Chapter 353 Returning
Earth, The Middle East
Among the sands of a red desert, the scene looked idyllic. The sky was clear, as usual, and a middle-aged man calmly meditated despite the scorching temperatures, ignoring everything around him. This was Zak Bond, the Elven Ancestor. He had been waiting for Damien for the past two weeks and taking countermeasures in case any unwanted beings turned up.
Suddenly, the ground shook and two rocky pillars rose, revealing a teleportation gate. This ruckus woke Zak abruptly. "It must be the time," he said as he stood straight. "Hmm, I only hope you come in one piece, brat!" He readied himself for whatever might come out of the gate.
To his surprise, a gigantic figure jumped out of the gate's dark, mirror-like surface and landed nimbly on the ground. The creature was also carrying a petite lady around his arm. They were none other than Shadow Slave and Layla, who had just passed through the teleporting gate from the other side of the Tenderloin Exoplanet.
"What the heck?!" Zak screamed in horror. It was his first time seeing a Nagina, a mutant with a half-human upper body and a snake tail. A greenish aesthetic longbow appeared out of nowhere in his hand. He installed a black arrow and tugged the bowstring along with it, warning, "What are you?... Just let the girl go, and we can talk this out nice and easy."
Ignoring him, Shadow Slave placed Layla gently on the ground and sat on the sandy ground. Zak was still pointing the tip of the arrowhead at Shadow Slave's forehead, ready to release the arrow at any moment, but he didn't as the latter didn't show any hostility towards him or the lady.
Layla greeted with a smile, "Oh, hello there! Can you put your weapon away?" Unfortunately, Ancestor Zak didn't speak Sanskrit. Realizing her mistake, she greeted again in English, scratching her head awkwardly, "You must be Mister Zak Bond. We are friends of Mister Darhk."
"Mister Darhk!" Hearing her strange accent unfamiliar to earth, Zak asked suspiciously. "Alright, why is he not coming with you? And what is that, that thing?" He pointed at Shadow Slave.
"Oh, you are being vigilant toward Uncle Shadow. That's understandable," Layla responded, explaining patiently. "Don't you worry? He's my Master Damien's subordinate."
Then she recounted, unfolding some stories of Damien briefly, and gained his trust.
Putting his weapon away, Zak sat beside her, still keeping a close eye on Shadow Slave. "Did something happen to Damien? Why is he still coming out, yet?" He asked.
"He'll come out soon. I believe in him." Layla answered vaguely.
As they waited, Zak connected the dots regarding Layla's identity through chit-chatting about a variety of topics. To his surprise, he learned that the young lady had learned to speak English just two weeks ago. 'So this girl is from that Tenderloin world? Now I understand why her accent is so weird.' He concluded.
After ten more minutes of waiting, Damien finally emerged from the gate carrying a country-toppling beauty with him. "Oh, you're still waiting for me all this time," he said.
"You know this is the Sacred Ground of the Elven Family," Zak added, giving a look at Shadow Slave. "And it's my responsibility to guard against any unknown things coming out of that place."
Understanding his words, Damien gave his order. "Come to me, Shadow Slave. Your presence is making an elderly gentleman unfavorable."
"Yes, my liege!" Responding courteously, Shadow Slave chanted a mantra in a horrid tone while making a series of hand seals. "Explode!" Just as he yelled, his body exploded, turning into a thick veil of dark energy. It swamped toward Damien and entered the back of his left palm, leaving a tattoo of a black humanoid figure with three heads.
This surprised Ancestor Zak even more. However, he remained nonchalant this time, keeping the surprise inside his mind.
When she saw Meera still on Damien's arm, Layla pouted enviously. "My dear teacher, who is she?" She asked.
"Countess Meera!"
"Y-you mean Countess Meera, the Lethal Queen!?" Layla stuttered, stepping multiple steps back. "W-why are you bringing her?" There was fear and respect in her eyes. Yes, as a slave girl, as she grew up back in the Tenderloin World, she had heard about the infamous name and deeds of Countess Meera.
"Alright, enough with the questions. Let's focus on helping Meera with her walking," Damien said as he placed Meera on the ground. "Layla is a human from your world, and she is also my disciple. So please be kind to her," he added, addressing Meera directly.
Layla approached Meera cautiously, questions still on her mind, but she kept them to herself. She offered her support to Meera, who remained silent. Damien then infused a trace of his lightning Qi into the Purple Spatial Beast's Eyeball, and by gesturing into his palm, a sleek aircraft appeared on the sandy ground. "Shall we?" he said.
Layla helped Meera board the ship, as she was still not used to walking yet. By this time, the teleportation gate had completely submerged into the ground, and the rusty medallion floated in the air. Damien caught it and was about to pass it to Zak, but the latter shrugged and said, "Just keep it." He then disappeared into thin air.
"Fair enough. I'll keep it for now," Damien said as he tossed the medallion into his golden space ring and boarded the aircraft. In a few minutes, the engine revved loudly, and the aircraft took off, leaving the desert behind.
After six hours of flying, the aircraft finally stopped before an old-looking black lumber ship that was floating high above the clouds. Landing on the dock, Damien and the two ladies disembarked from the aircraft. Miss Onsen and Catherine Dracula, who welcomed them in their own ways, greeted them. Miss Onsen bowed courteously while Catherine eyed the two ladies with him cautiously. "More flowers, huh?" she said with a mean look before dashing inside the cabin.
"Wait, Cath!" Damien called out as he rushed after her.
(please, stay tuned!)
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