The feeling of returning only solidified as I heard a familiar laughter echoing through the domain.
I heard a familiar cold voice with a hint of relief.
"Yeah... I’m back, everyone." I said, sitting up. "Not for long, though."
I stood up slowly, two more familiar figures coming into view.
"Long time no see," I said with a genuine smile.
Zephyr gave a silent nod in response, his usual stoic demeanor unchanged. But I could sense the relief in his posture.
Virion, on the other hand, was already in front of me before I could even blink, his usual small serpentine form hovering around me in lazy circles.
"You’ve improved a lot, my boy," he muttered, his emerald eyes gleaming with approval as he studied me. His gaze lingered for a few more moments on my face before he smirked. "Tell me, did you meet a crazy bird recently?"
I paused for a moment. Crazy bird? Was he talking about... Lady Nisha?
The disturbing scene I had witnessed flashed through my mind - the way she watched as I was dying. I didn’t know what exactly was happening in there, whether I was the one at fault or her. So, I decided to keep that for myself for now.
I nodded. "If you’re talking about Lady Nisha, then yes."
Virion’s expression immediately shifted to one of hateful disdain as he nodded. "That old hag," he muttered with venom in his voice. It was really a rare sight to see. "She owes me a great debt, but always manages to slither away without paying it back."
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his obvious resentment. "Is that so? But she told me you two were comrades back in the day."
"Comrades?!" Virion glared at me and scoffed dismissively. "With that wench? Heh. She just followed me around like some persistent sidekick."
My eyes widened in surprise. Could it be they also have some kind of a story? No, they definitely have one. After all, I have never seen Virion this emotional before.
And a sidekick? A great debt?
Could it be Nisha’s words about Virion not being able to kill her, even if he went all out, be related to these?
...Urgh, I want to hear about it now.
I glanced at Master, who was still frowning.
"Can you tell us what happened?" I asked, my eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Everyone wants to know, right?"
I glanced at the turtles, who nodded their heads in agreement, and Zephyr, who also showed his interest.
Virion’s serpentine form coiled, eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "Absolutely not," he hissed. "That woman is a walking disaster, and the less said about her, the better."
Ralph leaned forward, raising his chin on his hands with exaggerated interest. "Oh, come on, old man. Did you break your heart or something?"
"WHAT?!" Virion’s feathers and scales practically stood on end as he whipped around to face Ralph. "That harpy couldn’t break a twig, let alone a heart! She’s just-" he cut himself off, taking a deep breath. "No. I refuse to dignify this with a response."
I felt like she didn’t break his heart, but burned it instead.
Mike smirked, twirling his nunchaku. "Sounds like someone’s still bitter about his ex-"
A sudden blast of aura sent Mike flying backward into the wall. Virion’s form had expanded to twice its normal size, his eyes glowing with barely contained fury and an emotion I found quite hard to describe, regret, maybe, or relief.
"SHE WAS NEVER MY ANYTHING!"
I couldn’t help but giggle in secret, afraid to be blown away like some idiot. I noticed Zephyr’s lips twitching as well.
Dono adjusted his glasses again, completely deadpan. "Statistical analysis shows a 98.7% chance of romantic or deep entanglements based on current emotional response patterns. So, I think you-"
Virion’s head snapped toward Dono so fast I heard vertebrae crack. "I WILL TURN YOU INTO A REAL TURTLE!"
Leon, ever the voice of reason, finally spoke up. "Master. Your tail is puffed up."
Sure enough, his tail was fluffed out like an angry cat’s.
There was a brief pause before the whole clearing burst into laughter. That fool Ralph was pointing at Master and shouting teasing comments like ’we got you now!’ and ’heartbroken snake!’ among other things. I kept my reactions restrained, well aware of Virion’s personality.
Then suddenly, Virion’s laughter cut through the clearing like a blade - cold, sharp, and utterly terrifying.
The sound sent shivers down my spine as his serpentine coiled tighter, eyes glowing with ominous amusement.
"So," he purred, voice dripping with false sweetness, "my disciples have learned to laugh at their master, have they?" His tail flicked lazily. "How... entertaining."
The laughter died instantly.
Even Ralph’s teasing grin froze in place, his finger still extended mid-point. The air grew thick with the weight of impending doom as Virion’s aura pulse once - a warning tremor through the domain.
Mike was the first to break the silence with a nervous chuckle. "Uh, Master, we were just-"
A single claw flicked through the air.
Four simultaneous yelps echoed as the Turtle Brothers vanished, teleported away to who-knows-where. Probably somewhere unpleasant, given the malicious glint in Virion’s eyes.
Zephyr and I exchanged glances.
...Yeah, we’re screwed too.
Virion turned to us, fangs glinting in a smile that promised suffering. "As for you two..." He stretched languidly, like a predator savoring its prey’s fear. "Since you want entertainment, then let me give you one."
I swallowed hard, accepting our fate.
I’d been the one to poke the sleeping dragon, after all.
A clawed hand gestured lazily through the air.
The world around us shifted in an instant. Gone was the familiar clearing of the domain - instead, we found ourselves standing in what could only be described as a nightmare landscape.
The ground beneath our feet was cracked and charred obsidian, and the sky above churned with dark, stormy clouds that seemed to pulse with malevolent energy.
"...The Wastelands." I heard Zephyr muttering in a grim tone.
A low, gluttural growl echoed through the wasteland as countless red eyes emerged from the swirling ash, each pair fixed hungrily on us.
Then we both heard Virion’s chilling voice.
"Welcome to your... graveyard."