Forbidden Land (part-3)

'How come my soul started to quiver at the unknown sound' Leo was puzzled at the situation.

'Is it a monster, or a trap? Even my Divine soul urging me to go in the direction of the sound?' Leo stood there unmoving deep in his thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'What's the worst that could happen? I have already died once, it doesn't matter if it's one more time.' Just that thought alone made his nerves relax a little. His negative thoughts also started to decrease.

He cautiously approached the sound source, making sure that he was not entering into any trap. He was aware that being courageous didn't mean that one had to be reckless.

The fog surrounding the forest became thicker and thicker as he entered deeper into the forest. Gradually he couldn't see anything and could only depend on his divine soul for the direction. He had no idea how many times he had stepped on a skeleton's remains but he could certainly tell that the frequency was increasing at an alarming rate.

Leo hypnotized himself thinking that they were only fallen tree wastes and not bones. But a part of him refused to obey his command and shuddered every time there was a cracking sound at his feet. Leo was helpless. He was already deep inside the forest, there was no going back as he had no idea about his way back. He started getting frustrated at his divine soul as it was only giving him a one-way ticket but he calmed his mind by thinking about his teleportation potion.

Suddenly Leo could feel that the fog surrounding him stood still and there was a strange eerie silence. It was as if he was standing on a grand stage and the audience suddenly became pin-drop silent. It was a nerve-racking feeling difficult to describe but Leo was puzzled because there was no audience in the forest.

'Unless I am being watched by a ...' Just as Leo was figuring out his situation, the fog surrounding him parted voluntarily as if it was manipulated by someone. After so many hours finally, Leo could see something in the forest. But unfortunately, the first thing that came into his sight was not a beautiful tree.

Leo couldn't believe his eyes. He had never seen a scene like that in his entire life. He was looking at a gigantic mantis-like creature, which was the size of a two storey building, staring at him without any eyes. Mantis was pitch black as if it was from a bloody hell and there was a thick killing intent surrounding it creating a majestic aura.

Just looking at the creature made Leo's leg shake. It took everything he had just to stand straight in front of a gigantic monster like that.

'I am really screwed this time, it's a hell-mantis.' Leo hastily recollected everything he read about hell-mantis from his memory.

Hell-mantis was a mythical creature just like a dragon and phoenix. Their clan was feared by the entire universe once upon a time. They established a terrific assassination organization and just its name made other mythical creatures cover in fear. Because of their cruelty and ruthlessness, they made countless enemies across the universe. One day, unable to tolerate the violence any longer, all the mythical creatures banded together first time ever and created the Immortal court. The sole purpose of the Immortal court was to annihilate all hell-mantises from the face of the universe once and for all.

Hell-mantises were no pushover either otherwise, they would not be called mythical creatures. They could face the wrath of the Immortal court alone without any external assistance. What's scary about hell-mantises was not their superpowers but their endless reproduction ability. Even an almighty dragon can reproduce only once in a decade but a single hell-mantis queen can give birth to millions of baby mantises every year. A million hell mantises could devour a mighty dragon without even leaving any bones. They were like an unstoppable locust army that could devour everything in its path.

Even the Immortal court suffered heavy losses facing the hell-mantises. Hell-mantises slaughtered countless mythical creatures, devoured millions of habitable planets in the universe, and almost brought an end to the Immortal court itself. Without any choice, the Immortal court sought help from heaven and hell for assistance in exchange for permanent seats in the immortal court.

The upper echelons of heaven and hell were more than happy to form a connection with mythical creatures and they agreed readily. One should be aware that even ten deity-level experts wouldn't stand a chance against a single mythical creature. That's why mythical creatures were so revered everywhere in the universe.

With the addition of heaven and hell, the resource crunch of the Immortal court was finally subsided and they could eventually eradicate most of the hell mantises in the universe. Although victory was won by the Immortal court, it came at a terrible cost. Also, it took millions of years for heaven and hell to recover. That war was recorded in history as 'The great battle of hell cry', where the word hell refers to hell-mantis.

Currently, the Immortal court stands at the apex of the universe. Formulating and maintaining the rules of the universe were the primary roles of the court. If there was no Immortal court, no one could possibly imagine the chaos in the universe. Every creature in the universe including heaven and hell(underworld) has to follow the rules of the Immortal court. Of course, planets like Earth were not aware of these things.

As for the hell-mantises, they got slaughtered generation after generation, and over the million years, their genetic strength gradually reduced from mythical to a rare level. Meaning their highest cultivation potential was reduced to the rare level due to the absence of higher-level hell-mantises.

Although the Immortal court couldn't completely annihilate hell-mantises due to their terrifying reproduction ability, they were quite satisfied to know that hell mantises were degenerated to such a low level and couldn't pose any threat to them in the future. They left the rare level hell-mantises to the younger generation for their training needs.

Hence, the once almighty hell-mantises that wreaked havoc in the universe were now only training dummies for the younger generation. They could be regarded as worthy dummies for above soul master level cultivators but they remain nightmares for cultivators below that level.

Leo was just a soul foundation level cultivator, handling a hell-mantis was too much to ask from him. He was aware that hell-mantises were blind but their power to devour souls was unmatched. Just a simple sound from it could shudder a soul situated a few miles away. They prefer to stay in a misty area to as not to give their enemies an advantage in terms of sight and use their other senses like sound and smell to the maximum limit to find their prey. After devouring the soul, they like to chew the prey and keep their bones as their trophy.

Leo finally connected all the puzzles by remembering the skeleton remains on his way back. He finally realized that the entire foggy forest was hell-mantis's home. The moment he stepped inside the forest, he was bound to turn into a skeleton.

Leo stood rooted on his spot as he sensed that if tried to move even an inch, his soul would be devoured in the next second. Strangely enough, even in the face of death, he was calm. It was the calmness that came from experiencing countless such situations back on Earth.

Leo immediately created a teleportation potion with the help of the creation system using all his resources in his storage space. But unfortunately, he couldn't even lift his finger in front of the hell- mantis let alone drink a potion. He had no idea what awaited him after his death in the underworld but he had no regrets.

Hell mantis which was staring at Leo casually sucked air to devour his soul. It didn't like to play any mindless game with its prey. It was ruthless and decisive just like its ancestors. Leo also closed his eyes, he started sending a goodbye message to Alice and Emma. Since his soul was connected to both of them he had no idea what would happen to their soul if his soul was devoured.

Just as everything coming to an end, Leo's divine soul shuddered in a strange rhythm. Leo suddenly could hear an ancient chant in his ears. His body started emitting divine light and the entire inner forest was illuminated in a gentle and warm light. Then countless unknown runes started rotating his body as if it was welcoming its master.

Hell-mantis was shocked beyond words. Although it was blind it could sense the changes in Leo's body and soul. It recalled something similar from its genetic memory and when it found the relevant memory, without bothering about anything, it decisively gave up on Leo and started to flee. But Leo's divine soul locked onto it like a carefully planned hunter.

Boom!

Just like that, a gigantic and once mythical creature fell flat in front of dumbfounded Leo.

Before he could even understand what was happening, his divine soul started devouring the hell-mantis soul. His cultivation level skyrocketed in an instant.