Chapter 287: Leviathans Grow Restless

Jacob, Maria, Squabee, Slimo, Lidia, and Sheeby all sat in a small circle. Rain started pouring outside the structure as Sarah laid in Lidia’s arms unconscious.

"Sarah’s power isn’t the only thing that has changed. It looks like your light powers have grown immensely powerful, mom."

Lidia rubbed her small wound from where the serpent attacked her.

"Oh? I didn’t expect for anything to happen when I was stabbed since I already had a power. Did it just evolve like the one I had before?"

"Well, in a way it did."

Name: Lidia Rose, Queen of Lumos

Serpentine: Holy Illuminance

Description: The Queen is capable of curing any and all forms of corruption using a ray of her light or the touch of her hand. Only corruption of a much higher level can stave off its cleanse.

[Luminator]: One of the few remaining of a lost clan.

[Royal Blood]: The queen’s blood is special. It constantly cleanses her body of corruption slowly. There is something alive circulating through her blood.

[May Her Light Guide Us Home]: The Queen is capable of guiding her Luminator’s home from any distance.

[Surrogate]: The Queen is pregnant, carrying humanities only hope inside of her.

[Queen of Lumos]: The Queen has retaken her throne and now rules the kingdom of Lumos. Her light is now a poison to creatures of corruption and can be used as a destructive force.

[Light Transfer]: The Queen is capable of absorbing any creature of pure light into herself to protect them or fuel her own power.

Lidia nodded her head listening to the last two lines of new information.

"So, does that mean I can keep Sheeby inside of me in case she gets into trouble?"

Maria shrugged her shoulders.

"There’s only one way to find out, right?"

Lidia walked up to Sheeby who sniffed her hand as she held it outward.

"It’s okay girl. I promise I won’t hurt you. This may even make you feel better."

Sheeby allowed her hand to rest on her sharp nose. Lidia closed her eyes and focused on the power tugging at her soul. A warm light escaped from her palm and enveloped Sheeby in her entirety. Slowly, she began to dissolve into bright particles and float into Lidia’s hand. Everyone watched the spectacle in shock.

"This is one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen. Who knew that dragons could turn into sparks like that?!"

After the last sparks were absorbed by Lidia, she looked at her hand curiously. Maria stared at the spot where Sheeby had just been.

"Can you bring her back?"

"It’s weird. I keep trying to bring her back, but she doesn’t want to leave yet. My powers might be healing some of her wounds so she should probably stay inside of me for a little while. Wait... I have a dragon living inside me along with my own child."

Slimo sighed anxiously.

"Well, I hope they get along in there. Sheeby better not try to mess with our kid or I may just have to fight her... just like I did with her mom."

Lidia playfully slapped Slimo’s shoulder.

"They’ll behave. Sheeby would never do something that crazy."

However, Lidia was secretly a little worried about keeping Sheeby inside of her. She didn’t know if she may be stealing nutrients from the baby or if she might steal some of its energy for herself. She had a feeling she was just being paranoid and decided to ignore her inner thoughts.

"Did Slimo receive any sort of power from the statue? He tried dodging it, but it looked like the tail was able to scrape him a bit."

Jacob made a weird face and looked at Slimo.

"Well, that’s the weird part. I’m able to read words that are appearing next to him, but for some reason he simply doesn’t have a power. Besides people with Zalos and Serpentines, something would have to be a corrupted or light creature for me to read anything from them. But in Slimo’s case, all I see is his name and a description of who he is."

Slimo raised his eyebrow.

"Really? What does the description say?"

Name: Slimo Kin, King of Lumos

Description: Slimo Kin was born a regular human but strove for strength each passing day. For whatever strength he lacked, he made up for with wits. It would be unwise to fight this man unprepared, even if you are much stronger than him. Somehow, he was able to win the heart of the strongest woman on the planet, despite his grotesque facial features and creepy mannerisms. However, thanks to a combined effort between himself and the Queen, humanities only opportunity at taking down Zalo will be created. His body is desperately fighting the light blessings attempting to invade his blood.

"What the hell is with that one part?! I don’t have creepy mannerisms! And why did it call my facial features grotesque?!"

"To be honest, I am more curious about the last sentence. Why is your body trying to fight away a power that would help you out?"

Slimo crossed his arms.

"I already said before I don’t want this power. I have seen what happened with Zalo users when they had a power before. No one could remember our best friends because of that. I don’t want something similar happening to me, even if it means being weak the rest of my life."

"But these light powers are good! They are going to help us take down Zalo!"

"Who says these light powers are good, Jacob?"

Jacob hesitated, appalled by Slimo’s remark.

"How could they not be good?! It’s a light power that is killing corrupted creatures and opposes the power of the man responsible for our friends’ deaths?!"

"All I’m saying is it wouldn’t hurt to be slightly cautious of these powers."

"So, do you think Lidia made a mistake with her power?"

"She’s a bit of a unique case. She was stabbed against her will the first time. And since there’s seemingly no going back, it was only logical for her to be stabbed again, even if she didn’t mean to."

Jacob sighed.

"I guess I can’t exactly make you gain a power if you don’t want it but just think about it a bit."

Suddenly, the ground started shaking under them. Jacob was the first to feel it under himself. He stood up and looked towards the exit of the structure.

"There’s... something coming this way. Don’t creatures normally avoid this place?"

Everyone joined Jacob and stared out at the pouring rain. The only thing anyone could hear was the clap of thunder or the sound of water splattering over the multitude of thick leaves.

"It must be lost or it doesn’t know about this place yet."

Everyone waited cautiously for something to happen, but nothing did. Slimo walked closer towards the exit and leaned forward.

"Whatever it was must have simply been passing by. We should wait a bit long before-"

Suddenly, a boot slammed against Slimo’s back, sending him flying across the room and smacking his head against the floor, leaving a trail of blood. Standing by the entrance was a one-eyed human-like creature with glowing purple skin. Jacob watched the text appear next to it as it flexed its muscles while roaring.

Name: Vernus

Class: Elder Leviathan

Description: This creature’s species is one that gives their kin names. They have their own unique dialect and behave very similarly to humans in many cases. However, these creatures grow stronger while the long they are alive. Avoiding the eldest of their people would be wise.

Weakness: Kill this creature as fast as you can. The more time that passes, the stronger the creature will become.

[Corrupter]: This is a creature of corruption.

[Jungle-Made]: This creature appears to be an outcast. It actively seeks fights instead of waiting for them, a dangerous game for something of its species. It has adapted to the jungle around itself.

Squabee wasted no time to immediately transform into her angel incarnate. She flapped her wings and soared high in the air before it could make a move. Jacob decided to take the fight to the creature. He had never fought a monster of this caliber before, but he could still feel the apes power coursing through his veins. He needed to grow as strong as he could before he lost it.

The creatures seemed to welcome Jacob’s challenge and dashed towards him to meet him halfway. Its speed was indescribable. Jacob hardly managed to set another foot down in front of himself before a fist was already flying towards his head. Jacob forced his neck sideways, and by pure luck, his face only managed to get scraped. Not only that, but the moment Jacob turned his head, Maria’s spear was revealed to be hiding right behind it.

It was mere centimeters from penetrating Vernus’s eye before it reached out and grabbed the spear in its hand, slashing down at Jacob’s leg and severing it completely. The entire interaction happened so quickly no one could believe their eyes. Jacob gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the ground to gain some distance. He panted heavily while glaring at the creature who was still holding his leg.

However, an ominous feeling settled in his gut as he noticed Squabee’s transformation in his peripheral vision.

’If Squabee is granting me with luck, then does that means this thing ripping off my leg was the lucky outcome of that interaction?! What the hell would have happened to me had Squabee not transformed?!’