she flapped them she shot towards the sky and vanished.
And somewhere far away, Arthur's figure vanished into the horizon, their paths now on a slow collision course once again.
***
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