Chapter 740: Dark Horse (1/2)
“What the hell!” Qirai screamed, her eyes almost bulging out of her head. “Am I seeing things?! Has this cursed ocean finally driven me insane?”
“If it did, then it dragged us all down,” Catheya sighed as she looked at the screen in front of her.
[Monthly Contribution Ladder]
…
Her face was calm, but a storm raged in her heart. Just what had that lunatic done this time? Was it too much to ask for him to stay out of the limelight? No, he had to throw a wrench in the whole trial, getting his name known far and wide. She thought he had learned his lesson after causing all that havoc back in Hollowtongue mountain after they parted, considering he had been quiet for some time.
It turned out he was just amassing momentum for whatever madness he had accomplished. Catheya felt a headache coming on as she tried to figure out what to do from here on out. She might have been able to hide Zac Piker's identity before as no one of importance would care for a random trial-taker, but how could she possibly do that now?
Forget her master, even the officials of the Empire might start asking questions about him, especially when this trial was so out of the norm.
It was almost mindboggling the kind of shockwaves Zac Piker managed to create with his limited power. He had plunged the whole Zecia sector into chaos while still in the F-grade, and her master had actually estimated that he was somehow related to the odd spatial ripples that were the hot gossip back before they left. He didn’t have any proof, but the timing was too coincidental with the appearance of the Stele of Conflict.
Now he had appeared here, and the trial that had been held for tens of millions of years without much issue had somehow become the preamble of a cataclysmic struggle between three empires from the looks of it. He had once more become the eye of the storm of fate, and Catheya had a creeping suspicion he wasn’t done causing trouble.
After all, there was definitely something odd about the location she had found for him. She hadn’t managed to get past the restrictions to enter the heart of the volcano, but her nose told her all she needed to know; that place was cursed. Yet that man wanted to go there, proving he was up to no good. The question was what she should do.
Stay clear or ride the storm to the end?
“Some people know his identity,” Varo said from the side. “His connection to clan Sharva’Zi is known by a few after the events at the Auction. What should we do?”
Catheya glanced at her follower, his sleeve hanging empty after the amputation, before she looked the window for a whole minute. Finally, she made her decision.
“We’ll keep the course. Arcaz Black will be coming our way as soon as he's done with whatever he's up to, and I want to have both locations confirmed so that we can send him on his merry way as quickly as possible,” Catheya sighed.
“That guy might be powerful, but he is trouble,” Qirai reminded.
“The fate of our clan is a weak candle in the wind. If something isn’t done it will be snuffed out before long. The Supreme Elder is barely staving off the madness, and I’m sure there are a few neighbors more than willing to push him into an early grave,” Catheya said. “Arcaz Black is like a beacon of providence, his mere existence can change the wheels of fate. How can we give up on it at this stage? Who knows, whatever he’s doing might even be at the behest of my ancestor.”
“Elusive maneuvers?” Varo ventured.
“Exactly,” Catheya nodded as she took out a mask that fused with her face.
It felt like maggots burrowed into her flesh, and soon enough her pristine features had been replaced by a much more squarish face. The mask was gone, and anyone who looked into her eyes would no longer see the abyssal orbs, but rather two icy-pale eyes that emitted a freezing cold.
She wasn’t the only one who changed as large scars started to appear across Qirai’s body. Her teeth fell out the next moment as her jaw grew, replaced with sharp fangs. A long rat tail sprung out next, and her right arm grew almost thirty percent compared to the original. Anyone looking at her right now couldn’t possibly think of her as anything but a Corpselord guardian.
As for Varo, he was the last one to worry about. He had not one but three ways to change his appearance, and together they formed a disguise that would fool everyone but the absolute peak scouts.
“I hate this form,” Qirai muttered as she scratched her snout.
“You look very powerful,” Catheya laughed.
“I’ll give that guy a good talking to when he comes back,” Qirai grunted as she started getting used to moving around with a tail.
“Will Mr. Black come back and risk getting discovered?” Varo asked from the side. “Waiting out the trial and staying hidden seems more appropriate.”
“My intuition tells me he’ll come,” Catheya slowly said. “I think the two spots he’s had us look for are the true reason he entered the Twilight Ocean in the first place. Besides, does that guy seem like someone who would be content with hiding in a cave for another two and a half years?”
Qirai simply snorted in response as Varo slowly nodded in agreement.
“What do you want us to do?” Varo asked.
“We’ll head toward that temporary settlement we heard about before,” Catheya nodded. “We need to expand our charters since I have no idea where to look from here on out. Besides, we might learn what's actually going on over there. I'm sure that whatever that unlucky star did ruffled some feathers.”
“I wonder what those two hotshots are thinking right now,” Qirai snorted as she startled dismantling the array flags of their hideout. “I bet that princeling and crazy bloodsucker are grinding their teeth right now.”
“He really knows how to keep life interesting,” Catheya laughed.
Uona threw away the emptied husk of the cultivator she had caught before, a surge of pain and humiliation burning in her heart.
Why wouldn’t they regrow?
No matter how much Blood Essence she gathered, her limbs refused to regenerate no matter how many times she activated her bloodline ability. Even wounds left by Hegemons would slowly regrow, but something was wrong this time around. That ball of destruction the Draugr unleashed, was it truly Oblivion? Something like that shouldn’t be possible to wield by an E-grade warrior.
Did Arcaz Black carry one of those seeds? She had heard about warriors getting infected by those fragments that carried the ancient curse, but this wasn’t how it should work. Those warriors never were in control of the seeds, the seeds were in control of them. Even the powerful could only seal them away, never taking advantage of the energies within.
Was Arcaz Black somehow unique in that sense? Or was it something else?
That ant! Uona grit her teeth as she paced back and forth, her gait only made possible by turning a Blood Servant into a temporary limb. Everything had gone awry because of that encounter. Not only had he stolen her spot, his name sitting on top of her head to remind her of the humiliation. Now, the situation might even affect her family’s plans.
Their nascent branch was finally starting to rise, with two Autarchs holding down the fort at home and at the Eternal Court. With a third one, they could send one to the frontlines, becoming a core contributor to the war against those bald bastards. The amount of resources that would bring to their family would be enough to stabilize their foundation as a High-grade branch, and they would be able to slowly work toward the peak from there.
And now she looked like this. The other Chosen already looked down on her because of her lacking heritage, even though almost half of them had worse foundations than she did. What if she came back looking like this? The walls of her submersible cracked as they were blanketed by Uona’s fury, but she slowly calmed down as she started considering her next step.
Part of her wanted to leave and have Grandpa Nether heal her wounds, but she couldn't face him like this. She had accomplished most of her tasks, but the most important parts were still left undone. The Blood Effigy would need at least another year to grow. Now with Arcaz Black entering the fray... This was not over. A Pureblood Draugr like that couldn’t be completely unknown.
”Where is the closest settlement?” Uona asked as she turned toward her guide.
”Mistress, settlements often spring up around exits, though it is a bit early for that now. However, there should be one settlement a month's travel from our current location called Glory's Rest. It is a mountain that has been turned into a town over millions of years, its features remaining intact between trials,” the blood servant answered with a bow.
Uona nodded in understanding as she slowly tapped her nail against the table. However, she frowned when she saw the blood servant take a hesitant step forward.
”What is it?”