“[Reptilian] Interesting…” The Temple Guard Captain skink muttered to himself as he listened to the recount of what happened by the old peddler. Pondering the words, he felt that something was amiss… though even if at first everything looked fine, his instincts were telling him otherwise.

Then he realized one crucial detail… Something that was missed by the report.

If it was true that there was no other soul present in the building, when this group of refugees arrived, who called in for them, the Temple Guards? The sole reason they arrived was that the messenger crystal they have given to the few select individuals, such as the chubby innkeeper, have been activated and a signal was sent.

It couldn’t even be faked either, the crystals are each a unique artifact, tied to the individual’s energy signature, copying it would have required capabilities that were just not present. Only the High Priest and creatures of a similar level of power were capable of such a feat.

The captain nodded at the two subordinates, giving them a silent command. Understanding what their leader wanted to convey, they both turned around, facing the old hooded skink merchant once again. 

The sinister grins across their faces that showed even from under the cover of their helmets didn’t need much explanation. Their intention was clear as they both suddenly stepped forward, circling to both sides of Aiden. 

Their spears raised and pointed at the hooded merchant’s direction, their cold menacing intent was clear.

“[Reptilian] I do thank you for your report peddler.” The captain spoke up, whilst waving his right hand to the third, much calmer-looking guard at the back. The third guard grunted in annoyance in response as he acknowledged the command and took a position at the front. His spear, like the other two, raised and pointed threateningly at Aiden.

“[Reptilian] It’s just… there’s one teeny, tiny little thing that I just don’t understand.” The captain continued, his face revealing a telling smirk. “…You know, I can actually understand your mistake… I really do. Unless you are a citizen and were contacted by us directly you couldn’t have possibly known…” 

He spoke whilst slowly reaching for the hilt of his sword hanging at his waist. Grabbing it with his sword-wielding hand, he firmly gripped it whilst continuing. 

“[Reptilian] You see… because of this, your little story has a critical error. A tiny hole so to say…”

Meeting the gazes of his subordinates his eyes curved into bright crescents, he nodded lightly. 

In the next moment, both guards at the side stepped forward, the tip of their spears almost touching the fabric of Aiden’s tunic. The frontal guard at the front also took a step and closed the distance. In a moment, all weapons were pointed towards Aiden, one single step and they would plunge their weapons deep into the merchant’s flesh.

Yet, the lack of reaction, the lack of fright and terror made the captain frown. His curled lips quickly soured, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“[Reptilian] Why are you…” Before the captain could even finish his complaint, suddenly, the words froze in him. 

Whilst there was no visible change in the stance or posture of the hooded merchant, suddenly a heavy gust of wind blew all of them away. 

As if an invisible fist have crashed into them, all three guards that surrounded the merchant were  suddenly hurled away, crashing into the faraway walls with violent momentum. 

They each grunted as all the air was pushed out of their lungs. From the two sides two distinct, yet recognizable cracks could be heard, a rib most likely giving in to the unnatural pressure.

For the third guard and the captain, though they both coughed up a mouthful of blood each, they did not suffer any similar injury like the other two.

“[Reptilian] W-what in…” The captain mumbled, feeling the sudden increase in difficulty forcing out each word amidst the heavy thirst for air. Yet, once again before he could finish a single thought, another grand shift happened.

The air suddenly turned thicker, much, much denser all of a sudden. He felt a great weight pressing against his shoulders and his back, pushing him -and his only conscious guard as well- down to the ground.

Lying in the dirt like mongrels, no matter how hard they fought against it, neither of them could fight this mysterious force.

“[Reptilian] You see, ‘captain’… I really, honestly wanted to avoid this. I truly did.” Suddenly an unfamiliar, much deeper, and energetic voice resounded in the dimly lit tavern’s ground floor hall.

As he forcefully raised his gaze with all his might, the captain saw as the hooded figure slowly turned towards the left and looked at the unconscious guard. With slow, leisurely steps he approached his body, whilst his voice thundered like a storm in the entire hall.

“[Reptilian] I have tried my best to not cause further complications down along the line. I even told you the truth… Well, a slightly altered version of it, but you have to understand… it was for your own good!” 

The hooded figure audibly sighed just as he got to the first guard’s fainted body. In the next moment, to the great shock and growing dismay of the captain and the last conscious guard, Aiden’s clawed,  draconic, golden scaled hand shot out from under the darkness of his right sleeve and without mercy, tore deep into the guard’s back.

Yet, though that was already horrifying enough, what happened next shocked and scared both draconic skinks to their very core. Their eyes went wide as they bulged as they just couldn’t accept what was happening as reality. Both the captain and the third guard desperately clung to that futile hope that whatever was happening was merely an illusion, a trick played with their minds.

For what they were being witnesses to was just impossible!

The body of their freshly, now deceased brethren, suddenly began to tremble. At first, it seemed natural, but shortly, weird distortions rippled across the solid surface, before soon the entire flesh under the metal armor began to liquify and converge into the clawed, golden-scaled, and blood-drenched hand!

The guard’s body vanished in mere seconds, removed from reality, and perhaps existence as well… just like that!

Not even a minute have passed and their brethren’s corpse was gone! Turned into some strange, mysterious viscous fluid and was absorbed by the strange figure.

“[Reptilian] Hmm….” The figure under the hood hummed with audible delight in his deep, thunderous, and majestic tone. “This feeling… this sensation is nothing alike…”

With a flick of his arm, suddenly all the remaining attire, as well as all the spilled blood, vanished in the next moment, leaving behind absolutely no trace of the victim!

—

>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It’s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (‘Banished’) immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Planned Tags and Genre:  # CULTIVATION  # R18  # BETRAYAL  # TRANSMIGRATION  # URBAN  # ACTION  # ANTIHERO  # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on AnimeDaily.Net), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

Links:

https://discord.link/Shaele

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https://ko-fi.com/shaele