’A what?!!!’ Christopher exclaimed in mild horror.
’This is Thapunngaka Shawi!!’ she exclaimed inwardly.
’Thapun... What?!!’ Christopher asked inwardly, still lost.
’Oh my Brainless disciple: A Thapunngaka shawi is a newly discovered species of pterosaur, a flying reptile related to dinosaurs. It was found in ancient times and is the largest pterosaur known from the continent, with an estimated wingspan of seven meters. The species is named "Thapunngaka shawi",’ she explained, adding in mild confusion.
’But this guy is 10 meters long, and has a wingspan of 15 meters, it is clearly too big!’
She floated towards the beast, circling it. ’Yep! This is indeed Thapunngaka Shawi... Its skin is as strong as steel, and the wings are sharp as razor... With its huge teeth... This is one terrifying beast... How strong do you think it will be when it evolves to the sky stage?’ She asked, looking down at Christopher from the beast’s back.
"Wow... I love it!! I will name you... Hellfire!" Advika said with a smile.
Christopher, Tiamat, and Advika were stunned into silence.
"It... It spoke!" Advika exclaimed in surprise.
"I heard it too," Christopher said in a daze.
Advika turned to Christopher and bowed deeply to him. "Thank you, Christopher... Without you, my family and I would still be in exurb, thinking on ways to survive! Thank you... From now on, as long it is nothing illegal or improper, I will do it, you just need to say it!" she vowed.
Christopher stared at her for some seconds, then slowly nodded his head. "Okay... That is enough," he said, turning to Hellfire.
"You have a skill that can turn your body into flames, that is a very good skill..."
He turned to the side, seeing his beasts approaching with cores. He could see Lazarus had frozen a lot of them in ice so they could move them all at once. Christopher nodded at his beasts and snapped his fingers: instantly, all the cores rose into the air. The ice shattered, and those inside flew into the air.
He waved his hand, distributing all the cores to everyone, even placing some before Hellfire.
"All of you stay here and absorb the cores... Lazarus, Lucas, and Grim... Three of you will be coming with me."
"Is it about the ant?" Advika asked.
"Yes... There is something that ant knows, I have to see it." With that, he shot into the air, flying away, with Grim, Lucas, and Lazarus following close behind.
Advika lowered her gaze to the pile of cores before her, a small smile touching her lips. "Be safe," she whispered.
Christopher, Lucas, Lazarus, Grim, and Tiamat calmly entered the dark cave. After several meters of walking, they came face to face with the Silver ant.
"It took you long enough," the ant stated, its gaze fixed on them.
"Yes..." Christopher answered. "You killed my clone, and even threatened me... You do know I can go to war with you, right?" he asked with a frown.
The ant was silent for some seconds, then opened its mouth:
"You will be a worthy opponent, but I am not here to fight, unless I would have attacked you when that human is breaking through..."
The ant stood up, its gaze fixed on Christopher. "You felt the danger, right?"
"Danger?" Christopher pondered for a few seconds and then asked: "Are you referring to darkness? Or the horse heading to Cordelia? Or maybe the unknown beast also heading to Cordelia, which one?"
"All these guys are insufficient in presence of the true darkness... You called the darkness spirit; ’darkness’... So what will you call the origin of darkness?"
Christopher was stunned; even Tiamat beside him was speechless.
"What is that?!!" Christopher yelled.
"Thanks to my long life, I only had the chance to feel her energy in the past... But now, her life force is just like the deep sea, endless..."
The ant raised its head towards the entrance. "She awoke yesterday... I don’t know what happened, but this is because of you... Human."
Christopher was stunned.
"Me???" he asked in mild confusion.
"To be truthful, I don’t know how or why she awoke because of a mere human, who I can kill with one strike..." The ant fixed its gaze on him. "All I got to tell you is... You might be the only one that can stop her."
"Only one? You mean I am a threat to her?" Christopher asked in surprise.
"Is there any other explanation? I also don’t know if you can achieve that... With your current strength, you can’t even get close to her, let alone being her match... This is my message to you, now leave." It turned around, and before it could move, Christopher asked.
"Wait? Why are you helping me??"
The ant stopped and looked at him over its shoulder.
"With the emergence of the origin of darkness, all beasts are panicking, and forming factions to survive... If you humans don’t get stronger, your cities, country, and continent will be overrun."
It clenched its fist.
"You can feel it, the life force in this world is also getting stronger... And with time, more powerful beasts will reveal themselves, then... The battle with humanity will begin again." It looked away from Christopher.
"The reason I am telling you all this is because, You save my life once... You can have the life force stones in the cave, they will help these two beasts beside you evolve... At least, that will increase your strength." it offered.
’Helped you before? Why can’t I remember that?’ Christopher thought in confusion.
’Hold on, I will check your memories and come back to you,’ Tiamat said and disappeared.
"Okay... What about joining us? Having you will greatly increase our strength."
The ant shook its head. "There are things to take care of before the great war begins..."
Before Christopher could say anything further, the ant spread out its wings and flew away, leaving them in stunned and heavy silence.