Unbeknownst to Ava, high above the clouds, there was a figure, Thaddeus.
He gazed at her silently, with warmth in his eyes, and muttered, "Freedom... yes, you are now free," after which he gazed at the sun for a brief moment before blurring towards the inner forest.
A day passed. During his journey, Thaddeus witnessed scenes that had caused his mind to be in disorder.
He saw scenes where a barbarian man tried desperately to escape with his family to safety from a group of beasts, only for them to die cruelly, just meters away from their rescuers.
He saw a sky clan child being forced to pick up a weapon and step onto the battlefield, only to be ripped apart seconds later.
He saw babies being ripped apart from their mothers' wombs; he saw death after death after death.
this was war, a war that he help started. He felt a little guilty. He only hoped at the end of it all, all these deaths were worth it. He gazed at the sun and sighed,
" war"
He suddenly gazed in a certain direction, then vanished.
....
In a huge underground burrow stood a jet-black rabbit, Apexion. His starry eyes shone brightly as he gazed intensely at the barbarian corpse that was tied up on a table before him. After a while, he sighed with disappointment; he still hadn't found a clue on how to break past the supreme rank.
He couldn't understand why he couldn't find anything special inside these creatures. He had scanned every fiber of their body, skin, muscles, flesh, bones, and even blood, but he just couldn't find anything that gave him any clue or inspiration that could lead him past the supreme rank.
He wondered if he was looking in the wrong direction.
There were only two reasons why he was studying other creatures: one, his innate curiosity, and two, because of Adonist, the first barbarian king.
He remembered reading Adonist's scroll, and there was a part that stated that by researching blood, Adonist
found a path past the supreme rank.
Apexion felt that since Adonist could find clues, he should too, but it seems that he had overestimated himself again.
Apexion's mind raced, and suddenly he thought of something: Adonist's ability. 'Adonist had the ability of blood manipulation, and he also comprehended the true meaning of blood; maybe that's what I am missing.' He felt that the only reason why Adonist could find something and he couldn't was because of Adonist's ability.
"Will I find something if I comprehend the true meaning of blood?" he muttered to himself.
Apexion thought of the true meanings that he had already comprehended and felt that it shouldn't be hard to comprehend another true meaning.
Since his return days ago, he had comprehended 5 true meanings: claw, conceal, strength, speed, and legs.
Apexion felt that with his leg and speed true meanings, no emperor should be as fast as him unless they had some broken ability relating to speed.
With his eyes that allowed him to see energy and speed up his thoughts, it wasn't difficult for him to comprehend a true meaning.
The only reason why he didn't comprehend more was because he was focused on finding clues on how to break past the supreme rank.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps awakened him from his thoughts.
It was Thallo. He dragged the corpse of a young battle ape, and he gazed at Apexion with fear.
During these past days, he had experienced pain beyond his imagination.
Because of his ability to heal, Apexion had made him one of his research materials.
At first, Apexion would only cut open small parts of his body, but it kept getting worse and worse, until eventually, even his skull would be cut open.
Thallo felt that the world had played a sick joke on him and that he was trapped in a nightmare.
When Apexion had just become the new king, Thallo thought that his dark days were over, he thought that he and his kin would live a life of comfort, but he was so wrong. Except for not being eaten, everything else was worse; they had basically become Apexion's slaves.
But Thallo didn't have any thoughts of rebelling against Apexion: because one, he knew that if he tried, what awaited him would be worse than death, and two, his mind had been broken.
Apexion calmly gazed at Thallo. He could somewhat guess what Thallo was thinking, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, it was these weakling's honor to become his minion, and Thallo should be grateful and thank him for allowing him to play a role in his research that could possibly lead to a way beyond the supreme rank.
"Place the body on the ground... and you don't have to collect any more corpses until I tell you to…. go and tend to the plants," said Apexion in an indifferent tone.
"Y-yes, my king," replied Thallo in a trembling tone. he then placed the battle ape corpse in a corner, then he ran away.
A few minutes after Thallo left, Iron Tooth entered. Unlike Thallo, he gazed at Apexion with worship and reverence in his eyes. In his mind, Apexion was the paragon of what his species should be like: strong, and cruel. He didn't care about how he and his kin were being treated and felt that's how it should be.
Apexion looked at him and asked, "What?"
"My king, one of the eyes has sent news that the emperors are about to confront each other," said Iron Tooth hurriedly.
Hearing this, Apexion's starry eyes lit up with black flames, and a human-like grin appeared on his face. 'Finally.'
Then his figure vanished, not long after, his voice echoed in Iron Tooth's ears, "Be ready when the time comes."
Iron Tooth stared at the spot where Apexion previously stood, his body started shaking with excitement. If everything went according to plan, Apexion would become the ruler of the continent, and he and his kin, being the same species as Apexion, would most definitely benefit the most...