Chapter 12 - Death Match Part 2

"It's alright. Let me on your back. We'll try to find what that Hyperion was searching for," Agemo whispered to the tiger. The tiger lowered itself to the ground, allowing Lu Shu to climb onto its back. It then turned to face the forest, ignoring the recruits. Lu Shu had never expended so much spirit energy and still felt drained. It wasn’t just from using spirit energy but also from the adrenaline leaving his body. He ached all over and was glad to rest on the soft fur of his magical beast.

"You guys go find your master. Try to help him if you can. The Hyperion that attacked us went after him when you left," Lu Shu said.

"What about Scholar Jing?" they asked.

"My senior scholar will find me. Our white tiger magical beasts have a connection of sorts. I want to leave this place and find somewhere safe," Lu Shu said, lying about everything except Meng Ce being able to find him through their magical beasts. "I'll be fine. I'm just really tired."

"Sorry for leaving you there," Marcella murmured as Lana nudged her. "I was afraid. It was my first time fighting a Hyperion."

"It was mine too," he said coldly.

"Ah, right. I'm sorry," Marcella said. "We'll find our master now. I hope we can still be friends in the future. If not me, then the others. They just followed my orders since I was the strongest mage. Most parties are led by a mage. I'm really sorry."

The tiger did not stop during their conversation, and Lu Shu slumped on its back as it disappeared into the trees. The white tiger followed the tracks and scent, avoiding any directions with noises. Lu Shu guessed it was either fighting or the Hyperion patrols. If the humanoids escaped his master, they would definitely try to find the humanoid he killed. He had no doubt his master would survive.

"Agemo Miura or Shu of the Lu clan," Lu Shu sighed. "It seems people want me dead in both lives. Being a Practitioner and royalty, it's obvious my life will be in danger. However, what did I do in my past life? Project O? If only I could remember how to recreate the technology. However, science and mythological powers should not exist on the same planet."

The white tiger arrived in front of a large tree. As the tiger approached, Lu Shu realized they were not in a forest at all. They were in a swamp; the ground had become muddy, and water soon covered it. The tree was abnormally large compared to the others, as if it were the very first tree. It was the heart of the swamp and was probably thousands of years old. The white tiger squeezed through an opening in the roots, and Lu Shu sat up straight as he saw an altar of stone.

The air seemed unusually pleasant. Light green light shone from the roots onto the altar. It was clear that the altar had some positive effect on the growth of the large tree and the expansion of the swamp. Whatever the Hyperion wanted was probably lying on the altar. They would have taken it if Gillian had not been detected.

"Now what would a race, cursed and punished by the Heavens, want from here?" Lu Shu asked as he approached the altar. "What would make a race so desperate as to send their forces all the way to the west, to this hidden swamp? The humanoid Hyperion I killed seemed pretty haughty as it always referred to itself as a god. There must be something as ancient as their race here."

Atop the altar were five strange items. First, Lu Shu stared at a large demonic core at the left end of the altar. It was about a foot in diameter and nestled on a large cushion. He had thought all demonic cores were the size of an adult human fist at most, but here was a giant demonic core he had never seen before. Then he examined the second item, an ancient scroll. Lu Shu opened it, revealing a map. He did not recognize the landscape or the writing on the map. Was this what the Hyperion wanted? He didn’t know and decided to store it in his storage bag, just in case.

The third item was a pure white staff with five large jade mana stones at the top. The wood of the staff seemed to twist and latch onto the mana stones like veins. He was not a mage and moved on to the fourth item, a Practitioner weapon—a great axe, to be precise. He didn’t care about it either and moved on to the last item. It was five necklaces arranged in a five-point star formation.

Each necklace had a white metal chain connected to a small bead representing the five points of the star. He wore one of the necklaces around his neck. The bead appeared to be an ordinary black bead with the image of a single white wing that seemed to move within. He adjusted the other four necklaces so they would not be positioned in a star formation. Since he was not of the third rank, he decided to take the large demonic core and absorb its energy in a safer location.

The altar itself seemed to be a powerful artifact, but he couldn’t move, destroy, or damage it. He sighed as he removed all traces of his presence under the root and left with his white tiger. He had lied about leaving the area. He would need to enter the tunnel and be found in Wightwood Forest by the others to prove his alibi. If the Hyperion did come to the tree, maybe what he took would stop whatever they were planning. At least, he hoped it was true. Just to be sure, he hid one of the four remaining necklaces in the root wall. Unless the Hyperion was sensitive to earth spirit energy or was an earth mage, they wouldn’t find it.

Five hours after he left, a single bloodied Hyperion managed to find the altar. What it did, no one would know. When Gillian, Meng Ce, and the recruits went to find what the Hyperion was searching for, all they found was an empty room with savage slashes on the roots. Whatever entered under the tree had found what it was looking for but was also completely mad. Gillian paled because he knew that whatever had accelerated the giant tree's growth had disappeared.

"The Hyperion found what they were looking for," Gillian snarled and kicked the root wall in anger.

"We killed most of them, and only one of the Hyperion we fought escaped. Furthermore, it seems the Hyperion did not succeed as much as it had hoped," Meng Ce said as he pointed at the walls. "It is clearly enraged. The bastard was lucky to escape us, but it lost most of its forces."

"It will be out of the country by now, Scholar Jing!" Gillian yelled. "We weren’t able to stop what they were planning. At least the recruits survived and joined up with us. They are officially God Eaters. However, only those who killed a humanoid God Eater deserve to call themselves that."

"Where is Agemo? You said he left the forest, later discovered as a swamp, after you returned to the battlefield," Meng Ce asked.

"He left due to exhaustion from killing the humanoid. He’s probably at Wightwood Forest. He said he needed to find a place to rest and recover," Reginald said.

"Then I am off to find my junior disciple. Gillian, thank you for allowing me and my junior a chance to kill the Hyperion. While it is regrettable that we failed, we have learned how they secretly traveled and avoided detection. You must have those who specialize in earth magic and those with high sensitivity to spirit energy guard the borders from now on. Farewell," Meng Ce said and left.

"What now, Master Gillian?" Marcella asked.

"We head to Sky Angel Academy now. I must report to my superiors about their new method of travel and what occurred here. Take samples of the roots and soil. We need to analyze the energy here and discover just what they were trying to find," Gillian said.

"Uh, Master Gillian?" Jiro called as he rustled among the root walls. "I think I found something. It seems to be a necklace. It was hidden in the root wall. I think someone came here and hid it after they took something."

"Excellent! Well done, Jiro. I am very glad I recruited an earth mage now," Gillian laughed heartily. "Since you found the necklace, it is yours. You will accompany me as I report to my superiors, and we will show them the necklace. After examining it, it will be returned to you."

Jiro nodded happily and stored the necklace in a box from his storage bag. Gillian did not want to take any chances and had Jiro carry it in the box. They collected samples of the roots and soil and left the swamp.