Chapter 127: White cave
Chapter 127: White cave
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Otis couldn't understand why his father still sat on his hands. Why isn't he livid?! Doesn't he want to explode and blame everyone involved in that party?
"But—"
Before Otis could say anything further, he suddenly saw his father disappear from his seat and reappear right in front of him.
"I'm not going to repeat myself. Leave them alone. It is not their fault that the Pseudo Canzers malfunctioned. It's Obek's fault. I warned him not to do anything foolish, and he went behind my back and disobeyed my direct orders. Losing his SoulTime is a deserving punishment.
If you want to blame someone, blame the Quills. Their inability to solve this endemic of disasters is a testament to their uselessness."
Even though Otis was at the 8th stage of the Student realm, he felt his breath leave his body as Obyron exerted his power outwards.
As much as he wanted to protest, his father was too strong for him to defy.
"Do I make myself clear?"
Otis felt his own head forcefully nod. Even his instincts were telling him that standing up to Obyron was a foolish decision.
"Yes…father."
"Good. Now leave. I have things to do."
Otis was forced out of the room gritting his teeth. Even though he was going to inherit the mantle of patriarch in the future, his father never acted like he wanted to give the reins to him. He was treated like an outsider.
If I can't put those traitors back in their place, they'll think that the Orioness name is just for show.
But as much as he wanted to do it himself, he knew that his father had surveillance on him at all times.
That doesn't mean that I can't ask someone else to do it for me…
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Somewhere, there was a place that was full of white space. The ground, the ceiling, the walls—everything was bleached with a snowy white tint.
Stalagmites grew from the ground and pierced through to the top. There were also stalactites from up the ceiling and pointed down their spikes to the bottom.
The sound of water dripping echoed through the walls.
If not for the color of the environment, this place would have an eerie similarity to caves and underground chambers back on Earth.
Footsteps and hoofbeats reverberated through the floor as tens of horse Pseudo Canzers strutted through the white cave.
And on the very front of the small horde, there was a group of four Gorilla-Horse Pseudo Canzers that were carrying something covered by a black cloth on their shoulders. Their steps were measured and careful as if they were afraid of stepping on something that would offend the owner of the cave.
They continued to walk forward until they saw a large stalagmite with a base as large as the floor and pierced through the top and onto the ceiling.
Strangely enough, there were steps carved onto the base that led up to a throne filled with spikes of stalagmites.
Sitting on this throne was a figure shrouded in a white light. The Pseudo Canzers felt that they would turn blind if they looked directly at the figure above them.
The four Gorilla-Horse centaurs slowly approached the steps of the throne and let down the object covered in black cloth as an offering to the figure above.
They slowly backed away with their heads bowed down in reverence. Then, they waited.
Suddenly, they felt the whole place tremble as the figure on the throne finally got up from its seat and walked down the steps.
With each stride, the Pseudo Canzers felt as if their entire bodies trembled. They felt the invisible pressure coming off the figure's body as it got closer to them. They backed out even further to give it space.
And on the final step, the figure stopped and looked down at the 'present' it was given.
It raised its hands in the air and magically, the black cloth floated away from the object below.
It was only then that the figure finally saw the gift that it was given.
Laying down on the white, stony, floor of the cave was the body of Obek Orioness.
And even though it was faint, his heart was still beating! He slowly opened his eyes as it slowly adjusted to the white environment around him.
Where am I, he thought groggily.
He couldn't remember anything. Everything felt like it was a fever dream.
Flashes and images of his memory started to resurface. It was the image of him running at full speed.
But why?
It was only then that the images of the horde of Pseudo Canzers finally came to him. He remembered losing strength as the monsters slowly caught up to him. He was helpless as the stampede of horse centaurs pounded his head to the ground until he lost consciousness.
After that, he woke up here in this strange white place.
He looked down at his SoulTime and saw that he had less than half an hour left to live! He had to get out. He used what's left of his strength to try and crawl out.
But just then, he felt a suffocating pressure on his entire body. It squeezed his chest till more of his ribs broke, halving his SoulTime immediately. He vomited blood.
Amidst the ringing in his ears, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him. He thought it was another person, but his eyes widened when he saw chitinous spikes growing out of its chest and shoulders.
This was no human. This was a Canzer.
Panic overridded his brain. It let him ignore all the pain in his body as he tried to run away from this monster as far away as he could.
But he couldn't get far.
The bipedal Canzer suddenly appeared in front of the crawling Obek and pierced its hand on his chest. And without missing a beat, it ripped the heart out of his body.
The Canzer looked at the bloody heart in its hands and couldn't help but express its happiness and excitement.
"(#&!^$%@"
Its wings unfolded behind and fluttered into a familiar pattern.
DUM…DUM DUM…DUM…