Chapter 57: Black Wolf
"Everyone should be ready, they are coming." Said a stern but youthful voice.
"Got it!" Answered childish and high.
A man in a grey robe was standing on a tree branch, his hands crossed and his weight completely negligible even though that branch was as thick as a finger. His hair was untidy and brown. Next to him was a girl in a loose blue dress and with an unnatural amount of make-up on her adolescent face.
She was eagerly saluting toward the man who was completely ignoring her existence. If Wei Xin was here, he would easily recognize that pair.
"If you got it then go and deliver the order, henchmen."
"Yes, I mean got it!"
She girl jumped from the tree. Then ran for some time and then stilled, looking at the trees around. Finally, she put her palms around her mouth and screamed:
"Guys! The beasts are coming, please, be ready!"
No one answered her, and the girl swiftly retreated and jumped back to the same twig. Her face had a shy smiled before a fist in gauntlet connected with the top of her head.
"Ai…" She cried out.
The man closed his eyes and continued ignoring her existence.
It went like that for several seconds. Then the man frowned once more and looked at the girl. She instinctively put palms on her crown.
"Everyone including you." He seemed reluctant to even to glance at her.
"Ah, sorry." The girl also got serious or at least tried to appear that way. She unleashed the strange object resembling a bow, but with many strings, from her shoulders and imitated his frown.
"Start."
…
…
…
An arrow pierced a beast's head, shattering its skull; an ax severed a wolf's neck; an ox's head crushed under a heavy boot.
Many images were blinking in a large crystal, some of them, though just slightly, arose some emotional impact in the Emperor of Beasts, however, exactly just slightly, and he continued the absorption, thousands of Light Remains swirling into his body, into his new, black heart.
So was the nature of his Master's powers; the Light of Death, the screams one emits while perishing; quite disturbing, it surely affected his mind, and not by a little. Judging by that demon woman, not all of their kind were as heartless.
He stumbled upon a freak of sorts. But that was good, for freaks are easy to deceive.
"More, more!" A crazy voice like a whip was slashing upon Mo Pu's brain. That's good, for more crazy he is, more distracted.
It was the plan all along, to wait until he will completely lose himself in that pure current of power, and then destroy him, seize his core.
"Not yet."
Sounded in his head.
"Yes, not yet, more, more!"
A black tornado of death was surging through his body, the fur on his paws falling off, with claws, with rotten skin. A light this intensive was harmful even in its basic form. Only he of all beasts could endure it, being a channel to his master.
"The third rank, finally! Just a bit more and I will have enough power to harvest this land truly!"
Harvest, what a word. Amusement appeared on the wolf's face. However, no point in arguing with that being. The time has come, it is impatient and on a verge of leaving him and forming its own body.
"Forgive me, master, that is for the good of my people. Seize."
His last world was like a bell in a completely hollow world.
He entered the pure blue realm of his consciousness. A black crystal was in the middle of it, polluting everything with darkness.
The wolf extended his hand, and the blue surged like a whirlwind, surrounding the black core from all sides, puncturing it and striving inside.
The blue radiance swallowed the black object like a wave, pulsating and throbbing, like a burning heart.
"Is that a betrayal, animal?"
Nothing lasts. A bleak light surrounded the crystal, growing deeper and deeper; like a water, the relentless waves of blue started to drip off the black crystal.
"Chi!"
Like an eye, like a terrific eclipse, it stared at the meager silhouette of the blue wolf.
"If so, I do not mind consuming you as well."
"You can try, master." Suddenly, the wolf clapped.
Yellow radiance spread from the sides; two spears of pure gold revealed themselves and at once pierced the black sphere.
"Aghhh!"
Sounded a terrific scream, a new wave of blue came, surging into the holes left after slowly dissipating golden spears.
"Die, master!"
For a first time excitement sounded in the voice of the wolf, his eyes burning with blue and his body melting into thousands of currents, invading the heart of the demon of death.
"Die!" He shouted, and the wolf himself started to crumble; two forces crashed.
"In your dreams!"
Answered a furious scream, and the golden spears crumbled a bit more.
"Whoever that betrayer, he will pay, and you will pay, I will devourer you all!"
"For you made a mistake."
Before the black heart finally changed its color, something entirely different happened in the outside world.
The black core in the wolf's ribcage dived deeper, darkness surrounding his insides.
The half-rotten body of the wolf suddenly clenched the large crystal before it with both of his paws. It crashed under a terrific pressure, and a black smoke pierced the ripped chest of the wolf.
New darkness appeared, sweeping everything around; the golden spears became grey and suddenly shot back, spreading darkness in the wolf's consciousness. His silhouette became bleak, the blue started to vanish and dimish around.
"Ha-ha-ha, how stupid of you, but what else expect of an animal?"
The ridicule and excitement in his voice were unhidden, and in less than a second, the silhouette of the wolf finally vanished under the pressure of darkness. In his last move, his hand strived toward the back on his head.
His face expressionless, the Emperor of Mo died.
His body seized by a demon.
The half-rotten wolf stood up, his eyes like two eclipses.
"I had to seize this vessel because of circumstances."
He said, looking at his claws slowly growing back and skin regenerating. Only the fur was not growing back, his pink skin blackening as if charred.
"But it doesn't seem so bad."
His head turned a full circle around.
"Because of this little accident, I only reached the middle of the Third Rank."
He glanced toward the ceiling.
"However, there are still many to harvest."
"The battle isn't fast enough, maybe I should speed it up a bit."
A hoe of light surrounded his pitch-black body.
The earth trembled.
A true massacre was about to begin.