In this part of the world, Darkness prevailed over thousands and thousands of miles in each direction. The lands were covered with ghastly vegetation and similarly degenerate beasts. This is the world from where the bane of the living world, Krypto vines, originates.
In a landscape surrounded by sky-high gloomy mountains, a person sat cross-legged in deep meditation. No particular features of this person were visible that could distinguish the gender. Face hidden behind a ghostly veil, the humanoid creature had its hand placed over the shin one on top of the other.
"What's the matter?" A voice as ancient as time itself rumbled in all directions. It wasn't the meditating person who spoke, rather the speaker seems to be one with nature itself, unable to be discovered. "I can sense your agitation."
Two dull red orbs came to life behind the veil of the humanoid person, signifying a departure from his meditation. Instead of replying, the person looked down upon his left arm which was trembling from an external stimulus.
"I am not sure.." The person shrouded in darkness finally spoke in a monotonous tone. "The sensation was ephemeral. So much so that I can't tell if it was real or not." The matter might have been articulated in a modulated mode, however, this didn't convince the individual with an everlasting voice.
"Tell me more... I want to hear it." Once again, the person engulfed in inky blackness showed no urgency to speak, taking the time to stare down at his hand which has since stopped shaking. "If I have to be insightful, I would say it felt like a piece of my consciousness collided with the Mahesvara Eyes."
"IMPOSSIBLE!!" There was a subtle anxiety in the ancient voice which led both the sky and the lands to shake in fear. "The eyes of destruction are no more in this world." The unknown entity repeated.
"Both of us are aware of that fact. But I know what I felt was no ordinary magic. It certainly had Demonic origin." Both entities fell silent for a long duration. "WHERE?" The ancient voice reverberated through the vast mountains as boundless might overflowed.
"It's no use. I was not able to capture it precisely. Thousands of our minions are present in the outside world at any given time, I can't pinpoint exactly." *BANGGG* Deep purple lightning cracked in the skies, illuminating part of the creature.
With claws as big as a small mountain and a head reaching into the clouds, the entity was actually revealed to be an Elder Dragon. A Dragon keeps growing in strength until the time of its death. In its evolution, a Dragon will reach an inflection in its lifetime where its abilities will leapfrog over its other peers.
It can be referred to as a Dragon achieving maturity and only then can it acquire the title of an Elder. All things said this Dragonkin was peculiar in its own way. Rather than a single head, this Elder Dragon had two heads attached to a single infinite torso.
"Disappointing." It was time for the second head, which had been silent from the very beginning to speak up its mind. Earth shook and lightning in the skies simmered down, somehow signifying that the Elder Dragon had laid back down.
Only this Elder Dragon reserved the right to talk back to the Dark Lord himself, giving prudence to its unimaginable strength. It's obvious the threat of the Mahesvara Eyes had agitated the Elder Dragon to such an extent that it was ready to personally take action and completely wipe out whoever had awakened such an ability. Yet, the fact that the Dark Lord had failed to get a precise lock on the origin, meant it could only show its frustration by knocking its immense claw into the ground, shattering it extensively.
"I will be more careful next time. We can't allow such a being to live." While the Dark Lord was ready to return to meditation and the first head of the Elder Dragon was satisfied with the answer, the second head was not so agreeable.
"What if it's triggered by a real Demon? What are our plans then?" Though not outwardly shown, his questions had irked both the Dark Lord as well as its very own brother. "Did you forget? We failed to get our hands on neither the bodies of the Royal Demon guards nor the Royal family itself."
Even though they had managed to wipe out the complete Demon clan, they had failed to obtain even a single Royal Demon's dead body. "That crafty fox destroyed every single one of their bodies before he could be taken down."
The first Elder Dragon head responded with a tinge of strife. Before his death, the Demon Prince almost gave them a middle finger by taking out the body of every single one of his fallen brethren. Though they were able to take him out eventually after great difficulty, there was no doubt he single-handedly laid their plans to waste.
"You are right. We can't discount the fact that there can be a real Demon encounter as well, considering there is one Demon that is still unaccounted for even after millennia." The Dark Lord didn't show any reluctance in correcting himself.
"Also, the Royal members of the Demon clan were each born with Mahesvara Eyes. It is not a technique that can be developed even taking in the spell prowess of the Angel Clan. I will say unless they got incredibly lucky and got themselves a Demon body, it is impossible to replicate the terrifying ocular magic potential of the Eyes of Destruction."
The second Elder Dragon head seems to be in command of vast knowledge which it shared with a condescending attitude. Nevertheless, the Dark Lord replied with a small nod before dismissing the matter altogether. "I think we have given this matter adequate discussion. Let's tackle the situation as it unfolds."
"Correct. Don't let petty things disturb your path of cultivation. The second last Demon Prince has shown us the way. Do not deviate from your path and this world will belong to us. Dragon Goddess has only ever been defeated once in her entire lifetime. If we can achieve this power, we can certainly repeat history."
The rousing speech of the first Elder Dragon made the Dark Lord's blood boil. He was still not strong enough to take on the one last obstacle standing in his way, the Dragon Goddess. With that last thought, the red orbs in place of his eyes were snuffed out as the world returned to gloomy silence.
**Somewhere deep inside the northwestern woodlands outside the borders of the Cylon Empire**
Fortunately or unfortunately, the traumatic glance from the arcane eyes had brought on a significant slumber on the battlefield, giving Yalda precious time to seal up her mistress's wounded back. "What is up with her?" The maid muttered in a hesitant voice, staring at Paula who clearly lost her consciousness yet was standing in attention, refusing to go down.
Her eyelids had rolled back, exposing the sinister whites of her eyes. Some of her demonic features had been eliminated, revealing a horrid yet human look. "I am not sure.. but one thing is certain... it's the boy who had done this to her."
Linda proclaimed. While she was able to escape the strange ocular magic, probably her opponent was not so lucky, getting captured in a stasis. Right now she was standing with her arm extended in the same position when she stabbed her black saber through Linda's back, unable to move even a muscle.
Yalda can only stare in wonder at Ryu who was kneeling on the ground, holding his head as if were in some sort of pain. "It might be.. but I still believe the boy is innocent. He might very well be under some kind of incantation."
Standing in alarm, Linda wholeheartedly agreed with her maid this time around. The ocular magic was so fierce that her muscles were still stiff from the fright it put her body through. Along with that, even her mind was undulating between different wavelengths, unable to achieve harmony. If another fight ensued, she will be at an enormous disadvantage.
Taking that into the picture, such a magic spell can never be cultivated by such a young child. As Yalda postulated, he himself might be under some kind of powerful magic spell. "I am good, Yalda. Look after the boy."
Yalda nodded but stopped to glance at the woman standing in a trance not even a hundred meters apart from them. "Miss, don't you find her familiar?" Before Linda could reply, she noticed Yalda gasp. "Mrs. Paula...that's her."
Lyod had Paula were kind of obscure names for Linda who ruled over a branch family of Wilder's clan, however, that doesn't mean she had no clue of their identity. Naturally, her expression transformed when she realized the truth.
"How can this be? Old man Lyod's wife was dead beyond any doubt." Linda was at a loss. Nothing made sense to her. Not to mention Mrs. Paula was supposed to be dead, even while she was alive... Linda could never have been pushed to such an extent by her.
"I am certain, miss. I have interacted with lady Paula several times.. this is definitely her." With time, Paula's demonic powers had receded, along with her hideous features, giving rise to a more humane face.
"Whatever, first focus on the boy. Let me deal with her." At her cultivation, five minutes is all Linda needs to recharge her mana reserves back to a respectable level. Gaining her confidence back, she took a deep breath and stepped over.
"Be careful with him. He might lash out again." She warned her maid who had gotten down to try comforting the peculiar green-haired kid. "You too, miss. She might still be dangerous."
Linda had only picked a total of ten steps when alarms rang in her head. All the changes Paula had gone through were reversed in an instant. Her demonic powers returned, inciting the surrounding atmosphere.
Earth shook. Cracks appeared in the ground as Paula finally freed herself from whatever grasp she was held into. The fact that there was still no sign of intelligence on her face or in her eyes, meant the woman was totally acting on instinct.
*Shatter* *Shatter* *Shatter* Crack in the ground grew a meter wide, followed by a scene that was straight out of Linda's nightmares. "Krypto Vines..."
Anyone who had dealt with these pesky vegetation can tell how hard it was to get rid of them. So when an entire forest of such vines emerged from under the ground, Linda knew the severity of the situation.
There was no time to think and no time to call out to anyone. There was only time to act. "GET BACK...!!" Linda screamed and smashed the ground, instantly killing hundreds of vines in the process, however, she had only gotten rid of a minuscule amount compared to what was still emerging.
It didn't take Paula even a single second to realize how dangerous the situation had gotten. These mana-sucking abominations were possibly even more dangerous than Paula going all out.
"I must use Tiger God's Rampage again.." Despite knowing how terribly she was going to damage her body by using this spell for a second time, Linda had no other choice. If she failed here, both Yalda and the boy will be killed beyond any point of doubt.
"Haha.. haha.. haha... What kind of person forgets to mow their garden for such a long time?" A bell-like laughter echoed, closely followed by a sweet girly voice. *Swish* *Swish* *Swish* Massive slices of the Krypto vines were diced in a matter of seconds, completely destroying the grove of evil.
Linda can only stare in amazement. The vines which would have taken her to go all out were cut apart so effortlessly. Turning back in amusement, she came across the same boy held in Yalda's arms. Well in truth it wasn't the boy who had assisted her, rather it was a cute fairy girl hovering over their head.
