Chapter 127: Seven and Twelve (1/2)

The infant sea serpent managed to retain its life by reminding Nikolai of his friend, and maybe it didn't do anything at all, but it was simply Nikolai awakening some sort of weird conscience.

”Laughable,” Nikolai shook his head as he sat in front of the serpent. ”There's no way that I have a conscience this strong,” he said and pondered more. ”However, it can be that I've seen the end of times.”

The natural hate between monsters and humans seemed trivial when invaders slaughtered both. Furthermore, Nikolai didn't know which side to favor anymore. After all, he wasn't a human, but was he a monster?

Nikolai decided it was time to choose, and he stood up. But, unfortunately, he lost a lot of his Absolute Charge to get here, and there was not any time left to dwell on this matter.

'You are coming with me, and I'll trade you for a good price.' So Nikolai decided to beat up the sea serpent and place him in his pocket dimension before stealing as many gems as he could before leaving.

As he walked toward the monster, he paused because there was a change in mana behind him. Nikolai looked back with confusion toward the darkness of the cave, as there shouldn't be anyone beside him.

A portal opened in the middle of the cave, and Nikolai's heart dropped. Then, as his fear came to a reality, someone walked out from within the portal. There were two people here, and Nikolai hated that he recognized them.

”Who would have thought that the Bestial Army would be here?”

The voice was slippery and high-pitched, and the speaker had a lisp. Nikolai frowned felt goosebumps as memories resurfaced in his mind. Then, after taking a step back, he heard another voice answer.

”No harm is done,” the voice was deep. ”Rather, we are lucky that the monster is busy at the moment. I guess this is the heavens aiding our cause.”

”Spear me from your religious talks,” the slippery voice scowled as it got closer to the chamber. ”The Princess instructed that we make this matter swift, so no time for chitchat.”

”You think you know of her wishes better than I do, bloodsucker?”

As the two bickered, Nikolai's mind was racing. It has never occurred to him that he would meet two of her people here. Furthermore, it was Seven and Twelve.

'Lilith wants this sea serpent?' Nikolai glanced back as he looked through his memories. 'This monster is the one she used to conquer the island?'

It all made sense now, but the coincidence was indeed unexpected. After all, how would he know that the sea serpent Lilith would raise would be none other than this one?

It was all because of Eight's secretive nature that Nikolai never got to meet the monsters she tamed. However, it mattered not anymore because he was in trouble.

The rage he had toward Lilith didn't mean he wanted to meet her as soon as possible because he was still far too weak to take revenge. Instead, if she indeed finds him, Nikolai's fate would be worse than that of his previous life.

His stealth was almost omnipotent, but it didn't help that Seven's element was light. So, as the man walked into the cave, it lit up like the brightest of days.

A treasure hunt has turned into a deadly encounter within a few minutes. The light made the darkness sizzle, and it vanquished most of it. Nikolai hid in the shadow of the egg, which was the only place left without light. Furthermore, he made sure to conceal his face using the mask he used in Rohan Ruins.

'They should be weaker,' Nikolai knew that they can't be as strong as he remembers, so this might be a chance to weaken Lilith's generals. 'However, you can never estimate the strength of these monsters.'

These people were the specially handpicked pets of the Elven Princess. Lilith spared no expense to stuff them with all sorts of treasures and strengthening items until she had countless monsters at her disposal.

”There's something here,” Twelve's voice hissed as Nikolai's heart raced. He glanced from behind the serpent's egg and could see the two monsters after more than a year of parting.

They were as terrifying as they used to be. Seven was a giant man with white hair and scarred eyes. As for Twelve, it was a big lizard that was the size of a human.

The eyes of the lizard scanned the place as it was the master of stealth. It seems to be preceptive of those like itself, and it disappeared.

”I can't see anything,” muttered Seven.