chapter 17: The ancient battle

Back at the Grey Brothel, the scene was apocalyptic. Buildings, cars, and even the reinforced concrete floor had been reduced to rubble, with craters everywhere. Dean and Osa found themselves standing in a massive crater, over a hundred meters wide and more than twenty meters deep. Osa was baffled, gazing out at the devastation that had once been the Grey Brothel, now a vast pit littered with corpses in guard uniforms, luxurious clothing, and ordinary attire.

The gruesome scene left Osa feeling somber, and he couldn't help but think that without his current strength and Dean by his side, he would likely be among the dead. Shaking off the thought, Osa prepared to leap out of the pit, gathering his blood aura in his legs. With a whoosh, he sprang into the air, effortlessly clearing the twenty-meter jump.

As Osa emerged from the crater, he was met with an even more astonishing sight. The destruction was not limited to the Grey Brothel; the surrounding area had been ravaged as well. Osa's eyes widened in shock as he took in the sheer scale of the devastation.

"is this what happened when powerful experts meet, they haven't even made a real move yet, and everything has been reduced to rubble," Osa thought to himself, gazing at Dean, who was floating in the air, deep in thought.

Osa's attention was drawn to the direction of the mysterious masked man, but his vision was obscured by the dust. He squinted, trying to clear his sight, and finally, he made out the image of a burly man, panting heavily. With his sensitive nose, Osa detected the sweet smell of blood, wafting through the air.

As if sensing Osa's gaze, the man turned to face him, and with just that gaze alone, Osa felt an overwhelming pressure, as if a mountain was about to crush him. He instinctively began to revolve his blood aura to disperse the pressure, thinking to himself, "What the hell is this? is this what absolute power mean? Being able to crush your enemy with just a gaze?"

Osa tried to avoid direct eye contact with the mysterious man, feeling a vibration in his pocket. He was startled to find his phone buzzing with almost a hundred missed calls - more than half from Mrs. Rose, and the others from his orphanage brothers, including John. Seeing the missed calls, Osa felt a warmth in his heart that brought him close to tears.

Just then, Dean appeared in front of Osa, grabbed his hand without a word, and swiped his hand through the air, tearing space apart. The other side of the spatial crack led to the God Forsaken Mountain. Dean grasped Osa's hand, and they flashed into the crack, appearing on the God Forsaken Mountain.

After Osa and Dean vanished from the ruined Grey Brothel, the masked man, though surprised by their sudden disappearance, mysteriously vanished as well. The once-thriving Grey Brothel was left deserted, and the news of the unprecedented event spread like wildfire across the Seventh Continent. Social media and information platforms were abuzz with speculation, but no one knew the background of the two enigmatic individuals whose spiritual sense had almost destroyed Wonder Nation.

Even the powerful Blue Fur Organization was stumped, unable to investigate the identity of the two mysterious hybrids. In the Imperial Capital, Emperor Zach sat on his throne, surrounded by his ministers, who provided conflicting reports on the incident. After listening to their accounts, Emperor Zach furrowed his brows and asked, "You mean to say you know nothing about the identity of the two mysterious hybrids?"

His right-hand man, Mr. Smith, replied, "I'm afraid so, Your Majesty. We've tried every avenue, but it's as if they appeared out of thin air. We can't seem to gather any information about them." Emperor Zach's thoughts turned inward, pondering the strange occurrence. "That's peculiar... even the two ancestors are wary of them," he thought to himself.

My lord, White Tiger sent a message that after their investigation, they also can't find anything related to either of the two mysterious hybrids. A servant came running into the hall and reported, "All the ministers in the hall were stumped for words." And simultaneously, the thought in the head of everyone present in the hall was, "Who are these people?" Emperor Zach, with anger, ordered his right-hand man, Mr. Smith, "No matter what it takes, you should dig out the information related to the two hybrids within a week, else you would be punished for your inconvenience."

At the orphanage, Mrs. Rose was pacing back and forth, seemingly restless. From time to time, she would pick up her phone as if expecting a call from someone. "Mrs. Rose, calm down, everything is alright with Osa. He is probably in a safe place," John tried to comfort her. "What did you mean he is in a safe place? Can't you see?" She pointed at the television where a live broadcast of the South District, now ruined Grey Brothel, was going on while crying. "If everything is truly well with him, why didn't he pick up our calls all this while? Just calm down, crying won't solve anything. I promise to go and look for him first thing tomorrow morning. It's late already, I can't. After all, the border of the South District has been closed, no going out and coming in for now."

"How's Peter?" Mrs. Rose asked. "He's fine. I just got in touch with him, and he said everything is fine for now. Thank God." "Please tell him to come back home. Outside is no longer safe." "Oh, Mrs. Rose, they are now adults. You can't just restrict their movements anyhow. This is one of the world challenges they need to face to prepare them in case they traveled to a bigger city in the future," John stated helplessly. "Still, I want them to come. I mean, all of them. I want to have a few words with them after which they can go to wherever they want Mrs Rose said, okay, ma'am." John answered and walked out of the room