"We got another Tina in our roster it seems," he said as a joke, not realising that his words touched a sour spot in Lina's heart until it was too late.
Lina's face changed, and she looked as if she was on the verge of crying.
"Don't worry, she isn't the child she was when I met you the first time," William paused before adding, "not to mention, between the two of you, she is stronger."
"Hell no, I'm stronger!"
"You are bigger, indeed, but not stronger," William teased her, and Lina glared at him for a while before finally showing a faint smile on her face.
"I just hope she won't make anything stupid when I'm not by her side," she muttered, and for a moment there William felt as if she was a mother worrying on her only child.
"She isn't alone over there, I got Ibra and others by her side…"
"The more for me to worry," she rolled her eyes, "Ibra isn't that dependable. Plus… Can't you see how he is looking at her?"
"They are just young," William felt he shouldn't start this topic, "and he is strong and capable. Don't worry that much. He is, by far, the most trusted friend I have by my side."
"Liar," Lina chuckled, and realised that William wasn't willing to speak about the issue between her sister and Ibra. Besides, she felt that if she pressed over the matter, William wouldn't mind the two getting along together.
"Oh, you look lovely like a couple," Out of the blue, a weird voice suddenly came from the side, "are you in love?"
"Who are you?" William went vigilant the moment he spotted this old man. He never saw him before, and he didn't feel him approaching the three of them at all.
He was spreading his spirit sense out of habit. And that old man appeared out of thin air, a sign that he was much more powerful than him.
"A friend from far," the old man was wearing a golden cloak, covering up his face.
"I don't like you," Karoline suddenly said, "you have a smell that I hate, a rhinoceros scent!"
"Rhinoceros?" William looked at the old man and sized him up and down. He had an arched back like he lived for too long in this world.
"Keen senses you have there, ex-monster girl," the man said something that rang all the alarm bells in William's mind.
"What do you want?" As he asked, he released everything he got, "I don't like strangers spying on our business."
"I told you, I'm a friend," the old man seemed to not be bothered by what William did, "I know you can gauge my strength. If I wanted you dead, then you'd have died long before you'd noticed me. As for why I'm here, consider it as a friendly reminder…"
The old man suddenly transformed. His body swells up and the cloak weirdly stretches over his growing body mass. A giant figure appeared, one who was filled with life and vitality, not looking anything similar to the old man he once was.
"It's a rhinoceros as I said," Karoline turned to William and Lina as if she didn't feel the insane danger they were facing.
"It's not a normal rhinoceros," William slowly muttered, feeling a cold sweat soaking his back, "what brings one of the Holy Shifters here to this tiny world?!!!"
"You know who I am, interesting…" the old man paused, before adding, "I'm here to warn you, trying to meddle with the way of the universe is futile. Just live your life and don't try to do anything like you did here again."
"Or else?" William's attitude suddenly changed abruptly, "Don't think I know you don't have the power you have back there. This is a tiny world, and coming here means you are limited in many ways."
"Speaking as if you know everything, but… You are wrong!"
The next instant, the entire world changed and an insane amount of pressure slammed over the three of them. William heard two thudding sounds as Lina and Karoline ended up falling on the ground.
Yet he didn't!
"I told you, such tricks won't work here," William started to slowly walk towards the rhinoceros, "your kin has a very high standing and might be up there, not here. Being here means you just sent a clone, a weak and powerless one that can only use such lousy tricks of illusion. Stop messing around and speak, what the hell are you doing here?"
The Holy Shifters were a very infamous party of the dark masters in the outer world. They were once monsters and ended up being humans like Karoline. Yet after changing race, they decided to mate with monsters, ending up having sons and daughters who were quite abnormal and special.
These were the Holy Shifters, and this old man was one of them. He could change his human shape into a massive and scary monster form. But there were many limitations to obtaining such insane power.
They couldn't leave that world! Or else their bodies would shatter. The only trick they got was to send clones of themselves like that old man's. And that also came with a negative side effect.
They were infamous for their brutal strength and illusion abilities. They were naturally gifted with making illusions, strong enough to make anyone fall to these by just looking at their eyes.
The cloak this old man wore wasn't made out of clothes. It was part of his body, and that was why it got stretched out like this.
"A golden Holy Shifter coming to such a tiny world… That's the first," William took out his glaive, before adding, "Don't think I won't kill you. So just save my time and tell me what you are doing here."
"Not the typical situation I envisioned, and here I'm, coming with good intentions to warn you… Tsk! Youngsters are all impatient and arrogant, tsk," he didn't know why but this old man reminded him of Ibra. and yet William never stopped walking towards him.
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