'Truly troublesome fellows'

He was sure now more than ever that this group would bring his plans unexpected changes in the future whether he liked it or not

'At least I know what happened back then now'

At first he didn't link this place and the Flesh Golem but when he saw them leading an expedition in the tree's direction earlier he had some guesses

'They must have killed it in the past, stored the flesh fruit thinking it might be of use before something happened to allow the Flesh Golem's exposure to it'

His only reason for not acting since the beginning was because he did not know if the group was truly capable of killing the tree, sure the thing was immobile but it was more than capable of making them kill each other and even themselves with its mastery over hallucinations

'All this is useless now'

He wasn't here to expose the truth about the undone past, he was here to forge the future making this side venture a waste of time in some ways

"Let us continue"

Leaving the area behind he led the three vampires to the next beast next, a group of earthen masked coyotes who required Zero's strength to quickly wipe, then another nest with mismatched birds bunched up together to live in this harsh world, followed by a horned sheep herd posing the least of threats

One after the other nests were cleared with barely any survivors, each boosting Zero and Ika's levels while barely contributing to Mia's YuJu was the only one who remained without benefit concerning that matter

This tiresome journey went on for two days and a half where no one got to rest, only fighting, traveling to the next nest, then fighting again

'Can't we take a day off and continue this later'

They found themselves wondering, what was the rush anyway? Still no one complained, if anything they didn't want to sound lazy, it wasn't like vampires needed sleep anyway, just a few sips of blood and they were back in top shape, physically speaking

"Just like last time I want you to stay here and wait while I finish this matter alone"

Standing at the borders of another area marked with blue YuJu spoke to the slouching three

"Yes Master"

""Yes My Lord""

He then faded out of sigh allowing zero to plop onto the ground, leaning back to stretch her tension filled back

"It's been hard on you Zero"

"It's my duty mother"

"Still you should ask the Lord for rest if you feel bad big sis"

To Ika's concerned words Zero shook her head, it wasn't as if she didn't want to do this either, knowing the strong Lord was around gave her the boost she needed to fight with exceeding recklessness and gain those much needed levels that would usually take a while to amass

"What does mother think the Lord is doing inside?"

Seeing that it was no use convincing her sister to ask for a small break Ika turned to Mia with a cruise expression

"Who knows, Master has always been secretive about his plans, unless it's something that we can influence or need to know then we-'' BOOM!

The ground beneath them shook with cracks spreading faster than their panicked expression, the loud explosion earlier reminded them of a much dreaded existence their city once bore witness to

"What a Thunder Mammoth doing here?!"

"Shall we save the Lord?"

"Master will be okay, our orders are to stay here"

Even while comforting the other two she still sent a blood message to ask if he needed assistance, more than ready to jump into the fray if he did call or was unable to answer

BOOM BOOM Crack!!!

Earth was ruptured, lightning streaked across the sky, and black clouds started to form over the area they were banned from entering, no doubt alerting any surrounding creature, be they human or not, of the famous disaster's presence

TUUUUUUUUUUU

A horn was blown and Mia started to dread the worst

"Run back to the den, I will rescue Master"

Her figure took the form of a bat, taking into the air while rushing toward the battlefield

A small red bird was much faster than her however as it flew from where she was headed, seeping into her stopping figure, forcing her to stay suspended in the air for a few moments before reluctantly landing in her human form

"What is it mother? Does the Lord not need our assistance?"

"No Ika, he just said to….wait"

Her chest heaved up and down as those words came out, trusting as she might be of the ever elusive YuJu she couldn't help but worry, that was a Thunder Mammoth they were talking about here, it had even blown the horn, war would be fast approaching even if he managed to win this fight

'He should know what he is doing, Master can't be ignorant of the Thunder Mammoth's call for help, he even alerted me of their existence before they came'

She tried to convince herself, fighting her instincts to go in and rescue him even though he ordered her not to

Boom! Booom!

The explosions did not cease, though lessen in intensity with time, as if the beast was slowly getting weaker, a thought inconceivable when linked with the tyrant behemoth that tore through the land with unending might

TUUUUUUUUU

There came the horn again, sending Mia's heart into palpitation

TUUUUUUUU

Once more it was blown, this time they didn't get too emotional, just watched on with a nervous visage

Tuuuuuuuuu…..

Everyone, whether it be the three vampires or the far away hidden creatures waited with baited breaths, silent and expectant of something, something out of the ordinary to happen

...

Silence

There was only silence

No shaking of the earth

Not thunder in the sky

And no horns being blown...

"HYAAAAA!"

Came a shout of victory not too far away from the trio, snapping them out of their trance

And as if it was a spark that lit the fuse the shout brought about many cheers from the empty surroundings, cries of happiness, even roars of beasts, seemingly everyone sharing the same feelings of victory even without knowing who was it that beat that behemoth of a beast

"The Lord….the Lord actually.."

"Yes, my Lord beat a Thunder Mammoth"

Zero continued for the senselessly shocked Ika, a cold expression masking her astounded feelings

Meanwhile Mia held a hand over her beating heart, just glad her Master was no longer in danger

'I wonder if Master's injured'

Speak of the devil and he shall fade into existence, all bloody and battered

"Quickly go into stealth, we need to leave before anyone spots us"

Before anybody worriedly questioned his obvious state he ordered, silencing them into obeying and following his lead outside the empty yet to be flooded area

"Should we head back Master?"

"No need, just a stray lightning strike"

He spoke as if his abdomen wasn't charred into barbecue and his ribcage ripped open exposing the barely functioning black lung inside

He had already refused help however so they couldn't insist, there was probably no one here that knew what he needed the most more than himself anyway

Once somewhere far from getting wrapped up in the crowd they took a breather, and he started organizing a bunch of barrels sloshing with liquid inside

"Send this to Subrina as quickly as possible, we must have her extract the blood essence before it loses its potency even more"

Mia nodded and took the barrels, she was their best bet at getting it there the quickest so it was on her to get them delivered

Meanwhile YuJu found a quiet place to rest, laying on the ground without care for prestige as he tried to expel some sort of black miasma from his mouth

'How quickly did that thing evolve'

Thinking back to the adolescent Thunder Mammoth who he thought to be injured his eyes couldn't help but exude doubt

'Not only did it recover from the Gardelos's poison, it even used it to evolve, what a robust creature'

Certainly the situation took a dire turn when he angered it and got forced to finishing it off lest it lay waste to what remains of the city, and his future plans, but he gained far more than he lost

Badum Badum

The loud beats of a heart could not be hidden when he took it out of the blood filled barrel he kept with him, its stinky black blood filling the place as soon as it was exposed to the air

"My Lord, that is?"

"The heart of a mutated Thunder Mammoth"

He explained to the two backing off while holding their nose while not minding the smell himself

Though it pained him to get up he couldn't wait and did so with difficulty, motioning the two to follow

"We must get this to the forest area at once"

Though he said so his body still moved at a much slower pace than before, presumably the poison was spreading quicker than it should

Seeing this Zero offered her lord a piggyback, one that he didn't refuse with how dire his state was becoming