Primordial Soul's Rebirth

"So you are thinking of going to meet her, huh?"

A short guy with long, white hair and blue eyes spoke, his eyes staring at a lady with fiery hair and eyes, sitting adjacent to him, along with Alex, Ann, and Alice.

They were Shirozan and Emberlyn. Friends from a long time ago, unable to meet due to their own circumstances.

Right now, they were talking about the next destination of Emberlyn after discussing several other things. Emberlyn still didn't tell Shirozan about her ability to save her soul or anything about it; she just said that she was lucky to survive when he asked how she was alive.

It was not because she didn't trust him. Shirozan was the most straightforward among the four mythical beasts, but still, no one can guess when one turns against the other.

Even Antares, the golden dragon, seemed pretty normal before he did everything. No one knew what was going through his mind and why he did it, but he still did it, and she was the one who faced the consequences.

She didn't want to repeat the same mistake again, and unknown to her, a seed of suspicion had already been born in her pure and forgiving heart.

That, however, was just natural after all that she had been through. For now, however, she was concerned about her other friend, the black tortoise's, health.

"Yes, how has she been?"

So, replying to Shirozan's question, she inquired about her dear friend's health. The reply, however, wasn't something she wanted to hear.

"I haven't heard from her since the day everything happened. She's been holed up in her area, never leaving it and always sleeping."

Shirozan sighed, his head hanging down, sad about how things had turned.

They used to talk and joke around—all four of them. Now, even getting to see each other was a big thing. Not like Shirozan wanted to meet Antares; he only cared about the black tortoise, now Emberlyn as well since she was alive and well.

"I will just go to her then."

Emberlyn, not really happy about this new discovery, gets up and turns to look at Alex, nodding at him, gesturing that she was done here.

She couldn't get over the fact that her only female friend and someone whom she treated like a sister—a person who, unlike her predecessors, had a cherry personality, which didn't suit the black tortoise at all.

How could a person that outgoing lock herself inside an area, not coming out to talk with even her friends for all these years?

The black tortoise was not someone like that. She was someone who would make fun of you and try to make you laugh even if you were mad at her. There was no way she would stay hidden for so long without a reason.

"Her overprotective nature is still the same, so, you know, taking the demon lord with you might not be the best option when going to meet her. People change. And it had been so many years since any of us had talked; I don't know how much she had changed in this period."

But before Alex could nod back at her, Shirozan's voice was heard again, laced with a warning, alerting Emberlyn about the danger of bringing Alex along with her.

His words, just like intended, made Emberlyn concerned. She knew her friend's nature. That woman was someone who would keep her whole area sealed even if the wind started blowing a bit fiercely, just so that her people, the ones who worshiped her, wouldn't get harmed.

There was even an instance where she attacked Shirozan for barging into her area unannounced, scaring the hell out of her people.

She was going to meet her and not attack her, so this might really be an issue, but just then...

*Pop*

A strange popping sound was heard, and the next second, all of the intimidating aura Alex was emanating got sucked into his body, making it almost impossible to even tell if he was sitting right next to them, caressing Noctura's fur, smiling at them.

"What about now?"

He raised a brow, still smiling, not really bothered by the shock on both Emberlyn and Shirozan's faces.

Concealing aura was not a hard thing; anyone with enough control over their mana could do it, but what Alex did was completely suck in even an ounce of his aura, which was not possible for anyone to do it. That was what differentiated living from the dead, after all.

"I-I don't think she'll be able to tell who you are now." Experience new tales on empire

The first to break out of her shock among Shirozan and Emberlyn was, of course, the phoenix. She wasn't used to Alex's antics like Ann, Alice, and Luna, but she was getting used to it by now.

If he could bring her a body, something she and her empire had been working hard to get their hands on without even batting an eye, then doing this was still believable.

If Alex were to say that he could defeat the golden dragon, Antares, the one who had the whole world in the palm of his hand, even that, after a bit of contemplation, she would accept. She just wasn't aware of Alex's limit. It only became more apparent after her talk with Shirozan.

"You aren't thinking of using him or something, right?"

This was the white tiger's first question, and he had asked that question right in front of Alex, as blunt as ever. But the phoenix, who heard those words, was reminded of the contract she had to sign in exchange for getting a body.

'Like hell, I am using him!'

She roared inwardly, knowing full well that what she had signed was nothing less than a slave contract, but she had no other choice, especially with her descendants attacking Alex.

"If you are, then I would suggest you against it. Even I can't sense his limit and his past... I still get nightmares of that view..."

What shocked her were his next words. Shirozan, the white tiger, not being able to see someone's limit was a very big thing. They were talking about the being who could see even the golden dragon's limit.

Alex, however, just kept smiling throughout the conversation, not speaking a word about it. It was as if he didn't want to discuss it, so they let it be that way.

How could they have known that he was drawing blanks as well?

Now, staring at his face, marred with the same type of smile, nodding to Emberlyn.

"Should we go then?"

He questioned, summoning a portal, tilting his head, gesturing for her to go in first, causing both Ann and Alice to raise their brows as he seemed way too eager to go there, as if that was his goal from the start, and actually, it was.

Alex had agreed to take her to meet her friends purely because he was curious about this black tortoise empire. People said that finding this empire was very hard as it was protected by several barriers, illusion being one of them.

It was not that those things could hide the empire from his all-seeing eyes, but since he was getting to see the empire without much effort?

"Yes."

Emberlyn, on the other hand, oblivious to the fact that she was leading a wolf to the sheep holding, nodded her head, stepping toward the portal, and Alex, who saw that, couldn't help but grin, but not for long; it vanished the moment it appeared.

"Good. Seraphyra, we are moving to the next location!"

The next instant, as soon as his expression returned to normal, he called out to Seraphyra, who was roaming around the forest, enjoying the scenery. It was hard to find this type of greenery in the demon empire after all.

She didn't know that the next place they were going to was probably more green than this one, but yeah, they weren't going to get the chance to enjoy the scenery there... or maybe they would, who knows?

"Coming!"

For now, they were just going to the location that Emberlyn had told them to go. It was the place that was closest to the Melanochelys Empire. After this place, any use of magic, one as grand as teleportation, is considered hostile, or so was what Emberlyn told them.

So, Alex, listening to her words, was now taking them to that exact point.

Soon, all of them—Ann, Alice, Seraphyra, and Emberlyn—had stepped into the portal, vanishing from the forest under Shirozan's silent gaze. Leaving only Alex with Noctura in his arms and Shirozan in the area, staring at the portal with the air turning weirdly tense.

"Your eyes are quite sharp, huh?"

The silence, however, was broken by Alex's mutter, his eyes still staring at the portal, but Notura, who was in his arms, had her head turned toward Shirozan, who standing calmly stared at the portal just like Alex.

"Hm? What are you talking about? I have been blind for a while now." Replied Shirozan, still staring at the portal, his hand behind his back clenching hard.

"Good to know. Sometimes being blind is better..."

Alex, as if satisfied by his response, nodded his head, turning to look at Shirozan with a smile, and the guy returned the smile back to him.

"I know."

Listening to those words, Alex nodded his head again and stepped into the portal. Noctura's eyes, however, never left Shirozan until she disappeared along with the portal.

"HAHHHH..."

It was only when they were gone did Shirozan let go of the air he was holding in his lungs, his back drenched with cold sweat and his knuckles white due to him clenching his fists too tight.

"That was... terrifying."

He muttered, recalling the past moments.

"I wish you luck, Bulma..."

He fell back to the ground, shaking his head as he wished his old friend luck. He had seen Alex's grin after all, and although he didn't know what that grin was for, he knew pretty well that it was anything but good.

But he knew better than to talk about it with anyone else. He was blind, after all.