Chapter 40 The Elders of the Town;
Meanwhile, at the Devil's Castle, things were getting increasingly chaotic. No matter how much Eva and Kael resisted, they could feel that the devil's rift would soon widen even further and the devils would completely spread across the earth. What they were truly curious about, however, was why Elly's transformation still hadn't been completed.
Eva approached Elly anxiously. She looked carefully at the seal on her wrist. The seal was still in the process of completion; as if it was waiting for the final touch.
Kael grumbled through his teeth.
"At least if that wretched wolf in the back would open his eyes and give us some support. He's just lying there sprawled out," he said.
Eva turned her eyes to Joe. Joe's eyelashes were trembling rapidly. This was a sign that he was having quite a difficult time passing Homay's trial.
And at that moment, the battle had already begun in Joe's mind...
When Joe's consciousness faded, he found himself in the mansion where he had spent his childhood. There were servants around; they were rushing about frantically. Joe followed them curiously.
After a while, he saw a woman in one of the rooms. She was screaming at the top of her lungs. The doctor beside her and several servants were trying to support her as much as possible. At that moment, he realized this was a birth.
He muttered to himself:
"Nancy... Am I witnessing my sister's birth right now?"
Shortly after, with a deep scream, the baby came into the world. With her jet-black hair, small nose, and pure white skin, she looked cute and beautiful just like she does now. Joe smiled, but a slight sadness filled his heart. Because after what Eva had told him, he had realized this: Even though they had the same father, their mothers were different. Could he and Nancy really be considered siblings in the true sense?
Then he tried to shake off this thought.
"No... She is my sister," he whispered to himself. But he too had grown up without a mother, so how was this possible? For years, they both thought they had a single mother who had left them.
Just then, he heard a voice behind him:
"Of course she's your sister."
When he turned his head, he saw a woman with ash-blonde long hair and a casual dress. He immediately recognized her from the tone of her hair and her gaze. She was a Rose woman...
"Are you... Alayra?" he asked.
The woman approached with a smile.
"Yes, it's me. And you must be my little Joe," she said.
Even though Joe knew this was a dream, he wasn't sure how he should behave. Throughout his life, he had never known a real mother figure; in his mind, mother was merely the person who had left them.
As the woman came a little closer, Joe couldn't hold back the question inside him:
"Why all this nonsense anyway? I have only one wish: To no longer be called bad blood, to get away from my father, and to protect my sister. I don't want anything else. I want an ordinary, normal life. I don't care about Homay's light or being a guardian." he said.
The woman smiled, gently touching his cheeks with her fingertips.
"Ah Joe... Some things require sacrifice. And to protect some things, you need power. I made my sacrifice; I owed it to my sister. Eva had to come into the world, and I trusted the wrong person. Now you must gain that power. Because the coming war will be much bigger than alpha and pack matters."
A shadow fell over Joe's face.
"What do you mean by the coming war? Kael never seemed like someone who would start a war. He wants friendship, he wants peace. Why would he fight?" he said.
The woman shook her head slightly; there was a deep sadness in her eyes.
"The person you'll fight won't be the Ancient alpha Kael, my son," she said.
"What you'll face... is a very ancient evil. A primordial evil." Then she extended her hands to him and touched his chest. "The only thing that can stop it is inside you..."
Joe hadn't fully understood, but the fear in his mother's eyes had left a heavy anxiety inside him too.
"So what are we looking for here? What am I supposed to realize right now?" he asked.
Alayra's face had fallen. Her gaze was shadowed with sadness.
"First of all, I'm sorry you have to see these things, my son... But you need to see this," she said.
Then they turned their heads to the other side of the room. The man at the door was Celeb; he had a harsh, distant stance. When they brought the baby near him, he didn't even turn to look.
"Good... Take her up to her room," he said only.
When the man entered, however, the woman in the bed was looking at him with loving eyes.
"Did you see her? Such a beautiful baby girl... I did it. Now we have a daughter," she said hopefully.
But the man's face had an icy expression. He signaled to the servants to leave; they quietly left the room.
Joe moved closer to the woman. What caught his attention was her wrist. The woman had a seal on her wrist. Joe's eyes widened.
"Wait a minute... Is this woman a guardian? But the guardian bloodline had died out. The last remaining ones were Elaenor and their grandmother Agness. How can this woman be a guardian?" he said in astonishment.
Alayra gestured for him to come a little closer.
"Come a bit closer... Take a good look at the seal on her wrist," she whispered.
Joe approached. The seal on the woman's arm was different from those of the Rose women or Rose guardians. Instead of purple light, it glowed with a golden-yellow shimmer. Moreover, its shape was distinctly different too.
Joe turned to Alayra curiously. "Is she a different guardian?" he asked.
Alayra whispered quietly:
"She comes from a different guardian family, Joe. From a different witch bloodline... And unfortunately, your father brought an end to that lineage."
Fear filled Joe's eyes. When he looked back at the woman, he saw his father plunging the witch dagger into her chest.
Joe screamed in terror, but knowing this was a dream, he could only remain an observer. He couldn't interfere.
Alayra approached and touched Joe's shoulder.
"Calm down, Joe... These things happened a very long time ago. I'm sorry, my son," she said.
Joe was still screaming.
"He killed my sister's mother! He killed an innocent woman! How could you allow this?" he said in pain.
Alayra took a deep breath.
"It's been a very long time since I died, Joe. I have no power in that world anymore. Even if I did, I couldn't have opposed him. Because he... was worse than all of us. He was more powerful," she murmured.
Suddenly the vision changed. Joe found himself at the top of the town, at the summit of the mountain beside the tombs.
The area was filled with gravestones. Each one bore a guardian symbol, each one had the name of a Rose woman.
Then he saw a name on a gravestone: Alayra.
Joe's voice was trembling.
"You... were here all along. You were in the same places as me, but I never once came to visit your grave. I'm sorry, mother..." he said.
Alayra approached him with a smile.
"You didn't even know who I was. You don't need to feel bad, my son," she said gently.
Joe raised his head.
"So am I fighting against my father now? Is his being this evil what makes him that great ancient evil?" he asked.
There was a deep sadness in Alayra's eyes. Because she knew that after what she was about to tell him, the war would officially begin.
Meanwhile, the sneaky snake Caleb had already set out toward his goal. He crossed the forest, climbed the hills.
Finally, he found Kael's Waterfall Cave.
Caleb jumped into the cool waters of the waterfall and soon climbed up to the front of the cave. When he reached the entrance of the cave and saw the Ancient carvings of Homay and the Wolf, he was almost mesmerized.
"So it really exists..." he grumbled.
Until this time, the existence of this place had always been mentioned in books, but no one knew exactly where Kael had been imprisoned. If they had known, they would have already taken action to destroy him.
He immediately pulled out a syringe from his pocket. He slowly poured the dark red blood inside the syringe onto the Homay symbol on the door. The blood slowly descended, winding through the curves of the stone where Homay had carved into the cave. Finally, the door cracked open. This was Joe's blood; even though he carried bad blood, he was from the Rose guardian lineage.
When Caleb entered inside, he was shocked. Before him stood a gigantic, lush green cave like a garden of paradise. Large, deep, enormous... As he moved a bit further, he saw the stone mansion. There were drawings and carvings on its walls. But what really excited him was the large, magical oasis beyond the cave.
For years, he had heard about this magical oasis in many books of the Rose Women. In fact, at one time, his greatest goal had been to seize this oasis. He stepped toward it running and plunged his hands into the oasis. As the healing oasis water circulated on his skin, a devilish smile formed on his face.
"The time has come..." he grumbled.
Then he looked at the stone mansion behind him. He immediately ran and opened the door. The inside was truly like a large house. After going a bit further, he found the door opening to the back garden. When he opened the door, the sight he saw took his breath away. There were exactly five large tombs, and on each one was the symbol of that wolf.
"Kael's pack..." he grumbled. "So you've been lying here for years."
Then he approached and recognized the symbol he saw on one tomb. This was a double-headed snake symbol. He pushed open the stone lid of the tomb with both hands and looked at the face that still looked as if it were alive, just like the first day.
"Hello Crazy Jack! A good day to be sacrificed. What do you say?" he grumbled.
The grin on his face was a sign that ominousness had arrived. Shortly after, he completely lowered the tomb lid and reached for Jack's body. With difficulty, he lowered his large body to the ground, dragged it all the way to the oasis. When he finally reached the oasis, he carefully pushed him into the water.
Then he pulled out the witch dagger from his pocket. The stone on the dagger was glowing with purple lights in all its glory, as if it had stored all its power. He raised the dagger and plunged it right into Jack's chest. As the blood slowly spread over the body, he dropped a jet-black, moldy, and rotten seed from a small box he pulled from his pocket onto the body.
After a while, the blood covered the entire body, seeping into every pore, every crevice of Jack's lifeless form. Then, without warning, the body was violently pulled into the water as if dragged down by invisible hands from below. The surface rippled and churned, swallowing him whole.
Caleb stood transfixed, his breath caught in his throat. His eyes gleamed with a twisted fascination, reflecting the unnatural glow emanating from the depths. He took several cautious steps backward, his heart pounding rapidly with a mixture of terror and exhilaration. Now, all he could do was wait.
The silence that followed was suffocating. The cave seemed to hold its breath alongside him.
Then the water began to tremble.
At first, it was subtle, a gentle vibration that spread across the surface like a whisper. But within moments, the trembling grew stronger, more violent.
And then, from the heart of the churning water, something emerged.
First came the feet, bare, pale... Water cascaded down muscular legs, droplets glinting like liquid silver.
When that body fully emerged from the oasis, Caleb's legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed to his knees, not from exhaustion, but from the sheer weight of the overwhelming presence that filled the cave. His entire body trembled, not only with fear, but with reverence, with the intoxicating awareness of what he had accomplished.
"Welcome, my lord..." he whispered, his voice barely audible, thick with emotion.
The ancient evil approached, water still dripping from his form, pooling at his feet with each step. He moved like a predator, graceful, unhurried, confident. When he reached Caleb, he extended his hand, pale fingers reaching down toward the kneeling man. And with a paternal gentleness, he caressed his head.
Caleb closed his eyes, shuddering under the touch, feeling both blessed and damned in the same breath.
Without uttering a single word, the ancient evil withdrew his hand and turned toward the cave's exit.
Caleb remained on his knees, watching his master's departure with worshipful eyes, knowing that everything had changed.
The ancient evil was free.
Prepare yourselves, ancient youth of the town... The war has truly begun now...