The Villain's Apocalypse-Chapter 27: Temple

Chapter 27: Temple

"Wow! Those things are so cool." A soft voice echoed within a dense forest, followed by a rustling sound.

Cassian popped out from a bush, eyeing the green wolf cubs in front of him. The cubs were lime green colored, tiny furry creatures playing around with each other. There were four of them roaming around the area with their parents watching from behind. The adult wolves were around four meters tall with fierce eyes and pointy fangs protruding out from their jaws. Their fur was completely green toned, with some having darkish green while most of them had light green fur.

"Cute things... Amy would love them. Should I kidnap one of them?" He chuckled, imagining Amelia’s reaction after seeing these cubs. She would probably freak out and snatch them away, the moment she sees them with me.

"Lucky you, I don’t have the time to take them." He turned away and left, alerting those adult wolves with his movement. They swiftly surrounded the kids in a protective circle and scanned around, searching for any potential dangers or enemies.

awooo–!

The alpha of the pack roared, ordering the entire group to move forward and leave the area. He couldn’t risk the life of the female wolves and kids, not when he hadn’t identified the enemy yet.

Cassian, unaware of the restlessness he’d caused, just moved through the forest using his green outfit to camouflage himself.

oops!

A green-scaled viper popped out from the leaves and barred its fangs, attempting to scare him away. Venoms dripped from its fangs, vaporizing the ground below from its toxicity. "Sorry buddy, just passing by." He waved his hand and disappeared from the snake’s vision, leaving behind a spark of lightning.

hiss 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The snake slithered its tongue, and retracted back to its original location, awaiting some prey to approach it. It had sensed intense danger from Cassian, so rather than attacking him, it had barred its fangs, declaring its territory.

He wasn’t a ruthless psychopath who murdered everyone in his sight. He was just minding his own business, so he left the viper as it is and quietly approached the central area of the forest.

"This forest is quite big, although not as much as the Mournshade Forest, but still, its ecosystem is quite unique, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before." His eyes fell on the green fruit hanging atop the trees. They appeared quite tasty in hindsight and his mouth was itching to try out some of those delicacies.

"I guess I could use you as a fruit knife." He patted the glass sword, hanging on his waist, and picked up some of those fruits.

chop

Slicing them cleanly in half, he brought them near his nose, smelling them. "Hey System, Is it safe to eat these?"

[Yes.]

A monotone reply immediately came, causing his mood to brighten up. He took a bite off the green apple and damn–! It was delicious. With each bite, it’s sweet fluid tricked down his throat, sending butterflies within his belly.

The fruit’s taste was the perfect blend of sweet and sour, an unusual combination but incredibly refreshing. It was unlike anything he had tasted before.

"Damn, I should take some of these back with me," Cassian mused, plucking a few more and storing them in his spatial ring. He wasn’t sure if these existed outside this forest, but if they did, he would definitely have to remember this location.

As he continued deeper into the forest, the atmosphere gradually changed. The vibrant greenery became more subdued, the trees taller and more ancient-looking. A faint, almost sacred presence lingered in the air, making his senses sharpen.

He slowed his steps. "This feeling... is something nearby?"

The System responded in its usual monotone.

[Warning: Unidentified energy signature detected ahead.]

Cassian’s brows furrowed. "Unidentified, huh? That’s never a good sign."

Moving with caution, he pushed through a cluster of dense vines, only for his breath to hitch at the sight before him.

An ancient temple, partially buried under the embrace of nature, stood in the clearing. Moss-covered stones, cracked pillars, and intricate carvings of celestial beings decorated its surface. Despite the decay, the structure exuded a divine presence, as though time itself had failed to erode its significance.

"Now this... this is interesting," Cassian muttered, stepping forward. His footsteps echoed as he walked past the grand archway, his gaze sweeping over the weathered statues standing guard at the entrance.

There was something eerily familiar about the symbols carved into the temple’s walls. His fingers traced over the faded engravings, trying to decipher their meaning.

"This is it, The Temple of Uravis, The Magus Elementus." He muttered, his voice filled with excitement. This was the place that held the Orb of Elementus, an overpowered item with immense usefulness.

The labor that he’d experienced in order to arrive here was finally bearing its fruit. He couldn’t fathom how he’d survived all those near death encounters from the Silver Mountain Range, to one of the Divinity—each encounter was a story on its own.

"The Final Trial awaits the visitor, wealth or death, a single step shall decide your outcome. Good Luck." He slowly read those words, written on the broken pillars. It looked quite menacing, with its eerily silent atmosphere and faint rustling of the trees, creating a tense moment.

Cassian without a care, kneeled down and dusted off the floor beneath him. The dried leaves and the piled up dirt moved away, showing a suspicious looking painting of some sort.

"A ruinic portal. The ancient sages were quite profound with their techniques, huh. Using a runic portal to guard their legacy is quite extravagant and that alone speaks of how important the thing inside must have been to him. I hope he’d left some treasures behind along with the orb, I don’t wanna leave this place empty-handed." He thought of the sword but then shook his head, this thing was useless and potentially more dangerous in the long term for him. ’If only I hadn’t bound myself with this stupid sword.’ He expressed his regret, falling for the tricks of Genesis.

"I will take my revenge some day, mark my words Genesis." He vowed, using the sword as a scrap tool to dust off the dirt.