Chapter 599 - 599 - Just A Weakling...

Standing some distance behind his forces, the large Saurus, General Zokor's previous nonchalant, overall disinterested attitude shattered to tiny pieces in a moment with the shocking release of energy that almost destroyed the entire battlefield and with it, his men.

His eyes turned towards the distant crumbling walls of the rebels' camp, revealing a complex, complicated look. For the first time, the thought of meeting someone that could actually match his strength and that his dominating, fearsome aura he cultivated for all his life would be ineffective against. For the first time, he wasn't sure that he could force and bully his opponents into submission like he always did. For the first time since forever, he wasn't sure about the outcome of a campaign he has undertaken.

Still, his arrogance birthed from his recent evolution did not allow him to wallow on such pathetic thoughts for too much. Barely a couple of seconds passed as he suddenly came back from his self-induced reverie, and scoffed with a great deal of contempt showing on his smooth, thick-skinned face. 

"[Reptilian] Humpf! So what if there's someone there that could release such a surge of power? He must have used some sort of secret technique, and has to be dead tired…" This line of thought lined in perfectly with his hopes and expectations, thus deciding it to be the obvious and clear truth for what had transpired. He nodded at himself, smirking with contempt as he now accepted these statements in his mind.

"[Reptilian] Yes, that must be the case… That pathetic weakling must have used some technique he must have stolen from the High Priest! Yes…" He nodded once again, at his own words, agreeing with himself. "It must have been that traitor who ran with that brat… the archbishop…"

Coming to this conjecture, the large Saurus grinned evilly, he licked his lips as he kept on musing loudly to himself, ignoring the fact that his immediate guards were still standing around him.

"[Reptilian] Wonder how a traitor's flesh would taste? Hmm… He is slightly aged, but that just makes the sinew taste better…" He snickered, revealing a hideous, monstrous look on his face. A greedy look flashed through his large, dark golden eyes, he slowly began to walk forward.

"[Reptilian] I guess it's time for me to greet the audience… After all, I'm getting a bit hungry…" He muttered as he steadily made his way through the carnage and heaps of mutilated, charred flesh. His large skink-sized tail was loudly patting the ground behind his wake, showcasing his growing, rising mood. 

Looking at his receding figure as the large monster slowly paced through all the gore and dredge-ridden landscape, the left behind guards of this terrifying monster heaved a collective sigh of relief, they all plopped down to the ground as the last leftover bits of strength instantly escaped from their bodies.

"[Reptilian] Finally… I just hope that whoever that person with that weird flashy power was, could contend with this monster… Maybe even defeat him." A guard, that unlike the rest was merely sitting instead of being sprawled out listlessly on the ground breathing.

"[Reptilian] What are you saying, Zork! Don't you know that he could still hear us? His senses are much sharper than ours!" Hearing his words, another guy worriedly sat up, and exclaimed with concern showing on his expression. "Such thoughts can and will mark you as his next target! Do you want to end up like Kupa?"

Hearing his friend's words, the sitting skink guard, Kupa-Zeluak shuddered with fear. Kupa-Zeluak's demise was a great warning to all of them. The poor sod of a lizard made a grave, serious offense just last night as they were planning to set out to today's march; he dared to question the legitimacy of the General's actions. 

What happened next served as nightmare fuel for the rest of their night and will undoubtedly continue to haunt them for the foreseeable future. The skinned flesh of their brethren, the limbless, mutilated torso with the terrified, frightened look still etched on his face as it was skewered and placed atop the bonfire…

The crunching, juice-filled eerie sound as the general slowly, systematically engorged himself on the delicacy of his flesh, and leftover intestines, was not something they could ever forget.

Remembering the horrors last night, Kupa shuddered in fear, worriedly casting his gaze on the distance, not daring to even breath as he watched as their general kept on marching closer and closer to the source of the recent events…

—

Still lost in his own thoughts and the updates that came from his system, Aiden was suddenly alerted by a new singular blimp's sudden appearance on his system's map. The deep red dot -indicating that the presence was clearly hostile, aggressive-, has appeared without a warning or any trace.

What was even more perplexing was that previously there was absolutely no sign of the creature amidst the enemy ranks. He either managed to hide for some reason and escape his system's supposedly all-powerful scans, or he had some other means to remain hidden and only reveal his presence once he felt it was right.

Noticing his worry, Enya's soothing, reassuring explanation rang inside his mind in the next moment.

'[Don't be too confused about it, Aiden. You shouldn't forget that if there are abilities that will help you sense others' presence, there should be those that would work the opposite way, allowing one to hide himself and his energy signatures. Usually, these are rather rare and have constraints, limits placed on them, but they exist nonetheless.]' She explained, pausing for only a few moments before continuing on.

'[The creature that is approaching seems to be someone mostly focused on strength. His core does have more energy than the others amongst the ranks of the enemy, but nothing too outstanding. Still, don't be lax, he seems to be aware of our attempts at analyzing him and is now trying the same…]' She warned.

'I see. Thanks for the warning.' Aiden mumbled inwardly, turning to look at the approaching silhouette in the distance. Squinting his eyes, he focused on the figure, surprised to see something that was clearly not of the same kind as the rest of its group. 

Taking a quick look at the system's map, he waited as the Tooltip was eventually generated.

[Name: Zokor Kak-Xoq

Power: Fire (Advanced), Blood of the Ancient One (Moderate),  Strength (Advanced), Carnivorous Rejuvenation (Innate)

Threat Level: High

Affiliation: High Priest, Chaotic Corrupted Mind

Note: Energy signatures indicate recent evolution. The entity's powers may not be stable as of yet. Caution advised.]

Reading through the information that came from the scans, Aiden's eyes went wide instantly. 

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