Evolution begins with an ant colony

Chapter 194: It’s Strange

As the elders led Akun through the halls of the tree castle, they came into contact with Princess Rinalef. She was just exiting her parents’ chambers, and her eyes widened with disbelief as she mumbled, "Elders, behind you. It’s Akun. He somehow got back in the castle again."

Akun’s eyes shone brightly as he spoke with a serious tone, "I don’t think that is any way to address your master." Suddenly, with a wave of his hand, she fell to her knees.

The elder Aelorin suddenly rushed to her side as she began to beg on her behalf, "Young liege, please be merciful."

Akun gritted his teeth as he suddenly released her from the weight of his aspect power. He then walked past her; Elder Sylara, Thalanor, and Nyressa followed behind him.

As they walked past Rinalef, she slowly turned her frightened gaze at Elder Aelorin and asked while stuttering, "Elder, what is he doing here, and why are the other elders following behind him?"

Elder Aelorin smiled as she said, "Things have changed, my child. You should be more respectful of him from now on." She patted Rinalef’s head and added, "He has come to lift the curse from your parents."

Upon hearing Elder Aelorin’s statement, Rinalef calmed down as she asked, "Really?"

Elder Aelorin smiled as she continued to pat her head and brought her in for an embrace, saying, "Really, so all of this will be over soon."

Slowly, tears gathered in Rinalef’s eyes, her cheeks turned red as she began to cry.

"There, there," Elder Aelorin continued to pat her head.

Observing the whole scenario play out, Akun mused, "I’m having conflicting emotions and thoughts.

Observing the whole scenario play out, Akun mused, "I’m having conflicting emotions and thoughts. Because the dryads were responsible for the deaths of my people back in the original timeline, the thought of them just roaming in this one free made me slightly infuriated. I wanted them to suffer, so I decided to enslave them all.

But then I was also curious as to why they did what they did to Oliver that caused the massacre in the first place. So, I tortured the princess, and I was able to learn they did everything because they were forced to; the lives of their ’beloved’ rulers were on the line.

Akun gritted his teeth as he mused further, so it wasn’t their fault, though I felt a very tiny hint of guilt for slaughtering the dryad people who weren’t even aware of any of it. I can’t help but feel like they still deserve some more punishment for making me see that hellish scene.

Arriving in front of the chambers of the dryad king and queen, the trembling guards wanted to point their spears, but then the elders stepped forward signaling for the guards to open the doors and let Akun through.

The guards simply complied, and both proceeded to push open the massive wooden doors.

As the wooden doors slowly opened up, Akun’s gaze fell on the room of the dryad rulers, the mossy roof with the finely carved wooden king-sized bed, some sort of veil surrounded the bed. There were green runes, embedded in the walls, giving the room a soft inviting green glow.

Akun slowly walked into the chambers, the dryad elders walked in slowly after him.

Akun walked towards the veil and lifted it up to see the bedridden dryad rulers. Inwardly, he mused, "So these people were the reason thousands of my people had to die, all for the sake of retrieving my core and saving them."

Suddenly, Elder Sylara spoke up, "They have been this way for some time now, and their condition seems to only worsen." Her tone became a little somber as she added, "I’ve tried all sorts of healing magic; it just doesn’t work."

Akun locked his intense gaze at the dryad rulers; their breaths came out as ragged gasps, purple cracks spread all around their skin, and their pulse seemed to be getting weaker. Sweat streamed down their faces, and the once vibrant hues of their bodies were now dulled by the curse’s grip.

Inwardly, he mused and activated dragon eyes. His eyes then shone brightly as he observed the strange red window that appeared before him.

[Demon’s curse: SSS

Casted by: Delikan

Description: ######]

The room felt heavier as an eerie glow emanated from the cursed symbols on the rulers’ bodies. Akun, now more intrigued and concerned, pondered the cryptic description. "What’s up with this description? Just hashtags? Some kind of unidentified skill, perhaps, or a hidden aspect of the curse?"

Inwardly, Akun called out to the system, "Hey, system, why can’t I read the description of this curse?"

The system replied, [Due to the fact a player who owns the skill has hidden their skill description, the curse’s description isn’t available to the player.]

Upon hearing the system’s reply, Akun became very confused. He questioned, "The player who owns the skill? Are you saying there are other people with a system other than me?"

The system replied, [The system isn’t certain.]

Akun then asked inwardly, "What do you mean you aren’t certain? If there are other players, you should have told me."

The system then responded, [And as the system stated earlier, it is not certain.]

Inwardly, Akun replied, "If you aren’t even certain, what was the point of telling me? Way to go, giving me a reason why I shouldn’t sleep at night."

Akun then let out a sigh as he gazed at Elder Sylara and asked, "So, you tried all sorts of healing spells, and it didn’t work?"

She nodded.

Akun then inquired, "Including Grater Heal?" Find more to read at NovelBin.Côm

She nodded again and added, "But it consumes a large amount of mana."

Suddenly, Akun heard the system’s voice echoing in his head, "[Ding!! †Great Xtreme Chaos† has detected fragments of an †Authority† in the designated targets.]"

"[Does the player wish to consume it?]"

Upon seeing the system message appear before him, Akun felt a chill run down his spine. He mused, "†Great Xtreme Chaos†... Why did it attempt to consume me back then? I thought it was supposed to be my †Authority†, but it feels like it has a mind of its own."