Chapter 421: Promises And Threats
Leonine Heaven.
Edge of the heavenly realm.
A magnificent continent filled to the brim with greenery and lush vegetation floated silently in the empty multicolored void of the Lion Heaven.
Apart from the twin pyramids settled at the center of the wide and magnificent continent, there was nothing but trees and vibrant green grass, and different colored flowers.
Not even the sound of small critters or birds chirping could be heard.
As beautiful as it was, this place was deathly silent.
A glowing figure streaked across the sky and shot straight for the twin pyramids at the center of the floating continent.
The glowing figure drew close fast to reveal that it was a being bathed in flames.
This fiery being possessed two massive wings. Each flap caused a terrifying heat wave to be emitted as the being left blazing trails behind it.
*BOOM!*
The figure crashed into the ground, destroying the vegetation around it and forming a wide crater filled with melted rocks.
The flames died down to reveal the form of a lion. Three meters tall and looking very handsome.
His lush orange mane was brushed back, riddled with feathers that added to his beastly charm. His limbs were thick and his glowing claws were sharp.
Attached to his back were two massive fiery wings covered in bright scorching flames.
This was a chimera, a hybrid of Fire Lion and Air Lion.
"Gauss, they’ve caught Pagast!" The chimera shouted at the nearest pyramid.
The walls of the pyramid opened up as another large lion walked out. This wasn’t a chimera, but rather a regular Veggie Lion.
"I’m fully aware," The Veggie Lion said with a solemn expression. His green mane was unkept, he looked like he had not groomed himself in a long time.
"The Dragon Empress hasn’t given us any instructions, should we contact the Ibadon?" The chimera asked as he walked over to Gauss, the veggie Lion.
Gauss shook his head, eyeing the scorched land the chimera walked on, "No, Ibadon only gives orders, he doesn’t want to be spoken to unless he permits us.
Oh, can you stop that?" Gauss had to ask as the flames were burning his plants and he was getting irritated.
"Oh, sorry," The chimera said as he made a conscious effort to douse his flames.
"I knew this was going to happen, Pagast just had to join the Primordial Supporters. I’m suspecting that the system is the reason why he was caught by the Primordial Lion." The chimera said as he tucked his red wings behind him and sat down.
"Well, he had to, he had no choice, just like all of us," Gauss said.
"Not really, we could have refused. They made promises and gave threats. But those were at the end of the day, promises and threats.
Don’t try to generate sympathy for yourself now, those supporters won’t let you go just because you seem vulnerable," The Chimera said with a look of mockery.
Gauss frowned, "So you enjoy doing what you’re doing? Betraying your own race?"
The chimera shook his head, "You’re the one who sees it as betrayal. We are simply helping the lion race enter its next stage of evolution."
"They want to exterminate us, they want to wipe us out from the universe. And they want to use us to achieve it."
At Gauss’s words, the chimera didn’t say anything. He wasn’t blind to the truth even though he wished he couldn’t see it.
It was sad.
They were aiding outsiders in their own destruction.
"They made a promise," The chimera finally said, "We can at least trust that they will keep that promise,"
Gauss sighed. Indeed, that promise was the main thing keeping them attached to the dragons, a promise of a whole new life.
"I did not come here to discuss that with you," The chimera said, relaxing his expression, "What are we going to do now? We’ve pretty much been living under the radar for so long.
Now, our stealth advantage is gone and the Primordial Lion will be on to us.
It’s only a matter of time before they discover all our assassinations and activities and start drawing patterns."
Gauss nodded, "Yes, and I’m sure they would want to use the Lion System as a way to fish us out. I don’t know how, but I think that’s what they’re going to do."
"Fortunately, I didn’t join the system..."
"We need to contact the others," Gauss said.
"No, we can’t. Those bastards will be searching for us, we can’t do anything to draw attention to ourselves.
The Dragon Empress didn’t really tell us much. Who knows how many others like us she has stationed around Leonine Heaven?" The chimera said.
"Then what do we do then?" Gauss asked.
"We wait for instructions, in the meantime..."
////
Empyrean Dust Galaxy, Planet Kareem.
It was nighttime, but the city was still bustling with activity.
It was around this time that the ’humans’ were coming back from their places of work.
Ralph walked along the pedestrian sidewalk, hands in his pockets and his eyes darting left to right.
He observed all the cars that passed by.
This place, this particular part of the city was known for its wealthy residents and high standard of living.
The buildings around were exquisite and not less than five stories tall. These buildings consisted of corporate office spaces, hotels, or penthouses.
Ralph stopped walking, at the end of the sidewalk. A traffic light was showing green in front of him and cars were moving.
A lot of these cars were exotic while others were barely standard models. It was quite a sight, two sets of people from different wealth classes driving side by side.
The driver of that taxi probably didn’t know that he was honking at a millionaire. The millionaire probably didn’t care.
The wealth gap was something that meant little to anyone during traffic hours.
Ralph had not stopped because of the traffic though, this was his stop. He was simply waiting for his contact to come and pick him up.
He brought his hand up to look at the ordinary wristwatch. It was not like the digital watches that a lot of people wear these days. Ralph’s watch was traditional and was strictly for telling the time.
It was a bit old-fashioned for the current era of technological advancement but it did what it was supposed to do, tell time.
Ralph preferred this watch as it left no traces or risks of being tracked.
It was almost time.
Soon, a black car drove by before riding close to the sidewalk and stopping in front of Ralph.
Ralph looked down, his face cap covered most of his grey hair, and dimmed the light getting to his yellow eyes.
The tinted window of the car came down and Ralph was able to see the driver inside.
"Are you Joseph?" The driver asked. He was a bald man who looked to be in his fifties. The only facial hair he had in his face was his two bushy black eyebrows.
He looked somewhat tired.
Ralph nodded, giving the man a charming smile, "Yes I am,"
"Get in, we need to be snappy," The driver said as he pressed a button inside his car that unlocked the door on the other side.
Ralph nodded, acknowledging the man’s sense of safety. He didn’t open the back door which would have let Ralph sit behind him.
He might not know Ralph but he was subconscious about things like this.
Perhaps, he had been learning about things like this...
Ralph walked in front of the car and arrived at the other side before entering. As soon as he slammed the door shut, the car started moving.
"Good evening," Ralph greeted out of habit.
"Evening," The driver nodded his head, "How long have you been installing pipes?"
"A year now," Ralph said, looking at the passing cars. He noticed that the air conditioner was on as the whole car was cool and relaxing.
"Oh, I see," The driver nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself, "Truth be told, I was actually thinking of replacing the whole thing but I heard that it would cost a lot.
I mean, I can afford it, but I don’t know if it’s worth the price."
Ralph shook his head, "You might be right, sir. I’ll only be taking a look at it to see the problem and where the leaks are coming from.
I can’t fix it tonight, it’s too late. I’ll only take a look and write down all the materials I would need to fix the problem.
If it cannot be salvaged, then we’ll just have to buy a whole new set,"
Ralph spoke with calmness that unsettled the driver. Ralph wasn’t even looking at the man but he felt as though Ralph was watching him.
"Yeah, sorry about the late-night thing. My work is pretty demanding and I can’t just take breaks like that.
Well, once you see the house and the problem, I’ll let the estate guards know that you’re coming tomorrow."
Ralph nodded, "That’s all fine with me,"
He seemed absent-minded, disturbed by the growing feeling of unease in his chest.
Whatever it was that was hunting him, it was here, Ralph could sense it.
He knew this because that feeling was no longer coming from the sky.