Monster Among Monster's

A day later, someone made it out of the mountain cave. He was wearing a white vest made from very strong silk that couldn't be easily torn through but the vest now had a hole on it as well as blood stains around the chest area. He also wore a black leather jacket, brown trousers and boots made from animal skin, similar to the vest, the pants and boots weren't made from ordinary materials but very strong and durable material. The leather jacket was made from the skin of a crocodile so it had the highest defense.

On his pinkie finger was a ring crafted to perfection by a true expert. This ring had wave patterns around it and a big black diamond was used as the centrepiece.

“Finally out! How great the smell of fresh air actually is!”

It was the man who had been sealed inside the mountain for hundreds of years. He now had some meat in his body and wasn't as skinny as he was previously, his crimson eyes had returned to their normal colour which was ocean blue.

“I guess I'm in the territory of the hypocritical geezers. It's great that I saved a little bit of my power to help me escape or else I'd just be recaptured or maybe even killed. Now, which way should I go, damn it, I should have spared one person to be my guide but I was starving so it couldn't be helped!”

The man then began to walk, he didn't walk forward but instead upwards. Yes, the man was walking on air like it was actually solid ground. Once he was hundreds of meters high up in the air, he could see the beautiful greenery spanning for tens of thousands of kilometers without end.

‘Was this place always so big?’ he thought to himself. He didn't dwell much on it and focussed on leaving this place. Crimson energy enveloped his whole body, especially his legs.

[Movement Art: Shooting Star!]

His entire figure released a blinding crimson light that emitted massive amounts of energy. It was like he had become a star shining brightly in the night sky and with a single step, he became a mote of light that flew at incredible speed and in a few seconds, he'd disappeared from sight. This spectacle had of course alerted powerful figures who then came to investigate.

…

Inside a luxurious and spacious hall, beautifully decorated with golden pillars, silk curtains and marbled floor. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this was a place fit for a king.

Inside this hall, a muscular man sat on his throne lazily. He was so big that one could mistake him for a giant, standing at a whopping five meters, big but perfectly sculpted muscles like a work of art, goatee beard and long black hair. He was handsome, dignified and majestic, especially with his pale green eyes. He wore simple robes that allowed for freedom, comfort and flexibility while also maintaining the man's image.

“Reporting to My Lord, it seems that someone has infiltrated the forbidden zone of the Zodiacs. We've confirmed the identity of the perpetrators using the blood and hair we found there. It's the Natural Explorers, an exploration group that hasn't existed for long. We've also deduced that they were somehow eliminated and their corpses disposed off but we're…”

“Eaten.” said the man on the throne.

“Pardon me My Lord but I don't underst…”

“You won't find the corpses because they were eaten. Inside that cave, a monster was sealed by the Zodiac Ancestors and rumour has it that person ate people. I had completely forgotten about this information because I read it a long time ago and didn't believe it was actually true”

“So what should we do My Lord, someone whom the ancestors had to act personally to get rid of must surely be strong, if…”

“Don't worry about it. With the changes Earth has undergone, Nolan probably won't even bother to come back since much more interesting things now exist here, at least he won't bother us in the short term.”

“My Lord, who is Nolan?”

“The monster that was sealed inside the mountain cave. His name is Nolan, Nolan Cooper, son of George Cooper or at least he used to be.”

“Cooper? Then doesn't that mean he's from ‘that’ family? My Lord, this is greater than…”

“Don't worry. He's not part of the Cooper Family nor will he ever be. After what he became, how could the Coopers actually take him back, they'll probably kill him on the spot if he dares to go there. And even if he comes after us, I'm sure I can easily take care of him. I've said enough, contact the other families and find out what the others have decided on and report directly to me.”

“Yes My Lord, I shall complete the job perfectly My Lord.”

The muscular man then watched his subordinate leave. Immediately after he left the throne room, a shadowy figure appeared behind the muscular man without leaving a trace.

[You know that you have to report this incident to the higher ups right. We were strictly instructed to report everything that has happens in that place, aren't you afraid angering the ancestor?]

“Relax. I have everything under control. If that bastard Nolan wants revenge for what happened in the past then I welcome him to come and try, I'll make sure to teach him a valuable lesson he'll never forget for as long as he lives.”said the giant of the man on the throne confidently. His pale green eyes now glowing brightly.

…

The man or rather Nolan who'd flown far away from the Zodiacs territories found himself inside a primitive forest. There was tall glass and trees everywhere. The small animals living there were very loud, insects sang while birds chirpped. Nolan didn't dislike such an environments and even liked it, afterall, it was much better than being in that isolated cave.

“Earth has become much bigger than I remember, I wonder what happened. Also, there are also new species or at least new to me. How long was I asleep for exactly? Plus, I've lost all my power now and no different from a normal huma… maybe a bit stronger than a normal human hehe.” he thought.

As he walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the more silent it became and the more sparse the trees were. Nolan didn't notice any of this because he was deep in thoughts and didn't care about his surroundings and by the time he realised this, it was already too late.

[Krrrrrrrrr!]

He was now surrounded by s group of creatures that were quite unfamiliar to him but read about them a lot. The creatures were short, about a meter tall, very skinny with bald heads. These creatures had very long noses, a few sharp teeth with a two centimeter gap between them, horizontal shaped pupils similar to those of goats but filled with craziness and ferocity. These creatures also had very long and sharp ears, green skin and sharp fingernails.

Yes, Nolan was surrounds by a horde of goblins that numbered at least a hundred and more were still rushing over. They were holding wooden spears, rock axes and iron swords, some that were on the trees had their bows and arrows ready to launch. Surprisingly, the goblins didn't attack upon contact but warily looked at Nolan.

“Wow, goblins! I never thought this day would come. I read about you in novels, it's said that you're very weak but have a very high reproductive rate, I guess they were telling the truth. Just when I was thinking about my next step, you guys showed up at such a perfect time. From today onwards, you are my slaves and shall do as I say, now take me to your precious leader!”