Red waves

Some old noble peoples and older common citizens say that the temple was there way before the foundation of the nation. At that time, the kingdom was a forest and people were starting to build huts around the blue river. The population wasn't more than one hundred.

One day, a group of hunters were hunting for wild boar and they spotted a marble white temple in the deep jungle. It was so big that they were curious and entered it without any hesitation. Sadly, none of them came out.

After a week, another group of men spotted the temple but they didn't enter it because their men went missing suddenly and they suspected the white house was behind it.

But one day, they saw a girl sweeping the stairs in a white robe. A beautiful woman with long jet-black hair looked so astonishing that it captured every man's attention in the village. Soon, the girl introduced the head priest and they began to follow the sun goddess. But the missing people weren't stopping at all.

Soon, the missing person count went above fifty and all the villagers started to suspect the temple maiden behind it. So one night, a man entered the temple after midnight to investigate the reason behind it and found a secret passage.

As soon as he entered, he saw nobody but a strange dark passway and found a dark passage. To satisfy his curiosity he went inside to walk down the stairs and found an empty room. His footsteps were echoing so he took off his shoes and walked ahead to check what was inside. 

Surprisingly, there was nothing but an empty seat. It was empty.

At that moment, a person came from behind and ripped off his head from his body to devour it. He couldn't get a chance to proceed with what was going on and his consciousness went deep inside the darkness. 

"Ah! What a great flavour and filled with rare type of mana! Thank you for the food." 

Later that night, a maiden who witnessed a man entering the door spread the real story to the villagers. But they kept their mouths shut because the temple head priest already warned them.

A group of people quickly left the village with their families and only one year later, they found out all the villagers were killed and replaced with refugees from another country to maintain the food source for that person.

For their life's safety, they chose to keep silent and live their life again in that village. After that, this myth was passed down from generation to generation. Some of them changed, some of them stayed the same and some of them vanished.

…

Inside the temple. 

The maiden knew what was going on but she refused to believe what was happening in front of her. Her breath was becoming heavier but she kept her calmness and turned around to go to a different room.

But alas!

The hallways behind her vanished and a pathway similar to the one behind her was there instead. There were dark passages around her that surrounded her like a box. She was in the middle of four passages and she had no choice but to choose one. Because the ground under her was getting smaller as the passages moved closer to her slowly.

She suddenly felt her death was knocking at the door.

"...Alright, since you are asking for it…"

She took a step in front of her and she felt the cold stairs. She gulped in her dry throat and took another step inside.

The passage started to become blurry and it quickly vanished.

…

In the morning. 

"Master, it's already morning."

Viktor opened his eyes and the bright ray of the sun fell on his face through the window. So he quickly closed his eyes and said, "Ugh! My eyes.."

"Master, about the body. I think it's ready to come out."

   I told him to make him an obedient punk and thought that it would take him an entire week. Looks like my guess was wrong.

"Is he ready? Are you sure?" Viktor asked. 

"Master, he thought about it all night and found out that his body isn't suitable to live more than a hundred years without your help. And there was no reason to make you his enemy anymore since he is already dead and lost his powers. Relying on you is his only option left."

Viktor checked his records for a minute and said, "He's not lying. Since he decided to follow me, take him to his jewellery shop and pick up my earrings."

"...Yes Master."

    I don't like to donate money for no reason and I need my new earrings-_-. 

Viktor stood up on the sofa and moved the curtains to see the city and suddenly, he saw bizarre red smoke waves flowing everywhere. It was red but people seemed to be walking casually so he thought it must be invisible to everyone's eyes.

So he shouted, "Adonis!! Stay inside. Cast a barrier magic around the apartment right now!!"

"Cast a barrier?"

An unknown man's voice came behind Viktor's back and he became stunned. There was no way Viktor wouldn't feel the changes around him but the for seal on his fragment, he failed to comprehend the situation. 

A rat came inside the barn.

Viktor turned his head and saw a man with reddish golden hair and a reddish book floating above his head. He had a tall and fit figure with long hair that looked like it was on fire.

"I wonder who was the bug who came inside my territory that had no identification. But surprisingly, your core looks tasty and so powerful that I've never seen it before."

Adonis came inside and saw the stranger but still chose to act normal and walk behind his master's wide shoulder. Even though Viktor was more than seven feet tall because of his ancestors' unique body features, his head would reach Adonis' nose.

He knew his opponent's strength wasn't as strong as his but he still chose to show an act.

"Oh my! Who is this young man? I was investigating you too and found nothing. As you can see, dragons are picky about what should stay in their home and what should leave. Dragons don't tolerate any stranger's presence inside their territory."

Viktor looked at his record and saw a drastic change in his short-term future. The alphabet was changing like numbers on a stock market every second. The future wasn't fixed.

It would change and the future would be affected by every word Viktor was going to say. 

So he calmed his beating heart and said, "Looks like our position has been found out. So, why don't we make a deal?"

The dragon guardian laughed and said, "I don't like food that talks a lot. So, why don't you just shut up and help me cultivate my fragment?"

   If I use my fragment powers now, the fire guardian will sense my mana. I can't reveal my identity to him no matter what. But I don't think my 10th-class magic spells would work on him. I need Adonis' help.

Adonis looked at Viktor's eyes and he read his eye movements to understand what he was trying to say. So he walked in front of him and suddenly, a dark portal appeared.

"Just what are you doing?" The dragon guardian asked and at that moment, a group of clones came out to attack him.

"Hahaha!! What are those things? Where did you catch these bugs with no mana inside? Are they undead or something?" The dragon guardian grabbed them one by one and ripped their limbs like bread. 

In that golden chance, both Adonis and Viktor jumped outside through the balcony and landed on another building's rooftop.

"Adonis, listen!! No matter what happens, don't use your guardian fragment! You can't use your fragment until that punk is dead."

"Where are you going!!!!" An explosion occurred inside Viktor's apartment and half of the building was destroyed. The people who were alive barely ran outside.

"Hey, you bugs!! How dare you run away from me!"

The dragon guardian changed his appearance and he grew a pair of dragon wings on his back. With those wings, he destroyed the upper floors of the building like he was dealing with a hot knife and butter. 

"Adonis!! Listen!"

Viktor held Adonis' face and said, "Do you understand what I'm saying? Don't use your fragment until it's over! There is a dangerous opponent who's coming to this planet so fast."

"But master!! Why are you trembling? Please calm down master!"

Viktor noticed his hands were shaking for some reason. He couldn't understand but somewhere in his mind, he could feel something bad was going to happen.

"..it's..nothing. But listen! Listen!"

"Master, look out!!!"

Boom...

A huge fireball fell on the rooftop and the whole building became ash in a second. Fortunately, Adonis carried Viktor to another building top to save him from the explosion. 

Viktor's ears were still ringing from the huge shockwaves.

"Master!! Master! Come back to your senses!

     What is happening? Why am I zoning out in this serious situation where both of us could die? What is bothering me so gravely that I can't even lift my finger?

Viktor felt the cold air passing through his body and saw the bindings were moving backwards. He felt a warm body against his and suddenly came back to his senses. 

Adonis was being chased by the mad dragon.

"Master! Finally, you can hear my voice!! Master! Nothing will happen! Please keep your head straight and allow me to protect you! I will definitely take you to a safe place."

Viktor looked at his face while being tucked into his lap like a kitten and saw the tension written on his face.