Chapter 126: Cat made of stars

Chapter 126: Cat made of stars After the brief conversation, Aiden and his second wife, Natalia, continued on their way, hunting some animals they found along the way. "UH-UH-AH-AH!!" The loud cry of the silver monkey with purple spots echoed in his ears. At first, he didn’t think much of it until he realized where the cry was coming from. "Isn’t that the address my daughter and young Michel took?" he asked aloud, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Yes, that’s the address where Elizabeth is," Natalia confirmed without showing much surprise. "Shit!" Aiden ran toward the address, worried that something had happened to his daughter. After all, he was a loving father. ... In another part of the forest. The sun continued to filter through the purple leaves of the trees, creating irregular shadows on the damp ground. The gentle afternoon breeze passed through the bushes and stirred the tree branches, creating a haunting sound in the air. In the distance, the songs of the various birds that inhabited Dubhu Mountain could be heard. "UH-UH-AH-AH!!" The sound of the baron-grade silver monkey echoed in Kael and Roberta’s ears, who turned their heads toward the source of the sound. "Is that the direction Miss Elizabeth is in?" Roberta asked aloud, feeling the urge to run toward that place. But when she saw Kael’s expressionless face, she frowned in annoyance. Didn’t he care about his companion? "Aren’t you worried about young master Michel?" she asked with annoyance in her voice. Kael looked at her with disdain. "Why should I care? Michel is rank 7. He doesn’t deserve my concern." His response was cold and cutting. Roberta fell silent; all the worry and annoyance she had felt a few seconds ago disappeared as if it had never been there. Kael watched this quick change without getting too bothered and said: "Let’s keep going, there’s still about two hours left until the hunting competition ends." Roberta nodded as her gaze turned toward the sky, where all the animals she had hunted during all this time were now. They continued forward, moving carefully among the bushes, with the sound of a waterfall in the distance, and headed toward the source of that sound. Not long after, they arrived at the waterfall, which was unique: the water was not its natural color, but a crystalline purple, where fish could be seen from the shore and some algae in the depths. Roberta’s eyes sparkled slightly. She had never seen this place before, even though she had been on this mountain for a long time. Just then... They saw a rather unique creature: it was shaped like a Persian cat, but its fur was made entirely of stars, as if it were a starry night. It was truly a unique and beautiful creature. Kael narrowed his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. It could be... "What a beautiful cat, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen one like that," Roberta said excitedly. The cat, which looked as if it were made of stars, startled and ran behind the crystal-clear purple waterfall. Roberta went from excitement to curiosity. Without saying a word, she approached the waterfall. Kael simply followed her closely in silence, his eyes glowing with a dark light. Behind the waterfall was a path wide enough for two adults to pass. As they advanced, the roar of the waterfall filled their ears with force, and they were completely drenched. A few minutes later, they arrived at the cave behind the waterfall. The damp ceiling looked like a starry night sky—truly beautiful. However, the rest of the cave was normal. This confirmed Kael’s suspicion: this was the cave mentioned in Elizabeth’s biography before her rebirth. Here was the inheritance of the Wizard of the Tower of Babel, the Lord of the Stars. Roberta stared at the ceiling with an incredulous and excited expression. Seeing a starry sky high above a cave was something she had never seen or heard of in her life. But then, a strange sensation ran through her body. The world began to spin slowly, until she saw the impossible: her own body still standing, rigid, staggering without a head. In that last moment of consciousness, her gaze caught the glint of a sword made of coins, still dripping with blood, and the expressionless face of Kael watching her with utter indifference. Roberta’s head rolled across the damp floor, leaving a scarlet trail that stained the stone, while the fake stars on the ceiling seemed to watch her end with cruel calm. ... Moving at high speed, dodging trees and destroying bushes in their path, Aiden and his second wife, Natalia, finally arrived at the place where Elizabeth and Michel Abraham were. The scene that appeared before their eyes left them momentarily speechless. A huge crater stretched across the ground, and in the center lay the corpse of the great silver monkey with purple spots, its body torn apart and lifeless. The nearby trees were stained with blood, and pieces of beast organs hung from branches and bushes, spreading a metallic stench that permeated the air. On one side, Michel remained indifferent, leaning back with his head on Elizabeth’s lap. She, with her cheeks slightly flushed, seemed overcome by a discomfort that contrasted with the young man’s absolute calm. "What’s going on?" Aiden asked aloud, unable to hide his surprise. However, what impressed him most was not the dead beast, but the state in which he found his daughter. Elizabeth, hearing her father’s voice, jumped and looked up, startled. Her face turned red as a tomato, consumed by embarrassment. "This..." she tried to articulate some explanation, but embarrassment paralyzed her, and no words came out of her mouth. Michel, on the other hand, rose slowly. His expression did not change in the slightest: he continued to look indifferent and cold, as if nothing that was happening there could surprise him. In a flat voice, he said: "We just finished off a beast of Baron rank." There was no pride in his tone, no emotion, not even satisfaction. Just boredom, as if eliminating a creature of that level was a trivial event, unworthy of his attention. Aiden remained silent for a few seconds. His mind cleared with a thought that hit him like a self-evident truth: Michel, that young man who was not yet twenty years old, had already climbed to rank 7. For someone like that, a Baron-ranked beast posed no threat whatsoever. That meant that, despite appearances, Elizabeth’s life had never been in danger. Aiden let out a heavy sigh as he still sensed the remnants of aura and magic floating in the air. Finally, he spoke: "Since they used magic and aura, the Baron-ranked beast doesn’t count as part of the competition." Michel didn’t even flinch at those words. He simply shrugged, picked up his bow and arrows from the ground, and returned to his usual indifference. "Daughter, can you explain to me how they defeated the Baron-ranked beast?" Aiden then asked, fixing his gaze on Elizabeth. Elizabeth, struggling to regain her composure, put aside her embarrassment and began to recount in detail how they had managed to defeat the large silver monkey with purple spots. Aiden listened silently. But as he did so, a frown of annoyance appeared on his forehead. His brow furrowed, and an unpleasant idea formed in his mind. He glanced sideways at Michel. For someone of that rank, defeating a Baron-class beast was too easy a task. So why had he allowed Elizabeth to participate so directly? Was he... testing my daughter? That thought made him uncomfortable, like a thorn buried under his skin. He didn’t like it one bit. However, there was little he could do. Most young masters were like that: arrogant, calculating, always willing to use others to temper their skills or their character. And Michel Abraham seemed to be no exception. Aiden let out a deep sigh, looking up at the sky through the purple leaves of the trees. ... Two hours later, Michel, Elizabeth, Aiden, Natalia, Max, and Milwar gathered at the agreed-upon location. It was there that all the groups were to present their hunted prey to decide who would take home the grand prize. However, upon arrival, everyone immediately noticed that one group was missing. "Let’s wait another hour. Maybe they went too far into the forest," said Aiden, crossing his arms sternly. Time passed slowly. The clouds moved slowly, carried by the wind like gray veils. The sun slowly descended, staining the sky with a blood-red hue, a sign of bad luck. An hour and a half had passed, and there was still no sign of Kael or Roberta. Michel’s brow furrowed, his eyes flashing with a hint of suspicion. There was a strange feeling in his chest, as if something were escaping him, as if a crucial detail were hidden from him. "Something must have happened," Elizabeth whispered, before adding firmly, "Father, let me go look for them. With my tracking magic, it will be much easier for me to find them." "I’ll go with you," Michel offered without hesitation. Aiden was silent for a moment. His expression was grim. A dark premonition ran through him, a feeling he couldn’t ignore. Finally, he nodded heavily. "All right. But listen to me carefully, Elizabeth: the moment you find any trace of them, don’t hesitate to use the magic of Light immediately." "I understand, Father," she replied solemnly. With those words, Elizabeth and Michel entered the purple forest. The thicket swallowed them like a dark mouth as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon. They walked on, unaware that the fate that awaited them ahead was not one they could avoid.