Chapter 130: The Awakening of a Millennial Grudge!

Chapter 130: The Awakening of a Millennial Grudge!

As Tessa and Adrian advanced toward the dark, cavernous space ahead, an eerie silence settled around them, thick as fog. Suddenly, a voice echoed through their minds—a voice both ancient and sharp, brimming with a knowledge that felt boundless. It struck them like a flood of raw energy, a force that sent a chill down their spines even as it warmed the edges of their thoughts.

"You are not... humans?" The words were less a question and more a solemn revelation, a truth spoken by something that seemed to know the answer already.

Tessa's breath caught in her throat, and her gaze swung to the source of the voice. Her senses, heightened by her growing powers, absorbed every detail. She wasn't looking at an ordinary being. Her mouth fell open, not in fear but in pure awe. For the first time, she saw something that defied explanation, something that felt like the embodiment of their ancient heritage.

Adrian, intrigued by his sister's reaction, followed her gaze. What he saw next shook him to his core.

Before them loomed a creature of unimaginable scale, its body barely contained within the confines of the underground chamber. Its head was that of a serpent, massive and dark as night, with skin as black as ink. Its eyes, a piercing blue, glowed with an intensity that marked it as undeniably Kaelrian. Those eyes held power—raw, pulsating power that seemed to resonate with the very core of their beings.

The creature was draped in tendrils, hundreds of them, flowing like waves from its enormous form and stretching across the chamber, each one writhing and pulsing with a life of its own. The tendrils seemed to reach out as though the creature were feeling its way through the world around it, brushing the walls, stirring the air, dominating the space.

The underground cavern stretched upwards some 25 feet, yet even that seemed insufficient to contain the creature's imposing bulk, as though it were bound in a place too small for its true size.

"Is that a Niohoggr?" Tessa whispered, barely audible, her voice laced with reverence and wonder.

Adrian's eyes widened. This was not just any Kaelrian—it was a creature of legend, an echo of their own alien ancestry, a creature whose existence had faded into myth among their kind. But here it was, real and tangible, awakening before them.

"What... is that?" Adrian's voice quivered slightly as he took in the enormity of it, the impossibility of something so ancient and powerful speaking their language, sharing their heritage. The surreal sight tugged at something deep within him, an instinctive reverence, a longing to understand.

The Niohoggr's gaze shifted between the siblings, seeming to examine them down to the marrow, as if assessing whether they were truly worthy of its attention. Its piercing blue eyes seemed to burn into their souls.

"It has been centuries since I encountered Kaelrians...yet you feel different," the creature rumbled. "Besides the fact that You carry the scent of humans...yet I smell the blood of someone familiar..."

The tendrils shifted, and the creature raised its head slightly, almost as if bowing. "You, too, have been shaped by two worlds...like me. But tell me, what brings Kaelrians to such a place?"

Tessa glanced at Adrian, her heart racing. They both knew that meeting this creature would be pivotal—possibly the key to understanding their purpose, their origins, or perhaps even the limits of their powers.

They were no longer mere travelers in this hidden world. Standing before the Niohoggr, they were heirs to something far greater than they had imagined.

"Why have you been killing people?" Tessa's voice was edged with anger, her words resonating in the vast, dark space around them. "Those men you killed had families— wives, children. You've rendered the wives and children– widows and orphans…" She clenched her fists, her gaze locked on the massive creature as she took a bold step closer, her outrage rising to the surface.

A low growl escaped from the creature, and its blue eyes turned a shade colder as they focused intently on Tessa. "You smell of Lunara and Solaris…" it murmured, its voice deep and grating, a dark undercurrent trailing each word. Slowly, its gaze shifted to Adrian, a glimmer of disdain sharpening its gaze. "And you... you reek of Solaris," it spat. "Are you heirs of those two bastards?"

Tessa and Adrian exchanged a startled glance. They hadn't expected this—a thousand-year-old grudge buried in a creature bound to the shadows.

The beast's posture shifted, and a bitter snarl twisted its mouth. "Solaris imprisoned me here," it said, its voice rough and burdened with centuries of resentment. "For a millennium, I have rotted in this sun-laced cage. All because of his judgment. And now, this new civilization—your people—they build over my tomb, adding insult to my suffering."

A shiver ran through Tessa as she listened. It sounded less like the creature was speaking to them and more like it was dredging up memories, wounds left unhealed.

"I am Anwari," it declared, its voice swelling with pride, and a flicker of long-buried pain. "I have never knowingly crossed a line. Once, I made a mistake—I allowed my powers to surge uncontrolled. Solaris hunted me like a criminal, and then he left me to rot in this abyss." A rumble echoed from its chest, each word carrying the weight of a thousand years of agony.

"Was it my fault that I was born this way? I was made to feed on blood—it is my nature, the core of my art and strength. I can smell it– blood, from twenty kilometers away. Should I be punished for my nature?"

Anwari's piercing gaze seared into them, raw with pain and fury. Tessa and Adrian instinctively took a step back, almost as though the force of his ancient anguish physically pushed them. They hadn't intended to retreat—it simply felt right to create space, to respect the suffering that radiated from Anwari's enormous form.

"You two will pay for the injustice of your parents…" Anwari's voice thundered, laced with a venomous rage that made Tessa's skin crawl. Its form, though restrained by the ethereal bindings shimmering in the darkness, pulsed with raw fury.

The creature strained against the invisible chains, sizzling and smoldering where they seared into its hide. The pungent stench of burnt flesh saturated the air, thick enough to sting her throat.

Tessa's brow furrowed. This cage seemed impenetrable, so how had those who dared to approach before her fallen to Anwari's wrath? What loophole in the ancient spell had allowed it to kill?

Before she could reach an answer, a dark tendril lashed out with lightning speed, grazing her shoulder and sending her stumbling back. Her eyes widened as realization dawned.

"That's the answer," she muttered, her pulse quickening. "It can move its tendrils beyond the binding…"

Anwari looked closer at Tessa, having sensed her understanding.