Novel Palace
143
Gritting his teeth, Lavana’s mate still tried to escape its grasp by casting spheres of black mist at the vines, which immediately got obliterated. But there was no time to be relieved as another set of even bigger, thorny, massive vines sprung up again and caught hold of his right foot, impaling it also with the thorns. Phoenix took out his peacock fan which immediately turned into a dagger.
Manipulating it by means of telekinesis, he endeavoured to use the weapon to cut off the vines. While this move was successful to an extent, the very vine that held onto his foot was harder than a diamond surprisingly. It even ruined the dagger!
Phoenix spat out blood when the dagger was cut in half, holding his chest.
Cephina summoned the two creatures once again and ordered them to go save Phoenix, but black shadows suddenly appeared, blocking their way, forming the appearance of demonic-looking creatures, engaging the dragon and Olmpha in fierce combat.
Phoenix, on the other hand, felt especially weakened. The thorns of those vines were accountable for this. His runes had disappeared, as he had no vitality to keep maintaining all four of them. More vines sprung up and encaged him, dragging him downwards into a quicksand that had formed.
The terrible part was, he couldn’t even vanish from the cage. There was barely any space for him to take out another weapon from his spatial ring to cut through the cursed vines. The thorns were embedding into his skin from all sides. He had a protective barrier all around him to lessen the impact though, but it was even on the verge of shattering. This Antero must have sold his soul to the devil for him to be this mighty. The shadow beasts were sufficient proof.
The ice chains that were precluding Antero from pitching further mist attacks at Lavana soon melted and he turned to face Cephina, grinning evilly.
“Keep busy,” he said, before turning his back to face her again.
His runes-turned beasts immediately headed for her all at once and she had to defend herself against the attacks of the ten. Now that no one was stopping him from sending this stinkpot of a tribrid to her ancestors, he chuckled, renewing his fierce attacks on the barrier that had shown more and more signs of cracking.
..
Meanwhile…
Rolandro and the other four had found their way into the pastry shop run by a she-wolf- a Lambda to be precise. No one was in the shop other than herself and she was feeling bored. Just like the past 2 days, she had put a notice outside that she wouldn’t be receiving any customers from a specific time and it was the same today.
She’d been thrilled when things took a turn after that average-looking Alpha guy murdered the supposed winner of the triennial competition, Hillian. But at the point when the 2nd-ranked Alpha Chase shifted into a creature she’d never seen nor heard of before and let out a menacing howl, the screen went blank.
She thought it was the Tv, but soon, she discovered the fault to be from the other end and she waited patiently in hopes that it might continue. But to her dismay, the stream never resumed and she had so many unanswered questions. She thought that at worst she’ll just have to wait until those at the venue returned, before getting any answers.
However, on seeing these five who looked unfamiliar enter her shop, she rose from her seat and walked towards them. They were unclothed and without them asking, she took them upstairs, showing them the guest bathroom that was meant for cases like them. When they finished showering, they came out of the bathroom, white towels around their waists. They found a fancy basket containing clothes just at the door and knew it was the thoughtful deed of that woman.
They, without hesitation, took the clothes that suited them and wore them. Mel was a bit hard-lucked- the clothes that fitted him were for females and the others teased him for a bit before heading down the stairs together to find the middle-aged lady seated at one of the customer tables, legs crossed.
“Thank you very much, ma’am,” said Rolandro with gratitude.
“It’s fine. It’s what I ought to do,” she replied with a smile, offering them seats. She couldn’t help asking why they had blood on them earlier.
“Um… that… is a long story,” said Mel as he rubbed his neck.
“Would you mind telling me a part of it?” she asked, curiosity clearly spelt on her face.
“Um, we’re not in a calm state,” he replied and the other four nodded their agreement, “And um… I think it’s best you don’t ask anyone else. Thank you once again for the kindness you have shown,”
She sighed and then nodded, “Okay. Where do you guys reside?” she inquired.NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.
“Um… I don’t think you need to know that, Lambda,” Zyair said in a solemn tone.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad,” she nervously laughed and the Zyair rescinded his killing intent after being patted on his right shoulder by Oliver.
“We’ll be back to eat at your place. Then if possible, we’ll answer a few questions and leave you satisfied. How does that sound?” Rolandro proposed.
Nodding, she replied smilingly, “Sounds great!”
…
A few minutes after, they came out of the shop, wearing baggy t-shirts that almost covered their shorts and bathroom slippers. They bid the lady farewell and continued their journey on foot. The hotel wasn’t too far from here.
20 minutes later,
They reached the magnificent gate of the hotel and Mel knocked. Seconds after, the gatekeeper- a short but ripped middle-aged guy sporting a shaved head- came out and glanced at them all.
“Who are you?” he questioned.
“Um… we occupy a few rooms in this place. Please let us in. It’s been a tiring journey. We lost our cars and even our clothes. It’s a kind, someone that helped us out,” replied Dante.
“I don’t know you guys,” the gatekeeper was about to go back in and shut the gate, but an irked Dante suddenly dragged him out and lifted him by the throat, “Do you not understand English?” he snarled.