“My assumptions were correct, and it seems that this new character was able to overthrow those halfwits from the Endless Rain Zone. Haha! Reinz couldn’t have been anymore careless, did he travel the Center of All Zones with both Kefalas and that Supreme Palace Guard as well? Tsk! So foolish…”
As this purple feathered birdman continued to prattle in discontent, the elders who heard his words kept their heads down as if they were afraid of something. Suddenly, however, there was an interruption.
Flap! Flap! A dark feather birdman rapidly descended from the sky with one of his wings in critical condition and his body covered in bruises, as he dropped to the floor he fell to his knees as he used one of his arms to grip his broken left wing and spoke with gritted teeth. “Haa… haa… Sir Pelkan! The enemy has stolen the incubator!”
The pressure within the area instantly became stagnant as an oppressive feeling arose, a sharp murderous air soon after saturating the area as Pelkan glared at the guard with deep purple lights shining in his cruel eyes.
“What did you say?!!” Pelkan yelled at the top of his voice which resounded across the vast skies for many meters, the guard hearing his words coughed out a mouthful of blood due to his extensive injury before speaking, “It… it was the Rebel Hawkrace…”
After saying this, the consciousness of the guard started to fade as his body fell to the ground while his eyes rolled over.
“Chet! Soooo useless! Someone, take this fool to the cage!” Pelkan said ruthlessly, the dark feather birdmen that were standing at guard nearby promptly responded as they walked over. “Yes, Lord Sky Watcher!”
They quickly picked up the body of the unconscious birdman and swiftly carried him off towards the fabled ‘Bird Cage,’ a place where all enemies and individuals who are deemed useless or potentially threatening are sent to undergo ‘pecking.’
The elder dark birdmen who were seated around the display tablet couldn’t but grow weary in their hearts as cold sweat started to trickle down their bodies, as if he couldn’t sense their moods Pelkan then swept his eyes across them before speaking once more. “I don’t care what you do. I want that item back in our possession by any means necessary! The enemy must not learn of its secret, also, now that those intruders from the Endless Rain Zone have entered into our domain it would be even more so imperative for us to recover the artifact.”
“Understood!” The elders responded respectfully as they bowed their heads with their beaks gleaming with lights from the surroundings, Pelkan seeing this nodded in satisfaction as he waved his hand and spoke, “Good! Now go!”
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The figures of each of the elders soon after blurred as they flapped their large wings vanishing towards a different section of this massive nest, where they were greeted by a large army of powerful looking dark feather armored birdmen who each wore purple crowns.
They then flew off into the boundless sky together with this large number of elite birdmen before making a curve and soaring downwards into the sea of dense clouds, their figures soon after vanishing into the exceedingly dangerous and mysterious under region.
Pelkan seeing this scene started to smile as a sly look came on his face, his eyes wandering towards the display screen which was now showing an unusual scene, one in which a myriad of dark circles were positioned around a pillar made of wood.
“Huhuhu! All are as planned, with this last batch, I can finally complete the ancient mission and seeing as that bastard Falcoy isn’t here I can take all the benefits for myself. Hahaha! My chance to transcend this prison realm has finally arrived!”
After he said this, he rose to his feet as his entire body now towered over the remnant guards who stood at watch within the area. Suddenly, a noise could be heard as a figure materialized behind him.
As the figure came out of the Darkness, it bowed its head before it spoke, “Lord Sky Watcher, the traps are set, and the preparations are complete… shall we proceed with the plan?”
“Good! We will begin at once!” Pelkan said as he unfurled his large purple feather wings and flapped causing his body to soar into the air; the figure promptly followed immediately catching up the Pelkan before they both descended into the cloud sea towards an unknown destination…
∞ ∞ ∞
A week has passed since Feng Yu and the members of the allied army have descended the spiraling branches and traversed to the depths below the Sea of Clouds. They had now arrived at an intertwining section where the massive branches from a myriad of Titan World Trees had converged together at a central position much like that of an intersection seen in modern times.
Feng Yu who saw this now had a puzzled expression on his face as he spoke, “Yun’er, where do you think will go from here?”
Jing Mingyun who heard this also revealed an expression of puzzlement as she spoke, “I’m not certain, I haven’t been here in many years, and the last time I came to this world or better yet, zone, was during the era of peace. Those times where simpler times and the Ancient Hawk race had ruled the skies only occasionally venturing into the depths below the cloud sea…”
“Hmm, well I guess we can only wait until they continue…” Feng Yu said, he then looked towards the figure of Felman as well as the members of the Ancient Hawk tribe who was now standing at the direct center of convergence points.
Felman then looked at the figures of Demetria, Zyne, and the others before speaking, “We have arrived at the location of our tribe, but, as it's been a while since we’ve been here, we will need an extended period to open the gate to hidden space…”
Demetria, Zyne, and the other leaders hearing this looked at each other before nodding their heads, Demetria then replied, “If that’s the case, then it seems that we will have to make camp here! All allies prepare, let’s set up camp now and leave the convergence point out of the camping zone we cannot afford to interrupt their task.”
“As the Fairy Queen commands!” The leaders belonging to the different races said as they bowed, they then started to organize their units which soon after began to set up camp on this humongous branch which spanned a few kilometers.
Felman saw this then nodded his heads towards Demetria before he prepared to open the gate, “Let us begin!”
The members of the Ancient Hawkmen hearing this nodded as they sat on the ground and placed their palms on the floor. After doing this they each started to channel their energies into the ground.
Time quickly passed, and it was now that of nighttime, the camp had long since been completed as the scene on this 5-kilometer long branch had transformed into that of a small village with temporary residential buildings that seemed to have been taken from their storage artifacts.
While the members of the army started to rest, a few among them kept on the lookout as Feng Yu who now stood at the top of one of surrounding sub-branches was currently looking towards the figures of Felman and his tribe.
They were seated together within the convergence point in a circular formation as they muttered a strange chant. Soon, a strange series of diagrams had formed around each of the members revolving at a constant pace while flickered with different lights.
Feng Yu seeing this scene frowned as he began to feel a strange foreboding, he was about to make a note of it but was soon interrupted by Zyne.
“So, it seems that the words of Treantous holds true...” Zyne said in a puzzled voice, the others hearing him couldn’t help but look towards him while Leon looked towards him with a hint of contempt.
“Hmph! What’s he up to now?” Leon muttered to himself as he looked at Zyne’s puzzled expression, Demetria who was not too far from Zyne’s side finally spoke, “You’re right...”
"Then should we act now?" Demetria asked as she gazed at the scene before them, the surrounding leaders who were gathered nearby them looking at Demetria with a deep look on their faces.
After a moment of silence, Zyne was about to reply, but was soon cut off by Jing Mingyun, "We shall wait..."
>
The area became quiet after hearing her words, as a strange tension began to rise, Feng Yu who now had the chance to speak finally spoke out, “Why wait, it’s obvious that they're up to no good, what good does waiting any longer bring?”
As they heard Feng Yu’s words, a look of agreement soon appeared on the faces of Zyne, Demetria, and the others as their eyes shifted towards the now suspicious looking backs of Felman and his Ancient Hawkmen Tribe before fixing it once more on Jing Mingyun.
Upon hearing Feng Yu's words and seeing the others expressions, Jing Mingyun calmly replied, "If we attack them now, we won't be able to uncover their true goals..."
Zyne hearing this, couldn't help but frown as he glanced at Felman and the others before looking back at Jing Mingyun and replying, "Fine, it wouldn't hurt us to figure out just what they are up to..."
Feng Yu and others hearing this now nodded their heads in agreement as they once more focused on Felman's actions.
After a bit of time passed, the odd-looking spell diagrams beneath the bodies and instantly became different as they began to glow in an ominous red light.
"Wait, those runes... to think they would do that here. We must stop them now!" Zyne said in a surprised tone, as he noticed the change occurring to runes.
Demetria, Jing Mingyun, along with Feng Yu and other leaders quickly got into a battle posture as they looked towards the seated Felman and the hawkmen with even more caution.
Myria couldn’t help but ask, “Zyne are we not going to bother waiting to find out their objectives? What kind of runes are those?”
“We don’t have time! We need to act now before they finish! Those aren’t space summon runes but rather…” Zyne was about to launch an attack as he spoke but before he couldn’t finish his sentence and fully gather his energy there was a change.
“Hahaha! Today we will begin the ritual of sacrifice!” A sinister smile was now on Felman's face as he said this; his palms glowed in a strange light which he placed together before he spoke in a resonant voice, “Arise!!”
Rumble!! Instantly, the area began to shake violently as a pillar of wood rose up before Felman and the Ancient Hawkmen; it rose to the height of 2 meters before it finally came to a halt.
“FELMAN!!!” Zyne seeing this became even more enraged as his hammer instantly grew to this size of two meters while his body transformed into a ray of light which beamed towards the pillar.
“Humph! There is no need to be too hasty now, Zyne, for if you don’t manage to restrain your temper, I don’t know what might happen to ours over there…” Felman said as he snapped his fingers.
Buzz! Instantly, the surroundings shook as groups upon groups of Ancient Hawkmen descended from the skies, the numbers of these Ancient Hawkmen numbered into the hundreds of thousands which was slightly superior to army-guided Demetria and the others.
“These are…” Demetria and Zyne both muttered in surprise, Felman seeing this smiled as he spoke once again, “That’s right; they are the very members of the Ancient Hawk Clan who’ve been waiting here for quite some time. Now, with your arrival, we can now finally proceed to our tribe's long-awaited salvation…”
Feng Yu looked around at the dangerous looking Ancient Hawkmen with a deep look in his eyes as he gripped his fists, he then spoke in a cold voice, “It seems that they've been planning this for a very long time…”
“Chosen Yu is correct, I don’t know how they did it, but they’ve found a way to contact the members of the tribe even when they were trapped within the Endless Rain Zone’s Prisoners Hall.” Myria said in a serious tone, Leon who nearby nodded his head while gripping his fists causing muscles to bulge said, “These damn hawks!”
“Felman, what do you gain by doing this?” Demetria asked in a cold tone of voice as this was the only reason they waited until now, the leaders of the allied army each picking up their weapons as they readied themselves for battle as they gazed at Felman and his Ancient Hawk Tribe.
Felman hearing her words lifted his head and laughed hysterically before he replied, “What do I gain? Hahaha! It seems that you’ve all got this wrong, I gain nothing from this for you see… everything will belong to this fellow right here…”
He lifted his hand revealing a strange artifact that looked like a container. Its shape was similar to that of an oval sphere with a few special looking sockets with gems placed inside. The moment this object appeared the scene became bright as its dazzling scarlet light illuminated the night scene.
Not surprisingly, Demetria, Zyne, Myria, Leon, and even Jing Mingyun revealed a look of shock in their eyes as they saw the artifact, they each stared at it with wide open eyes as they yelled in unison, “How can this be?!!!”
Their voices resounding throughout the heavens as a stifling tension began to rise and fill this dark night scene with even more gloomy atmosphere…
Chapter 152
The Spiritual Bird Egg!
Swooosh! A chilly wind swept across the eerie night scene illuminated by the lights coming from a wide surface area no different from a common landmass. Looking carefully, one would notice that a series of massive branches each coming from a different location connected to this large surface area on which a group of hawkmen sat together in a crossed-legged posture around a central pillar of wood.
Felman stood calmly at the center of these hawkmen as he gazed towards the members of the allied army who were still on the massive branch with a mocking light in his eyes as he didn’t answer them to their surprise.
“That’s! Isn’t that the Treasure of those Birdfiends?!” Leon exclaimed as he saw the strange round object, Myria who was nearby revealing a solemn look over their faces as she spoke, “Indeed it is, what’s going on here? Why is the artifact of the Birdfiend Clan within the grasp of the Ancient Hawktribe?”
Hearing their words Jing Mingyun frowned, she then moved her eyes around at the different hawkmen who surrounded their armies before focusing on the object within Felman’s hand and the elders who were still seated in crossed-legged posture around the central pillar. Quickly, she then glanced towards both Zyne and Demetria who also return a similar look to her a strange look in their eyes as if they were communicating.
Feng Yu who was confused now finally heard a voice in his head, “Chosen Yu, we will obstruct the enemy by pinning down their leaders, that artifact before you is a very vital artifact to this realm. I don’t know how it got here, nor how these hawkmen managed to steal it away from Birdfiend clan, but if we can successfully take it away, we will be one step closer to conquering this zone…”
“What kind of treasure is it?” Feng Yu asked in puzzlement, for it only looked like a simple oval sphere at a glance.
“It is merely a container to the treasure which it holds, an egg of a lifeform that was likely created from the Sea of Nothingness. This egg is known as, the Spiritual Bird Egg… there is an ancient legend which was once passed down for many generations of the Ancient Hawktribe history, and it was that the very ancestor of their clan was creature which birthed this Sea of Nothingness, a Divine Crow whose entirety was shrouded by golden light, with powers vastly superior to even that of the fabled Ancient Phoenix…” Zyne said to Feng Yu’s mind.
Feng Yu hearing this finally revealed a look of understanding as he replied, “So that’s how it was, if that’s the case, then what they are most likely doing is preparing to hatch it from its case. What must I do?”
“Simple, you just need to find a way to take the artifact from them while we will aim to get rid of their leaders,” Zyne said as he gripped his Bright Hammer firmly with a sharp look in his eyes as he gazed at Felman’s figure in the distance.
“Understood!” Feng Yu replied with a firm look in his eyes, as this happened Felman began to realize that something was strange, his eyes couldn’t help but pause on the unusually calm and indifferent Demetria, Zyne, and Jing Mingyun before suddenly narrowing as he felt that situation was not good.
Swoosh! Swoosh! As if they had
practiced this for many years each of their figure vanished into thin air leaving behind a remnant shade, the surrounding hawkmen who were gloating about their enemy’s current situation suddenly became shocked due to the unexpected actions.
“Damn! Don’t let them get any closer!” The Felman panicked as his attempt to delay the enemy with his earlier speech was most likely seen through, as they heard his words, the horde of clansmen who surrounded their group rushed forward as they flapped their wings turning into blurry shades.
Felman decided not to delay the process as he placed the container with the Spiritual Bird Egg inside of a slot within the pillar which caused it to glow in an even more radiant light, as he did this, he then yelled, “Begin the Sacrificial Ritual!”
As they heard his words, the seated hawkmen elders quickly began to chant in an obscure tongue causing the mood within the area to change. Instantly, a series of energies began to rise over their bodies transforming it into a semi-transparent reddish barrier.
A massive group of hawkmen blocked the 5-kilometer-long route on the main branch which connected with the converging tree stump that Felman’s group stood upon, as if their lives depended on it, they directly rushed towards the figures of Zyne and Demetria who were both rushing towards Felman’s group.
“Die!” Demetria said in a cold manner as he pointed her palms forward causing the plants and flowers wrapped around her robe to rush towards these weaker hawkmen and tear them into mangled pieces of flesh.
As the path had once more cleared, both Zyne and Demetria quickly soared through as theyarrived before Felman’s group, Zyne lifted his muscular arms above his head firmly gripping the handle of the enlarged Bright Hammer which now glowed in radiant lights. He then swung his arms brutally at the barrier of red before his eyes smashing into it with all of his might as he yelled, “Break for me! Radiant Smash!!!”
BOOOM! An immense collision of energies soon erupted as a chaotic scene ensued, the energies pushed away all enemies who were within the range of one kilometer on this wide and spacious convergence point causing them to become disordered for a moment before they flapped their wings and reorganized themselves in the air.
The Conqueror of Zones Page 24
