Master of Myths

While YuJu was playing around with the floor occupants minds Belinda was entertaining another guest in her abode

"So you're saying he knows us personally?"

"Apparently so"

"And we should know him but can't remember?"

"That's what he hinted at"

"Hmmm"

Standing before the snake lady was a women whos face was as white as Belinda's scales around which were two leaves looking like an open maw that housed her head, these leaves had a red tint around their blades that faded into green the further it went down her body, all the way to the end of her dress that covered her entirely

"This would conveniently explain how he was able to get to your abode and is now easily navigating through our floor even with Laby's Lost Haze in effect"

"Oh? Have you begun?"

The woman showed a confused face to her question

"Why wouldn't we start? We have an intruder that knows more than he should, clearly we must subjugate him, I am just waiting for him to show his hand"

"Hmm, I see"

"? Is there something your not telling me?"

"Well, let's just say our kind isn't exactly the best match against him"

Those belittling words caused the woman to frown heavily

"Explain clearly what you mean"

"You see, he might look like a vampire but I have seen him without those blinds, his origin is vastly different from them yet his command over blood is something no vampire could ever hope to reach"

A fruity smell started to waft in the cave mixing with the pink mist as the woman's green dress started to turn reddish

"He didn't come here for a bath did he, you better tell me what really happened or else"

"Threats won't work here, your in my abode so you should be the one to fear"

"How ungrateful of you, withholding information about the enemy after all we have done for you, remember that you were but a little snakelet when we picked you up from the murky waters"

"And you were but a smelly trap, thus 'we' doesn't apply"

"You little wretch!"

"Oh dear, did I step on a vine?"

The atmosphere was getting very heated, pink and red mist were mixed together in a hard battle while the two stared hard at each other, each daring the other to make the first move

The tense atmosphere lasted for a long minute before the white-faced woman took a breath and broke it with her cold words

"Humph, I won't argue with you any longer, your actions though I have remembered and your punishment you shall receive"

Without giving her the chance to quib back she turned around and left, her body sliding on the ground in a manner that hinted the presence of something other than legs under that long dress

'I shall willingly receive it, if you live to rule it out'

Belinda replied in her head with a smirk, while she knew that her actions could lead to punishments she believed it was better to not give her any information, worried that if she did and the hard-headed woman still attacked it might be traced back to her which would then lead to her relationship with the mysterious man ending

'If he dies though...well, I will consider my silence a payment for the great experiment he had me witness'

Knowing that poison could alter bloodlines with the help of the Biomass sped her research a few decades forward

"Good luck~ hehe"

….

Crunch Crunch! Gulp!

"Slow down, the food isn't going anywhere"

"Wuu wu kegh!"

"See, I told you to slow down"

Patting the back of the choking Anput until she spat out the bone he watched her go back into stuffing her face full of the delicious red meat

"Master, what is this meat from?"

To the side, Ellis was hesitant as to whether she should eat from these piles of food laying messily on the many tables in this abandoned building he led them to

"Don't worry, this is the meat of some boar species I presume"

"Then why isn't he eating"

She motioned for the still Mustela by the side

"Ah, he is merely afraid of whoever this pile belongs to"

"....I think I will pass"

He shrugged at her refusal to eat and continued to watch Anput enjoy her meal alone

'She should be here any moment now'

Naturally he wasn't here for the food, he was waiting for the 'leader' of this group to come forward after gathering all the info she required

'Belinda knows to keep her mouth shut, thus she would only think I know stuff about them and wouldn't have any clue of my skill to strengthen bloodlines'

He wasn't deep inside enemy territory with nothing to go on but bluffs, he knew every decision maker's mindset like he knew his own thoughts, every move they make he planned for in advance, the only thing they could do is follow the plans he laid for them until they were trapped in a loop of fear and doubt

"You seem to be enjoying your meal quite a lot but I will need you to stop munching and start talking"

The same high pitched voice from his memories came from the back followed by the sound of varying footsteps, some large and some small, some sounded like they were dragging themselves across the ground

The three of them turned around to look at the weirdly dressed woman with her group of mismatched bunch of plants and beasts who were looking at them with a haughty atmosphere

"Anput, you heard the lady, she wants to talk to you"

Turning back to the still munching Anput he reminded in both words and thought electing a confused and reluctant look from the hungry hound, still it was bad manners to keep the other party waiting so she swallowed her last bite whole before moving away from the food and facing the woman, waiting for the important thing that she had her stop eating for

"...."

Everyone, but Ellis who couldn't speak the language, was dumbfounded at this development

"Wipe your mouth, you shouldn't talk to others with a bloody mouth"

Not wanting them to be offended by lack of etiquette he handed her a tissue which she used to awkwardly wipe whatever blood she could before staring back at the woman cluelessly once again

"Enough! I meant you"

Quickly ending the farce he was playing she yelled, pointing her finger at him

"Me?"

He pointed at himself as well innocently

"Yes! Why would I talk to your dog!?"

"Well, she was the only one munching you see, you can only blame your misleading words for the confusion"

His answer quickly triggered her anger for it was obvious that she wanted to ridicule him with her words for having his group eat this random meal and knew that he wasn't eating himself

"Enough about that, who are you and what are you doing on my floor"

"Oh, how rude of me to skip introductions, I am YuJu, leader of the black guards, and I came here to commission some equipment with your blacksmith, which I already did, so I will be taking my leave once this little one gets her fill"

"Comisoin equipment? Eat her fill? Do you think we are a shop that you can enter and leave as you please?"

"Clearly your floor is a respectable group, but I can come and go as I please indeed, your gatekeeper gave me a free pass you see"

He reminded, knowing that Mimi would certainly open for him whenever he requested, especially after he melded the Gardelos's poison into Ellis's blood making its presence even more prominent

"You seem to be very confident of your skills, perhaps you would like to show off some of them for me here"

Vines coming from under her dress started to creep toward him, quickly climbing up his body and entering his clothes, tightly wrapping him in place all while he didn't move an inch

'Time for the show to begin'

All this while he was merely preparing for the grand show he was about to throw, a show were he guided these fools into a bottomless trap of endless despa-Quickly the vines around him retreated when a tingling sensation started to crawl through his skin, cutting his glamouring thoughts off

"...."

"....."

The two stared each other in the eye, both alarmed by what they felt with the only difference being YuJu hiding his expression unlike the woman who couldn't close her saucer wide eyes

"What are you"

She asked plainly

'Shit, what was that just now'

He couldn't for the love of him figure out what that sensation exactly was, one thing was for sure though, his skin was absorbing the blood from the vines

"You wouldn't know even if I told you"

Even though he was just as bewildered as her he couldn't show it and had to make it look like everything was going according to his plan

".....Get out of my floor, I don't want to see you step in here again, someone will deliver your equipment once they are done"

"Hmm, quite the inhospitable one you are"

His remark didn't receive any further comment from her who always wanted the last word which brought to his attention just how serious she was taking this situation

'Damn it! All my perfectly laid plans have gone to ruin!!'

Everything he planned for Hortus now had to be readjusted just because of a single unknown variable which he failed, not only foresee, but understand even now

"Well, I guess we shouldn't prolong our stay then"

With nothing else to be said or done he exited the building under the watch of the many eyes hidden in the mist as he headed toward the way back down

"...Send someone to herd away the lower floor's beasts, we don't want them dying for nothing, and make sure no one, I repeat, not a single creature from Genus Insania is to get in touch with that man or any of his followers"

"As you wish!"

Quickly heading to achieve their task and spread the message the followers vacated the area around the woman who was in one of her rare dead serious moods