Chapter 167: Migration ( 17 )
The three women observing Liara and Ren suddenly noticed their mouths moving and quickly rushed toward them. However, they halted midway upon witnessing the strange actions occurring between the two simultaneously.
Their eyes were shut, their bodies immobile, yet their mouths moved in unison, spouting the exact same words over and over again.
"Bela... lurabira... shibira..." Both of them repeated the same strange, undecipherable language at the same time.
"What is happening?" The women were beyond confused at this point.
Bruce's wife, Melissa, summoned the courage to step closer to her sister.
"Liara, wake up! What are you saying?" She tried to wake her but failed.
The other women beside her found the situation too strange to even step in.
"We should go report this to Lord Rowan. Maybe Dragun could help too," one of them suggested.
"I heard the angel has returned to the village. He could use his angelic power to heal her," the other added.
They did not receive a reply from Melissa, so one of them volunteered and left the house to go invite Rowan.
While she was away, the other two stayed behind. Melissa looked really worried and tense at the moment. The other lady tried to warn her to stay away from the two, scared that it was some sort of possession that could affect her.
---
Meanwhile, at the meeting hall, Rowan had just finished explaining the situation with Ren and Liara to D'andre.
"That is strange," D'andre remarked. "Both of them made and drank the same concoction on the same night and fell unconscious at the same time?" He repeated Rowan's words while pondering. "I think you have some really dark supernatural creature on your tail right now. Given your current power, surviving against one would be akin to challenging a level 99 boss at level 1," he continued.
Given D'andre's talkative nature, it didn't take him even a minute before he started recounting a series of grim tales—stories of lords he knew who fell to some pretty nasty dark creatures, their fates sealed by forces beyond their comprehension.
"One of my friends lost all the young ones to a vitality-sucking dark creature rumored to be a shtriga.
"Another was suddenly possessed by a lustful one; it made him go around the village, forcefully taking the virginity of innocent women. His actions spread across other territories like wildfire, and he was stoned to death even though he tried explaining that it wasn't his intention.
"You are my friend, Rowan. I will give you this advice: don't fuck with dark creatures! They are evil and mostly unkillable."
D'andre's stories only made matters worse in Rowan's mind. Rowan's eyes furrowed as he began to wonder how to protect himself and his territory from these dark creatures.
He inquired from D'andre, and his answer was the same as Dragun's: "They can't be caught and they mostly can't be killed. Just pray none of 'em set their eyes on your territory."
"Fucking hell!" Rowan cussed inwardly.
His mind ran through every possible solution, including the dark and bloody ones. He was about to ask a certain question when knocks came from the door.
"Lord Rowan, someone wants to speak with you—it's urgent!"
It was the voice of the soldiers guarding the perimeter of the meeting hall.
"You better go check this out," D'andre warned Rowan.
Rowan nodded. Both of them stood up and strolled to the door. Rowan saw the soldiers standing outside, as well as a woman who had a pretty worried expression on her face.
She reported what she came here for, her report causing the eyes of D'andre and Rowan to shrink a little bit.
"They are speaking but still not awake?" Rowan found it a little bit strange.
"Yes, Lord Rowan."
Rowan turned to look at D'andre. "I want to see this for myself; who knows, maybe I can be of help."
Rowan nodded, and both of them followed the woman who took them to Bruce's place.
When they got there, it was just as she had described. Ren and Liara were lying immobile on the beds as usual, their eyes tightly shut but their mouths moving, letting out a language that even Rowan could not understand.
Melissa and the other woman in the room rushed to meet Rowan and D'andre and explained the situation to them. Melissa was in tears, fearing she would lose her sister.
D'andre frowned upon witnessing the scene. "The ancient Titan language..." he muttered.
"What did you say?" Rowan questioned curiously.
"The language they are speaking—it is similar to the ancient Titan language. This language is very old and almost extinct. I never tried learning it because there is no one alive who knows and speaks the language due to how long it has been extinct," D'andre quickly explained.
Rowan listened carefully, and his eyes widened a little bit. "Does that mean...?"
"These two are certainly under the control of some pretty fucked-up bastards. A vengeful one at that. The ancient Titan clan were slaughtered by humans centuries ago because of their evil mind control and soul manipulation techniques," D'andre explained.
He is a merchant, and his reserve of information was very vast, containing histories, stories, and facts from places he has been to. Also, thanks to the connections he makes as a merchant, obtaining these sorts of information was as easy as stealing candy from a baby.
Rowan became even more worried the more he learned about the language Ren and Liara were currently speaking. Each new piece of information added to the weight on his shoulders, making him question how he could possibly protect his people from such ancient and malevolent forces.
"Do you by any chance know about the dream mixture?" Rowan suddenly asked.
When he shared the story of Liara and Ren with D'andre earlier, he didn't mention the dream mixture. But now, he had to ask.
However, his question piqued the interest of D'andre immediately. He turned to look at him with eyes wild with excitement and greed. If this was a comic, then there would be dollar signs in his eyes at this moment.
"Dream mixture? You have one? If you have the recipe, it would make it even better. Your village would become the richest even amongst C-rank territories with it."
Rowan hummed disappointedly. Sadly, the dream mixture wasn't in his possession, and he didn't have the recipe.
"I am not asking because I have to sell. Didn't you see my inventory earlier? There is no such thing as a recipe in it."
His answer killed the happiness in D'andre at once.
"I only mentioned it because it was the concoction they took that left them in this state," he continued.
"Oh..." D'andre exclaimed. "Sadly, I don't know too much about the dream mixture except the fact it is very important to mages and how expensive and rare its recipe is," he answered.
While both of them discussed, Liara and Ren continued speaking in the ancient Titan language. They said the same words at the same time without a single pause, their voices echoing eerily in the room. Their bodies remained unmoving and their eyes shut, giving the impression of statues brought to life only through speech.
Both of them were still in the room when Dragun and Vishirk rushed inside.
Nevertheless, they both halted after crossing the door as they felt the strong magical aura radiating from D'andre. A sudden grip of fear washed over them at once. It was as though they were standing in the presence of a godly mountain.
Explore stories on m,v l'e-m|p y r
"This power..." Dragun muttered while observing the white hair of D'andre. The only time he had ever felt this scared was while standing in front of high heads of the Cult of Ember Justice.
As for Vishirk, it was as though his body stopped responding to his will. He could only stand and stare at the figure of D'andre, his body sweating profusely.
D'andre was so focused on Liara and Ren that he failed to notice the arrival of Dragun and Vishirk. Only Rowan spotted them. He noticed their expressions and understood immediately what was happening.
He turned to D'andre. "Madafaka, reduce your mana aura or whatever you guys call it."
"Huh?" D'andre was confused.
Only then did he tilt his head backward and notice Dragun and Vishirk. "Oh, you have mages in your territory now?" He was pretty surprised. Mages present in an F-rank territory is pretty rare, especially in a place like Winterseed with little to no mana available in the atmosphere. If he knew that Riela was able to awaken in the village, he would be more than surprised.
"I am sorry, you two. I never expected mages to be present in this village," he smiled at both of them.
He called off his mana aura before Dragun and Vishirk were finally able to move. Both of them heaved loud sighs of relief. Dragun was able to move; he shook hands with D'andre, and both of them introduced themselves.
On the other hand, Vishirk found it difficult to move as his mind was in deep shock. 'How did Rowan manage to befriend someone so strong?'