The little girl looked about eleven or twelve years old, with short blonde hair and big, dark eyes. She wore a light reddish armor, and small traces of her hybrid nature stood out, like white fangs that discreetly appeared from her mouth. Her appearance was accompanied by a faint Yin aura with a demonic tint. She wasn’t just a hybrid, but being in that place, she was also a mutant.
"Master! Master! Please don’t die!"
The little girl’s voice echoed with anguish and tears. The beastly figure removed the saber, and blood gushed from the man’s body, but the little girl held him desperately. He still kept his eyes wide open and murmured something to her. The mutants around them laughed sadistically at the scene.
"Ruri, this is going to be problematic," Bruno tried to argue.
Alm just spat, ’To hell with it.’ He couldn’t stand seeing any situation involving children, and without hesitation, he moved.
At the same time, the man closed his eyes, and his consciousness darkened. The beasts around them just smiled grimly as they looked at the little girl, who was falling into complete despair.
But... suddenly, everyone turned in the same direction, sensing something.
Before they could see anything, the world around them seemed to freeze. In the next instant, their bodies froze.
Then, time sped up. One of them felt his body being hit. There was no sound; only blood flowed, and his vision rose to the sky as his head separated from his body.
Time sped up again. At an unimaginable speed, a katana cut mercilessly, and another head fell.
It lasted five seconds, and after half of them had been eliminated, the leader finally realized what was happening: "Laws of time! Activate the armor!"
He roared to warn the others, and a strange light flowed into their armors. However, a temporal distortion surrounded them, reversing the armors to their initial, inactive state.
*CRACK!*
Earth pillars emerged and pierced their bodies, splitting them in half without mercy and turning them into piles of blood.
From a distance, Alm and Bruno just waved. Ruri had already mastered the four divine concepts of time. Her spatial laws were even more advanced, but in no time, she would equal both concepts and could study the immortal-level space-time.
Ruri ran into the cave while the little girl looked at her, surprised: "This will save him. Make him swallow it."
Ruri handed over a high-level healing pill, something reserved for emergencies, but she didn’t hesitate to use it. Unfortunately, Bruno had already burned all the law of faith they had brought during the fight against the heroes.
The little girl hurriedly put the pill in the man’s mouth. The next instant, the blood stopped flowing from his body, and the wounds began to close before her eyes. Even the large hole in his chest regenerated quickly. Soon, the reddish color returned to his face.
She collapsed in tears, hugging him fervently. Ruri sighed and smiled slightly as the whale approached.
’The Heaven’s Will is messing with us. How can we find something so similar to our past? What kind of cheap story is this...’ Bruno muttered mentally.
"T-Thank you! Thank you so much..." The little girl bowed deeply toward them.
Ruri gently approached and checked his condition. He was obviously a member of the Charming Eyes Race. Then, she exchanged a few words with the girl to understand the situation.
Her name was Arki, and the man was a general of the Nine Celestial Legions from the Tarrasque continent. His name was Carod, and he had been summoned by those beasts in an emergency distress call.
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Carod, who had already saved those creatures once in the past, didn’t hesitate to help them again. However, he was sneakily struck by a poisoned blade. He then tried to escape with Arki but couldn’t escape fate. It was a plot by other legions to eliminate him.
Arki was a mutant, the daughter of a couple who had been slaves of the empire and died in battle during a mission. Carod was present, but he couldn’t save them in time. Before dying, they told him about the daughter they were leaving behind, and Carod promised to take care of her.
That was almost three years ago. He quickly became happy to discover that Arki had talent, accepting her as his disciple. Since then, he had taken her everywhere and personally taught her.
Arki was only 12 years old, but already in the Divine King Realm, the same realm as Ruri and above the whale, who still couldn’t break through. This brutal difference was impressive, especially considering that Arki still didn’t have a fully developed body.
In less than an hour, Carod woke up almost completely healed. He jumped up startled, immediately sensing the smell of blood and death from the powerful beasts that had attacked him.
The little girl was the first to explain what had happened. Then, he turned to the unknown couple, who gently nodded in confirmation.
"How? This is impossible! You... Those were elites, all at the peak of cultivation!" He exclaimed, stunned.
Alm spoke calmly: "It was a mix of luck and power. My wife here is good with the laws of time-space, so we managed to attack before they could fully react. They had already relaxed after taking him down and were enjoying the girl’s suffering."
"What?!" He turned to Ruri, his eyes wide.
Ruri then explained their planned story: they were born as golems on the land and managed to create their bodies a few centuries ago. By chance, they emerged close to each other, almost at the same time, and met.
Since then, they had lived wandering alone until people helped them and taught them about cultivation. Eventually, they discovered that a test happened in the capital from time to time, so they decided to go there and wait for it.
"You... I understand..." He murmured, their story was common and acceptable. But their power was so abnormal, this seemed crazy!
"You don’t believe us? Hm... One time, an old man from a village examined our bodies and said our mutation was quite unique. Want to check?" Bruno said calmly.
Carod quickly nodded. He’d never do that without permission since the procedure was very intrusive.
He started by examining the whale, using his senses to scan his body. Then, the sound of the man’s heart, pounding like a drum, echoed intensely.
"Heavens... this physique... you have double meridians, and one of them is only for your physique?" Carod murmured, astonished.
"Hmm... I’m not sure. I was born like this, pretty much. When I created the body, I just did what felt the most comfortable," Bruno replied thoughtfully.
Carod nodded. Creating a body with two meridians wasn’t difficult, but using them was practically impossible. His mutation must be compatible and able to sustain that structure, allowing him to cultivate in duplication.
Anyone else trying something like that would die quickly. Reverting would be the least of their problems, anyone normal trying to use two meridians would immediately explode in a mist of blood.
Next, he moved towards Ruri, studying her politely from a distance, not invading her body directly.
It didn’t take long to notice. Just by sensing the laws and Qi flowing through her meridians, Carod realized the time-space laws were at an advanced level. Her body was that of a pure golem, with extreme earth laws, but the time-space blended completely with her in a natural way.
"What a terrifying and unique mutation... you two..." He hesitated, unsure of how to express his thoughts. "I see. Catching them by surprise, with both of you acting together, could be deadly. But... how did you heal me?"
"I’m also a forger," the whale explained lightly. "I learned from an old man in a village. Before traveling to the capital, I sold a lot of things and bought some pills."
"That must have been expensive... sorry about that," Carod nodded, finishing with regret. On this planet, miraculous pills like that were relatively common, though expensive.
Ruri smiled faintly. "Can you take us to the capital? We’re a bit lost. It was lucky we saw you."
Carod analyzed the couple and nodded. "You’re lucky. The entry test starts in a week. I was training Arki to participate when all this happened. With your cultivations..."
He looked at the whale. "You still haven’t broken through, and you’re below the rules. But let me take you there. I’ll also compensate for the help you gave me. I’ll speak to the Elders of the test to let you participate and ask for other favors. With your power, I’m sure you’ll pass without any issues."
Alm and Bruno nodded, relieved. An entry test with a minimum requirement of Divine King Realm? Only the last three realms of divine cultivation could participate, and all competitors would be young. The level of people there would scare anyone from the universe to death.
They started moving slowly while Carod explained more about the inner workings of the continent.
The Tarrasque Continent Empire was led by the emperor, alongside the nine Celestial Legions. The power level of each legion corresponded to its number. Carod was the general of... the ninth legion.
He lived busy, because they were weak, he had to work hard to get resources for everyone. But, he took a month to train Arki and prepare her for the test. Once the day came, he would need to return for an important mission.
When approved, candidates could choose which legion to join. However, the general’s approval was needed, and joining the first legions was extremely rare.
"I’m sure the number one will accept you right away. He’s a bit dark, but he’s not a bad person. Don’t worry. You don’t owe me anything; in fact, I owe you more than I can repay. I’ll always be here to help you in the future," Carod said kindly.
Arki, of course, would join the same legion as him.
The trip took six and a half days. When they arrived at the city, they didn’t enter. The recruitment was happening outside, in a small building. However, everything was almost empty. Carod grew tense and surprised, so he went to ask personally.
The Elder’s response was dry: "Something secret happened. This century’s batch of mutants didn’t arrive, so the test will be held only with the celestial golems and descendants."
"But it’s not possible to hold the same test with less than 10% of the candidates," Carod thought, suspicious.
"Yes, it will be different this time." The Elder said, then registered the three candidates and told them to wait in a corner. "Each group will receive a test. The others have already left; you’ll receive your mission soon."
Carod nodded, understanding, and went towards other Elders to talk. After a few minutes, he returned. Passing by the trio, he said: "I have to go back to my legion. Good luck to you all. When it’s all over, I’ll come back to see Arki."
The girl smiled, and he left. Arki sighed deeply, and when she looked at Ruri and the whale, she noticed something strange about them.
Ruri snorted and spoke through the array: ’Those bastard Elders are clearly up to no good with Carod, and now with us. They want to kill us.’
Alm and Bruno nodded. They had done a good deed and expected some reward... but, in the end, they barely arrived and already found themselves marked by countless enemies.