Chapter 79: An Aeon
Suddenly, a surreal situation unfolded in a forest shrouded in thick nighttime fog.
A Quicksilver Medusa was trying to snatch a human, while a human woman was pulling him down to keep it from taking him.
The two struggled, and the Medusa glared at Clara with hatred.
It seemed to be saying: "Stubborn woman, let him go!"
Meanwhile, Clara glared at it defiantly, as if to say: "Not in a million years—I’m going to eat you!"
The two beings struggled, pulling the body back and forth. The Medusa pulled Lucius by his arms and neck, while the human pulled him by his legs.
The tug was so strong that it somehow woke Lucius up.
Lucius quickly opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in a familiar setting... but what he found was himself floating in the sky.
’Huh? Did I grow?’ He was stunned and looked down as he felt somAeone pulling him and struggling with something.
"..."
"..."
When they looked into each other’s eyes, they fell silent.
Finally, Lucius looked up.
"..."
"..."
Silence again.
None of the three knew what to say... On one hand was the surreal nature of the situation, and on the other was the fact that the beast he’d been searching for was trying to take over his body.
"What the hell?" That was the only thing that came out of his mouth at that moment.
The Medusa instantly knew it was done for. So it quickly let go of Lucius, but he had already grabbed hold of several of its legs.
"You gave yourself away!" Lucius laughed out loud and pulled the Medusa to the ground.
It felt a wave of dizziness and tumbled across the ground.
However, it was still within its own territory. So it shook itself and enveloped its body in mist, trying to escape that way.
"Heh. Dream on." Lucius landed on the ground.
He wouldn’t even need to use his new magic, since that Medusa had revealed it location. And the drug had already spread this far.
Suddenly, the mist surrounding the Medusa began to glow.
Lucius grabbed his sword and leaped toward it to deliver the final blow.
"Wait!" However, a sudden shout made him stop just a few centimeters away.
"I’m not a jellyfish!" roared the Medusa, speaking through all its mouths at once.
Suddenly, the jellyfish-like form changed drastically and transformed into a small, round creature, consisting of a glowing, slime-like ball in the middle and two antennae sticking up.
It wasn’t a slime; rather, it seemed to be a strange cat. Fluffy, but it had no fur—it was just a glowing ball with antennae.
Lucius froze the moment he saw him.
"Aeon Shape-Shifter!" he exclaimed, his surprise welling up from the depths of his soul.
The Aeon was surprised to be recognized so easily. "You... How do you know who I am?" he exclaimed.
"Why wouldn’t I?" Lucius replied.
"There aren’t many like me in the world!"
"Heh, well, I had one. What’s the big deal? But..." Lucius stepped closer to him and stared intently. "Why does an Aeon shine so dimly? And a Shape-Shifter must be very strong."
Clara approached very carefully and stared intently at what had just appeared. She peeked out from behind Lucius... and realized it was a rather cute little creature, though one she didn’t recognize.
Even though she felt the urge to hug it, she held back because she didn’t know what it was.
"What is it?" she asked, in shock.
"A special beast from the Kalgarth Plains," Lucius replied curiously. "I’ve never seen one roaming around on an island before."
"F-from the Kalgarth Plains? I-isn’t it dangerous?"
Although she suddenly thought: ’Wait, what does it mean that he’s never seen one roaming an island, yet he knows where it comes from and recognizes it at a glance?’ She suddenly began to have doubts about Lucius...
Lucius laughed. "Of course, it is dangerous. It’s one of the most dangerous creatures in the world. For all you know, your father could be one and you wouldn’t even know it."
"W-what? My father?!" she exclaimed, startled.
Lucius burst out laughing.
"Of course. Even I could be one. Didn’t you see that Medusa earlier? It had all its powers, but it wasn’t a Quicksilver Medusa. That’s because these little creatures—especially the Shapeshifters—can steal people’s identities. They’re way too dangerous."
Clara froze.
How could something so small and cute be so dangerous?
She trembled... she wouldn’t have known what to do if she’d been alone. Fortunately, she had Lucius by her side.
"Hey." Lucius suddenly spoke, looking at the Aeon. "Don’t you want to travel with me?" he asked.
"L-L-Lucius?!" Clara turned abruptly to look at him.
Lucius turned his gaze toward her. "Yes?"
"..."
She couldn’t put her thoughts into words, though Lucius could understand them—he just didn’t respond.
He looked back at the Aeon, who was clearly displeased.
"I’ll kill you if you don’t. I don’t want a Shape-Shifting Aeon knowing I exist."
The Aeon shuddered. "You bastard, you don’t even know if you can kill me!"
SWING!
"Really?" Lucius’s sword stopped right in front of his antennae. "Let me remind you, little Aeon... I had one just like you. Only he wasn’t a Shape-Shifter... He was an Aeon King."
Trumble!
The Aeon’s body shuddered once more, but this time it was more intense. He even seemed to swallow hard.
This guy... knew his race much better than he had imagined.
"You have 10 seconds to answer." Lucius gripped his sword even tighter, bringing it closer to the Aeon’s antennae. "10..."
"I accept, I accept!" the Aeon roared immediately, without even waiting a second. "I’ll travel with you!"
"Good." Lucius smiled and sheathed his sword. "Oath of the Aeon. Hurry up—I don’t have much time."
The Aeon felt powerless and ended up drawing a drop of his own blood to mix it with Lucius’s blood and return it to his body.
With that, his body glowed and connected to Lucius’s The Link system.
[Wow! What a discovery! You’ve partnered with a Shape-Shifting Aeon—congratulations!]
Even the system was surprised by this situation. In fact, Lucius was too.
’Damn. I thought my luck had run out when those bastards killed me, but I’ve got the best luck in the world!’
He’d barely reached Rank E, and already he had the chance to enlist the help of an Aeon! And a Shapeshifter, of all things!
He took a deep breath to calm himself and acted with dignity: "Take me to where you got that Medusa. I’ve been in need of a Quicksilver Medusa lately."
The Aeon nodded, disheartened but resigned to his fate.
"Should I take those two?" he asked in his soft, high-pitched, yet clear voice.
"Those two?" Lucius turned and looked at the undead and the snake. "Oh. You’re a Shapeshifter with the ability to control beasts..."
His fortune was immense...
"Don’t take them. They’re too conspicuous," said Lucius. "Besides, I’ve hurt them too badly; they won’t be very useful."
"All right... follow me." The Aeon began to move after withdrawing his Thread of Control from the two beasts.
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