Chapter 172: Malgato -1

Somewhere beneath a towering black mountain, hidden from sunlight and prying eyes, lay a cavernous hollow carved by nature and perfected by sorcery. 

The air was thick with dampness, tinged with the faint metallic tang of ancient minerals, and the space thrummed with a sinister energy. Stalactites and stalagmites reached towards each other like jagged teeth, framing a cavern so vast it seemed impossible it could remain unnoticed beneath the earth.

The space was dimly illuminated by glowing magical glyphs etched into the stone walls, their faint pulses casting an eerie, rhythmic light. At the cavern's center was a rectangular stone pit, etched with intricate symbols, its edges radiating an otherworldly aura. Nearby, three metal cages stood, their occupants silent and still.

In one cage, a young blonde woman stirred. Scantily dressed in rough leopard hides, she shifted groggily, her head throbbing. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the harsh, unfamiliar surroundings.

"Ugh…" she groaned, massaging her temples. 

Suddenly, all her sleepiness vanishes as she realizes she is in an unfamiliar place, trapped in a cage that looks more suited for animals. Her fingers brush against the cold metal bars, and as she glances around, she notices that on the opposite side of the cage, there are two more cages, identical to hers, separated by a small pit. Inside those cages, she sees them—two familiar figures.

"Ina! Biri!" she gasped, her voice breaking as she recognized the leopards. The yellow-spotted leopard, Ina, and the sleek black leopard, Biri, lay motionless, their powerful forms subdued and lifeless.

Desperation surged within her as she gripped the bars, straining to pull them apart. "Argh!" she growled, but the bars held firm, mocking her strength.

"Quiet!" A deep, aged voice echoed through the cavern.

Her head snapped towards the sound, and her eyes fell on a man draped in crimson robes. His bald head gleamed under the faint light, and his long beard swayed as he walked. The woman's breath hitched as she recognised him—the strange old man she had been chasing before everything went dark.

"You!" she spat, her voice laced with fury. "What have you done to Ina and Biri, you scoundrel? If you have hurt them, I swear I will—"

The man interrupted her with a disdainful scoff. "Oh? What can you possibly do to me from inside that cage, woman?" His piercing eyes held her in contempt. "Shut up and let me work," he snapped, dismissing her rage as he turned to the glowing pit.

"Who are you? What is this place?" she demanded, her hands frantically searching for the knife she always carried.

"I am Malgato," he replied, his tone somber yet laced with pride. "The last of the Red Priests." With a wave of his hand, the pit began to glow brighter, bathed in an ominous red light. He mumbled in an ancient tongue, his words stirring the cavern's very walls.

As the light spread, the woman's surroundings came into sharper focus. Her stomach churned as she saw the grim details she had missed. Scattered across the cavern floor were the remains of animals—bones and carcasses of elephants, lions, and other, far more gigantic creatures.

"What... What is this?" she whispered in horror, her voice trembling. Her eyes welled with tears as she stared at the grisly scene. "You beast! What did these innocent creatures ever do to you?"

Malgato sneered. "I told you to shut up!" he barked, his voice cutting through her grief. "They served a purpose far greater than their meaningless lives could have ever achieved."

"You monster! The authorities will find you and make you pay!" she yelled, gripping the bars so tightly her knuckles turned white. 

"Authorities? Hahaha!" Malgato bursts into laughter as he strides toward the cage. "Do you still think we're in the jungles of Africa? No, you foolish woman, we're nowhere near it! This is the mystical land of the Savage Land, far out in Antarctica! There are no authorities to stop me here," he declares with a wicked grin.

The woman falls silent, the weight of his words sinking in. Could he be telling the truth? The thought unnerves her. All the animals she had been trying to protect had vanished abruptly, leaving no trace—no signs of being carried away, no tracks left by poachers. It was as if they had simply disappeared.

"It really was magic," she murmurs, her voice filled with astonishment.

"Ah, the infamous Shanna the She-Devil is finally catching up," Malgato mocked, his grin spreading wider. "Do you now see the folly of interfering in my plans?"

"I won't let you win," she vowed, her voice steady despite the weight of her despair.

"Hahaha, what can you even do against me? Against my magic, you are just an ant that can be easily stepped on!" Malgato sneers, his grin widening. He turns back toward the pit, his frustration clear. "If not for the energies of the Savage Land being much more potent than I expected, I wouldn't have to resort to this sneaky thieving and experimenting with so many of these combinations," he mutters, clearly irritated.

"Experiments? Combinations?" Shanna's voice rises in anger. "You are just as greedy as the other humans, using innocent animals for your own gain and pleasure!" Her emotions spill over, having seen this scene repeated time and time again—innocent creatures suffering at the hands of selfish humans.

"But this time, I am certain the combination will work," Malgato mumbles to himself, lost in his own world. "I have increased the blood of the animals outside the Savage Lands by a lot. They should dilute the energies inside the blood of the Savage Land creatures... Just to be sure, I should use her as insurance." His grin widens, a dark gleam in his eyes, his face looking particularly monstrous under the red light of the cavern.

Shanna couldn't find her knife anywhere, and she wasn't even sure if her crude weapon would be enough to cut through the sturdy metal bars of the cage. As she scanned the room, desperately searching for anything that might offer a clue or a glimmer of hope for escape, her eyes caught something unsettling. The room was filled with even more skeletons, some of which she could swear belonged to extinct animals from long-lost history. 

Malgato, seemingly unfazed by her scrutiny, took out a golden-lidded knife and began walking towards the opposite side of the pit.

There, nestled in the only corner of the cave that seemed alive, was a patch of strange plant life and moss. The area, illuminated by a faint, eerie glow, seemed out of place amidst the gloom of the cavern. As Malgato neared it, the light grew stronger, and Shanna's eyes widened in confusion as she saw what appeared to be a creature formed from twisted tree branches.

It had hollow black eyes, a trunk made of gnarled wood, and limbs constructed from thick, twisted branches. The figure seemed to be kneeling in front of the pit, its form rigid and unnatural.

Was it truly a creature? Was it alive, or was it just another bizarre tree shaped to resemble a being? Shanna couldn't be sure. The more she stared, the more she questioned whether it was just another part of Malgato's strange experiments—or something far older, more ominous, and out of her understanding.

"What is it you're doing here? Why have you imprisoned us?" Shanna demanded, hoping to pry some information from the old man.

"Do you even know where here is, you ignorant savage?" Malgato snarled, a mocking huff escaping his lips. "Very well, let me enlighten you." His voice grew smug. "I, Malgato, roamed the Earth in search of a mystical place to draw power from. It was the drying up of energies from our previous location that caused the downfall of the Red Priests. In desperation, I began tweaking my teleportation spell, hoping to find some lost place of power," he explained, his wry smile suggesting a twisted sense of triumph.

"But luck hadn't abandoned me. I was teleported here, to a land where time has stayed in the past, where mystical energies overflow in abundance. It was perfect. If I could just harness these energies, I might become Immortal. With limitless power, I could become the god spoken of in the Red Priests' sacred texts," he continued, his eyes gleaming with madness.

Shanna quickly realized the man was beyond reason—he was consumed by his own delusions. As he rambled, she called out to Ina and Bari, hoping that at least one of them would stir. If they could wake, maybe they still had a chance of escaping this madness alive.

"Even destiny was with me," Malgato went on, seemingly oblivious to her attempts at resistance. "I found a tribe of savage people nearby with a ritual that could grant a being a connection to the Savage Land itself. Now, I just needed to perfect this ritual and absorb the energies for myself," he said, licking his dry lips in anticipation. "And this plant creature here, with the deepest connection to this land, is the key. Even after its death centuries ago, its blood still holds enough power for the ritual," he declared.