The episode with Rexi had made Bahamut realize that, as much as he was carefree and unafraid of what was happening around him, that didn’t concern him; he had enemies. Rexi’s actions were understandable. After all, he wanted Lily because of a stupid reason that was a rule of the family. But after what Rexi did, his mind wandered off, and he recalled the boy with dark grey hair and stormy grey eyes who seed to hold a grudge with him. Aerith. He couldn’t recall his na, but his actions toward him, that piercing stare... They all proved a point of hate.
And this only made Bahamut smile. If he was going to be hated for just existing, then they could go find another place to live.
The desert stretched endlessly around them. Golden dunes rose and fell like waves beneath the scorching sun while the wind carried streams of sand across the horizon in glittering currents. Above it all, Nagini moved with terrifying speed.
Her massive serpentine body slithered across the desert like flowing water, barely touching the ground despite her size. Every movent sent ripples through the sand behind her while the scenery blurred past rapidly.
Bahamut sat near the front of Nagini’s head with one leg hanging lazily off the side, his blindfold fluttering slightly in the hot wind. His expression remained calm, but his thoughts wandered quietly.
He genuinely couldn’t understand why anyone would obsess so much over family traditions. Lily clearly didn’t care about them, yet Rexi acted as if he’d personally destroyed their entire bloodline. People were weird... Very weird.
"Thinking deeply?" Sel asked from behind him. Bahamut glanced back slightly to look at him. He lay comfortably atop Nagini’s back with his arms folded beneath his head while Exildra sat beside him, reading one of the books she’d gotten from Senkhet. Lily slept peacefully against Bahamut’s shoulder. anwhile, Alana was currently in her dark cow form, a smaller version of it. According to her...
"It’s easier to relax this way."
Bahamut still couldn’t understand that logic.
"I’m thinking people should get hobbies," Bahamut answered, causing Ren to snort loudly. The humanoid bunny currently sat cross-legged near Nagini’s tail while eating dried at he’d stolen from sowhere. X’Uric sat by him, sharing so of the at.
"You attract trouble naturally."
"That sounds like a you problem."
"How?!"
"You’re always near ."
"Motherfucker."
Gabi quietly laughed beside them while adjusting the scarf around his neck. Compared to everyone else, he looked the most relaxed, probably because no one seed interested in fighting him specifically. He was the cutest, but the most dangerous after Bahamut. Not with that dreadful poison elent of his. Lucky bastard.
The hot desert wind intensified briefly as Nagini surged over another massive dune.
FWOOOOOOOSH!
The group’s view expanded instantly, and there it was again. The Obsidian Citadel. It lood atop the western cliffs like a black crown overlooking the desert. Countless jagged towers stretched upward unnaturally while enormous chains connected parts of the fortress across the cliffs. Even from this distance, the structure radiated pressure.
"It still looks far..." Alana muttered.
"That’s because it is," Exildra answered without looking up from her book.
"No," Sel added calmly. "The fortress itself distorts perception slightly."
Everyone looked toward him, expecting more.
"It’s a defensive asure," he explained. "The closer enemies get, the more the distance feels stretched. It disrupts spatial judgent. And one more thing... It is not a fortress, but we see it as such."
"What do you..."
"You realized it, right? We see a towering structure. It is called the Obsidian Citadel, and that is what is in our heads. But inside, we don’t live on floors, but in communities. The inside doesn’t feel anything like a fortress. This is all part of the security. No one in their right mind would dare attack a fortress as huge as that."
"That’s annoying," Ren complained.
"And effective."
Bahamut looked toward the fortress again, silently, and even his senses struggled slightly with estimating the actual distance. The Shadow Fang Sect truly didn’t joke around with security.
Far below them, the desert continued shifting endlessly. Massive skeletal remains of ancient beasts occasionally protruded from the sand like forgotten monunts. Half-buried ruins appeared now and then, remnants of civilizations swallowed by the desert centuries ago.
At one point, they passed an enormous stone hand erging from beneath the dunes. Just the hand alone was larger than houses.
"What even was that?" Gabi asked quietly.
"No idea," Sel replied.
"And I’m happier not knowing."
The sky slowly began changing colors as ti passed. Orange, gold, then red. The desert beca breathtaking beneath the sunset. The dunes reflected crimson light beautifully while long shadows stretched endlessly across the sands, making Nagini’s scales shimr beneath the fading sunlight.
For a while, no one spoke. They simply traveled in silence, and in their thoughts, when Ren suddenly frowned.
"Do you guys feel that?"
Everyone imdiately beca alert. Bahamut’s eyes narrowed slightly beneath the blindfold. He felt a pulse. It was faint, and it ca from the direction of the Citadel.
DONG.
A deep bell echoed across the desert. The sound was so massive it felt physical.
DONG.
The air vibrated slightly, making Nagini slow instinctively. She looked toward the distant fortress cautiously now.
"What is that?" Lily asked softly after waking up.
Sel’s expression turned thoughtful.
"The Sect Bell..."
Exildra finally lowered her book.
"That’s not normal."
This ti, even the sand trembled faintly. The group exchanged looks. Sothing was happening at the Obsidian Citadel.
"By the way... What’s the essence of you having elents, Bahamut?" Gabi suddenly asked, taking their minds off the toll for now. This was a topic everyone seed interested in instantly.
"Why? Isn’t it a common thing to have an elent?" Bahamut asked back in confusion. He couldn’t understand where the question ca from.
"We all know you have more than one elent..."
"Yeah, so?"
"How were you able to train water and darkness to that level so fast? And not talk of how strangely similar your darkness attacks looked to Alana’s," Sel deduced, causing Bahamut to smirk.
"Well... it is very simple. I don’t need to train my elent if I have a contracted beast of that elent."
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Everyone looked at Bahamut as if he’d grown fifteen heads. That was too much. It was insane! It was daylight cheating, if that was even a thing.
"Deal with it! HAHAHAHA!"
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