Chapter 284: Somber stand-off

"What the… What happened here?!" The voice of a masculine dark-green-skinned tall creature, covered in ritualistic tattoos from head to toe resounded from the doorway. He was shocked to see the state of the room they just stepped into. It was vastly different from what they were expecting. 

Next to him on both sides, two similar-looking creatures albeit much younger weren't looking any better. The boy and the girl couldn't believe the carnage that was laid out in front of them.

The floor was covered in a sea of blood, gore, and organs formed small islands on the floor. Various, barely recognizable parts of beings that most likely have been the so-called leaders of the tribes could be seen. The splintered remains of various wooden furniture formed a small hump at the center. 

The room and its residents were completely destroyed, the leaders of the tribes, the 13 leaders of the Horde were brutally murdered.

'Just who could have done this? The true leader? Just what could have happened here?' Aiden, standing behind his servants, was deep in thought, trying to make sense of this gruesome scene. What bothered him the most wasn't the fact that all the leaders are dead, thus his minions couldn't enact their much-deserved revenge on any of them, but the fact that something like this could happen without him even realizing it. His skills and abilities that made him think he was above the others, have received a tremendous blow. He had to realize once again, that he is just a kid and not the invincible, indomitable being he started to think of himself.

Suddenly his eyes perked up, the thoughtful expression was transformed into a somber, serious outlook. 

He was shocked to hear the system's recognizable bell-like sound, warning him of the arrival of a new update. In the next instant, a text appeared in front of his eyes, informing him of something of great importance.

[The Optional Quest: Thwart the Invasion - Part 1 has been updated!

The Objective:  Find proof about a possible invasion of the hordes (0/1) has been updated.

New Objective: - Confront the Guardian (0/1)

Optional: - Overcome the Guardian's test and defeat him (0/1)

Due to the new objectives, Quest Rank has been updated!

New Rank: A-C]

However, this wasn't everything, there was another, much more important update to another quest.

[The Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto has been updated!]

New Optional Objective has been added!

Optional: - Absorb the Guardian]

He was momentarily stunned after reading through both notes. The fluctuation of energy that came from the dark corner of this room, was indeed a being that was lying in wait. Most likely he was the reaper that reaped all these lives and robbed his servants of their chance at revenge. But why did the quests suddenly update? Why did this so-called 'Guardian' come? Is it related to what he and his minions were doing? Did the powerful entity that spoke to him, did all this? Did he cast away his brainwashed servants If so, what was the reason? 

Still, based on the texts, the Guardian will be the answer to many of his lingering questions and doubts, however, he would first have to earn this right… 

However, based on the difficulty of the quests, Aiden was sure it was going to be a tough fight even for him. Both quests are top-ranked, meaning that the dangers they carry would be high, even for him. He looked over the backs of his servants and sighed. What he was about to do, they wouldn't like, but there wasn't any other way.

With the somber, serious, heavy look on his face, Aiden stepped ahead of his minions, looking towards a particular direction in the far-right part of the room, towards the dark corner. 

His lips parted, but before his words came, the group of four minions heard his somber tone resounding in their minds.

"Step back guys, the opponent is not someone you guys can take on yet. Return to the Minion Domain and wait for my commands."

He flicked his right hand, as the familiar-looking portal showing the scene of a lush, vibrant green meadow appeared at the right side. Knowing well enough his first servant now, Aiden's voice came to their minds before they had the chance to argue.

"This is an order. This goes for you too Roas. I will call you guys when the danger has passed."

The tone of his voice didn't give any space for anything but obedience. With heavy looks on their faces, all four of them nodded, and silently walked into the portal, vanishing through the portal.

As the last of them, Galina walked through, the portal, just like before closed automatically, leaving the four in the safe, system-created space.

Finally being left alone, Aiden's gaze returned towards the seemingly empty shadows on the far-right corner of the room.

"Come out, don't hide like a rat!" Aiden exclaimed with a heavy look, his hands were already in a battle-ready position to transform to the black claws at a moments' notice.

A single, short snort could be heard from the direction he was facing, as a tall, robust, dark brown humanoid-shaped creature slowly materialized from thin air. He looked similar to the orcs at first glance, however, his face was very unique, almost human-like, not to mention the incredibly muscular build could topple even the strongest of the orcs Aiden had seen so far. He was more than two heads taller than him, towering over him like a giant.

As their eyes met, Aiden could feel the coldness radiating from him. Just like he sized the creature, the creature did the same, slowly scanning Aiden's figure from top to bottom. 

Several seconds passed in silence as both parties measured the other, trying to find a weakness but failing to do so. Eventually, the creature was the first to open his mouth and speak in his guttural, hoarse voice. 

"Such a small, fragile body… Hmmm…" He snorted once again, his eyes showing the same unreadable coldness that it did before. 

Before Aiden could speak up, the creature continued, as his eyes wandered towards the ceiling.

"Regardless, it is the Master's wish, so I will do as I was ordered… and not go overboard."

His eyes returning to the boy, he snorted, going further with his speech.

"Master wants to see your true potential, you will fight me. However, before we do, you can ask your questions, if I am allowed, I will answer them."

Aiden was looking at the creature with surprise. What puzzled him the most currently, was the fact that he couldn't feel any of the power he felt just a moment ago coming from him. In fact, he couldn't feel anything besides his very strong life essence. Who or whatever this being was, he couldn't even guess at his power level, he was completely in the dark…

And to be perfectly honest, he didn't really like this feeling…

"Khm…" Aiden coughed, forcing his troubling thoughts to the back of his head for now, and spoke with his usual calm tone, showing that he wasn't afraid of him at all.

"In that case, tell me first. Did you do all this? Did you kill off all the leaders?"

"Yes." The creature nodded without hesitation to his question and went on. "Master has changed his original plans after noticing you and your power as you ascended his tower."

His words shocked Aiden once again. From this, he was now certain that the changes in the quest happened because of him. His actions altered the way the quest was supposed to go down, forcing the system to accommodate accordingly. However, while this seemed to force a major change in the optional, related quest, the Main Quest was still mostly the same, and only added an 'optional' clause to absorb this being… The question is why? 

Sadly, he couldn't ask this from anyone...

"You killed everyone by yourself? Why did your master change his plans? What does he want with me?" Aiden asked although he was mostly already aware of the answers.

"Yes, I did. They were no longer necessary and would just be a problematic factor in the future. It was better to end their pathetic existence. Besides... You wanted to do the same, nothing changed in the end." The creature answered with the same neutral tone as he did previously, clearly not bothered by murdering their own species.

"Last questions… Just who or what are you, and what is this about seeing my 'true potential'?"

This time, the creature didn't answer immediately. His eyes lingered on Aiden for a bit longer, before he slowly closed them. At the next moment, a tremendous force was released from his body, an invisible, strong hurricane-like wind raged across the room, blowing the gory chunks and small and medium-sized bits away. The thick puddle of blood that covered the ground was also pushed back, creating a small, dry piece of land at the middle of the bloody surface.

The pressure he released was strong, much stronger than anything that Aiden has felt before… 

Still, it wasn't something he couldn't withstand. He stood still, facing such a powerful creature... For the first time in his life, he felt like he truly needed to give his all to what was to come, if he wanted to survive.