Chapter 125: Cloaked Figure
Riker burst into the settlement with so much speed he almost hit a tree on his way in. His rushed entrance stunned a lot of monsters around, and they looked at him in confusion.
"Where is Master Ren?" he demanded while looking around.
"What’s the issue, Riker?" Remu appeared from above, landing along with Ezra, who had been with him checking things from above.
Panic showed on the face of Riker. He rushed up to Remu. "We need Master. Silas, Silas, we got caught up in a battle with a monster that we did not expect, and Silas, Silas stayed behind," he tried to speak as fast as he could, wanting to get the words out faster so that they could move faster.
Remu frowned when he heard this. He turned to head in and call Ren, only to see Ren standing behind him. He had a steak in his hand that he had stopped eating the moment he heard what had happened.
"Where was it?" he asked in one word.
Riker got scared. He swallowed hard and spoke.
"I’ll show you the location, Master." He turned around and was about to fly into the forest, but then Ren transformed, grabbed all of them, and hurled them onto his back. He spread his wings, and in one massive flap, he shot into the air, causing a massive gust of wind that forced everyone else to take cover.
"Tell me where to go," Ren demanded.
"Straight ahead."
He flapped his wings and shot forward with a thundering speed. All three of them grabbed onto him with all their might to not get blown off his back. Ren began sniffing the air for any form of destruction. It did not take long for him to locate the site.
He flew there and immediately transformed in the air, landing on the ground with a loud thud. He looked around, and he could immediately tell that something terrifying had happened here, a battle of massive scale.
"It was here. Silas was here," Riker said while looking around.
"Seems whoever fought him had taken him away," Remu said.
Ezra spotted the body of the three-headed snake. She pointed it out for all of them to see.
"That’s the snake," Riker said.
"If that’s the snake and it’s dead, then who could have possibly taken Silas?" Remu asked.
"There was someone else, uhm, a figure cloaked in black. Everything went bad when he arrived."
When Ren heard of the cloaked figure, he turned and looked at Riker.
"You saw a cloaked figure?" he asked with urgency.
"Yes, Master," Riker replied.
Ren went silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then he raised his head and looked at them.
"I might have an idea on where to find the person that took Silas. You guys head back home, and I’ll come back after I am done," Ren said and turned to leave.
"Master Ren, we have to be with you in case of anything," Remu argued and tried to follow.
"This person managed to take down Silas. It’s clear that they are not weak, and they are definitely not stupid.
I don’t want anyone else in the way of danger until I am sure of what is happening," Ren said and shot into the air without saying anything else. He ripped through the air at supersonic speed. The trees below were getting pushed by the wind as he flew past. His target was none other than the mountain base of the calamity orc, the same place that he had seen that figure after he killed the calamity orc.
The mountain came into view fast. He shot down and landed on it with a thunderous thud. The ground cracked beneath his feet.
"Come out, I know you are here!" Ren said immediately.
A black fog formed in a swirl, and from it appeared the figure, standing a few meters away from Ren.
"So I was right, it was you."
"You caught on fast, knowing that I would be the one and I would be here," the figure spoke in their distorted voice.
"What do you want? Is it because I killed the calamity orc?" Ren asked, watching the movements of the figure closely.
"Well, I am a firm believer in an eye for an eye, take with the intention to be taken from, but that is not why.
The calamity orc was a pawn, a pawn that I placed because I had a plan that was in the works. His ability to feed on others and grow infinitely stronger was something I spent a large amount of time developing.
I set him in the position of forest lord because I have a use for him. Well, that was until you, an infant dragon, came and killed him. It showed me that he was not good enough, and my plan was flawed," the figure spoke in detail.
"Tch, I do not know what your plan is, but what does that have to do with my subordinate? Why did you take him?" Ren asked, eager to get an answer already.
"Well, there exist two reasons for my actions. One was to get you out here, and the second was because I wanted monsters with potential. That other monster, the lizardman, was actually my first target. The wolf was only secondary.
But I underestimated the strength of the wolf and allowed him to create the opening for the lizard to escape. Since I was not able to get the one with latent potential, I took the one with unlocked potential."
Ren gritted his teeth. "And what do you want to use him for?"
"Haha, that’s the good part. I’ll create something far greater than the calamity orc, a being that would rival even the other forest lords and then go far, far beyond them.
I will forcefully unlock all the strength that he has and then go further to add more to that until he is a complete machine that is ready for my cause.
Well, that’s the plan, but I can change that plan and hand him back if you are willing to do a favor for me."