"What the hell is that thing?" thought Arthur, exchanging gazes with the mysterious creature.
The three female elves had spoken about the creature, so its appearance was something Arthur knew. Yet, it still gave him chills to look at it personally.
But they had also told him about the creature's lack of vision, and it was clear that was not true! If the beast could see him there, then it had seen the three elves yet decide not to kill them — for some unknown reason, Arthur had yet to find out.
"What should I do?"
That thing just kept looking at him from afar with a creepy smile, and before Arthur could decide anything, a voice echoed inside his head.
It was hoarse and not something one would like to hear.
"Will you come here, or will I have to get you?"
"..."
Arthur could not explain, but the appearance and the voice of that thing and the smile were the most terrifying things he had ever seen! The creature came in touch with him via mental message, and Arthur was not stupid enough to try to run.
"This thing is at least at rank four, but I think it is way higher!"
Any creature Arthur could not see through had to be automatically at rank four. Still, it did not mean it could not be higher — he did not believe it as most things weren't THAT strong on the planet he was in.
So, without any other choice, Arthur jumped from the tree house, making little to no noise, and went to meet with the creature. The closer he got to the thing, the scarier he became.
"But if it wanted me dead or the three elves, it would have killed already, right? So it must be something else," thought Arthur, trying to find words to calm his mind.
He walked toward the creature, and the Dark Forest, which should have many dangers, had nothing. All the beasts knew who the boss was, and no one dared to come closer when that slender creature was out.
Arthur felt the same way as the beasts and did not want to come closer to that, but unfortunately, that was not an option for him.
The two got face-to-face, and the size difference was evident now that Arthur was right in front of that thing! The slender creature was as high as five meters, making Arthur look like an ant in front of it.
"This is when I die?"
Arthur calmed down and looked toward the beast, who only had one eye as the other was just an empty socket.
"Will you kill me?"
"Kill you? No, of course not! You are a chosen one!"
From all the things Arthur expected to hear, that was not one of them.
"Chosen? For what?"
"For? No, from! You have the Blood Monarch's inheritance, right?"
The secret Arthur tried to keep to himself was so easily found that he wondered what level of that creature was.
"You made a second body using the avatar technique. Smart, well done. I know that because you don't have the Emperor Eye!"
"You also know about the eye? Who are you? Wait..."
Now that Arthur was close to the creature, he noticed the strange eye it had, as well as the other empty socket. Could the Emperor Eye once belong to that thing?"
"I know what you are guessing, and it is correct. The Emperor Eye was mine, and I gave it to the Blood Monarch. As for the other eye, I wanted to give it to him at the right time, but he vanished,"
"Come with me."
Before Arthur could try anything, the creature picked him up, and the two vanished.
~~~~
"What is this place?"
The creature brought him to a cave afterward, and it had many things inside, like armor, weapons, furniture, and a lot of gold. It looked like a dragon's nest.
"My home. I collect many things, especially from the elves and humans who crossed paths with me."
"But why are you here? Aren't you too much powerful for this small world?"
Arthur wanted to know! A creature like that was powerful at a level he could not comprehend, like Ikarus and Turquoise. Perhaps the beast in front of Arthur was even stronger!
A minor planet like the one they were in was not enough to make the beast stay — even Arthur planned on leaving the world after reaching rank four.
"Where do I start?"
The beast had many things to share with Arthur, and for that reason, he sat in a chair he found inside the cave and listened to everything carefully.
"Why am I speaking so calmly with this strange ass beast that looks as creepy as horror movies... am I getting insane?"
"I am hiding from the Alliance."
"Why? Aren't the Alliance the ones taking care of our universe?"
"Correct. But that changed when they got people infiltrated in there, from lower to high rankings,"
"The Blood Monarch was not as bad as it seemed. You have his memories, at least some of them, and you know it! Sure he killed others, but what mage doesn't do that? At least he did that to the deserving and not random people,"
"The neighbor universe is way stronger than us. The Blood Monarch went there to get stronger and perhaps defeat them, but he never returned, and I don't know if he's alive."
"If that's true, why did he give me the eye? Wouldn't that help him fight against them?"
Arthur had a valid question and guessed the answer but wanted to hear the creature just to make sure.
"They knew he had the eye, the Alliance, and they wanted to get it from him, so he hid it inside an inheritance on the planet he was born and fled to the other universe."
"Brat, hear me out. There isn't much I can do for you, and I also don't know about many things."
The creature did not know the whole story. It was trapped in there, so how could it? But now, with Arthur, there were some things the beast could do.
"You have the Emperor Eye, right? It can see the energies, making all your spells better, but the main purpose of that eye is to find the others! With the Emperor Eye, you can track down the other Forbidden Eyes and get all of them for yourself! That's the only chance you have to fight against those infiltrated inside the Alliance and also against the other universe, or else all of us will die!"
Arthur already knew the Emperor Eye could track down other eyes, as his system told him. Still, the creature did not know about it, so he acted surprised after hearing it.
"I can give you the Unseen Truth Eye, the one I still have. Use it to get stronger, and once you leave this world, look to learn more about the Alliance and find the Blood Monarch! Not for me, not for you, but for everyone! The neighbor universe wants to take control of us, and if they do, all your loved ones, and all the innocent people you know, will die!"
"But why me?"
"Honestly, there isn't a grand destiny thing behind it. You are the only decent one I came across, and you already have one of the eyes, so why not? I could wait here longer for someone else that could be better, but that could take a long time, and we don't have it."
Then, the creature ripped his eye out and moved his other hand, making one of Arthur's eyes come out of his socket! A lot of blood and other liquids spurted, but it did not take long for the Unseen Truth Eye to enter the empty socket, making it all stop until an even worse pain came.