Journeying back toward the human world the three were a bit more careful than when YuJu was alone, mainly due to the sightings of a Gardelos in the desert, something they weren't sure of taking on just yet

This, along with the lack of a vehicle, caused them to take a couple of days to get to the cliff area

​​

"Should I carry Anput and climb down?"

Ellis offered

"No, she will carry us"

The reply confused as to how that would come about, that is until sand lifted the three off the ground, sliding past the edge and descending downward while leveraging the wall for a steady speed

With the obstacle easily passed they proceeded through the burnt forest and into human lands after what felt like years to Ellis

"....It's all just..gone"

She wasn't expecting a bustling scene where humans roamed about freely, but this desolate land was far from what she pictured, it was almost a wasteland at this point

Sullen turned her mood as they crossed this empty land under the cover of YuJu's smoke, otherwise they would face harassment from the Kha'si

"Isn't this place where we stopped?"

She couldn't forget it, minimal as the time they stayed may be this was the first house where her aura consolidated around

"Yes, I chose to be our house"

No wonder the smoke surrounding this place was see through like her master's aura

Proceeding inside they were met with a random score of flora, each different from the next, some were trees, some bushes, others looked like flowers and exposed roots, all interconnected by brushes

"You've grown well"

YuJu touched one of the trees which shook in response, just as the entire greenery surrounding them did, the grass even leaning toward his feet in a hugging manner

It was an eye opener even for the redhead who had been living with trees, a walking plant was much too different from a sentient garden

"Iānus has begun to spread quicker after you gave it that fruit Master"

A familiar voice sounded as the white haired maid came out to welcome them, yet another surprise to Ellis who began to turn numb, at least she wasn't sullen though

"Would you like lunch before a bath?"

"We've no time to relax, I came for the poison essence batches you've made"

Sensing a little urgency in his tone Subrina was quick to retrieve the sets of vials filled with green liquid

"They are not many since I have been focusing on blood research, would you like me to mass produce them instead?"

"No, in fact I want you to forgo both projects, focus on producing as many blood essences as possible, I need all of them to be from light or fire based energy type creatures"

"Yes Master"

Agreeing without questions, that was what set her different from Ellis, though each had their own useful aspects

Without another word they stored the vials and set off once more, their destination being the den in which his vampires dwelled

'What's with all these watchers'

They were only at the far vicinity of the entrance yet he could feel many gazes landing on him already, finding all of them belonging to bats hidden among debris, in trees, or flying in plain sight

These flyers increased in number as they approached the large entrance, flooding the place by the time they were entering it

Unlike the grand entrance from before Mia chose to greet him directly with her small group, all wearing grim faces

"Master"

"My Lord"

They all bowed in greeting

"Uncle!"

Except Imy who ran up for a small hug

"Your back! Did you have fun with your friends? Are you hungry? We baked some cookies!"

"Hello there Imy, I'm not very hungry now, Anput is though, why don't you share some of your cookies with her instead"

Imy looked behind him and saw the serious looking Ellis, taking a step back due to the intimidating unfamiliarity

Ellis stared at the little girl before turning to her own side where the hound had her tongue out, excited at the prospect of new food

The little girl was quick on the uptake, understanding that Anput was the hound just by the salivating look

"Let's go eat then!"

"Awu!"

Just as he thought, this little ball of innocence loved nothing more than to spend time with beasts, along with Anput's lively nature she should be occupied for a good period of time

"Give me the full report on what is going on"

"Yes Master"

Their faces returned to the grim features that melted monetarily and the cute scene of a child and dog, there was an extinction level crisis at hand requiring full attention

"As I briefed in the message, there have been sightings of engulfing mist coming from the borders of our world, I am sorry to say that they have only been spotted after surroundings earth from most areas, it seems humans have decided to share the information on a large scale through skills after they deemed this to be a huge threat to everyone, we only got the message when they delivered it to the Somia guild who they deemed irreplaceable due to the nature of the enemies"

Mia repeated as they made way into the throne room where everyone took a seat

"Was that the only source for your information"

"We have sent members, both human and vampire, to scout the validity of this claim, it is however our only source though, as Master pointed out"

That explained why Nee and the new member of their small family was missing, it also explained to Ellis that everyone here looked like a vampire, simply because, they were just that

"Have humans come up with any plan on how to deal with the mist?"

"The mist is an unexplainable phenomenon, they have come to know however that some, well, things reside in the mist"

"Explain in more detail"

"Well, the creatures, or as they call them, ghosts, are dwellers of this strange mist, roaming through it like fish in water, with bodies that phase through most physical structures with ease, so far they have been tested to be capable of ignoring most melee classes while being more fragile against energy classes, especially light and fire ones"

She wasn't sure of her report, not that she found ghosts to be none existent but because she thought they were some sort of energy based creatures instead

"I see, Wraiths already began showing themselves"

"So they were ghosts after all…"

Ika commented in a whisper, sadly everyone heard her, glancing in her direction causing a flush to appear on her cheeks from embarrassment, it was weird to be afraid of ghosts when one was a vampire but she couldn't help it, even after living in such a scary world ghosts seemed on another level of scary

"No, but technically yes, ghosts are the direct souls of those who died but were bound to the living world for one reason or another, wraiths on the other hand are creatures that get birthed by the negative energy emitted by scattering souls of those killed in the Haunting Mist"

Now Ika wished they were ghosts instead

"Note what I'm about to say next, spread the information to the others as results of your scouting"

Mia quickly had bats deliver pen and papers for her to record everything

"Wraiths are undead type creatures, their unique features provide total physical immunity, even if you can bash their heads off or slice them in half your attacks are not effective at all, they are countered by light and fire energies, have mutual restrain with nature energy, in which case it would depend on the volume and purity of both sides to determine the victor"

He paused, making sure she jotted everything down right before continuing

"The best way to make use of nature energy is not for attack but domains and shields, they are much easier to maintain than fire or light based ones, attacking them however should be done only with the use of the two countering elements, especially when the mist is supporting the wraiths, in it their power increases tremendously and their regeneration becomes almost instant, barring any chances of nature users coming on top, at least one coming from the human race"

Everything was explained so clearly, to the point they started to doubt whether or not he knew of the mist's coming in advance, otherwise did he memorize most of the creatures of this world? And from whom did he get that information?

Only Ellis didn't question the extensive knowledge's source, witnessing firsthand how her master was capable of foreseeing future events erased any question about him being normal, she was almost sure he had seer like skills at this point

"Onc you are done spreading this information make haste back here, we will start clearing all the beasts around these settlements and camps, to lessen the potential wraiths the mist could acquire, remove any hassle for the humans during the upcoming war and to power level everyone as much as possible"

"As Master wishes"

Mia went ahead to convey the info to Sofia while YuJu checked upon the state of new thralls and the den's situation before setting up for another massacring spree