Chapter 31: True Potential and the Prophecy
The Royal guards started to heal Zane and Arthur, but something else was happening elsewhere.
"Damn, that was close. If I was late, the guy would have killed me right there, thanks to the clone I left when I attacked that Royal brat," the Madam said while looking at her hands. "That kid is interesting, though. I hope the next time we meet, we can be friends," she said, blushing and smiling as she turned around to climb the mountain.
"It seems you have become the Blood Demon now. Huh! Madam... No, should I say Liossa, The Last Dark Elf?" A deep voice echoed as a man wearing jet-black clothes with two horns stepped forward from the shadows.
"What do you want now? I told you, I am not interested in your goal," Liossa said, walking past him.
"What’s so different between what you have done and our goals, huh?"
"The difference is that you guys are far more evil than I am. And you killed my race on purpose just to enchant your demon blood. Don’t think I don’t know," she said, stopping in her tracks.
"What’s that? Tch... do you really think you can defeat all of the Underworld and the Demon Continent alone? Dream on!" the demon said, leaning back against a tree.
"No, I am not the one who is going to, but I have to wait for him," she replied, looking down at Valeria City shrouded in smoke.
"A dark elf putting faith in a human... how intriguing," he said, stepping closer to Liossa. "It seems what those two brats were saying was true!"
"What truth?"
"That demons talk too much," she said, turning her head slightly. "So, what brings you here, and what’s with all these people you brought?" she asked, looking up into the trees.
"Isn’t it obvious? The leader said if a pet refuses to be tamed or submit, kill it," he said with a wide, cruel smile.
"I hope you know the consequences of doing this," she warned, materializing a blade out of her own blood.
"Consequences? Shouldn’t you be the one who knows that, you..."
"I see. You don’t understand anything at all, do you."
BLOOD DEMON SWORD ART: BLACK FLAMES!
FWOOOOSH!
The attack was so powerful that it cut them all down instantly, cleanly slicing off the entire top of the mountain.
BOOOOM!
"Ants," she muttered, putting her blood sword away and heading deeper into the mountain paths.
Back in Valeria City:
"What was that?" Maria asked, looking toward the distant shockwave.
"It seems it ran away. That means this one was just a clone," the Guard said, looking down at the physical clone Liossa had left behind.
The moment they reached out to touch it...
FWOOOOSH!
Black flames erupted instantly, and the clone vanished into thin air.
"Why don’t you come out? You’ve already been standing there for a while now," the Guard commanded, turning his gaze toward the half-destroyed mansion of the Ashford family.
"Well... well... You are very sharp. And for the King to send you here, it means he knew this was going to happen," a woman’s voice chimed as four women stepped out from behind the ruined mansion.
"DON’T UNDERESTIMATE OUR KING’S JUDGMENT!" the Guard shouted fiercely, taking a combat stance.
"Yeah... Yeah... We know," one of the women replied, waving her hand nonchalantly.
’Damn, what are they doing here? If I fight them, I’ll die in seconds,’ the Guard thought to himself, gritting his teeth.
"Don’t be so on guard. We are just verifying the prophecy, that’s all," they said, vanishing into thin air before anyone could move.
"A prophecy? What kind of prophecy, Gerald?" Maria asked, turning to the Guard.
"I don’t know. I only heard that each nation received one, but I don’t know anything beyond that," Gerald replied, looking back toward Zane and Arthur.
Arthur’s body was so severely injured that they had to cover his entire frame in heavy healing bandages. As for Zane, after he lost consciousness, his self-regeneration kicked in, mending his physical wounds while keeping him in a deep coma.
A few days later:
"Where am I?" Zane murmured, looking around at an endless, scorching landscape filled with fiery lava and dark demons.
Suddenly, Zane was transferred into a grand throne room. Sitting on the main throne was a man wearing a golden crown with his eyes closed, bound so heavily by massive chains that he couldn’t move a single inch.
Around the room sat other chained figures, each bound by chains of different colors representing elements, talents, and magic classes. Some of these figures had their chains unlocked halfway.
’Huh? These... These are the abilities I’ve been using that are unlocked halfway. Does that mean.... ’ Zane realized.
"Yes, it is as you think. Your potential," a deep voice echoed through the vast hall.
Zane frantically looked around to find the source of the voice. He looked up toward the ceiling, and when he lowered his gaze back down, the chained figure on the main throne had completely shifted its appearance: its body looked like a vast galaxy, and its crown had changed into half a sun and half a moon.
The voice echoed again: "This is your True Potential."
In an instant, his vision faded to pitch darkness. Zane found himself lying bound upon a stone sacrifice altar beneath an open sky. Above him, a giant-like entity descended from the sky with a wide smile on its face, aiming a massive flaming sword directly down at Zane’s chest.
AND THEN ....
BOOOOM!
"HAAH!" Zane screamed out loud, snapping awake from the violent nightmare.
"Zane! What’s happening?" Maria shouted, rushing to Zane’s bed
.
PANT... PANT... PANT...
’What was that just now?’ Zane thought to himself, cold sweat pouring down his forehead as he covered his face with trembling hands.
"My potential..." Zane muttered softly, looking down at his hands.
"Are you okay, Zane?" Gloria asked softly, standing by his bedside alongside Maria.
"Yeah, I am fine. How is Arthur?" he replied, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and getting up.
"Ummm... about that, he is still in a coma," Maria replied, her voice filled with concern.
"I see. As I expected, since he was beaten more than me," he said calmly, putting his shoes on.
After that Zane heard straight to see his brother Arthur.