Duality of Shadows

Alm and Bruno thought quickly. This time the situation was complicated. Many people had seen him and his group, and the hero would surely come personally to investigate everything that happened. The idiots from the two races who chose to stay, along with everyone from the city, would have their memories searched. From now on, they could no longer pretend to be anonymous.

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The whale turned to the four kings and made a gesture, preventing their souls from being taken. He stared at them, speaking seriously:

"You all, in the end, contributed to me saving my group. I don’t want to have any debts before you leave."

The four listened, and the Immortal Crane King, almost powerless, replied:

"Our races... they were the ones who helped... Retribute them, don’t let them be destroyed by the hero."

"My situation is already complicated enough," the whale replied with a sigh. "The only chance to help them is if you give up your nation and come with me."

The four kings fell silent, unable to guarantee that. The whale noticed their hesitation and turned to Ruri and her group, who were approaching.

"Open the entrance, but don’t let them feel or see anything inside. We don’t have time to waste."

Ruri nodded and, with a thought, the entrance to the forest opened, creating a visual distortion that blocked any perception of the interior. Everyone who came to help waited anxiously; upon seeing the distortion and the opening, they fell silent until a powerful voice echoed:

"Divine beasts of the four nations, regardless of status or cultivation, I need you to enter and fight. I won’t deceive you: those who enter will be used as sacrifices, and even so, the chances of victory are almost zero."

Everyone listened and took a deep breath. When the hero arrived, they would already be condemned by what they did. But no one wanted to lose their life in a useless sacrifice. Dying was no longer a problem, but as long as they were alive, there was a chance to turn the tide. Now, he was asking them to simply burn everything?

"I won’t blame you if you choose to stay. But those who enter, if fate allows, have a chance of victory and for your races to survive. You won’t benefit, but those of your race will gain freedom and no longer be chained by the heroes. However, even with this victory, the nation will probably cease to exist as it is today."

A deathly silence hung among the beasts. Their nation was their greatest pride; it was even above their race for some.

"Well, you have only one minute to decide. If few people enter, defeat will be almost certain. I repeat: the chances of everyone dying are almost certain, regardless of the outcome. Think carefully and choose."

Five seconds later, all the Immortal Cranes exchanged glances and nodded. They had been one step from the end for a while, only delaying the inevitable. The current king spoke calmly:

"It’s better for the young to stay, in case…"

"Father, we will all die together. Didn’t you hear? The more people, the greater the chance, no matter the cultivation; no one here is a coward," the prince of the Immortal Cranes interrupted, and all the younger members of the royal family nodded.

The king snorted but was satisfied. He turned, and a silver ring flew from his finger, shooting to a distant place.

"King Kun Peng, take good care of the people of the nation. The Immortal Cranes have chosen to fight."

There was no response, but the ring disappeared into the void. Everyone understood that those beasts were watching and seeing everything that happened to report to the heroes later.

Among the Zaoris, the leader was a queen with a humanoid form. She looked at her people in silence. Their situation hadn’t been comfortable for a long time, but compared to the Immortal Cranes, they were relatively okay and could still sustain their nation for a few generations.

"Queen Zaori, just give the order," a determined voice spoke, and everyone around agreed.

The queen took a deep breath, lifted her chest, and declared: "All Zaoris fight only to secure a future. Life is a jungle, and choosing not to fight in it is the same as accepting being devoured by the predator. Trying to maintain our status won’t get us anywhere. Our future is to seek a new opportunity. The heavens have given us this chance; move forward and fight."

Everyone roared, excited. They didn’t need to think much; they clearly felt that the fate of their race depended on this choice. The queen merely encouraged what everyone already desired.

Without looking back, she pulled out a silver ring and threw it into the air. Thus, the two nations began to move. Before crossing, they saw the figure of a young Kun Peng leading a few hundred hybrids of his race. The young man looked at everyone, nodded, and then he and the few representatives of his race advanced and entered the forest, being the first.

Then, the entire royal family and the hybrids of the two races, about a million beasts, entered together.

Only the Celestial Jaguars remained. The current king snorted heavily. There were no reasons or guarantees for his race to choose this path; they were not inferior to the Kun Peng in terms of power and resources.

If they gave everything and cooperated with the heroes, they might survive their fury. But neither he nor his people stepped back from their place. No one said a word, but it was clear what everyone wanted.

"You don’t need a logical reason to act. We are divine beasts and trust our instincts above all, not like the humanoids who act only for gain and logic," the king said loudly, and everyone looked at him. "If you want to advance, I, as king, will agree with the decision. If you need a justification; and because we are hunting beasts, our most primal drive is to fight and explore. Living trapped in this cage we call a nation is boring."

Everyone sighed, and a frenzied aura permeated the eyes of those felines. Indeed, they hated living on that planet, trapped in a nation. They preferred to be free and explore the world without restraints, as in the distant past. But the heroes forced them to live this way currently.

The king of the Celestial Jaguars noticed the determined look from everyone around him and nodded. He pulled out a silver ring and, following the same ritual as the others, threw it to a distant place. The ring vanished, and he snorted before giving the order: "Let’s go." All the Celestial Jaguars moved in unison, crossing the entrance.

The whale had given them a minute to decide, but in less than thirty seconds, everyone had advanced, leaving no one behind.

Alm and Bruno had hoped that if 10% of them entered, it would be a lot. They even claimed everyone would die, but everyone entered with determination. However, this decision didn’t mean that with their deaths, their races would be over. The universe is vast, and in other galaxies, there are members of these races, though in smaller numbers and scattered.

Their motivation was to try to prevent the heroes from using their race again. Their spatial power was unique among beasts, and besides maintaining the forest, the races were used for many other tasks. They were practically servants with no free will.

The Immortal Crane nation’s days were already numbered; being destroyed now or trusting in luck would change little about the outcome.

The Zaoris, due to their special eyes, could see and feel their race’s karma; they undoubtedly realized that the end was imminent if they tried to stay where they were.

As for the Celestial Jaguars, there was no logical justification; it was a decision purely guided by their instincts, which told them they should follow or regret it.

As soon as everyone disappeared, space distorted, and hundreds of Kun Pengs appeared. Their king held three silver rings, which were the keys to dominating the world and the nations of the three races. His eyes shining with excitement; the dream of dominating the other nations had suddenly come true.

"Reporting to the King: we couldn’t connect to the forest’s laws. Something very big must have happened."

A figure reported, and King Kun Peng nodded in agreement. They didn’t know what had happened inside the forest, only that they had heard the voice moments ago. They had lost all control over the spatial laws they had there. Before, they could feel a bit of what was happening inside; now, it was as if everything had been stolen by another force.

Another voice addressed the King: "We’ve prepared the internal formation of the nation, using all our resources. The hero should arrive in two hours."

Kun Peng nodded and ordered: "Start searching and investigating everything and everyone. We must provide full support to the hero!"

A minute later, a figure spoke: "My King! The people from the Larimar Market moved first. They took everyone far away from the city. We tried to get an explanation, but they sealed the underground entrance to their base and won’t let anyone in or respond."

"Those bastards are hiding something. Just ignore them. The followers of that god are problematic, but the hero has his ways of investigating them," he replied coldly.

The investigation continued everywhere, while King Kun Peng closely watched the entrance to the forest. Five minutes later, a new tremor shook the entire planet.

King Kun Peng focused, alarmed, on the entrance to the forest. That was the epicenter of the tremor. Then, he felt the spatial laws breaking. His eyes widened, and he murmured: "The Void Forest… is collapsing…"