Realm of Mo 2

The presence of three powerful auras ahead made Orochi wary as he slowly glided over the forest shrubs, careful not to blow his cover.

If only this place was Earth or any other worlds, walking through the trees will be possible. The Realm of Mo is different.

Even though in the boundaries of the Hidden Dimension, the Realm of Mo merged its physical world with the hidden dimension. No veil exists to separate the boundaries.

Both primeval beings, and a rare few mortal species prior to the final evolution, like his former kind, could access the area.

No one, except the celestial crows, knew why this phenomenon happens, but every primeval being and even the mortals knew never to enter the Realm of Mo without backup or someone familiar with the grounds.

The beast kings evolved in the strange realm to feast on both flesh and energy. Before the sealing of the Realm of Mo, these beast kings dragged physical prey from other worlds in order to breed and farm for their hunts. Most of the creatures are descendants of those prey.

Orochi's eyebrows creased as he struggled hard to determine if those were the two of the same three who left their faint energy signals in the clearing near the entrance to the Realm of Mo. One was not a beast king.

His ears wiggled a little like a radar, trying to pick on the sounds of murmuring from a mile away. They were far and the silence around helped to isolate what he guessed was a discussion in place.

A melodious voice of a female speaking words which he couldn't make out soothed him to a drifting lull of sleepiness.

"Siren," he muttered as he pinched himself to keep awake and alert.

An intermittent overlap of dice falling on the ground and laughter didn't fit the gruesome occasion as he turned around to look at the same trail of mutilated and dismembered carcasses left behind. Fewer bodies, but more blood and entrails now.

He edged ahead with caution, stalking the voices as stealthily as he could, careful to avoid the low-lying branches of the trees like a predator hunting prey.

The presence of an aura suddenly disappeared, leaving the other two. Orochi leaned on the large trunk of a tree. Not good.

He increased his mental concentration and directed his own energy flow to vision and hearing while suppressing his aura as much as he could, camouflaging it with the neighbouring plants and trees.

His human guise turned as translucent as it could, but Orochi knew the telltale signs of his outline might give him away.

If his camouflage failed, it will leave Orochi with a choice to release a clone to scout ahead. That would eat into his energy reserves. An idea he did not entertain unless it left him no choice.

Best to observe quietly than to engage in a fight - a preferred solution of his, as Orochi crept ahead, still detecting a residual energy signature buzzing, unmoving and still with the rest, from his heightened aural senses.

Orochi glided through the growing thicket, which grew denser and darker from the shade as he navigated nearer to the trio.

One of those three probably picked this area for that reason. If he glided upwards, he would be in view of them and vice versa.

Orochi mulled over his next action as he stared at the entangled obstruction of snarly vines and leaves, making up the very dense thicket in front of him.

Orochi spotted two specks of light emanating from the voices whom he stalked out of curiosity.

He continued gliding towards their voices, no longer bothered by the tree branches slapping his face and body each time he continued his stealth-like advance, as the voices grew more comprehensible.

"Come out wherever you are," the same female voice called out over the surroundings.

She projected her voice because she couldn't spot his location. Orochi mulled over whether he should answer, weighing the fact that the refusal to answer usually meant plausible aggression.

"Not sure if you are friend or foe," Orochi projected his voice to throw her off his position.

"I will not touch you on my word," came the reply.

Orochi smirked and answered, "But your companions may."

"So is that an invitation to hunt his ass down?" a growling voice interrupted.

"Ooooh, bring me, bring me!" Another squealed.

Damn, Orochi cussed at his luck. The other two presence vanished into thin air, save for the first one.

A jolt of energy shot past him, grazing the side of his shoulder, suddenly sending him into a spin against the tree trunk.

Orochi's eyes flew open from the shock while noticing the greenish miasmic wisp from his shoulder. This is a warning shot, he thought. His serpentine energy waves neutralised the small amount of poisonous fumes at once.

Barely dodging another beam which struck the tree, Orochi scrambled to soar into the open skies.

He swung around at the huge yawning sound, only to see the tree falling on another, toppling the second and a third, in a few huge yawns.

A flash of light, as fast as lightning, caught Orochi's attention as he leaped out of its way, narrowly dodging another hit.

The sharp sudden appearance of the human form beast king appeared in front of him. His icy pale blue eyes projected a frosty glare as Orochi glided back in the air in a mix of horror and surprise.

Dressed in a gleaming silk-like blue gown, the beast king's features reminded Orochi of a sulking but good-looking young man with a well built body, judging by the clothes he had on.

Orochi calculated the odds of a more positive outcome silently and concluded - the probability of victory fighting him is half and half.

To reach this level of shape shifting for a beast king with fully formed human features, enough to fool any human, meant he was extremely troublesome to deal with.

Fleeing is also not a solution, since fighting will still result. Orochi hated to spend and exert more energy than necessary. Orochi wasn't dealing with one, but two, and the odds of him winning just dropped.

His clone, Murakumo-Orochi, and a bunch of Mishakuji including Hakura could barely contain the other two in pursuit of Alex, that human soul with Ōmononushi.

Lady Luck didn't just flipped the tables on him, but overturned it and slammed it into his face. Given the situation before him, Orochi wanted to be on his mountain in Okuizumo now, rather than to fight two beast kings before him.

"Qiongqi," the female voice called out, interrupting his thoughts.

Orochi blinked at the name which he recognised. Is that Kanghui?

"He's your kind. Well, not exactly your kind. But still one of you snakes," the one named Qiongqi with the icy blue stare replied in nonchalance.

A small glowing whitish of blackish-purple haze formed next to Qiongqi. Orochi could see the shadowy figure of a large snake against the background as it transformed into the figure of a slender woman.

Orochi retreated from Qiongqi, wary of his attack stance, while Kanghui stepped out of the haze, which vanished as quickly as it came. With her aura unsuppressed now, Orochi recognised her and nodded to her in greeting.

She raised her eyebrow at Orochi and then nodded back.

"You know him?" Qiongqi demanded to know.

Orochi kept a poker-face while remaining silent at their strange interaction. If Kanghui contracted these beast kings, Qiongqi's attitude is akin to insubordination.

"Yamata-no-Orochi," she spoke his name out.

"Ah, a distant relative. Say, didn't his kind used to hunt here too?" Another young man with his long reddish hair appeared.

Orochi studied the newcomer discreetly. Another one human form beast king with the unmistakable wild aura, worthy of their names.

"Yeah, Huntun and that brings me to this question - what is he doing here? Hoping to make another lousy deal with us?" Qiongqi scowled with his arms folded.

"Eh?" Orochi raised his eyebrow. What deal was he sprouting about? He thought Kanghui held the contract with them. Orochi tilted his head, mystified by the words.

Kanghui shook her head and raised her arm to stop Qiongqi from taking a step towards Orochi. "I doubt that. But if I am not wrong, Takamagahara is the reason you are here."

Orochi sighed with a nod and said, "this is the only realm they won't enter."

Qiongqi snarled, flashing his blood stained canines, grasping Orochi's circumstances. "Is our realm the capital of fugitives from every other faction now?"

"But we are fugitives too," the other young man replied.

"Shut up, Huntun, we ARE EXILES, YOU IDIOT. BIG FREAKING DIFFERENCE," an enraged Qiongqi swiped his hand at the one named Huntun.

Huntun dodged and jumped behind Kanghui in a blink of an eye, using her as a shield. Great, another agile one with speed and the other has a short temper, Orochi thought to himself.

Kanghui slid up in front of Orochi, as Huntun trailed along like a puppy and studied his eyes with her amber reptilian eyes. "Why are you here? Didn't Takamagahara restrict resources to you as well?"

"I have my ways, besides a rare opportunity presented," Orochi replied, wondering if he should tell her about the other two who entered Earth and invaded his mountain in Okuizumo to hunt the human soul named Alex, her marked mentee.

Less said is more, he decided. The information may be useful later but not now.

Besides, two beast kings and an enraged Kanghui were not beneficial to his current predicament. Orochi didn't know the politics between the four beast kings and her, nor was he interested.

His priority now is to extricate himself from them without a fight. Forget forging new alliances.

Kanghui narrowed her eyes at him, doubting his words. "Rare opportunity? To access a vast amount of soul stones or even soul energy?"