Black Petal Guild

'Poison!' He thought, Tanti knew how the assassins fight but this poison is different from what he expected.

Nou, not only an assassin but also known as a high-ranked alchemist, managed to create a poison even the great Tanti couldn't cure. A poison that makes the victim's blood thicker causing a blood clot which leads to death in a couple of minutes. The poison already took half of Tanti's body that his left eye turned red.

"UGGGH!" In great pain, Tanti couldn't even move anymore. If only he has time to cultivate qi to stop the progress of the poison but in this situation, he knew he wouldn't able to do it so instead, he decided to fight with what's left of him.

Walking forward, he wanted to get close to them. 'Just a little closer...' Tanti is desperately trying to lessen the gap between them but they know all about him. As the Commander of the Black State, everyone knows what he can do at close range.

Smiling knowing that it's the end for Tanti, "Why don't you just die already. We don't know how your daughter here managed to escape the ones I sent to kill them but we won't stop looking for them. We'll definitely wipe out your entire clan and what's left from you brother's from the history." Rarna, who's kind to his people, is a villain to those who would be the cause of the sufferings of his people. Black State, known as the weakest after the death of Bahura, they can't risk making the Supreme Commander of all the States make a move towards the Black State because of Tanti disobeying his orders so they have to take measures.

"Even before, you're the only one who doesn't want to dethrone Bahura. To you, he is your sworn brother even if you're not blood-related but in the end, you gave up knowing that the lives of your offsprings are on the line but why don't you just follow the orders of the Supreme Commander?" Nou couldn't still believe why after all these years, he would disobey the orders of the one who planned the fall of the Main Clans, the Supreme Commander.

Was it the guilt that drove him into this? The thought of him killing his sworn brother with his own hands? Maybe this is his way to repent for all what he's done to his brother's clan? Those are the questions of the other clan leaders why Tanti won't send his people to fight for the war.

But the answer of Tanti made them even furious, "It's because it's the right thing to do." A murderer like Tanti thinking about righteousness, it made the other two filled with anger.

"Stop talking shit! We're all the same! It's always about obeying the strongest! That's why we killed Bahura to save ours! You, talking about it's the right thing to do, won't bring up the dead or stop the ones on top from ordering us! That's why we have to kill you now!"

-Hundred of years ago-

A group of youngsters from the Sky Heaven Clan is now on their way to the infamous monster den called Dark Forest known throughout the history that only the strongest warriors could explore due to the insane amount of high-ranked magical beasts.

"Why did I even bother joining this expedition. You know you're the only one qualified here to travel that place, right?" Tanti complaining.

"Well, risks are the beauty of the expedition! I got the approval of Head Leader Yion so stop whining. Jeez, just support me because I'll be your Clan Leader one day!" Bahura insisted.

"Yeah, yeah... You said we'll only visit the drylands to hunt low-ranked magical beasts... should have known better." Rarna sure didn't like being lied to.

"I heard that the Dark Forest has lots of high-quality grade materials as well for alchemy. This tickles my fancy, I'm sure there are more deadly types of monsters and materials with poison." Nou with his fascination with poison.

"HAHAHA! I AM EXCITED!" Laughing, as that's what he calls it, Fang is looking forward to this expedition as well.

"See? Not all of them hate the idea. I'm sure we'll find something worth our time there. This will be a great time for all of us."

They are traveling pretty fast as a group of Peak Masters and an Early Grandmaster are all riding their mighty horses. Bahura is famous in their clan known as the leader of a group named the Black Petal Guild, one of the five guilds appointed by Yion as his main attacking force for the future attack against the other realms.

But their curiosity led them to the wrong place.

"So... have you heard about the hunted place north of here near the Dark Forest? Clan leader said it's a forbidden place as a mythical beast resides there." Bahura thought it was interesting.

Though, Rarna isn't really liking the idea."Yeah, and he said that even cultivators with the rank of Kings wouldn't be able to stand a chance against it."

"Yeah, as if there's anyone who even reached King rank. Guild leaders like me as of now are only Early Grandmasters. There's no way they could know that Kings couldn't defeat it if there's no one with that rank." Bahura replied.

"Yeah, but we have our clan leader whose rank is at Emperor which is higher than being a King so your argument is invalid." Nou insisted.

"Are we going or not? We could always escape when we couldn't defeat it right?"

...

In the end, they agreed to their idiotic leader's suggestion.

Their travel from the Sky Heaven City to the drylands near the Dark Forest and the Mythical Beast Lair took them almost two days to travel without tiring their horses. They wanted to make sure that their rides are not as tired as they needed them to escape when their battle against the mythical creature takes out of measure. Still, it wasn't long since they arrived at the place.

"This place doesn't look like a lair at all..." Instead of finding a monster lair, they found a small house with a small farm outside and an old man in front who seems to be cleaning the front yard.

"Isn't it a little bit late for a sweeping, old man?" Nou approached the old man who seems to be shocked that there are strangers nearby.

"Oh! You surprised me. I didn't know there will be adventurers who would visit this kind of place. And as a blind one as myself, I prefer cleaning the place at night, as you may know, this place is called the drylands for a reason. Would you care for a cup of warm water? I'm sorry, I don't have much to offer." The poor old man couldn't even stand straight due to his age.

Looking at the place, this house is in good condition and nearby, there's a well as well but with only a blind man living alone, the ways he could get food is little.

"Sure, it's been a long day for us and we brought some of the finest wine from the city. I'm sure you'll love it too." Bahura insisted carrying a jug made of clay that came out from his magic ring.

The old man eagerly moved inside the house to prepare the place after hearing about the wine. Still, Rarna is suspicious of him. "Brothers, let's be careful. If this is really the lair then it could also mean that we might already have been affected by a mythical creature's illusion of some sort. I've heard of this kind of-" Rarna talking...

"Shut up dude, did you hear what the old man said? He said warm water... how sad was that?! I'd definitely bring this old man home, I tell you that." Bahura's kindness has no bounds. He didn't even suspect him of anything. He only saw a poor old man alone in drylands but...

"..." To their surprise, there's a young girl, around 8 to 10-year-old in appearance who seems to be ignoring them inside the house.

"You didn't mention about living with a young kid," Tanti commented.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Years ago, I was living alone in my humble home and one day, I was awakened by a baby's cry in front of my door. As you can see, she's not into talking, I tried everything but it seems she couldn't speak. I'm sure she won't mind visitors, don't worry." Letting them in.

"Flora, it's getting late. You won't get taller if you won't sleep on time." The young girl nodded and seems to be waiting for something.

*Pats* The old man patted her head and she went straight to her room.

"Now gentlemen, it's been decades since I tasted wine. I hope it's not too much for me to ask you to let the old man have his fun." Rubbing his hands together showing he's really excited for the drink.

"Now, Now! I'd say you shouldn't drink too much. You're too old for this kind of stuff." And then Bahura popped the jug open letting the ooze of the booze spread through the place.

Their noses moved on their own, showing how they're too excited for it.

....

Without even knowing, suspiciousness disappeared and the night was filled with them partying all night, singing, dancing like idiots and sharing their epic adventures.

But in the middle of the night, something unexpected happened, the old man finally left the world of the living and it's not a good sign at all.