Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Sane’s Sea of Consciousness

"What happened?"

Collins, under Theron’s protection, stepped closer to Zale. By now they were a considerable distance from the grassland. Zale placed a hand over his left chest in salute to Collins before answering:

"Just now the vegetation on the grassland suddenly withered, and the pressure coming from Kaelen and Sane was enormous. I’ve already evacuated everyone in time."

Collins gripped his staff and looked toward the grassland. The grassland was vast, yet he could clearly see the enormous vine cage in the middle. He then raised his head to the sky. The swirling vortex looked as though it was about to pour down a colossal waterfall; the pressure it emitted could not be underestimated.

Collins’s face was filled with worry. He said in a low voice, "This distance probably isn’t safe enough. Even the tribe might be affected. Zale, take the team leaders and evacuate all the clansmen to the new valley. Temporarily house them in the completed houses."

Zale bowed his head to accept the order, then added, "What about the newcomers..."

"Take them along as well. Pass my words to Barton. That boy will know what to do."

"Understood." Zale immediately issued the commands. All the clansmen quickly pulled down their tents and helped one another toward the new valley—a place they had never been allowed to set foot in before.

Although everyone was curious about the strange architecture, the worry in their hearts left no room for anything else. The formation in the sky somewhat resembled the awakening of Divine Energy, but it was far more powerful. If normally it was like a heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, right now it was a great flood about to pour down.

Those who had been present when the anomaly occurred received Zale’s orders and said not a single word about what had happened. The brick houses were very spacious, designed like row villas with two bedrooms on the ground floor and three upstairs. They hadn’t had time to furnish them, but it was more than enough. Fifty people per house, thick animal hides spread on the floor, doors closed, people lying scattered about.

"It’s really warm." A young beastman couldn’t help but exclaim, then, seeing that none of the adults responded, sensibly shut his mouth. That night, aside from the carefree children, not a single adult in the tribe could sleep.

The spiraling vortex lasted until the third day before wind began to rise. The wind blew for half a day, then thick lightning bolts as large as a sturdy beastman’s calf struck down one after another, accompanied by earth-shaking thunder. The lightning bolts fell like rain, covering the entire vast grassland.

The electric shockwaves spread outward, reaching the surrounding forests and half of the valley. Fortunately, everyone had already been relocated; the electric waves did not reach the reclamation or mining areas.

A beastman warrior tried in vain to smooth down his hair that stood on end from the electric waves. He sighed, "Already ugly, and now even uglier. When will I ever find a mate like this?"

Another beastman with a blade of grass in his mouth said, "I can still smell the stench of burnt meat in the air. You only got your hair standing up—you’re still lucky."

In the entire tribe, the happiest person was probably only Theron. His Divine Energy happened to resonate with the lightning. Although he couldn’t step into the range of the lightning rain, just standing in the area affected by the electric waves had allowed him to break through a level. He was now a second-rank Divine Energy warrior.

It was a pity that using electric waves to temper Divine Energy only worked once. Even if he later mustered the courage to get closer to the lightning rain, it wouldn’t have much effect.

—

...The border area between Obsidian and Crimson. Nordhal pulled his hand out from the body of a beastman he had impaled, looking at the corpses piled around him with no expression on his face. Among the enemy beastmen, he recognized many familiar faces. They were all traitors, and Nordhal showed no mercy.

This was only the first wave of attacks. There would definitely be a second, third, and more. Nordhal and the Crimson beastmen had sworn an oath: they would not let these people approach Crimson even one step, nor would they allow a single one to return alive.

Nordhal looked toward the sky above the tribe, his heart sinking. With such a huge commotion, the ones attracted here would probably not be limited to just Cipher.

—

Divine Temple, center of the Beast City.

The old sub-beast kept vomiting fresh blood. His bones had been twisted into a grotesque shape. He stared in disbelief at the ceiling, muttering,

"No... no... You can’t... You can’t do this... to me... I am... your most loyal... servant..."

In the air there seemed to be mad laughter, followed by a soft sigh. The Temple Master’s body was pressed down by an enormous invisible hand, turning into a pile of bloody pulp. The stone floor beneath cracked with tiny fissures. Rough roots emerged from the cracks and slithered through the blood and flesh like earthworms.

In no time, the bloody mess on the stone floor disappeared without a trace. The floor was spotlessly clean, as if it had just been washed. The flowers at the base of the god statue bloomed vibrantly, releasing a rich fragrance that mingled with the lingering smell of blood in the air. The fully bloomed flowers gradually fell, floating into the air and gathering together above the altar.

The flowers spun and vanished. The old Temple Master who had just been smashed into pulp reappeared in the center of the altar, without a single wound on his body. His tightly closed eyes slowly opened, red-black light flickering in their depths. The old Temple Master bared his white teeth in a mad grin. His laughter sounded like sandpaper scraping together, making one’s hair stand on end.

"Demigod bloodline... Demigod bloodline... A thousand years... a full thousand years... Only now have I smelled something so sweet again... Hehe... hehe..."

—

Kaelen knew nothing of what was happening outside. Right now he was in an extremely strange place. It looked like a forest, but instead of trees it was filled with jagged, sharp rocks. Kaelen didn’t know how long he had been wandering here; he only knew he still couldn’t find the end of this stone forest. He had tried climbing high to look around, but all he saw was endless stone. He had also tried urging his ability, but there was no response at all.

Kaelen could only continue walking forward. Fortunately, he didn’t feel tired, hungry, or thirsty, nor did he feel sleepy. But walking like this forever wasn’t a solution.

Kaelen stopped, leaned his back against a rock wall, and closed his eyes to think. This place was like a maze. No—it was more like a formation, trapping people inside. If he couldn’t find the eye of the formation, he would never be able to escape. Let’s see... the eye of the formation was usually different from everything else. He only needed to find what was different in this stone forest.

Kaelen immediately climbed up again and focused on finding the difference among the sharp black rocks. After a long time, he finally spotted it. Amidst the endless black stones there was one red-black rock. Its color was so dark that he had unconsciously passed over it multiple times without noticing.

Memorizing the direction, Kaelen climbed down and continued moving. Whenever he was unsure if he was going the right way, he would climb up again to confirm. After repeating this several times, he finally reached the distinctive red-black rock.

The moment his hand touched the rock, it emitted a blinding red light that shot straight into Kaelen’s eyes. He had to raise his hand to shield them. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a very unfamiliar place. The grass and trees were very tall, and the people around him were also very large.

Kaelen was somewhat stunned and wanted to retreat. But his body didn’t obey him and continued moving forward. His way of moving was also very strange—swaying left and right, sometimes burrowing into grass, sometimes slipping through cracks in rocks. It didn’t seem like walking... but slithering?

Slithering... Was he a snake? Had he turned into a snake?!

At the thought, Kaelen’s entire body broke out in goosebumps. He struggled to get out, but couldn’t.

’He’ paused for a moment, flicked his forked tongue to taste the air, then slithered in another direction and slipped into a leather tent. ’He’ carefully hid at the edge of the tent, looked around, and locked his gaze on a beautiful sub-beast.

It was a sub-beast from the Lion clan. He was focused on sharpening a small bone knife.

Kaelen immediately felt a wave of joy rising within him. It definitely wasn’t his own emotion—it belonged to this snake.

"Papa!"

He heard a childish voice come from his own mouth. Kaelen’s heart trembled. Snake, Lion clan sub-beast, Papa...

This snake was Sane!

His soul had attached itself to Sane—or rather, to Sane in the past. He had entered Sane’s sea of consciousness and was experiencing the hidden memories within. At that moment, he heard the sub-beast speak:

"Sane? How did you get here?" The voice was very gentle, just like a kind and proper Papa. Only Kaelen knew how much disgust was hidden beneath that gentleness.

[No, Sane! Run away! Don’t trust him!]

Unfortunately, this was only Sane’s past. No matter what Kaelen said, Sane couldn’t hear him. He only heard the little snake say cheerfully:

"I snuck out to find you, Papa. Papa, the Lion beastman said you belong to them, but I didn’t believe it! Papa, they captured you and brought you here, right? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely rescue you."

The sub-beast set down the bone knife and smiled gently, extending a hand. The little snake happily slithered onto the sub-beast’s hand, rubbing its small head against his arm. The sub-beast smiled and said,

"Good child. The journey must have been hard, right? Look how dirty you are. Papa will take you to bathe and eat something first, alright?"

[No, Sane! Don’t go with him! Don’t!!!]

The sub-beast stood up. A wave of dizziness hit Kaelen. When he regained consciousness, he was in an extremely dark place, his whole body aching. As soon as he moved, a bone-piercing pain came from below his body. Kaelen’s face went pale. He struggled to open his eyes and look down.

The little snake’s tail had been nailed to the wooden floor with a bone spike. Then ’his’ head was grabbed and squeezed tightly. The little snake let out a pained hiss.

The sub-beast in front of him still wore an extremely kind smile, but there was no smile in his eyes. He opened his mouth, still using that gentle voice, but the words that came out were vicious:

"I was going to spare you, but you just had to come looking for death. Do you know, your father disgusts me so much I can’t stand it. If it weren’t for Cipher’s grand plan, I would never have lived with you filthy, lowly snakes!"

He raised his right hand. The cold white of the bone knife stabbed deep into Kaelen’s eye, filling him with terror. The little snake was also terrified. Ignoring the pain in his tail, he struggled desperately to escape. The sub-beast laughed:

"Good son, be good. It won’t hurt. It’ll be over in a moment. Papa promises."

As soon as he finished speaking, the knife tip plunged down, slicing a line across the snake’s body. Kaelen felt pain to the bone and struggled with all his might. His neck was squeezed so tightly by the sub-beast that he couldn’t breathe. The sub-beast pulled the knife out and cut again. Kaelen was in so much pain he felt numb.

Then the sub-beast set the knife down, grinned, and lightly flicked out his claws. He grabbed the edges of the snake’s skin and yanked hard...

Aaaaa——!!!

Kaelen screamed. At the same time, an external force flung him out. He rolled across the ground. His body was drenched in sweat, and his eyes stung from tears. Through the hazy mist, he vaguely saw his own hands.

He wiped his eyes and jerked his head up. The sub-beast had already peeled down to the last layer of skin near the snake’s tail. The little snake had already fainted from the pain.

"Let go..."

Kaelen heard his own voice—the voice he had never heard once in the past nineteen years.

"LET HIM GO! YOU BASTARD!"