Zoran blinked repeatedly as he heard the feminine voice of 'Dalia,' the Evolved Panther. Throughout their fight, Zoran thought she was just a normal Miasma Beast incapable of speech. He knew she was smart, but not 'speaking' smart.
"You can talk?" Zoran asked incredulously.
Dalia, the Evolved Panther, looked at Zoran and scowled at him. She did not like him at all—especially when she knew that she could not beat him in a fight. He was much stronger than she thought, strong enough to kill her.
Despite that, she could not help but acknowledge his powers. That Tyrannical Miasma Strike was something that she could not deal with even with enough preparation. Her only ultimate skill that separated her from the pack, the 4th dimensional leap, was stolen from her within a few clashes between them. She was bested both in strength and intelligence.
She respected him for that. There was nothing more satisfying than battling an opponent that was challenging her to the utmost limit. In their duel, there was an unspoken contract of a fight for survival. She was fighting to protect their nest from the invader, and Zoran was fighting to keep his life. Both had their own reason for battle, but only one was correct. And that was settled by the end of the battle.
He should have killed me, Dalia thought. She could have died in battle and be remembered with honor as the fierce warrior of Miamsa Panthers. She felt like she was robbed of that chance. Now, she had to live with the fact that she had lost in battle and owe her life to someone not even born from Miasma.
"I do not speak to those inferior to me," she replied.
"You're speaking now."
Dalia glared at Zoran. "Not for long."
Zoran shook his head. If he had known that he could speak with Dalia, he would have handled things differently. He had no intention of killing them or invading their nest; he only did so in self-defense.
If he had known she could speak, he would converse with her for a peace treaty—a temporary truce so that no more Miasma or blood would shed. This would have been a much safer way for Zoran to find a way outside of this Miasma.
"Forgive my daughter, Zoran the human. Her pride would be the death of her," said Alize.
"It is not about pride, mother. It is about honor," replied Dalia. She then turned to Zoran and said to him, "kill me and finish what you started."
Zoran shook his head. He understood what Dalia felt. He too was a hotblooded warrior back in his days and for people like them, defeat was a sin worthy of death. It was much better to die in honor than to live in shame. Of course, Zoran moved on from that thinking or else he wouldn't have reached the peak of cultivation.
"I could kill you. But that would not wash your soul of defeat," Zoran replied.
Dalia looked at him confused. She believed that death would justify her defeat.
"Death is an escape for those not worthy of living. Only the brave seek life after losing."
"Stop speaking riddles!" Dalia shouted.
Zoran looked at her with all seriousness and said, "Challenge me again after you have bettered yourself. If you win, then you can rest assured that you have won against your greatest opponent. If you lose, then you have more to improve."
Dalia looked at Zoran with her eyes widened. She looked at him with a new light and looked at herself with renewed vigor. Her previous shame-riddled eyes and downtrodden face was replaced with an expression of realization and actualization.
She reflected upon Zoran's words very carefully as if she had finally grasped at something she could not see before.
Dalia then quickly pounced away from the scene in a hurry without looking back at Zoran or her mother.
"Don't worry about her. Running helps her think."
Zoran nodded. He didn't think that he would end up helping Dalia with her journey to reach the pinnacle of strength, but he did it anyway to shove her away from wanting to be killed by Zoran.
What he said was true, but the main reason why he didn't want to kill Dalia was because of Alize, the Panther Queen. He already promised her that he would not kill Dalia, and if he broke that then he would have been subject to her wrath. He also wanted to keep that debt for a rainy day. It's not everyday that he had a creature at the same level as the Supreme Beings be in his favor—they usually hate him.
"Thank you. Not only did you spare my child, but also helped her grasp an escape out of immaturity." Alize El' Felinadae, the Panther Queen and ruler of the Mammalian Beasts of the underworld, bowed her head to the human Zoran.
He, in return, just shrugged his shoulders.
A small chuckle left the Aliza's mouth. "I must welcome you to my home. Come follow me. Guards, give my guest the best reception."
Immediately, Puma Soldiers came out of the shadows of Miasma and gathered around Zoran. They lined themselves up, showing a line of path directly towards the nest of Miasma Beasts. Then a slight breeze of Miasma came behind Zoran and gently pushed him in action, as if he was being carried on a palaquin.
"Wait. There's no need for that. I just need an exit to the overworld. I have been in the Miasma for too long."
Aliza looked back at Zoran. "I had guessed as much. Don't worry, there is a tunnel up to the surface in my nest."
With that, the Panther Queen stepped into space, and immediately, the scenery in Zoran's surroundings changed. The unbroken darkness of nothing but Miasma and its tendrils changed into a large chamber with intricate designs of walls depicting a large Panther being worshipped by smaller Miasma Beasts of all shapes and sizes.
A large scale teleportation? Zoran was impressed. It was a better and upscaled version of the 4th dimensional leap that could affect a large space. He tried to gather as much information from that leap, but couldn't decipher much out of the technique since it only occurred once briefly.
Zoran looked around and saw many soldiers standing guard near the walls. The solid Miasma that Zoran couldn't touch for even a second was being used as decoration to show the grandness of the Queen's chambers.
The whole room was spherical, with 4 tunnel exits in four cardinal directions. Each was guarded by a line of Puma Soldiers much stronger than the ones Zoran fought. Soon enough, Dalia came floating towards the Queen's chambers from the East entrance.
A large black ball that oozed an intense aura of Miasma hovered in front of her. Once she reached Zoran, the ball floated to his feet.
"This is a Miasma Bead that can advance your strength through several stages. Take it. It's yours."