Master of Myths

Several hours later YuJu finally stopped running, he was out of breath even though his new physic should be able to handle straining tasks when combined with his movement technique, for the swarm hadn't given him a second of rest until the final giant beetle was slain by Ellis seconds ago

He looked behind and saw a road of bodies extending all the way to the neighbouring hills, he had run around the area until the trail of blood marked all of the hills

The mosquitoes who'd been lost to madness gained their clarity back halfway through, but not without losing two-thirds of their numbers, once they saw themselves in this disadvantages position and with nothing to gain the flew away

The mantes on the other hand had fought nearly till the end, as they killed more and more beetles they levelled up and the system distributed their status based on their way of fighting, they got so addicted to the increase of strength they crazily killed the beetles, some even attacked Ellis but were killed in retaliation, only when it was almost time to kill the two giant beetles did Ellis stop fighting the beetles and start handling all the mantes first for she could fight them one on one now with the others distracted farming the beetle's lives, but if she killed the beetles first she would have to fight all of them at once which would prove to be both challenging and dangerous

Only when both swarms were taking care of did Ellis finally move onto finishing the beetles, resulting in this massive trail of bodies before him

"Master...are you...okay?"

Ellis spoke in between bated breaths, her whole body was aching from exhaustion, but she held on nonetheless, wanting to check up on him first

He took out the blood pearl from his mouth then smiled at her slightly

"Yes, go take some rest, you've done well"

He didn't praise her much so when he did she would feel proud, sticking her chest out with honor

"Also wear something"

Her chest deflated hearing his words as she remembered she was still in her birthday suit, she took the shirt he handed her and wore it after disabling her aura, then she sat down and leaned on a tree to get some shut-eye

Meanwhile, YuJu carried the still passed out Anput up a tree, laying her on the branch, then took a look at her state

Her maw was clenched tightly, eyes squinted and nose scrunched up, appearing t be in extreme pain

Though he knew it was probably too late he still sliced his finger open, dripping some blood into her mouth after forcibly opening it, then proceeded to use his purification skill on her

"Kugh"

The second he entered her body he was eaten by the hungry stream of blood surrounding him, totally annihilating him under the second

"Sigh, I can't help you"

He had wanted to purify her hound blood so that it could overwhelm the new scarab queen bloodline within her, sadly he was several steps too late as it had already assimilated into her body after all these hours passed

"You will have to tide through this on your own"

He whispered, patting her head lightly

While he felt worried about what she would become he didn't fear her death, in fact, she was already getting better, her drooping fur returned normal though it became less populated, its colour also turning from reddish-yellow into reddish-black, her body became larger but slimmer, and her ears became longer and pointier

"I hope this doesn't limit her evolutions"

He didn't plan on her gaining any insect bloodlines, though it is good swallowing the egg made her stronger instead of killing her it still alternated her evolution routs

In the end, he could do nothing but wait, so he leaned on the tree as well and let his eyes droop, slowly closing on their own, until finally, he couldn't force them open, falling into another silent slumber.....

...

He was here yet again, he knew he would be, and he really didn't want to be

But where was here? Did this place really exist? Since it was Nothing shouldn't it actually not be in existence

Questions arose but they soon drifted away, just like his thoughts, he tried to hold onto them but the more he stayed in here the less he was, fading, decaying, shifting out of exitance

"Master!"

"!!"

He opened his eyes to be greeted by two purple orbs which he identified to be Ellis's eyes once he got his wit about

Seeing clarity return to him her aura receded back into her body, shiting her eyes into their normal colour again

"Are you alright Master?"

He nodded slightly and stood up slowly with her help, his body still seemed to be empty making him very weak

'It's getting worse every time I sleep...I must not fall asleep any time soon'

While he knew he shouldn't sleep at all until he learned what the hell was wrong with him he also knew that it wasn't possible, he wasn't at the level where he could forgo sleep altogether, even at his peak in the past he had to sleep at some point if he wanted to have a clear mind

Ellis continued to support him, only when she was sure he could stand on his own did she let go of him

"Woof?"

Anput inquired of his condition from the side, clearly worried about him

"I'm fine.....wait"

His head hastily swivelled to the side, looking at the worried Anput standing on the branch with he ears on alert

From a glance he could tell the bloodline merged into her body without any problems, she was healthily standing there without any apparent difficulty

The real problems he was afraid of wouldn't be so easy to spot though since it is related to her bloodline

'I have to use Blood Purification to check how much this affected her'

He bent down and rubbed her head with a smile on his face

"You assimilated the blood awfully quickly didn't you"

Anput barked happily in response as she rubbed against his palm

"Actually..Master you were asleep for almost half a day, the fourth day since the apocalypse is already over"

YuJu was alarmed hearing Ellis's statement, he never imagined he would sleep for half a day, even though he knew he was exhausted, this was really bad news with them already being behind schedule

His plan on checking up on Anput would have to wait, right now they had to hurry in catching up on levels

"Were heading toward the village to finish up what we came for, then we will go level in the city, we will not have any rest there until were level fifty, from there we will head straight toward the borders"

Hearing the urgency in his voice Ellis nodded with a serious look, and Anput reluctantly stopped rubbing her head on his palm before nodding as well

The trio jumped off the tree and headed toward the nearby village

It didn't take much time before the village was within their sight, or whatever remained of it

Ellis wasn't surprised though, towns were reduced to ruins, cities were in chaos, she had no hope a village would survive

Peering into the remanents of houses she saw chunks of flesh littering the floor, next to them were mangled parts which after inspection she found to be hands and legs that ranged from tiny to large and old, they weren't fully eaten and left there to rot, but what caught her gaze the most, making her slow down her stride, were the human skulls that were cracked open, as if they were watermelons that one ate from and threw away

"Who, Which beast would do this!!"

She yelled in anger and frustration, wanting nothing more than to cute down whatever made this indiscriminate massacre

"A beast in humans clothing"

"What? Why would a human do this!"

"Greed, lust for power, revenge, who knows, what matters the most is their gone, else we would have to hide until they left"

His words suddenly made her cool down, for she had never heard him talk of another human with any caution whatsoever, in fact she herself regarded the human race as weak creatures, and that she and her Master were the only ones that could save them, after all everyone was helplessly weak so she could only guard them

But now she realized there were foes she couldn't win against even among her fellow humans, giving her self esteem a blow

YuJu didn't have time to care about her emotions now as he took out the three burial gems and the blood pearl, putting them a wooden plank nearby, then he took out two curved jade blades from his bag, and lay them next to the other items

"Master, that is?"

Ellis couldn't help but ask after she saw those beautiful twin blades, they were more exquisite and deadly than any blade shed ever seen, she even guessed she could bring out the full power of her aura with them

"These belonged to the leader mantis of the swarm I lured over, had I not cut them right off his hands they wouldn't be chasing me as a group"

It didn't surprise her that her Master was able to do this, perhaps it was even too easy for him, what she wondered though is why he would set all these precise looking treasures on the ground, thus she curiously watched his actions

After he set the treasures on the ground he got up and dusted his hands then sat next to them

"Anput, you take a stroll around and don't come too close to this location unless you meet something dangerous, Ellis you had under some rubble and prepare to strike "

Ellis looked dumbfounded at him, that's it? All he did was set the things on the ground and they were ready?

She was reluctant to accept this in her heart but did as she was told, hiding in a half-collapsed thatch house while Anput disappeared into the forest

Watching the two follow his simple plan with questioning looks he shook his head and started to pay attention to his surroundings, waiting in the open for the pray to take the bait