Chapter 522 Groveling
Stifling silence hung in the air.
Everyone present, both the Dragons and Otherworlders could feel the palpable tension that spread itself through the expanse around them.
That single question, "... What did you say about Rey?" brought dread to the atmosphere, and all awaited the inevitable answer from the lips of the bloodied mess of a girl who stood amidst the torrents of wind.
Belle turned to look at Alicia's despairing face, and at that moment… all her rage-fueled strength began to sizzle out.
The pain in the eyes of the brunette resonated within her as well, and her tightly clenched jaws loosened to allow for tremors.
"He… h-he…" More tears began to flow down Belle's face.
They were hot and bitter, bountiful as they descended down her pretty eyes. Her weak body soon followed the trail of tears as she knelt on the same ground they struck.
"Rey is dead!" Belle cried out, her voice ascending as high as the heavens itself.
As she let out the words, releasing all the pain and sorrow into the world that watched her, all of her allies watched in shock.
Adonis' eyes widened with disbelief. His countenance made it so obvious that he could not believe what he heard.
Devastated would not begin to begin to describe how he looked.
Lucielle and Brutus both had shocked and pained expressions on their respective faces. The news about the deaths of one of their wards was, as expected, bone-chilling.
It was fortunate that the other Otherworlders could not hear the horrid news. However, none of that mattered in the face of the one person that this revelation affected most.
—Alicia White herself.
As soon as she heard that Rey was dead, something in her heart snapped into two—like a feeble twig. Then, like a glass made of fickle glass, her mind broke into pieces.
"Rey… died…?"
With those mere words, serving as silent whispers, her face clouded up and her brilliant amber eyes darkened; almost like an eclipse had occurred.
Then, the tears came.
They overflowed, bursting out like a dam that had long passed its limits.
Alicia said no more. She simply knelt there, her tears saying all that went on within her fractured mind.
The only voice that could be heard in the tense, tragic scene was Belle's, as she raised her voice and cried at the top of her lungs.
Adonis and the others also had downcast faces, but nothing could compare to the raw pain that the two girls displayed; one by bawling her eyes out, and the other by just standing still and letting the river flow.
The Dragons knew better than to ruin this moment. Any wrong move from them would be met by a swift strike from the grieving humans.
The single look of pure pain and anger mixed on Adonis' face was enough to show that.
Their best bet was to wait and rekindle their strength—at the very least, until they would be able to escape their current predicament and report to the Lord.
The humans mourned, and the Dragons waited.
However, neither side could have expected what happened next.
"I decided to leave my dreary abode, yet what do I find here?" A voice that no one had ever heard before suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
It was loud.
It was deep.
It was commanding.
"This place looks even more boorish than the palace. I wonder why…" The owner of the voice stood at the center of the chaos, almost as if he had been there all along.
He had flowing black hair, with hues of dark purple and blue gleaming from its glossy surface. A cleanly cut beard graced his smooth chin as his mature face lay bare for all to see.
This man had a long, exquisite robe. The kind of apparel that only royalty would be allowed to wear. It had none of the unnecessary jewelry and excessive designs that often bloated the attire of human nobility, yet something about his form seemed more pristine.
He had a single obsidian necklace that gleamed with otherworldly beauty, and his pure black attire had purplish blue designs that made it stand out beneath the glow of sunset.
The whites of his eyes were doused in black, and his irises were a fine blend of blue and purple.
Perhaps a hint of indigo too.
Then, decorating his head, as if they were crowns born from his natural skin, were six horns.
"Did someone die or something?" The man was smiling, clearly chuckling at his joke as he floated about a meter in the air.
Both hands were behind him as he observed his surroundings.
The filth and debris were all fed into his senses as he took a swift look around.
He saw the humans. He witnessed the devastation. Then, he cast his sights on the true reason he was there at that moment.
—The Dragons!
"L-Lord Ob'elisk!" The voice of Kar'en rang out loud in a way that none of the humans had ever heard before.
Her tone was filled with only one thing.
… Pure reverence.
Who could blame her? For she was in the presence of one of the 9 Dragon Lords—The Dark Dragon Of The Black Mountain.
Before such an entity, who was she? Who was her subordinate?
They were but mere specks that could do nothing but bow their heads and grovel before his magnificence.
"L-Lord Ob'elisk…?!" The stupefied face that Ser'ith made was only due to his ignorance.
He had never laid eyes on the Dark Dragon Lord before, so he was a little shocked by the suddenness of his arrival.
Thankfully, his instincts had kicked in and forced his body to grovel before the mighty one before his mind even processed what was happening.
That very moment, the creatures known as invincible showed greater awe and reverence to a more supreme entity.
"Well, this is indeed an unexpected turn of events…" The Dragon Lord turned away from the weaker members of his race and finally returned his attention to the still humans who watched in absolute silence.
For a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity, Lord Ob'elisk watched them.
Then… he spoke.
"Which one among you killed that offspring of mine?"
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
Well… I suppose the climax is reaching us very closely. Where do you posit that the Otherworlders will go from here?