Chapter 250: Once Upon A Time…
I let out a long, tired breath. This situation was turning into something way bigger than I ever wanted to be part of.
All I had hoped for was to find a way to escape, maybe help Ana and Steve recover—but now it felt like we were getting pulled into something completely out of our depth.
Luck clearly wasn’t on my side today.
Lily’s huge brown eyes stayed fixed on me. There was no hostility in her gaze, but it was heavy. Like she was trying to look straight through my soul and weigh every word I had said.
After a moment of silence, I finally spoke up.
“So… how is Dahlia connected to the Deathmist?”
I tried to keep my tone calm and curious but internally I was fuming and just wanted to smash some stuff.
But before Lily could respond, the entire hall shook beneath us.
“What in the world…?” I muttered, looking around.
Lily didn’t answer. She simply hummed, a low thoughtful sound, and two beams of light shot from her glowing eyes straight at the ceiling. A second later, the wooden roof above us shimmered—then vanished completely.
We could suddenly see the sky.
And what we saw was chaos.
The Deathmist was rising like a tidal wave of shadow, twisting and roaring as it surged upward like a furious demon. The black smoke pulsed with power, and within it, I spotted a lone figure floating high above the ground.
Grandmaster Hugh.
He looked tiny against the storm, but he stood firm in the air. Then, out of the swirling Deathmist, a massive black hand formed—easily the size of a mountain—and lunged toward him.
I saw Hugh shout something, but we couldn’t hear it from inside the hall. In response, he raised his arm and a swirling green tornado burst forth, slamming into the incoming hand.
The two forces collided with a deafening silence, and the shockwave from the impact made the entire hall tremble again.
Lily suddenly let out a soft chuckle and said, “He’s an idiot.”
I blinked and leaned forward, curious. “Why do you say that?”
She didn’t look away from the sky as she replied, “Because you should never hold back when fighting Deathmist.
It’s the opposite of everything living… and the opposite of Essence. If you let it feed on either, it grows stronger. That’s the first and most important rule—either you give it everything you’ve got in a fight, or you run as fast and far as you can.”
I took a moment to process what she said. Strangely, it made perfect sense. Something that devours life and energy couldn’t be treated like a normal enemy. You had to burn it all down—or flee.
Above us, Hugh pulled back in the sky, scanning the area like a hawk. My gut told me exactly what he was doing.
‘He’s looking for us.’
He probably suspected that someone had caused the surge. Either way, the moment between his retreat and next attack stretched on… until, unexpectedly, he just turned and flew away.
Lily chuckled again.
“Well, maybe he’s not so stupid after all.”
The roof above us shimmered back into existence like nothing had happened. The hall returned to its calm, wooden self. Then Lily turned her huge head toward me and asked in a gentle voice,
“Tell me, child—how did you even get here if the Deathmist outside is that strong?”
I shrugged casually. “Unlike him, I’m not an idiot. I ran. Fast.”
Lily blinked her glowing brown eyes, and there was the faintest smile in her tone when she said, “If you say so.”
But her question lingered in my mind.
If even someone like Hugh—someone at the peak of the Grandmaster level—was struggling against the Deathmist… what chance did we have?
I turned to Lily, more serious now.
“Lily… is there any hope? I mean, we’re just kids compared to that guy. And to escape this realm, we’ll have to fight him. Is there a way to deal with the Deathmist at all?”
Her answer stunned me.
“I can send you outside the realm. You don’t have to fight him.”
My breath caught. I hadn’t expected that at all. All this time, I thought she was trapped like the rest of us. I blinked, surprised.
“Wait… seriously? You can do that? Then why are you still here? Why haven’t you left?”
Lily replied simply, “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She turned her head slightly and said, “That’s a secret.”
I stared at her, unsure if she was messing with me or being sincere.
Before I could speak again, she asked, “So… would you like to escape?”
I shook my head without hesitation.
“No. We have friends in that man’s hands. We can’t leave them behind. But… if you can open a portal to the outside world, maybe we can contact someone. Ask for help?”
It was a stretch, but I asked anyway.
Lily didn’t hesitate. “I can’t do that.”
I let out a long sigh. So much for that plan. I’d hoped we could contact the Empire.
Then Lily continued, her tone shifting just slightly. “Anyway, from what I can see… if you really want to fight that human, you’ll need some serious help. And you want Dahlia’s help, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“She’s not a guardian,” Lily said, “but she can stand against someone like him. Still, you won’t be able to wake her up unless you first weaken the Deathmist—at least a little.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And how do we do that?”
Lily gave a soft laugh, deep and ancient.
“To do that… you’ll have to understand the story of this realm. Only then will you learn how to fight the Deathmist.”
Lily slithered toward the center of the hall, her expression calmer now, almost solemn. Her voice carried a different weight, like she was about to speak of something sacred.
“This realm,” she began softly, “wasn’t always like this. Long ago, it was a gift—a beautiful gift—given by someone truly powerful to a young Naga woman named Azalea Nag.”
Steve and Ana sat beside me to listen to the story.
“She was unlike anyone else of her time,” Lily continued. “Fierce, brilliant, hungry. Azalea burned with purpose. Her dream wasn’t just to be strong—she wanted to reach the Prime Galaxy. To rise beyond Grandmasters and enter the realms where only legends walk.”
Lily smiled faintly, lost in memory. “She used this realm to train. Day and night, she fought Abominations and Phantoms. She studied, she experimented. With her legendary class and powerful skills, she grew at a pace no one had seen before.”
The more I heard, the more I felt an odd respect growing. Azalea sounded like the kind of person I would’ve wanted to meet. Or fight.
“She wasn’t just strong,” Lily added. “She became the strongest of her generation. The fiercest. Other young Naga looked up to her. Some came here just to catch a glimpse of her. Others begged for advice, a sparring session, or even just one word.”
Lily’s gaze flicked to the high dome overhead.
“You’ve seen the giant statue in the realm?”
I nodded slowly.
“That was built by her admirers. Not by force. Not by command. Just pure reverence. They saw her as something more than a warrior. She was proof that one of them could rise so high, so fast.”
For a moment, the hall felt like it held her presence. Her footsteps. Her ambition.
But I could tell from Lily’s tone that this story wasn’t going to stay uplifting for long.
15 chapter mass release on 1st June.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!