Drip…Drip
Blood drenched the soil as the old woman's head lied lifeless on the ground. Both Thalor and Claire wore terrified expressions.
"That old hag! Now I've wasted too much time on this mission." The mysterious man said nonchalantly.
"G-Grandma!!!" Thalor screamed as he stared at his grandma's lifeless body with her severed head beside it.
"Ugh, Shut up! Or else you'll be next!" The mysterious man said as he glared at Thalor and Claire.
"Kugh!" Thalor spat a mouthful of blood. The intense glare was too much for a weakling like him.
"Thalor!!!" Claire rushed towards Thalor. "Oh no! You're hurt." Claire said.
'Damn, this Kid is weak. He got that injured just from a glare.' The mysterious man thought.
"I'm fine."
"But you're…"
"Hey Claire, can you do me a favor?" Thalor requested.
"Not right now, we need to…" Before Claire could continue, Thalor held her hand.
"Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. Run back to Misth as fast as you can and tell your father what happened."
"But I can't just leave you. You're too weak to fight him alone."
"Look! If we both stay here, we'll die. It's best to sacrifice one of us." Thalor said as he got up slowly.
"And that will be me!" Thalor said as he stared at the mysterious man with resolute eyes.
'Oh? This kid dares to glare at me knowing fully well he's at a disadvantage. Hmm, he's a weird one.' The mysterious man grinned.
"I like the look in your eyes kid but unfortunately, I'm not here to fight. I need you to take me to you know where." The mysterious man said.
'You know where? Is it that cave that grandma was talking about?' Thalor thought.
"So, I'll make a deal with you. If you show me where the cave is, I'll let that little girl go." The mysterious man said.
"Are you sure letting one of your hostages go is the right idea? We are planning on calling for backup." Thalor asked.
"Call as much as you need. Not like it's going to change anything." The Mysterious man said with a grin. "Now come on before I change my mind."
"Okay, you heard the man. Claire, it's time for you to leave now." Thalor said to Claire.
"…." Claire was reluctant to leave. She cared for Thalor a lot, so it wasn't easy for her to leave him like this.
"Okay! Don't worry, I won't let you down!" Claire said as she ran to Misth as fast as she could.
As he watched Claire disappear into the dark forest, Thalor smiled bitterly.
'Sorry Claire. This is the only way. With her speed, she would be out of the forest in ten minutes. So…' Thalor thought.
From Claire's perspective, Thalor is just following the mysterious man's orders. But in actuality…
'I'm gonna fuck this old bastard up!'
He's sending this man to his doom!
A few hours later…
'Okay, I think Claire should be at the village right now.' Thalor thought.
"Hey Kid! Where is this cave anyway? Are you sure you're going the right way?" The mysterious man said impatiently.
"Of course, I'm not." Thalor sneered.
"What did you just say!?" The mysterious man snapped.
"I said I'm not going the right way." Thalor smirked.
"Look kid! Don't you dare play with me! Do you know who I am!?" The mysterious man glared while releasing his Rank SS2 Aura.
Kugh!
Thalor was forced to his knees while spitting out a considerable amount of blood. The aura of a rank SS2 Supreme Warlord was too much for him to handle.
"You better behave if you don't want to be killed! I can kill you without even moving a finger!" The mysterious man snorted.
What the mysterious man said was true, Thalor couldn't even stand up, not to talk of fighting the guy. However, Thalor would not let this man have his way. So, what if he is a weakling? So, what if the man is a supreme Warlord? He will not give up no matter what!
"Fu…"
"Hmm? Speak up brat!"
"Fuck you, dumbass!!!". Thalor said.
The mysterious man was instantly enraged.
"Good! I was thinking of letting you go with just a broken limb but now I'm gonna destroy you and kill that stupid bitch like how I killed that old hag!" The mysterious man roared.
"I'LL NEVER LET YOU LAY YOUR HANDS ON HER!!!" Thalor roared.
"ACTIVATING GUILD'S DEFENCE MECHANISM!!!" Thalor yelled as he drew patterns on the ground with his blood.
Suddenly, thick fog appeared and filled the whole area giving Thalor a chance for him to escape. This was a Mid-grade Illusion array. It blocks the Intruder's vision and messes with their sense of direction. Even though it works well for Rankers below S rank, it can still cause a SS ranker like the mysterious man some trouble.
"Tch! This is an illusion array! So, the rumor about this place being a former Guild property was true." The mysterious man said.
There was an old rumor that a hundred years ago, Thalor's home village used to be a guild property for one of the five greatest guilds present at that time. But due to the lack of evidence, people thought it was just some beer parlor discussion.
"Don't think you'll escape from me boy. I can sense your S.E wave."
[Note: S.E = Spiritual Energy]
The mysterious man tried to sense for Thalor's S.E wave but to his surprise he couldn't sense anything near him.
"Damn it! His S.E wave is too weak for me to sense." The mysterious man frowned.
"I admit this brat is really something" The mysterious man glared.
Meanwhile at the other side of the forest, Thalor was walking to a cave while drinking a healing potion.
"It's a good thing I snatched this from Pierrew." Thalor sighed.
"Now, it's time to see what is really inside this cave."
Thalor walked into the cave entrance.
Unknown to Thalor, there was a marking on the entrance to the cave. It read out:
THE PHOENIX LORD'S TOMB!
------IMPORTANT NOTICE------
Hey guys, we are back after a long break. We are sorry for just leaving without any prior explanation. However, I can guarantee that we are here to stay.
We'll be dropping new chapters of MPLS Every Sunday. And we'll be resuming my Romance novel "The Love Life of Ren Goto". Two chapters of TLLORG will be dropping soon. Thanks for your support 😊.