Chapter 178: The Body Transfer And The Urgent Talk!

"What do you think you’re doing?" Neve screamed in Skarr’s head, his consciousness raging. "Asking Popi to kill someone?! That’s not who she is!"

Skarr grabbed his head with his unwounded hand, feeling Neve’s mental protests like physical pain.

"What? Isn’t she able to kill someone?" Skarr asked out loud, his voice carrying a point. His words made Popi’s eyes widen a bit. "Just the way she hunts down innocent prey and kills them for food? Just the way beastmen kill for survival?"

It was not a lie, but it was different from asking someone to commit calculated murder.

"You have to do it yourself," Neve argued internally, his voice becoming more urgent. "What are you expecting her to do? Squeeze his heart inside his body with her telekinesis?"

He asked it jokingly, trying to make it sound ridiculous. Surely Skarr would see how absurd that was.

"Well, yes. That’s exactly what I want her to do," Skarr said, and he actually walked closer to Popi.

Popi took a step back, her entire body tense.

"I want her to help me kill Zyreth by squeezing his heart from the inside," Skarr said coldly. "Her telekinesis is perfect for this. She can crush organs without leaving a mark."

"What? Are you insane?" Neve said internally, horrified by the idea.

Popi gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth in shock.

"Can you do that?" Skarr asked her directly.

Popi’s eyes darted between Skarr and Cael and Aldric, trying to understand what was happening.

"What does Neve have to say about this?" she asked, clearly not trusting Skarr’s judgment. "What would the real Neve want?"

Skarr rolled his eyes at the question.

"Neve doesn’t care about—"

"Liar!" Popi interrupted him, her voice strong and certain. "Neve isn’t as selfish and brutal as you are. I could find a way to help, but not that. Not crushing someone’s heart from the inside. That’s too cruel. That’s too inhumane."

"Oh," Skarr said, his tone shifting slightly. There was almost a tone of respect in his voice. "How do you plan on doing it then?"

Popi turned around and walked quickly to Aldric. She whispered something urgently to him, and Aldric nodded in understanding. He walked away without questions.

While everyone stood frozen, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen next, Aldric returned carrying a leaf. Inside was an herb paste that had been crushed and mixed with other ingredients. The paste looked dark and sinister.

Popi returned with it, holding it carefully.

"Make him take this," Popi said, handing the container to Skarr. "It’ll burn his organs from the inside out. The pain will be intense but it will be quick. His body will shut down within minutes."

Skarr smirked at her, looking almost impressed.

"You even sound more brutal than I do," he said. "I like it."

He took the container from Popi and walked back to Zyreth, who was still paralyzed on the ground. The snake king could not move. Could not speak. Could not even defend himself.

Everyone watched silently as Skarr forced the herb paste into Zyreth’s mouth. The snake king’s eyes went wide, but he could not spit it out. He could not refuse.

"Swallow," Skarr ordered, and Zyreth’s throat worked involuntarily. He swallowed the poison.

.

.

"Just how powerful is that dark magic that Neve... No, that person is able to control someone as powerful as Zyreth," Cael muttered, watching in disbelief. "How is this even possible?"

"I wonder," someone spoke behind him.

Cael flinched and looked back quickly, his hand going to his weapon defensively.

It was Sable. The orange-haired fox assassin stood there, having materialized from his invisibility. When no one else could see him, Cael could see him because of his leopard eyes that could pierce through most illusions, thanks to the talon powder.

"Where have you been?" Cael asked.

"Underwater," Sable replied simply.

Cael raised a brow in confusion.

"What?"

Sable pressed his finger on his own lip, telling Cael to be quiet. He pointed toward Zyreth.

A gagging sound echoed through the silent forest.

Zyreth started clawing at his own throat as he coughed violently. His body convulsed as the poison began its work. His organs were burning from the inside. The herb was destroying them systematically.

They watched him suffer. Popi covered her mouth in shock as she realized the cruelty of what she had suggested, even if it was the better option.

Zyreth trembled violently. His body jerked and twisted. His face contorted in agony. And then he fell silent.

He stopped moving. His eyes went glassy. His breathing ceased.

Zyreth, the powerful snake king, was dead.

Neve was silent inside Skarr’s head. He watched everything with shock written all over his consciousness. He could not believe what had just happened. One of his bonded mates was dead. Zyreth was gone.

Suddenly, the system glitched in Neve’s awareness. The notification was hard to see since he was not in his own body and the connection was unstable.

[MATE STATUS UPDATE]

[Zyreth: DECEASED]

[Remaining Bonded Mates: 9 of 10]

Neve could not believe it. Even the system could not do anything about it. Maybe because it did not care. Maybe those voices in the watch room did not care about the death of one mate. Maybe to them, it was just part of the entertainment. Just another plot point in their twisted game.

.

Skarr moved and sat down in front of Zyreth’s corpse, his body positioned perfectly for the ritual.

"Are you ready?" he asked Neve internally.

"Ah, yes," Neve muttered, his voice resigned. There was no going back now. The ritual had to be completed.

Skarr began mumbling the dark magic spell. The words were ancient and powerful, words that bent reality and twisted the fabric of existence.

Suddenly, the sky changed.

Wind from nowhere blew hard through the forest, bending trees and scattering leaves. Dark circles appeared beneath Zyreth’s dead body and also beneath Skarr’s form. The circles glowed with an eerie purple light.

Skarr did not care about the supernatural display. He kept muttering and mumbling the spells, repeating the ancient words of power over and over. His voice grew louder. The wind grew stronger. The dark circles pulsed with more intensity.

And then everything froze.

Time itself seemed to stop. The wind ceased. The circles went dark. Everything went silent and still.

When time continued and the moment passed, Neve found himself back in his own body.

He gasped, checking his hand and his stomach to make sure it was really him. He felt his own heartbeat. He felt his own breath. He was really back. He had control again.

The system was also back online, stable and clear.

"Neve?" Cael called out, his voice filled with hope and relief.

Neve turned to look at Cael, and immediately the leopard rushed forward.

"Oh, Neve!" Cael said and rushed to hug him tight, lifting his body off the ground. "I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so glad you’re safe. I thought Zyreth was going to kill you. I was so scared."

Neve tapped Cael’s back gently.

"I’m glad you’re alright too," Neve said. "I was terrified that Zyreth was going to execute you both. I thought I had lost you."

But then another voice spoke from Zyreth’s body.

"Really?" the voice said, and everyone jumped in fear.

Zyreth’s corpse was no longer a corpse. The body stood up, moved, and looked around with wonder and satisfaction.

"Don’t worry, it’s me," Skarr said, waving his hand as he checked his new body. He rolled his shoulder and stretched his limbs. "Skarr. This body is so perfect. I could do whatever I want now. Eat whatever I want. Move however I want. This is incredible."

He grinned, clearly satisfied with the transfer.

Jereth fell on his knees as the full reality of what had happened crashed down on him.

"My king, what have you done to our king?" he asked, his voice filled with despair. "You have killed our king and taken his body. What will happen to the snake tribe now?"

"What do we do about him?" Skarr asked, looking at Jereth with cold indifference. "Kill him?"

Jereth and the other guards shook their heads frantically.

"No, please. We beg for mercy," Jereth pleaded.

"Why don’t Varek become the next king?" Popi asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the tension. Everyone turned to look at her. "I mean, he’s nice and he actually cares about people. He would be a better leader than Zyreth was."

"Who’s Varek?" Cael raised a brow, not recognizing the name.

"Zyreth’s brother," Neve replied. "He’s... complicated. But Popi’s probably right. He would maybe be better at ruling. The question is how do we get him to agree to be king?"

"I can handle it," Popi said, pointing at Skarr in Zyreth’s body. "But I’ll need his help. I need Skarr’s help to convince Varek."

"Sure," Skarr said in Zyreth’s body. "I can play along with that."

Jereth and the other guards escorted Skarr and Popi away to find Varek, leaving Neve alone with Cael, Aldric, Maren, and Sable.

Neve stood alone, his hand rubbing his stomach as he exhaled deeply.

Everything was over. Everything was now fine. He could head back home and be with them. With Cael and his family. With the leopard tribe where he belonged.

But then Maren appeared in front of him, stepping out of the shadows.

"Neve, can we talk?" Maren asked, his voice serious and urgent.

Neve blinked, staring at the shark king.

"It’s urgent," Maren continued. "It’s about going home."

Cael and the others thought he meant heading back to the leopard territory. But Neve knew immediately what Maren really meant. It was about going back to Earth. It was about returning to their original world.

He swallowed hard and nodded.

"Sure," Neve said. "Let’s talk."