Mythical Creatures Hunter-Chapter 75 - 73: Another chance

During the following few hours, many things happened at an extremely rapid pace.

At first, Oliver stood beside Isaac in front of a gathering of the village residents.

Together, they recounted the entire truth from beginning to end, hiding nothing. They spoke about the old man, about his secret cooperation with the mythical creature, and about the agreement between them to extract life energy from every living being in the village.

At first, everyone fell silent, but that silence quickly turned into anger. Almost no one believed them. Voices of protest rose, and some of the villagers tightened their grip around their tools, ready to attack.

That was when the masked man intervened.

His eye glowed instantly, and fog spread in all directions until it covered the entire square. From within that fog, scenes began to appear before the villagers, memories taken directly from the old man’s mind.

They saw him standing alone in his hut, whispering, then the form of the mythical creature appearing before him. They heard the promises, witnessed the rituals, and clearly saw how the two had been planning to drain the life energy from the entire village.

And this had not begun only now, but years ago.

Cries of denial rose at first, and some accused the masked man of deception and manipulation. But as the scenes continued, and as the details became unmistakably clear and impossible to fabricate, doubt began to fade and soon completely collapsed.

In the end, the majority believed it.

That was not all. After the tension subsided somewhat, Oliver, despite his obvious exhaustion, began explaining to them how to dry fruits and preserve them for long periods. He did so calmly, step by step, gradually, then gave them some of what he had with him.

The hunger that had been looming over the village for weeks receded. As time passed, faces began to regain their color, and strength returned to exhausted bodies. Only then did the conviction settle firmly in everyone’s mind that the old man had been the sole cause of everything that had happened to them.

The village’s attitude shifted completely in the blink of an eye once the fruits were distributed. Oliver, whom they had nearly killed just hours earlier, became a hero in their eyes, a symbol of survival and even a hope for a less dark future.

Amid all this, the masked man suddenly noticed Tell’s absence. He said nothing, simply turned and left, searching briefly until he finally found her inside Isaac’s house, sitting among the ceiling beams, watching everything with cautious silence.

After bringing her back, it was time to depart.

The villagers bid Oliver and the others farewell with sincere warmth, entirely different from the looks of suspicion and hostility with which they had greeted them at the beginning. Words of thanks, bows, and prayers filled the road as they left the village.

As they gradually moved farther away, Oliver turned toward the masked man.

I did not know you were this merciful. Did my kindness influence you that quickly?"

"What are you talking about? I have not done anything special so far."

"You are usually in a hurry. Yet you left me for hours while you taught an entire village how to dry food."

"It is nothing special," the masked man replied honestly. "I am simply exhausted. I was not able to move anyway."

And that was entirely true. The exhaustion caused by the magic flowing through his eye did not allow him to move even if he had wanted to. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

As he said that, his eye was extremely narrowed as he stared ahead, which made Oliver realize that he was serious about what he had said.

Soon, Oliver and the masked man left the village, while the villagers remained watching them as they disappeared into the distance.

...

Meanwhile, the old man was running at full speed, gripping his staff tightly in his hand.

He stumbled more than once due to speed and exhaustion, nearly falling to the ground, but each time he forced his body to keep going and regained his balance with difficulty,

Driven by fear more than anything else.

He kept running for long hours, without a clear destination, thinking of nothing but getting away, of survival. When he finally made sure that no one was following him and that the forest had fallen silent around him, he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

After several moments passed, he slowly raised his staff, and immediately dark energy began to gather around him, twisting in the air until the mythical creature took shape once more.

As soon as its form was complete, the old man shouted at it.

"What is this stupidity you committed?!"

"How dare you speak to me in this manner?"

The old man laughed, then tightened his grip on the staff.

"You are the one who should speak with respect now. You are weak. You cannot even affect me. If I were to throw this staff away right now, the staff that contains what little remains of your magical power, what would happen to you?"

"You would not dare do that."

"And why not? Will you use what little power you have left and try to kill me? Then vanish forever?"

The creature did not respond for a moment.

"You will not survive in this place without me."

"I prefer to take the risk. Perhaps I will find a mythical creature weaker than you and become its agent instead of yours."

Despite the rage and hatred raging within the mythical creature, it found no reply.

It knew the old man was right. Even if the possibility was small, yes, it still existed. Especially deep within the Great Forest, where many mythical creatures dwelled, weak ones, also seeking any means to increase their influence.

At times, the agent and the mythical creature strengthened one another, especially when one of them was in a weakened state.

"So what exactly do you want from me now?"

The old man smiled a very wide smile.

"You are finally beginning to understand. I want to make a new deal. I become your master, and you become my subordinate, in exchange for preserving your life."

The form of the mythical creature shook violently.

"Impossible. I will not submit to a filthy creature like you."

The old man raised the staff high, positioning it as if he were about to throw it.

"Do you want to die, then?"

Silence fell once more, this time for a very long moment. The anger was evident in its face, but in the end, the mythical creature gave in.

"I agree."

As it said that, dark energy spread around the old man, then quickly faded. At the same moment, a strange mark appeared on his hand.

The old man looked at it, and his smile widened even more than it already was. Then he muttered, "Good. Now I believe I should return to those fools in the cult. I do not wish to, but it is the only safe way to leave this cursed forest after all these years."

He slowly turned after standing up from the ground, then continued walking, dragging his exhausted body, until he gradually disappeared on the horizon among the tall grass and trees.