𝑜𝑣𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

“Sect leader.”

Rhodes appeared out of the passage right in time to take the attention away from the smirking black-haired man.

Or rather, the person that showed up right behind him has immediately become Chloe’s center of attention.

“Aaron!”

The young girl gasped seeing the boy her age following his father. She took a step forward, looking as if she was about to run up to him, but then stopped herself from taking another one and her expression became tense.

“H-hey, Chloe. I’ve heard you became the sect leader. Congratulations.”

Aaron waved his hand at her rather awkwardly, not sure how he should act in the situation he found himself in.

“…”

“Ah…! No! Wait, stop! I take that back!”

Whatever the case, Chloe froze and her chin trembled which Aaron picked up immediately and called out in panic, moving past his father and even walking by Zoemi and Alan who were watching him with interest.

“Mom and dad… and even Eve… we were ambushed by the people from the Star Pagoda. They all got severely wounded and dad say that they will not make it anyway, but I still had a chance.”

Chloe looked down at her feet and spoke in a quiet voice.

“Blood ritual went well, even a bit too well if you ask me, and I was able to get away with no problem and return to the Blood Star sect.

“I am so sorry…”

Aaron lowered his head, cowering and becoming the very description of the word apologetic.

“I didn’t want to become the leader, actually. It’s just that the previous sect leader didn’t want to move to a more secure location and I knew it was a necessity.”

Chloe glanced at the boy and send him a troubled smile.

“My family wasn’t the first victims of the warriors from the Star Pagoda. The location of our sect was compromised and they were getting rid of us one by one.”

“Chloe…”

The girl revealed while her face became serious with a powerful conviction to which Aaron could only gasp.

“I would like to learn more about the blood ritual you just mentioned, young miss. I am personally interested in dark sects – especially when it comes to their distribution of those little things.”

Zoemi showcased the denseness of a black hole and spoke up in a slightly accusatory voice while showcasing a crystal vial that formerly contained the mana potion.

“…mister Zoemi, right…? Putting the blood ritual to the side, you need to be more specific about the thing you want to learn about. What exactly is that little bottle supposed to be?”

Chloe straightened her back, raising her head and glaring at the black-haired man with a rather annoyed expression.

“I see…. so it’s one of the three options.”

Zoemi tilted his head back, sending the young dark sect leader a grim glare.

“One – you are playing the fool. Two – since you became the leader of the sect not that long ago and aren’t even an adult yet, you were not let in on the transactions that your sect is working on in the background. And finally three – your sect isn’t involved in the business involving this little very characteristic thing.”

The black-haired man counted upon his fingers without breaking eye contact with the young sect leader.

“If it’s the first one, you better stop. For your own good.”

He added with a deadpan expression that sent chills down the spines of Alan, Aaron, and Rhodes.

Chloe visibly held back an angry pout, and instead puffed out her chest to seem more intimidating.

“Mister Zoemi, I’ll have you know that you surviving the contact with me without getting injured doesn’t mean that you would have an upper hand in case I decided to use my full strength against you.”

She declared proudly, raising her chin so high that she could barely see the black-haired man’s face.

“I am fully aware that you didn’t use your actual strength. If you did, you would tear yourself apart. Remember me mentioning the unstoppable force and the immovable object? You aren’t unstoppable, but I am immovable – at least for you.”

Zoemi scoffed and a villainous smirk bloomed on his face, showcasing how true pride looks.

“…”

The young dark sect leader couldn’t control her expression anymore and she pouted like a spoiled child that didn’t get what they wanted, which was honestly a little more fitting for someone her age than the high-and-mighty attitude she was trying to pull off before.

“If it makes you feel better, I believe that you would give the earth dragon from the sea of trees a run for its money in the combat situation. Nothing more than that though.”

“…eh…? Earth dragon? Why do you make it sound as if there are more of them?”

The black-haired man snickered and added another mockery, but its impact didn’t land properly as the young girl lacked some crucial information to fully comprehend it.

“Sect leader, I do not doubt your strength, but with Zoemi’s case, I would not advise holding him up to the usual standards. He claims to be the Guide’s chosen champion as well as someone who was born and grew up in the land of mana.”

Rhodes cleared out his throat and picked that exact moment to rejoin the conversation that he was excluded from right at the very start.

“Also, he spent well over a year within the sea of trees and might have encountered something…”

“Do you think that bringing that subject again in my presence is not going to annoy me just because you aren’t directly pestering me about it?”

Aaron’s father added, but he went a bit too far with that and Zoemi warned him while preemptively clenching his fist.

“…understood…”

Rhodes gulped down his saliva and backed down not even attempting to pick that gauntlet.

“And in the first place. None of you seems to know about different types of dragons, but are at least aware of something more powerful than them lurking in the sea of trees, what is that about?!”

Zoemi scoffed angrily, shaking his head in annoyance.