Chapter 897: Victory is sweet, but it’s never universal
=To be fair, he is still very insistent on keeping his true abilities and existence on a lid for no good reason. I mean, he has already had the kaijin possess several members of his family. It’s a bit absurd that he…uh oh…=
=Remember that report we received from Nepherage? The one that came around when the other four were busy claiming their prizes?=
=It hatched.=
____Rewinding the clock a bit, as this happened at the exact same time as the other four events…____
That’s right you foolish mortals…just keep pretending I’m an inert cocoon…pay no mind to the buzzing in your ears…
…
“Ugh. Why are jungles always so full of mosquitos?,” Jinju Ren complained as she smacked what she assumed to be a bug by her ears.
Normally, such pests wouldn’t bother her in the slightest, but as of this moment…well…
“Are you daft? You want to try and launch an attack against that thing? What if you destroy the pond?!”
“Well, it’s better than doing nothing and sitting here with our thumbs up our asses!”
“It’s called planning!”
“Hmmm.”
Right now, she had nothing better to do.
In a sharp contrast to the life and death struggles of the other Zhen Clan scions in various parts of the [Monkey’s Temple], Princes Jinju Ren, Patriarch Zhen Shi, Hermit Zhong Wei, and Zhen Liu’s (puppet), were having a relatively boring time, doing nothing other than planning on how to deal with the [Dragon’s Cocoon] that was sitting in the middle of the [Tempering Spirit Pond].
Please note that the term, [Dragon’s Cocoon], referred to the weird giant fleshy egg thing that the group found to be partially submerged in the aforementioned pond. While the term was unofficial, it seemed appropriate given the nature of the damn thing, i.e., the fact that it was a means for an aether beast with dragon blood to stabilize their dragon blood and all the perks that came with it.
Regardless, the group was dealing with a very delicate, very volatile, all natural aether treasure that could wipe them all out in an instant if they handled it incorrectly…. presumably.
In all honesty, this was the first time any of them had ever seen, let alone handled a situation like this.
The only one who, technically, had any information on what to do in a situation like this was currently pretending to be a special type of aether puppet.
One that could help alleviate Jinju Ren’s boredom, to an extent.
[Mistress Jinju Ren, may I ask you something?]
“Yes, you may, Nepherage. But first…mistress? Not princess?”
[I figured you would prefer an alternative form of address since you always seemed a bit annoyed whenever anyone other than milord calls you that. Almost as if that title bothers you in some way.]
“In a sense, it does…wait, does that mean the other kaijin will be referring to me as mistress?”
[If you so wish.]
“Hmmm. Leave it for now. Both titles work fine by me.”
[Mistress it is then, but back to my question, why are we just sitting here an doing nothing?]
“Well…to take a page out of darling’s dialogue, I have a long answer and a short answer. Which would you rather hear?”
[Both?]
“In that case, the long answer is that Patriarch Zhen Shi and Master Hermit Zhong Wei want to make sure we can reap the maximum amount of benefits from this encounter with the most minimal amounts of effort. As such, they’re now discussing and attempting to determine the best way to do so.”
[And the short answer is…]
“They’re old, stubborn and both believe they’re correct.”
[Ah…is that why you and the others advised me to keep my mouth shut, even if I were to pretend to be milord?]
“Pretty much.”
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“Huh. I figured they’d only start using their native tongue after at least three more minutes of cussing. Damn,” Jinju Ren mused.
As Zhen Shi and Zhong Wei continued to verbally rip each other to shreds, Jinju Ren and Nepherage didn’t have much of a choice other than to sit off to the side and continue their conversation in random directions.
This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, since this was a rare opportunity for Jinju Ren to converse with one of the kaijin in a more intimate setting, but there was just one issue, well two.
Jinju Ren was the type of girl to ask incredibly blunt, straightforward questions about subject matters that most people considered to be taboo.
“So…has darling and any of the other ladies done the dirty deed yet, or…”
And Nepherage was about as filtering as a hula hoop ring in a river.
[No. Milord insists on waiting on that until he either ties the knot with everyone involved, or until he is emotionally ready to fulfill everyone’s desires in a memorable way.]
“I…I can’t tell if that’s sweet or if he’s dense as a rock.”
[I’ve been told it’s both.]
“Wait a minute…you mean to tell me that he hasn’t even-”
[Been to a brothel? No.]
“Really…”
Either way, it was a damn good thing that Zhen Liu was in the middle of fighting a crazy giant mantis monster at this point in time, otherwise he’d have some choice words in regards to Nepherage spilling this shit all willy-nilly.
Then again, Jinju Ren had an inkling this was the case, but there was a difference between having a feeling and having it confirmed.
“Hmmm. Do you happen to have a way for me to contact the other women in darling’s life? I know my father always has a designated messenger bird for all of his husbands and wives, but I don’t think darling thought that far ahead. Either way, I think we can come to a consensus of some kind in regards to darling’s hesitancy.”
[I…didn’t even think of that as being an option…I think Logos and Pathos have a…hold on…,] Nepherage suddenly paused as she felt a change in the air. To be more precise, she felt a surge of energy that made her feel rocky exterior crawl. [Mistress Jinju Ren, do you sense that?]
“Huh? What are you…wait a minute.”
Picking up what Nepherage was sensing, Jinju Ren proceeded to enter a defensive stance with her sword at the ready. For good measure, she even activated her [Regalia] and began to tap into the power of her dragon familiar jewels.
…
Too late, little fools.
My time has come.
…
(Un)surprisingly though, the two elders of the group had yet to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere around them.
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At the same time as this change was pointed out to the old warriors, that strange buzzing sound that was in everyone’s ears had suddenly ceased. Then, as if a hidden switch was flipped in their heads, Zhen Shi and Zhong Wei both finally noticed that the air was rich with wild [Dragon Force].
The two warriors were confused as to why this was the case, until they heard a loud, cracking sound originating from the [Dragon’s Cocoon] that was directly in front of them.
*CRACK!*
<"SHIT!">
In fairness to these old war dogs though, [Dragon Force] was one of those energies one had to be trained to detect, or have an innate sense for. In essence, only dragons and those who were the natural enemy of dragons were able to detect such energies without needing to focus on it specifically.
Once they detected this energy for themselves, both of the elders activated their respective [Regalia] and [Astra].
Additionally, the two elder warriors proceeded to create more distance between themselves and the hatching cocoon.
However, this was a measure that turned out to be a bit for naught.
Because as soon as the duo had managed to create a gap of at least sixty feet between themselves and the cocoon, the latter exploded in a burst of light, energy and sharapnel that forced the old men to defend themselves.
Needless to say, they weren’t the only ones to notice this sudden change.
…
“Oh…that can’t be good.”
“What in the nine hells am I sensing right now?”
“It’s like staring into a volcano made of thunderstorms…”
“Wait a minute…JINJU REN!”
And so, like a gunshot at the start of a race, the warriors of the Zhen Clan raced as quickly as they could to the source of the explosion.
…
Quest: Secure the [Tempering Spirit Pond]
Status: In-progress
Complication: Sixth tier aether beast with dragon blood has appeared.
Casualties:???
