Chapter 185 Mystery In Stone Valley Part 15

Moving through the more desolate grassland, Yul made sure that he didn't ignore the glowing butterflies ahead, and he also tried his best not to fall into lava tubes. When Yul was fifty feet away from where the glowing butterfly was, he believed he heard someone yelling at Hajime to run, which only encouraged him to go further into the space below.

Abrafo, who was not far from Yul shouted, "That's Bong's voice."

"They must be in trouble," Michio said.

Yul stopped suddenly when his feet touched the edge of the opening. Yul said, "They are down there."

Jin threw a rope to Yul and said, "We'll protect your descent."

When Hajime hears Bong yelling at him to run, he turns around and sees a dark figure lunging at him. He was about to stand up and move, but his reaction was not as fast as that of the charging predator.

In the blink of an eye, the red fox grabbed Hajime's right shoulder and dug his teeth into Hajime's flesh. Hajime screamed in pain, and the red fox dragged Hajime toward the dark tube.

Hajime was dragged away, groping with his left hand for anything on the ground to defend himself, but he was unable to grab hold of any rocks, and then he discovered that his baton was still hanging at his side. He quickly reached out, grabbed the golden baton and started hitting the red fox on the head. This caused the red fox to let go of Hajime and throw Hajime from the ground towards a person twenty yards away.

Hajime was dragged away from the light, so he couldn't see the person in front of him, but when he saw the long black cloak, he immediately knew that the person in front of him was the person he fought last night. Hajime quickly stood up, holding the baton tightly in his hand.

"Whatever you want, I don't know how to give it to you," Hajime said.

"Hmph..." The man sneered. "But you know how to take over a body that's not yours."

"That...I don't know either," Hajime said. "My options are limited."

"Since I can't kill you...the only way is to imprison you so that you can no longer hurt others. Come back with me and let the master take away the pure phoenix egg from you," the man said.

Hajime said, "Not now, but after I complete the mission, I will go with you."

The man in black sneered and said, "That's not an option. No matter what evil mission you plan to do, I will not let it happen." He took a step forward and suddenly raised his hand to catch the incoming rock.

The red fox standing behind Hajime turned around and roared at Bong who was slowly retreating.

"Easy boy..." Bong said with trembling lips. "I didn't throw that rock at you..."

The red fox sneered, showing his white teeth and fangs. Just as he walked towards Bong, the sword rushed out of the darkness and swung at the red fox.

Hajime watched as the man was pushed back by an invisible force. Hajime felt his collar being pulled, pushing him backwards into someone's arms, and at the same time he saw Yul flying forward, slashing at the man in black with his sword. Abrafo and Michio chased Yul towards the man in black with their weapon.

"Are you alright?" U-ri asked.

"U-ri.... how did you find me?" Hajime asked, surprised to see U-ri.

U-ri smiled and said, "We found your butterfly."

Hajime looked at Yul, Abrafo and Michio who were fighting the man in black not far from U-ri and him. He is worried because his friends are fighting a powerful mage.

"Be careful, he's a powerful mage," Hajime shouted.

U-ri jaw dropped and he looked at Hajime. "Mage?" U-ri said. "He..."

"He is a very powerful mage," Hajime said. "I can't defeat him."

After hearing this, Abrafo sliced his finger with his sword, smeared his blood on the blade, intending to burn the man in black. "If we can kill an untouchable, we can also kill a mage," Abrafo shouted, brandishing his flaming sword, and pointing it directly at the man in black's head.

The man in black sneered and said, "Fool."

The man in black raised his left hand to stop Abrafo's sword from moving forward. He punched Abrafo in the abdomen with his right hand, knocking Abrafo backwards towards Yul. Yul raised his sword and jumped forward towards the man in black.

The man in black flew backwards, avoiding Yul's sword attack. Just when Yul and Abrafo lunged forward again, the fox man flew forward and blocked the joint attack of Yul and Abrafo. Two of his nine tails swung forward and grabbed the right hands of Yul and Abrafo, while the other two tails wrapped tightly around the bodies of Yul and Abrafo and began to squeeze them.

The man in black looked at the sword in Abrafo's hand and smiled proudly. "How dare you attack me with the sword I created...how foolish," he said through gritted teeth. "Kill them."

Michio rushed forward with his three-section staff, swung the staff left and right, but was easily blocked by the man in black. Seeing that the man in black did not leave any chance for Michio to harm him, Michio quickly retreated, took out his fire talisman, and sent the fire talisman towards the man in black.

When the line of fire rushed toward him, the man in black jumped over the line of fire, flew straight to Michio, and grabbed Michio's neck.

Seeing his friend in trouble. Hajime quickly stood up and shouted, "Don't hurt them! I will go with you!" Hajime ran towards the man in black. "Please don't hurt them... I will go with you." He grabbed the hand of the man in black that was holding Michio's throat. "Please...all you want is the pure phoenix egg... take me to see your master. I'll go with you."

"Hajime..." Yul muttered. "No..."

The man in black turned to look at Hajime. He stretched his head forward, and Hajime saw the bright orange eyes in the black hood move forward. When the face of the man in black was close enough to Hajime's, Hajime could see the man's handsome face and straight high nose. In an instant, Hajime was fascinated by the handsome appearance of the man in black. He felt that this was a face he should remember, but he didn't understand why he couldn't remember the man's name or what his relationship was to him or his host.

"I will go with you to meet your master, and you can take out the pure phoenix egg," Hajime said. "On one condition."

"You are not qualified to make conditions with me," the man in black said. "Evil existences like you are not allowed to appear on this earth."

Hajime said, "If you are not willing to accept my conditions, then kill them. Accept my conditions, otherwise you will not get the phoenix egg back, nor will you get this body back."

The man in black sighed, knowing that he was a man of God. Although he threatened to kill people, he had no intention of killing people. He also knew that if he continued to fight these three mortals, he might not win so early because the four wounds on his back from being beaten by his master had not yet healed. He sighed and said, "Okay...what are the conditions?"

Hajime said, "Those four people must go with me."

The man in black asked, "Why?"

Hajime looked back at his friends and said, "Because we are a family."

"Fam... family..." the man in black said to himself, sighing in his heart, 'but Xan... you don't have family, you said so yourself'. He looked at Hajime. "Condition accepted." He dropped Michio to the ground.

The man in black grabbed Hajime's right wrist, raised his right index finger, and quickly drew a square in the air. The drawn square expends and the five Tanzanies and Bong heard bamboo chimes as the breeze blew through them.

The man in black looked back at the four Tanzanies and said, "Let's go." He and Hajime walked in front of the other four Tanzanies into the open portal with the red fox.

The other four Tanzanies could only follow Hajime, the man in black, and the red fox.

Bong quickly grabbed Abrafo's hand and said, "You can't go with them. You don't know what's waiting for you on the other side."

Abrafo pulled his hand away and said, "Wherever Hajime goes, we will go."

Bong asked, 'Why?"

Abrafo sighed and said, "We're not close enough to give you a reason." Abrafo walked over to U-ri, who was still waiting for him on the other side of the portal.

Bong decides to go with them too, but when he tries to cross to the other side, he can't get in.

"Abrafo! You bastard!" Bong shouted. "You come back and clear things out with me first!"

U-ri looked at Abrafo and said, "Fate made us meet and get to know each other. We don't even know when we will meet again. Although, a bittersweet farewell is not what everyone wants, but it is better than saying nothing." He patted Abrafo's right shoulder gently. "Before you leave, give him some peace and give yourself some peace."

Abrafo turned to look at Bong. He smiled with a heavy heart and said, "Go back. Going with me will do you no good. I am a person without a future. My life hangs on a red thread, because I don't know when I will die, so with me, you have no future."

Bong said angrily, "I am very capable of making my own choices, so don't make them for me."

Abrafo said, "I'm not making a choice for you, I just want you to know that I already made a choice when I first embarked on this journey with them. Therefore, I cannot promise myself to anyone. I have not completed the task given to me by King Jawara." He looked at Bong, and he could see the sadness hidden behind Bong's handsome expression. "I admit that I was tempted by our ambiguous love affair. I hope that our goodbye will come in many days, but who can defeat fate. U-ri is right." He sighed. "A bittersweet goodbye is better than nothing. So, take care of yourself." He turned around and smiled sadly. He thought that as soon as he turned around, his reluctance would disappear, but there was still longing in his heart. He looked back at Bong one last time and joked. "If by some miracle and I survive... I will lead ten thousand horses, carrying chest full of gold, and propose to the bratty Prince of Misnix for his hands in marriage." He turned around, wiped away his tears quickly, and walked towards U-ri.

"Abrafo! Come back! Abrafo...!"