Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 182: Forced Conversation with the Unknown Man

“Oh, and Netra is welcome to speak up as well. There’s no need for any of you to be afraid of me, not unless you can’t accept my terms. Then again, me saying that likely makes you more hesitant to lower your guards...”

“Why should we believe you?!” Ania shouted in question, gripping her hammer tighter despite knowing full-well that the man was far abouve her level.

“Hmm... Would this suffice as evidence?” asked the man, casually retrieving a severed head from his void ring.

“That?!” Netra shouted in utter confusion. “Th-that...”

“What the...” Catching onto to her daughter’s reaction, Puula looked back to the man’s calm and cool smile. “Is that what I think it is, Netra?”

“Y-yes... That’s the man’s head...”

“Great! Now that you all believe me, can you store your weapons? Given this, you should know that lashing out against me would only make your lives worse,” mentioned the man, casually bowing his head to the three women. “Please?”

.....

“WHERE’S OLI?!”

“I’ll answer Netra’s question, and likely some of yours after you put away the hammer and disperse your essence,” repeated the man, still acting warmer than ever despite holding a disembodied head by the hair.

Nodding lightly to each other, Ania and Puula both lowered their guards, but only enough to comply with the man’s request. Neither of them felt capable of challenging the man so they wondered how cooperative he may be if they played along.

“Good, now we can chat more openly.” Storing the head, the shadowy man took a seat on the chamber floor. “What? Wouldn’t this be easier if we’re all sitting and relaxing?”

The others played along for now. Without the capability of even making the man blink, both perennial women felt powerless before the unknown man. It was Netra that spoke first again, “Who are you, and where is Oli?”

“Both are great questions, but I’ll only answer the latter,” chuckled the man, retrieving a bottle of wine. Uncorking it, he glanced at the women while holding up the bottle. “Care to join me? No?”

“Where’s my son?”

Sighing, the man shrugged as he took out his own wine glass. “Your son is currently training in a separate prefecture in a far-off territory. Right now, he should almost be a low-adept.”

“What?!” Both Netra and Ania were astounded by such a statement.

“No need to act so surprised. The strongest people always have the best techniques to offer. With my help, Oli’s made many leaps and bounds.”

“Does that mean you’ve claimed my son as your subordinate?” Ania questioned with a dark tone.

“No. I’ve done nothing of the sort.”

“Then–”

“I won’t be explaining anything about myself, my goals, or my motivation in helping Oli,” clarified the man, warranting all the more doubt in the minds of the three women. “But I can speak of Oli and some things regarding his immediate future and recent past. What would you like to know?”

“Why did you take Oli away?” questioned Netra. “If you wanted to train him, then why take him away from here?”

“If anything, you should all be thanking me that I’ve taken him under my wing. If not, what would you do the next time your territory and homes are attacked for the sake of finding him?” reasoned the man, leaving the others speechless. “Besides, while there are many things this territory can still offer Oli, for now, he needs teachings from elsewhere to best help him and his predicament.”

“What predicament? I don’t know what you may be referring to,” Ania stated firmly.

“Yes, you do... You, along with your brother and that giant cat are the only three that know what I’m talking about regarding Oli’s unique situation regarding his essence. You didn’t forget, did you?”

Just when Puula assumed Ania would ask something else, she noticed the fear cascading down Ania’s body. It caused the mother gorilla to tense up, as if Ania was seeing her life flash before her eyes. “Ania... What’s wrong?”

“You... How do you know about that?” Ania trembled to ask.

“I’m not answering any question regarding myself, only questions regarding others,” repeated the man with the same amiable grin, sipping his wine. “But you’re allowed to know that Oli is in a place better suited for fulfilling his needs as a cultivator and not in any more danger than he would find here, but it’s likely much safer there than it is here.”

“Why do you say that?” Puula asked. “Why is Iron Territory so dangerous?”

“It’s not that the territory is dangerous, it’s that Oli being here would make it dangerous...” the man stated with a shrug. “Him being here would only culminate in more and more scenarios like the forest ambush becoming frequent. By removing him from Iron Territory under the pretense of death, it removes the immediate threat that would’ve decimated the lives of everyone here. Then again, such a fate may come eventually, but removing Oli prolongs it greatly.”

“Then... what sort of threat has been looming over us?” Ania questioned, still speaking with a trembling, broken tone.

“Sorry, but I’d better not talk about them either. For now, no one here is strong enough to even consider doing anything about that threat. But I will at least mention that it has something to do with Dioro’s past, as well as a few other things.”

“Dioro? Your late husband?”

“Oli’s dad?”

The foxes looked to Ania for some sort of a response but she remained silent.

“I suppose I’ll at least sum up what Ania knows so that you two can follow along,” the man chuckled as if the entire situation was light and easy to handle. He acted opposite of Ania’s response, which was to tremble to the point of speechlessness. “Simply, Dioro once killed the son of a prefecture lord and became a criminal within that prefecture. But since that particular son was the man’s heir, that lord has continued to track Dioro and his family, forcing them to live as nomads until Dioro’s unexpected death. Now, why wouldn’t the man want an eye-for-an-eye?”