1 Birth of the Skep King
The gentle rays of the morning sun seeped into the darkness, casting a glow of radiance into the turbid atmosphere. The faint heat it unleashed melted the fog as a metro train passed through a building, alighting at a station.
It was still early in the morning, the passengers all shared a common phenomenon: They were tired. It seemed as if none of them had a wink of sleep in the past couple of days or even more based on the degree of hollowness in their eyes.
Lifeless, lacking energy like soulless husks, the passengers alighted at the station, heaving a collective sigh before proceeding about their respective tasks. Gazing at their tired figures from within the train was a young boy, a youth on the verge of growing into an adult.
His eyes gleamed with a hint of innocence and curiosity, one suffused with the laziness of the morning warm atmosphere. When the compartment doors opened, a faint gust of cold wind assaulted him, brushing his hair a little, causing his body to tremble a bit from the cold.
But, as the rays of the sun fell on him, it created a feeling of warmth that made him wish to sleep right then and there. The doors closed as the mechanical announcement resounded through the compartment.
The train began to move once again as Jyorta rested his face on his hand, peeking through the window as he gazed at the buildings that spanned past. There was one thing common in everything: Cracks.
Cracks that ranged from hairline width to massive ones spanning at least three to four centimetres in width coursed through every building. As the train sped past, Jyorta watched some of the smaller hairline cracks mend themselves, healing completely until the patch of the wall looked undamaged.
But, this was just one segment. There were numerous damaged buildings. Moreover, as the train continued to travel past, droplets of water fell on the window. Jyorta frowned as he gazed at the window, noticing the droplets of water soon increase in intensity.
Soon, there was a heavy downpour, causing the window panels to become foggy, preventing him from seeing outside clearly. Using the sleeve of his shirt, Jyorta wiped the window, able to see outside once again. But, it got covered by the fog soon after.
Sighing, he gave up after a couple of tries, closing his eyes as he sat in silence. At present, he neither had any energy nor the mind to think about other matters, only enjoying the momentary peace. For he knew, this was probably the last time he would be idle.
War and chaos had already knocked on their doorbell twice. And, the residents had reciprocated in kind to the summons.
"Sector 12, Baker Street." The mechanical voice announced as the train halted. Jyorta Bone got up, slumped the bag on his shoulder, and alighted. He stared forward, gazing at the guard posted at the checkout of the station.
Jyorta and the guard made eye contact, but nothing was exchanged between them. Both of them were exhausted, lacking the energy to converse. Swiping his ID card through the entryway, he exited the train station, one that passed through the fiftieth floor of a skyscraper.
Boarding the public lift, he reached the ground floor, exiting the building as he noticed the dense stream of downpour on the street. The expression of everyone in the place was solemn as they gazed at the water.
After all, it had never rained at Marble City. Jyorta left the protection of the building, heading into the open as the rain fell on him. He wasn't drenched though, for a transparent membrane protected him and his luggage from the rain.
Jyorta gazed upwards, frowning as his heart shuddered. For, in the sky was a massive crack, a gaping hole, one that didn't heal despite it being a week since the incident.
The crack was in the barrier protecting their city, one that was transparent but had the same strength as the magenta walls protecting their city from ground attacks. And now, it had been blasted open, unable to be repaired.
Rain fell through the hole, landing on the city for the first time since it had been built. Jyorta focused along the edges of the crack in the sky, noticing sparks of magenta flashing around in futility, unable to heal the damage.
He then looked into the crack, failing to sense anything. But upon seeing the struggles of the magenta light along the edges of the crack, he knew that a mysterious power was hindering it, placing Marble City in a state of panic.
That was why no one had obtained a wink of sleep in the past week. They were always ready to face any trouble that came their way. The entire city was on edge due to the events that had transpired a week ago, right on the day when he concluded his Graduation Ceremony.
Moreover, it happened right as they had killed the Tier 3 River Whale, their final Tier 3 opponent. Right as Madam Mary had congratulated them, a Skep crashed into their city's barrier. And, this had happened right atop their military academy, allowing them to see everything from up close.
The Skep, a being that had escaped the evolution mode relying on Parasites and had ventured in a new direction, one that was stronger than all Tier 5 beings in strength and was close to attaining Tier 6, was now in a ragged state.
And, unlike the other Skeps, it seemed to have lost half of its power for some reason, based on what Jyorta had felt. But, everything was revealed right after that as his destined foe arrived, causing the entire Marble City to tremble.
The ground rumbled as the landmass screamed at the presence the other party exuded. It was a being known by many names: Mother Parasite, The First Parasite, Rhachis Ancestor Parasite.
It landed on the Skep, pummeling it deep into the city's barrier, shouting, "I sensed that you've given birth to the king of your species. Where is it?"
"You'll…never…find…it!" The Skep spoke as it slammed forth a bluish beam at Rhachis Ancestor Parasite, trembling when its attacks failed to even scratch the other party.
And right as it had done so, more than a hundred Skeps took off into the skies from the ocean in the south, unleashing bluish beams one after another. As for the Skep Primogenitor, it hovered in the sky behind all the Skeps, holding a newborn Skep in its tentacles.
The ocean water had spilled out like a tsunami and crashed into the walls of Marble City thanks to the action of the Skeps. So, all the Skeps were only a kilometre away from Marble City. Even though it was dangerous, Madam Mary used her psychic arm to condense a massive lens, allowing her to zoom into the scene to gaze at the Skep Primogenitor.
Thanks to that, Jyorta was able to see the newborn Skep, one that was barely three metres in height. And, the moment he gazed at it, his blue soul shuddered, shriveling up as it began to lose soul energy for some reason.
Fear!
The same fear that he felt whenever he faced Laila emanated from the newborn Skep. And, he immediately concluded that the newborn Skep was one of Laila's subsouls. Or rather, Gajara Rahi's subsoul that had been created exclusively for this event, same as Laila.
Jyavreh Sahi!
The newborn Skep weakly lifted its head, gazing in his direction. For a moment, Jyorta felt like the other party was able to see him, for, despite the other party not doing anything else, he got the notion that it was…laughing.
He shuddered at that thought, watching the hundreds of bluish beams land on Rhachis Ancestor Parasite. The moment it noticed the appearance of the Skep Primogenitor, Rhachis Ancestor Parasite gazed at the newborn Skep, muttering, "So, that's the pinnacle of your race."
Right as it waved its hands, unleashing a formless force to attack the Skep Primogenitor, the bluish beams landed on it, thwarting its attack, also causing it to be slammed into Marble City's barrier.
It was apparent that the Skeps wished to divert Rhachis Ancestor Parasite's focus on Marble City so that they could use the chance to escape. After all, with their city being the focus of attacks from both the opposing forces, Marble City's Ancestors wouldn't have any choice but to take action against Rhachis Ancestor Parasite.
Followed by a flicker of light, Rhachis Ancestor Light appeared, unleashing a massive beam into Rhachis Ancestor Parasite in an effort to send it flying away from the city. Currently, due to the force of the bluish beams, it was sinking deeper into the city's barrier.
"This damn barrier!" Rhachis Ancestor Parasite cursed as its body slightly shrunk before emitting a formless force as it shouted, "Tier 6!"
The body of the Skep it was pressing upon vaporised instantly, unleashing a mysterious effect from its collapsing body, eradicating the barrier within a fraction of a second. And, right when Rhachis Ancestor Parasite was about to send in another attack to flatten out the entire city, it suddenly flinched, watching a murky river emerge from the ground and fly towards it at rapid speeds.
Unwilling to face the mysterious substance that even it judged as a threat, Rhachis Ancestor Parasite retreated, intending to chase after its target when it noticed the group of Skeps calmly positioning themselves on the other side of Marble City, intent to involve the humans in the scheme.
As for the Skep Primogenitor, it smiled while gazing at Rhachis Ancestor Parasite, "Just as you have dominance over the Parasite Path, the Skep King would have the same in the Evolutionary Path. In the future, if you ever try to embark on this path, you'll fall under our control."
