Myriad Devils-Chapter 98: Behind the veil, red water

Over thirty monkeys cried and roared angrily.

The red fog had dissipated, and they had survived.

On the other hand, the monkeys who hadn’t entered the fog were the ones that were killed.

More importantly, their killers were nowhere to be seen!

The immense amount of stellar cosmic energies being utilized by a particular Red Ape Beast General overstimulated the senses of beasts in the tens of miles nearby, including their own.

This prevented them from perceiving the escaping duo who indeed used stellar cosmic energy to assist in their escape.

The Red Ape’s influence traversed such an incredible distance.

Such was the power of a Beast General.

And it was only right that those who understood this power used it to assist themselves.

Naturally, Seth and Anon knew this, but the means as to which they would’ve achieved an escape, by blinding the majority of monkeys, obviously, only Seth would’ve known that.

The duo moved through the forest at their fastest speed for the initial distance they needed to create as to separate themselves from the one-winged monkeys before slowing down immensely, reducing their consumption of stellar cosmic energy, and moving at what could be considered a crawling pace.

After escaping the one-winged monkeys, the tense aura that surrounded them both noticeably relaxed. But this was the Blood-Drip Jungle, preventing them from becoming totally relaxed at any one point in time.

Anon’s spirit slowly recovered as they traversed the landscape of the jungle, hopping from branch to branch, and sometimes exploding with great speed across the earth.

"Do you have a location in mind?" Anon looked at Seth who had led the escape.

Naturally, Anon wasn’t aware of Seth’s thoughts at the time, so after the ’Blood Fog’ was created, he was caught slightly surprised when Seth had forcefully grabbed hold of him before they made their escape from the unsuspecting group of bloodthirsty monkeys.

Since then, they had unknowingly continued on a path led by Seth. To which, the latter replied with a blank expression, "Not really." He said.

Almost expecting this, Anon clicked his tongue whilst shaking his head, replying to Seth’s concise answer with a question, "Who else is alive? I was so taken up by Bolan that I didn’t ask you. Since you have that strange ability, you should know, right?" Anon asked whilst a strange expression appeared on his face for a short moment.

Disappearing shortly after, Seth didn’t perceive this oddness.

’Ah, so how much is that? Five abilities? From his own mouth, he said three for the first layer, one for the second, and one for the third. Their are five worlds, so the second world has five abilities, wouldn’t that make him a stellar fighter in the third layer of the second world?’ Anon thought this whilst staring at Seth intently.

Another thought flashed through his mind at that time.

’He could’ve also said this to confuse me. Clearly, he doesn’t want me to develop many abilities for whatever reason. One ability in the second layer, and one in the third? There could very well be no limits as to the amount of abilities a second world stellar fighter can create. And even if there are, two abilities for two new layers doesn’t sound that convincing.’ Anon pondered.

’The question remains, why doesn’t he want me to develop abilities? Does abilities have an importance in the higher worlds?’ Shaking his head, Anon sighed internally. ’He could also just want me to fry my brain thinking about all types of possibilities purely to birth confusion in my mind. This is partially my fault due to my limited knowledge on cultivation and magic.’

"Not many of them." Seth smiled, taking the deaths of the stellar geniuses very lightly, he continued, "The two that abandoned us are dead. The inheritors, besides the girl who amplified our spirits, and another, are all dead. Jacob and Felix are traversing Blood-Drip Jungle together, and are alive still. They’ll likely survive this October’s assessment."

Hearing this, Anon rose an eyebrow, "That Natalia girl is still alive? The effects of her principle had disappeared..." Anon said this but paused.

Soon after, he laughed dryly without any type of amusement in his eyes.

Chuckling to himself, "All of these inheritors are very good at abandoning and betraying. To think that I protected her."

"Heh, did you expect her to giver her life up just to continue strengthening us?" Seth asked. Upon hearing Anon’s words, he was amused.

Not exactly by his words, but by the tone and way he went about expressing them.

"Not really for you all, but at least for me."

Anon turned to Seth with an indifferent expression, "It’s the least I expect from earth’s residents. But even so, again and again, humans who have sentience, still somehow fail to meet my lowest expectation."

With a slightly perplexed expression, Anon sighed, "I don’t know, they aren’t beasts who move on instincts, yet they have no sense of appreciation for their lord’s son? Ah- It’s really confusing."

Seth couldn’t stop himself from giggling after hearing this. Anon squinted his eyes and glared at him, but he didn’t seem to care.

"I’m sure they’ll gladly sacrifice themselves for their lord. As for their lord’s son, said child hasn’t even been acknowledged by the lord. Anon, besides I, no one seems to know of your identity, so are you really going around expecting them to give up their life for you?"

Seth asked, "Are you actually a naive child?"

"Heh, of course not. I don’t expect them to know who I am." Anon didn’t react to Seth’s subtle attempts at angering him.

Instead, he truly seemed invested in the conversation. Pointing at his eyes, Anon asked, "But look at them. Seth, look into these eyes. Aren’t they incomparable? I’ve seen no eyes greater than these. Once gazing at them, one should instinctively know."

Under Seth’s gaze, these eyes, those fiery orbs, that pair of golden sun stars shone brilliantly, almost to the point of divine beauty.

It made Seth feel upset and disgusted.

"Once gazing at them, one should instinctively know, and yet, they refuse to believe. It isn’t that they can’t see. Their eyes are not blind, but it is their heart that is." Anon said.

...

Encountering beasts whilst traversing Blood-Drip Jungle was something very common.

There were all kinds of beasts, from a species of ants with wings, to frogs with multi-colored skin that spat out poisonous darts with enough force that these poison darts could obliterate the tree trunks of the many towering trees residing in the forest.

However, against these monsters, Seth alone was enough.

As Anon recovered, he continued to observe Seth and his use of his principle.

Seth’s manipulation of his blood-related principle allowed him to be much more flexible than what three, four, or even five abilities would generally allow, to the point that it only highlighted how much of a genius he was.

Eventually, the duo appeared on the bank of a river. The river stretched as far as the eye could see on both sides.

The river water was almost transparent, almost. The further one’s gaze could reach into the water, the more one’d make out the subtle yet prominent reddish hue.

Seth approached the edge of the river and stared at it intently.

Soon after, he chuckled.

Anon frowned when seeing this. Simply because something was pleasing to Seth, it did not mean that it would be pleasing to Anon.

"What’s so funny?" Anon asked, sending a sharp gaze towards Seth. Smilingly turning to Anon, he pointed at the river and said, "The water."

Whether he did it for spite, or not, Anon asked again, "What about it?"

Seth shifted his gaze before walking alongside the river. The current pushed the water in the opposite direction that he walked.

"The water itself is a treasure." Seth said.

He continued, not stopping his footsteps either, "In it, there are multiple properties at work that, when colliding with one another, creates a scenario where the water can be used to assist one’s cultivation. It’s similar to the Lightning Flower Bud."

Hearing this, Anon began to understand, but it also caused him to sigh with disappointment.

"If it’s anything like the Lightning Flower Bud, it’ll be useless to us." He said.

After all, the Lightning Flower Bud was useful for first world stellar fighters, and to a very limited extent, second world stellar fighters.

They had become even stronger since then, so it was hardly likely that the water would assist them greatly.

"That is true, and false." Seth chuckled again.

Anon’s eye twitched at the sound of his chuckling, but he silently awaited for the latter to explain.

"With the Lightning Flower Buds, we plucked them from their origin. On the other hand, this water has the same effect as the Lightning Flower Bud whilst being diluted." Seth said this with a knowing smile.

"Are you saying..." Anon was interrupted by Seth’s words, "Yes, I’m saying exactly that. Where this river originates will naturally be the origin of whatever treasure this is." Seth concluded.

As his words fell, Anon went silent.

The two walked alongside the river for a while.

Their boots were imprinted into the sand of the river’s bank. Each footstep saw their boot sink into the loose earth. Due to this, it was easy to see for oneself, the difference in humans.

Even though their height was similar to ordinary humans, the strides of the stellar fighters revealed their true nature. They walked normally, but each stride exerted a force that propelled them several meters forward with ease.

In a short time, the duo reached the origin of the river, where a small pond lay, the water only reaching calf height, waist height at best. More strikingly, a waterfall cascaded with pristine, clear water.

Seth smirked at the sight. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"The water falling is completely clear," Anon mused inwardly, revealing a subtle grin.

Almost simultaneously, he and Seth stepped into the pond, walking through the water until they stood before the waterfall.

"The water is clear, so that means..." Seth began, continuing their stride in unison.

On the other side, an expansive cave unfolded before their eyes.