While the kid continued walking toward the fort leaving the forest behind him, things back in the forest were not as simple. One human and one fox stood dumbfounded, staring at the majestic creature in front of them.
Roar! A wyvern let out a loud, earth-shattering bellow, myriad emotions contained in that single cry of disbelief. His slit-like eyes simmered in unwillingness as he tried to come to terms with his new reality.
He should have become a mighty creature revered by many given one or two decades, but now it was reduced to a mere sordid creature that was neither living nor dead.
No! He cannot accept this. He roared again and again, repeatedly, trying to break free from the shackles that bound him. He was a creature blessed by nature. Surely, he can overcome this little trickery.
However, after some time, he could see the pointlessness of his efforts. Yet he couldn't help but remain unwilling.
"It's not just you. Everyone has some chains tying them down." Liam calmly muttered.
He knew what to do to help this wyvern attain some peace. He took out his Black Dragon sword and stabbed it into the ground.
The wyvern's eyes instantly shook. His entire body trembled. Earlier, he couldn't sense it properly, but now he did. All the souls of the dragons inside that sword…
Gulp. He took a step away from the sword in fear. He then looked up at Liam in reverence.
Of course, Liam had nothing to do with capturing all the black dragon souls into the sword, but he did not feel the need to explain such trivial information to his newest soul minion.
Instead, he decided to go with something else. "If you follow me, you will not regret it."
Standing next to him, the fox looked at Liam with twinkling eyes. So cool! Her master was so cool!
Kyu! Luna, as well, nodded with her nose up in the air. "If you follow my master, you won't regret it."
And thus, the brainwashing was successfully completed. The wyvern's expression changed from awe to worship as he bowed before Liam and acknowledged him as master.
A few feet behind them, Gorak and Gu Donghai were fuming inwardly. How come they never got this treatment? Life was really not fair!
Of course, the wyvern never had a chance to begin with. Liam was the one who forged his soul, so he was bound to him. But since he was dealing with a prideful creature like the wyvern, he decided to give him some respect and make it look like the beast also had a say in the matter.
"Alright, now that we are done with this…" Liam's gaze shifted to the direction in which the kid had disappeared. He had not quite forgotten about him.
Kyu! Luna also snarled in anger. The wyvern, unaware that these two were angry over who killed him in the first place, also joined them and gave a loud growl.
Liam ignored the duo and first thought about things calmly. At worst, he had lost a few experience points and probably some valuable materials that could have been dropped. This was not worth pursuing at the moment.
Rather, he looked at the wyvern and pulled out his stats.
<Ding>
Name: Wyvern 1
Type: Undead
Level: 67
Health: 1,000,000
Mana: 500,000
Skills:
Meteorite Smash; Earthquake; Sandstorm; Spike Cage; Spike Storm
"Yup." His decision was correct. The stats of a draconian beast were truly impressive. It looked like the beast had lost some of its strength and power when it died but it was still sufficiently overpowered.
What he needed most at the moment was more soul minions like this. Besides, if the person who stole from him was here, then they were bound to cross paths again. It was not worth wasting time on a random goose chase.
"Get ready, guys. Time to lure some more wyverns."
He dismissed everyone, and now only Luna and he were left behind. "You know what to do." He looked at Luna and nodded. The fox grinned, stepping forward.
She cautiously took a few steps, looking to her left and right every second. However, something was different this time. She had already covered a considerable distance, but nothing happened at all. No other wyverns came chasing after her.
She turned to look at Liam in puzzlement, who was equally confused. Was that it? Was only one wyvern guarding this mysterious fort? That sounded a bit unbelievable.
The map did not give him any other details and he also did not have any other information aout this place. However, now he had someone to whom he could actually ask these things.
With a smile, he quickly summoned the wyvern back.
"Tell me. What is this place?"
Growl? The wyvern cocked his head to the side and looked back at Liam.
"Hmmm? Did I not ask the question properly?" Liam decided to try again. "Are you guarding something? What is inside that fort? Treasures?"
Now, the wyvern responded. His slit-like eyes widened ever so slightly as he nodded with his big head. "It's a prison, Master. I guard the prison."
"What?" Liam was shocked, though he had a feeling right from the beginning that this treasure map was too good to be true.
And when the ravens showed up one after the other, forcing him to come here, everything became clearer. He assumed that the treasure map was probably bait to lure him here. However, he did not think that this would be an actual prison.
"Who is inside this prison?"
The wyvern shook his head. That he did not know. His duty was to only guard the fort.
"Hmmm… How many beasts are guarding the fort? How strong are they?"
"My brothers and sisters are guarding the fort. They are all not as strong as me."
"Huh?" Liam found this difficult to believe. "Really?"
The wyvern looked a little embarrassed as it added, "They are slightly stronger than me. There are twelve of us."
"Slightly stronger, huh?" He nodded with a chuckle. "Then why aren't they coming out?" Technically, at least one more should have popped out when Luna stepped on the scorched land.
"Master, I also don't know. Since I was defeated, all of my brothers and sisters should have come forward to defend the prison."
Liam looked at the fox, who was now happily running around here and there on the scorched land without any care in the world. "Perhaps they are already involved in a conflict?" He wondered.
The wyvern gasped but quickly agreed with him. "Yes, master. Maybe my brothers and sisters are currently fighting with a foe."
Once they came to this conclusion, Liam did not have to think twice about who this foe could be. "Let's go." He took the wyvern along with him as he called Luna back.
It looked like it was time to pay a visit to the sneaky little thief after all. Who was this person who stole his kill and what was he doing here? All the answers lay ahead at the fort in front of them.
