Chapter 301 - When Rumours Aren't Rumours But The Truth

In a lavish courtyard, a short distance from the boisterous hall high pitched screams of a woman scolding her maidservant were heard in the night. Loud noises could be heard coming from the hall but they were drowned out by her scolding.

Inside the beautifully decorated bedroom, a woman lay topless on the bed as a trembling maidservant cleaned her wounds from the whip. Her father was right. She could most definitely survive a few whips from that sword.

That's because her half Nocru trait was her high pain tolerance. Plus that sword didn't whip her at its maximum capacity like it was pitying her. That's why she could still have the energy to yell despite having endured twenty lashes.

"That old bastard actually dared to sell me out? It seems he loves his money more than he loves me. Wait until I get my hands on that treasury. I am going to fuckin bankrupt him in a week," she said before sweeping the tray off the bedside table fuming in anger.

"More like in a day," subconsciously muttered the maidservant as she watched a vase and medicine bottle break into pieces as they came crashing down.

Because of the things breaking on the floor this young miss didn't hear her well so she half raised her upper half and looked back at her with an icy glare. "What did you say?" in a tone of voice that seemed to say the truth or lie, you are dead either way.

The maidservant collapsed to the ground and began to beg her body quivering in fright. She didn't know what made her this courageous to say what she said. Maybe it was because she had watched her rude, obnoxious miss with a vile temper get beaten for the first time ever.

Each day they had to endure slaps as well as hurtful insults and seeing her oppressor get her just deserts she couldn't help but forget her status for a moment. As the young miss spitfire on her servant, she was unaware that something was stalking her in the night.

Hiding in the brush was a dark mist gathered in one spot. If one looked closely they could see a pair of dark eyes staring at the lit room with a half-naked woman yelling. Its dark eyes didn't view things the same way as humans though.

What it could see was one's aether and their aetherial veins with their seraphic energy flowing through like a bright ray of light. It could see this woman was weak prey but after hunting all this while it seemed this was the best it could get.

If it didn't deliver fresh prey by sunrise the great lord would be very upset. Fearing the wrath of its leader it vanished on the spot leaving behind rustling leaves. Feeling the presence of something sinister the maidservant looked outside and came face to face with the rustling bushes in the inky night. 

Her breath caught in her throat she blinked foolishly completely ignoring the woman screaming at her. An overwhelming fear took over her body, fear of the unknown like she was in the presence of the supernatural.

The hairs all over her body were standing on end with her back covered in cold sweats as she stared at the empty brush. The arrogant young miss wasn't too pleased after being disregarded so she got up and unhesitantly kicked the maidservant on her side and the girl fell over with a loud thud. She was about to kick her again when she heard a sound.

The maidservant curled up into a ball terrified and she dared not raise her head. The young miss grabbed her robe and covered herself before yelling, "Who is it?.... Show yourself or don't blame me for what happens next," but there was no response. Angered she picked up a set of flying daggers from her drawer and listened carefully for any noises.

For a moment all she could hear was the sound of her maidservant whimpering on the ground. Angered she threw a flying dagger surrounded by a yellow luminous light towards her. Her seraphic energy steered the dagger causing it to land a few inches near her face.

The maidservant accepted this as a warning and covered her head with her hands while biting her lips to prevent her from making a sound. The room soon descended into an eerie silence amplifying the beating sounds of their hearts.

She was beginning to think this was all in her head when she heard a loud bam sound of something falling on the roof. She sneered as she threw three of the flying daggers up the roof. Like missiles, the daggers shot up tearing the roof while at it. The creature on the roof quickly spun in the air dodging the daggers. As the daggers flew up in the sky the creature took advantage of the hole in the roof and jumped down into the bedroom.

The young miss saw the heap of dark fog on the floor and her brows creased as she summoned her flying daggers back. The fog quickly began to take shape into a slithering structure like a snake but it was in no way, sharp or form one.

Glowing red lights flashed within the fog as multiple demon claws formed like branches extending from the trunk of a tree. In the middle of each set of claws was a big eye with a thin vertical slit pupil giving them an ominous air.

Its slithering body got broader as it got closer to its head. In the middle of the broadest part of its body were double roll teeth like its mouth was on its chest.

It had another roll of teeth on the side of its cheek and a set of eyes like it was a whole other face. Down its back was a hard fin-like structure with chipped off edges like it had gotten into a vicious fight. It dared not make a sound as it walked on its multiple arms with sharp claws. The young miss was terrified as she took a step back.

She had heard of the legends and rumours but it had nothing to do with her because she was far from the crisis. People believed that if you enter or walk close to the forest you would be taken but over the years her father had told her some villages had people vanishing in the middle of the night without a trace and the villagers believed it was the forest.

Her father suppressed the news as it would indirectly affect their business. If such rumours spread to his town then the number of visitors coming to Lequ would reduce. Besides the so-called mythical forest was worlds away from this shore town so what was there to worry about?

Who would have thought these creatures would come this far and she would become one of their victims?