Chapter 414 - Golden Korra (2/2)
'Crimson and I have been beside Empress' side for countless years. She has turned human. Crimson already has a body befitting humans... she now has an edge.'
The figure thought carefully. Every now and then, on the surface of the blood pool, rotten faces would resurface before submerging once again. The frequency of most of the heads, whose blood contributed to this pool, was quite small. But there was one particular head that kept on bobbing up. Its head was round, and there was a subtle sheen on the cheeks of the face, even if it was on the verge of rotting.
If Nik, Klas, or Ray peeked on this beast's sensual bath, they would find that this face belonged to the host that decided to venture into the forest on his own. Of course, it was now clear that his adventure didn't go exceptionally well.
”And this human... he tastes a little bad.”
The figure whispered even when the contours of her lips did not move. The whole situation was more than eerie.
Finally, the figure stood up, and its pure-white, leathery skin instantly absorbed the dripping blood. For a moment, the figure looked back at the pool and 'inhaled' as a vortex of air consumed all the blood. The fat host's head plopped over the bed of human skulls. In fact, this pool went down to 80 meters in depth, filled with human heads completely.
From the thin palms of the figure, two blood swords instantly filled up before droplets of blood dripped on the ground. Before long, the spirit beast let out a screech that translated to— Hail the Empress— before torrents of blood overflowed from the figure and covered the body into a gigantic blood cocoon that thumped every now and then. The moment the spirit beast hid within the cocoon, another figure with raven wings, human's physique, and reddish skin floated down and guarded silently.
”Hail the Empress,” she whispered.
***
As the Star Dou Forest was on the verge of losing another one of its top ten savage species— Blood Cardinal; the commotion finally alerted a snowy white silkworm the length of a young body sleeping deep within the earth. Not just this spirit beast, many other spirit beasts felt moved by the ceremony of turning into a human and decides to observe it from a distance. Even now, savage beast or not, none dared to stop Blood Cardinal's ascension. First, the loss of Blood Cardinal could mean peace for the entire forest. After all, the notorious dragon-slaying Gojira had long disappeared. With Blood Cardinal's retreat, the Hell Raven might follow, too.
”Kekeke, beasts turning into humans? Hmph! What's the benefit? We beasts would soon prevail!”
A landshark beast cackled wildly as he looked towards the fiery inscription patterns stopping him from entering the black spring's landscape. He licked his lips with his heart thumping loudly.
”There may be a divine inheritance inside! We can finally break the limits placed by heavens and become stronger!”
The beast began once again.
Just like this, a single decision of a loyal retainer had instantly changed the situation of the Star Dou forest. Needless to say, such changes would trigger the wild nature of the slumbering spirit beasts and would only bring forward the time of the much-feared attack of the forest against the humans.
Beast Tide.
***
Meanwhile, instead of ruining the chance to try out new things, Nik sat down in the backyard and carefully started to probe the surrounding space. Since he did not have enough inspiration to level his other manipulation skills, Nik finally diverted his attention to one of the most dangerous skills he will ever handle— Space Manipulation.
By this time, Klas was already a few meters away from Nik and started her training in Nik's technique whose benefits instantly attracted the crystal-men while Asami was preparing for the exams. Shen Xiu had to leave for some minor purchases, Shen Yue was meeting up with a few friends he used to hang out with, Xue Yin was concentrating on building the city, and finally, Gojira purred on Nik's laps as she demanded in a thuggish tone, ”Hey, scratch this part, too!”
Nik sighed deeply and scratched the lower corner of her head as she sighed in content.
This wouldn't do. Nik was deeply aware of this fact. If Gojira doesn't find a good way to spend her time with, she'll just become a lazy kitten. With a thought, Nik extended his gravity suppression over to Gojira as she let out a surprised yelp and stood up as if the 100% increase in gravity was nothing. Of course, her head did buzz a little.
”What's this?”
Gojira inquired in curiosity as she stood up and stretched her limbs. This sort of pressure was satisfying for her.
”This is my skill in manipulating gravity. Since the paradise limits me, pressurizing myself to a greater extent would be counterproductive. But not for you... so, do you want to try out your physical limits?”
Nik smiled while Gojira turned her head and grinned.
”Don't you already know it? Sure, hit it up!”