Another seven days passed slowly within the desert city. On the morning of that day, Ruri finally opened her eyes gently. Alm and Bruno closely observed her condition; she had finally awakened after so long, but there was no sign of the natural energy she always radiated.
She sat up gently, looking like she hadn’t slept much, yawning. Soon, she clung to the whale again as if wanting to go back to sleep.
"Hey, you haven’t had a bad night’s sleep. You’ve been like this for three weeks," they said softly, and her eyes seemed to jump in surprise.
"Hmm... master, I had a strange dream... but it felt very real... Not only that, but I kept seeing this dream many times to the point I remember every detail..." she murmured a bit weakly. "I saw myself in a strange place where countless humans passed by me, all wearing strange clothes. Then, I looked up at the sky and saw a metallic hawk cutting through the firmament with its metal wings. As I walked through this strange place, I found tall and thin structures that rose towards the sky, touching the clouds. These were towers with transparent windows and metal. At night, these bright and shiny windows illuminated everything, creating a magical landscape."
The whale narrowed its eyes, a bit astonished. Bruno then muttered mentally, ’She... after being connected with our soul for so long, managed to see some of our memories from Earth...’
Ruri hugged the whale tightly and murmured, closing her eyes. "I don’t know why, but I felt endless anguish. And a desire to escape, as if some demon were turning my life into an endless hell."
Alm and Bruno sighed. Every second of their lives on Earth was immersed in that feeling, and even that was transmitted. At least it was just a quick glimpse, they thought. Now that she had awakened, she wouldn’t stay connected for so long, and it shouldn’t happen again.
Ruri slept practically all day, staying awake for a few hours. The whale had to accompany her if he wanted her to recover faster. After another week, she could finally stay awake for longer. So, they decided to go out.
As they walked through the city, everyone turned towards the whale, smiling and bowing. Alm sighed mentally, and then Ruri, clinging to their shoulders, commented with a bit of excitement. "They seem to be bowing with much more energy and admiration, master."
Bruno, feeling a slight spark return in Ruri, spoke. "You don’t need to hide anything anymore. It would be good to gather everyone who built that temple and ask them to do something much bigger in the center of the city."
"Can I really?! I’ll do that." Ruri immediately jumped off the whale’s shoulders. "Can I build a giant statue in the center of the city? So big that even those outside the city will be shocked."
Alm and Bruno, watching the excitement return in Ruri, just nodded without complaining. She smiled, gathered energy from somewhere, and ran to some part of the city. The whale just turned with another sigh; they agreed to do this, so they couldn’t back out now. Soon, they focused on a nearby location and walked.
It was a residential building, and inside, they felt a frenzied soul fluctuation. As they approached a bit, they sensed an evil Yin flowing smoothly; soon, Alm waved, speaking satisfied.
’Almin killed that old man and didn’t forget to trap his soul in some evil object. Now the girls are having fun making him pay slowly, good boy.’
Bruno sighed and pretended not to have seen that. Those women suffered a lot at the hands of that old man, and at least this way, he could pay a bit of his karma. Almin wouldn’t let them destroy his soul; after some time, when they are satisfied, he will be released.
They turned around and threatened to go in the direction Ruri went, but at that moment, they felt a bloody fluctuation outside the city. So, they moved towards the entrance, and after a few seconds, the fifteen women ran to the entrance after sensing the same.
When they saw the whale, they stopped in their tracks and, after bowing, stood behind them quietly.
’Looks like they are the most loyal worshippers.’ Bruno commented, enjoying Alm’s irritation.
As they approached the gates, they clearly sensed the source of the disturbance, and with a motion, the gates swung open completely. Thus, all the women behind saw a gigantic figure completely torn apart.
"You idiot. You were just supposed to block them once, and then you were free." The whale spoke, looking seriously at the bull-headed beast lying near the gates.
There was no intact part of its body. Its bones were exposed through countless wounds, its two horns were now nonexistent, and even one of its arms was missing. It clearly fought and struggled with all its might without giving up.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
Despite being down, the beast’s head moved in their direction, and its eyes focused on the whale. "Come in, here you can recover. From today, you are a free beast, and you owe nothing to anyone. After recovering, go on your way." The whale spoke and turned away.
The women swallowed hard. That beast, which almost killed them several times and prevented anyone from the city from venturing into the world... it was protecting the city? But the whale’s words were absolute, and after a few seconds, they rushed to help the beast enter the city.
Three days later, a massive structure made of earth was erected, with the help of Ruri and Almin using the laws of the earth. It still lacked a form and was being gradually shaped by the dwarves. But at that moment, in a distant place, a humanoid beast with a bull’s head was sitting on the grass, looking seriously at that monument.
He was embraced by everyone and received a mountain of high-level pills, greatly accelerating his recovery. On that day, the whale went to meet him after leaving Ruri in the center, near the dwarves shaping the statue. Ruri was the consultant, providing every possible detail to make it as faithful as it could be... round and... round... and even rounder...
As the whale approached the beast, it asked and listened to everything that happened outside during that month. Things unfolded in a strange but more or less expected way.
After Ruri attacked with all her hero power, a gigantic sandstorm covered the entire desert. But after the whale used its final blow, the seismic shock from the laws of the earth was tremendous to the point where the storm became something surreal. Everything around the desert was a deadly battlefield, and there was no safe place; only the patriarchs could move freely, and even then, with sensory limitations.
This was extremely beneficial for them. The patriarchs were evil cultivators, and the only thing that mattered to them was strength, no matter the method of obtaining it. They saw, with their own eyes, a newly arrived disciple kill a patriarch, which should be impossible. Added to the fact that everyone knew the whale provided all those impossible weapons and that bone club that could shake the world. Were they going to let him go free? Never.
Alm and Bruno created a massive problem after attracting so much attention. The two patriarchs, no, all three sects, and all evil cultivators wanted to capture them and take everything from them. The black elf once thought the whale would be the future of evil cultivators and thus protected and tried to make it grow. But now everything has changed. Why should he wait for the future? They could have everything now, and he would be the protagonist. Just grab the sacred golden whale.
So, right after that beast drove the patriarchs away, they regrouped and returned along with all the high elders of their sects. A new patriarch emerged after the previous one was killed, and everyone seemed to unite in the search for the whale. How did they know their location? Alm and Bruno knew well, the symbol of the evil god that all evil cultivators possessed was a wandering locator. The patriarchs could locate them no matter where on the planet they were.
This sandstorm was their greatest enemy; it disoriented them and made them have to dodge or flee from more intense regions, delaying the evil cultivators from getting close to the city. This, combined with the bull-headed beast, which fought them dozens of times and kept them at bay, bought quite a bit of time. But it was coming to an end.