Chapter 94: Recruits [Part 16]
In the northern forests of the United Kingdom, an unnatural snowstorm had covered the whole land in a blanket of endless white.
Months before, experts would have ruled this out as a product of global warming, a natural disaster that was a result of man’s excessive dependence on fossil fuels.
Now?
A better explanation was present.
All the things that led to this blanket of snow were unnatural, the cloud formations, the wind... everything was a product of forces that didn’t abide by the natural order and instead bordered on the level of "man made".
The media was flooded with fear mongering and spicy headlines that focused on the witch hunts and how the "magical world" was just a shadowy power that manipulated others through trickery.
The whole world was being forced to believe that all the mystics could do was hypnotize people and make illusions. A few could create zombies and other scary monsters but that was all to bolster their "threat".
To those who had no knowledge of the mystical world, what they were being shown was already frightening enough but to the people who already had a good grasp of it-
"Is this all that we have?"
A man clad in multiple layers of clothes walked up to another who was barely dressed for the extreme cold.
"Oh I wish"
The man that did not seem to bother with the cold answered with a sigh.
"Of all the monsters that had to start making a mess out of things... that Gaelic bitch had to come out of the woodworks... is she tired of killing Merlin’s descendants?"
The man pondered aloud while the man who was a ball of clothes silently listened to him talk.
All the things that the weird man said were valuable pieces of information that had eluded the ears of many investigators.
Mystics had always ensured that knowledge and information from their world did not seep out into the world of non-mystics. Even the smallest information leak would have been dealt with using extreme measures.
Unfortunately for them, the cause of this current leak was a group that was extremely hard to deal with.
They weren’t a group of rogue investigators who accidentally stumbled upon something they never should have.
Instead, the perpetrators were unknown and the cause of the leak were victims in their own right. But the problem was that the "Victims" who would have been silenced in the past were too powerful for even the largest groups to deal with.
Although limited, the information on the witch that had been the core of the information leak, a mysterious witch from America who was called "Cindy" is under the protection of multiple powerful factions.
Morgana the Immortal Witch, Yuna the Fox of the East and a mysterious newcomer who many believe to be Damien Dixon, though now he seems to be calling himself Richard Rex, a self proclaimed "Witch Hunter".
Moreover, if the statement of Richard was to be believed, Morgana and her group had been subdued by him.
The information was all over the place and many organizations and governments did not know who to believe.
If that weren’t enough, Richard along with Morgana and her group vanished.
It was one headache after another, yet, in such turbulent times...
"You can listen to me all you want, but that won’t change a thing. In the first place, isn’t it your military that started the attacks?"
"..."
The man could not respond, after all, it was true that the Royal Army were the ones who started to poke around for witches.
It was still under investigation who gave out the command but there was no stopping the actions of the military as the populace was in full support of it.
All it took was a video of an entire english mansion vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, the evidence was just a quick drive away from London, one of the most populated cities in the UK.
There was no hiding the truth and once the people started to acknowledge the reality-
"We sincerely hope that you could cull the madness before London collapses"
The man dressed in multiple layers asked with a sincere tone.
His job was to get information, not for the military but for the doves in the government who wanted to end things peacefully.
We have lived in peace before, why not continue that into the future?
Such were the propositions being mouthed off by the doves in the government who were aware of the truth long before the recent exposition.
The man’s goal was to meet with mystics who also wish for peace and create a faction for peace.
Alas, their plans immediately hit a roadblock after the secret sight where the meeting was supposed to be held was enveloped by a blanket of ice.
"But sir... Who is this Gaelic lady you speak of?"
The man dressed oddly for the cold snickered-
Still keeping that tone huh?
He laughed internally as looked down on the weak man who could barely handle a weak chill.
Still-
"It would be easier to introduce you"
The man said as he turned to look up to the sky.
"Huh?"
The normal man dressed in layers of cloths panicked, he did not dare look up but was urged by his companion and so he unwillingly turned to the sky and...
"Beautiful..."
Words could not describe the sight before him.
A crystal clear palace and a lady with bright platinum blonde hair.
She was like a real life version of a certain cartoon princess but more... alluring, sexy and-
"Stop, there’s only one man who could look upon her with eyes of desire, if you value your life, clear your mind of such thoughts"
The poorly dressed man covered the eyes of the idiot who was mesmerized by the sight above him.
Fortunately, his actions were quick and the man who had lost sight of paradise calmed down.
With his vision blocked, the man could now see the reality that had been hidden by the beauty of the princess.
The crystal castle that he had initially viewed as a paradise in the sky was enveloped by black shadows. Moreover, the castle had been inverted, the peak of the towers pointed towards the earth as if growing from the darkness that now enveloped...
"Sir that!"
"Scathach, the Queen of Shadows, she lives in the Land of Shadows she created herself... the gateway of which should be at the Isles ok Sky further up north...."
"Wait... that- is she a..."
Panic set in for the regular man who could barely stand in the cold but his companion? The badly dressed man showed a ferocious smile as he glared up at the platinum haired beauty and shouted-
"Queen of Shadows!"
Scathach only gave him a passing look and ignored him after not even giving hima second glance.
"..."
The man chuckled at the response he got but he knew an easy way to grab the shadowy bitches attention-
"I CAN SEE YOUR UNDERWEAR YOU SLUT!"
*BOOM*
Without warning a crimson light tore through the sky and shot towards the screaming man.
A loud scream, a crazed laughter...
From the North to the South... the UK was not going to see peace anytime soon...
— — —
Richard lazily looked over the large group of people before him.
It was a mix of men and women, some were famous, others were not. But whether their name held weight or not didn’t matter, each individual before him held a certain level of power and authority in the country.
Though as he looked over the crowd, Richard felt a bit vexed at the words he gave Samantha when he took her in.
The explanation of how his curse didn’t need deep physical intimacy was both a blessing and a curse.
Richard believed himself to be a virtuous man, one who would not be swayed by the temptations of flesh.
But maybe it was the influence of Merlin or the Nephilim blood-
Heck, it may be his freedom from the curse that had haunted him in the form of a woman who was now nothing more than an empty name...
In any case-
’How can there be this many beauties in this country?’
Richard’s idea of Filipino’s were of "Asian Mexicans", they had some spanish in their language, had darker than tan skin but were Asian instead of Latin American.
Yet the sight before him was far from what he expected.
Instead of the brown skinned men and women, what spread out before him was a group of models and actors.
Some were genuine models and actors, the others just had those looks.
But if that weren’t enough, unlike other people who used makeup to look good, the people before him looked genuinely attractive without makeup!
How did he know?
Because they all had different facial structures and features!
When using make-up to "look good", even Asians end up looking the same. Not because of the stereotype but because beauty standards have a certain "ideal image".
The biggest examples of this trend are the Chinese, Japanese and Korean influencers and artists!
Without makeup, you’d won’t be able to tell who they were but with makeup? They all look the same!
They hide their eye bags, they smooth out their faces and add blush and other things in the same way. Even the hair styles would follow the same trends!
In the end, many are distinguished more by their bodies rather than their faces!
Because all asian models look the same, men are more inclined to look at their three sizes, distinguishing one person from another depending on how slim or "thicc" they are.
The same is true even for men!
Some men are skinny, others are muscular, some are skinny-muscular...
But in front of Richard was a group of people who cared more about personal beauty...
’Wait...’
As he was going over such thoughts, Richard sensed something from one of the women.
’She... she’s a celebrity right? Hm? Magic? No... herbs?’
Richard’s ability to perceive the future got an upgrade because of Merlin but he barely had any use for it-
Until today that is...
The ability which he did not use had been found activated by pure coincidence and he was able to get the answer to his question.
Why were the mystics before him so attractive?
The reason was simple-
Unlike mystics from other nations, all the mystics before him were young.
The Philippines had few mystics over the age of 100, the few that had been separated and all the mystics before him were of the younger generation.
Why?
Because these were the mystics who were willing to submit to Richard.
Their youth made them more familiar with modern beauty trends and culture. With their access to mystical knowledge, while they may not be able to create fireballs, they were fully capable of concocting solutions and using rituals to improve their own health and image.
Much like the first person who he investigated with his perception, everyone else in the crowd had done the same things to varying extents.
Still, Richard was left speechless at how these idiots first thought after obtaining mystical opportunities was to get a "glow up". Instead of trying to find ways to make money or rise through society... they focused more on keeping up appearances?
’What the hell?’
His plan was to turn these potential mystics into a powerful army but now he was hesitating... What kind of powerful mystic would these idiots become? No... would they even be able to get stronger with their mentality?
