abcnovels
Chapter 241
Chapter 241
241 The Lonely Devil (2)
(Jane’s PoV)
I stood a step behind Sanji, looking up towards the tallest tree around us. The thick canopy of the leaves made it almost impossible to see the sun light. The only light came from the surrounding trees which barely enough to really light up the whole area. However, it didn’t hinder me from seeing the big creature sitting on top of a big branch of the tree.
The creature looked terrifying, with intimidating glare from its red eyes, ugly face, and sharp teeth. It really looked like a monster. It was big, but as seconds passed by, I noticed that it grew even bigger. It stopped growing after it almost took five times of normal human’s body. Its long legs were dangling freely from the branch it was sitting on as its huge body was looking down at us.
“Greetings, Elder.” Sanji greeted the creature in a not so casual but not too polite way either. I followed his lead and greeted it.
“Human, what is your purpose for coming here?” The creature spoke but I couldn’t see its mouth moving. However, that raspy voice undeniably came from it.
“Elder, I want to confirm something from you. As the one who is in control of the whole mountain, you must know more than the others. What is happening here?” Sanji asked in serious tone.
“...” The creature was silent for a while, as if pondering of what it should say to us.
“Elder, we need to know what’s happening here before we can do anything to fix it.” I coaxed him further.
“Another human has come before and asked the same thing. But, he couldn’t do anything to the portal.”
.....
Another human? It must be the Third Master. But, he couldn’t do anything to the portal? How could it be? He was a Master of Mystical Army; he must have possessed some kind of power to at least seal the portal for a while. But, this creature said that he couldn’t do anything?
“Do you know who that person was?” I asked carefully. Third Elder lived around here so this creature must have known about him.
“I heard them call him Master. He must be the Master of Merapi Army that I heard before. It’s been a long time since the last time Merapi Army appeared.” The creature pondered for a while, as if it lost in its own memories about Merapi Army. “But, they have changed. They are not as fiery as they used to be.” It shook its head as its voice reflected the pity it felt.
The last time Merapi Army appeared...
Well, Merapi Army was the only army that would change name every time they changed Master. The previous name of the army was Saint Helens Army, taken from an active volcano in Washington. Its base would also change according to the name, no, the name changed following where the base appeared. It wouldn’t be surprising if the name was used twice or even more. As far as I know, the name “Merapi Army” had been used twice so far and the first one happened a long time ago.
This time, the Master of Merapi Army came from Philippine, but he must bear the name of Merapi Army because the base appeared here and not in Philippine.
Actually, not one of the Masters from Merapi Army came from Indonesia since the only Masters came from Indonesia were just in Cloud Army and White Army.
Ah, those were not the point right now. I shook my head to dispel the unnecessary thought and focus on what was happening in front of me.
“They changed?” I arched my eyebrows. Not as fiery as they used to be, it said. Did they look not so formidable now? It didn’t seem so in my eyes during our meeting.
“Looked strong, but as weak as chickens. Truly disappointing.” The creature shook its head again. “The portal is so strange and full of evil. Are you sure you want to investigate it? Even that human didn’t dare to get close to it. We all here chose to stay away from it since it only brings wicked and harmful things even to us.”
“Well, we are here for that reason. Do you mind to show us which direction it is?” Sanji asked politely.
The creature lifted its big and hairy arm and pointed at one point. “Go deeper and you’ll see it. Since you both are not ordinary people, it will be easier for you to spot it. But, I must warn you, don’t step into that portal. Whatever it is beyond that door, it must be different from us. I don’t want to see you waste your lives there.”
“Thank you for the guidance, Elder. We shall take our leave.”
After getting the correct direction from the creature, both Sanji and I excused ourselves after thanking it. It might look terrifying, but its aura felt warm and positive. The way it showed its concern to our action warmed my heart and I repeatedly told myself inwardly to not judge the book by its cover.
This time, Sanji and I stopped fooling around and focused on our mission. We walked deeper into the forest while paying attention to our surrounding. The negative aura felt denser and stronger.
We were getting closer!
We stopped only after we started seeing ghosts and shadows floating around in a weird pattern. It was like they were circling something. There were lots of them that the surrounding trees weren’t looked so clear. I even heard their disturbing and ghostly moaning and shrieks. Any kinds of ghosts and shadows were there in front of me.
The fact that they only gathered in one place disturbed me. Why should they do that?
Sanji and I hid from a far, making sure that we couldn’t be seen by any of them. I even squinted my eyes to see what’s in the middle of their crowd. There should be a portal there, right? How couldn’t I see anything? Did they hide it? Or, was it indeed difficult to see through this mass of ghosts and shadows?
I exchanged glances with Sanji and I guessed we thought the same. Lay low and watch for a while! Don’t do anything until we are sure what we are facing with.
I had no idea how long we had waited or how I could stay there unmoved for that long without feeling itchy.
Right before I could think to plan for an ambush, something happened towards those ghosts. Their wailing got even worse that my body couldn’t help but shiver lightly. Also, the ghosts and shadows’ movement looked agitated. What could possibly provoke them?