"Wait... the other snake... he’s of the Yang Elent?" Elyon looked at Xiao Yang.
The mont he turned to the white snake, his darkness sense recoiled in instinctive fear. His beast blood shivered in his veins—Yang was the antithesis of all he was.
"Indeed. They’re twins," Lin Mu said.
"Twin snakes of Yin and Yang... I’ve never even heard of such creatures," Elyon muttered. His hands trembled slightly as he stared at them, and the more he looked, the more intense the pressure seed.
HISSHISS
The twins rose in tandem, their full aura surging forth for the first ti.
Elyon’s eyes widened.
His Dark Wolf Bloodline—his pride, his strength—shrank back in fear. His instincts scread danger. And yet he could not move. It was as if ti had frozen and he stood before not two snakes...
But two Primordial Sovereigns of the beast world.
Elyon’s breath caught in his throat as the twin serpents rose together.
Their auras unfurled—not in a violent burst, but in a serene, absolute dominance. There was no rage, no ill will. Just the undeniable proclamation of their existence. Their sovereignty.
And his blood... his very essence... responded.
It trembled.
It submitted.
The hair along his arms and neck stood up instantly. His dark indigo fur bristled as cold sweat ford under his garnts. His claws twitched involuntarily, as if trying to dig into the ground for stability. His tail—usually calm and disciplined—quivered and curled tightly behind him, every instinct screaming submission.
Elyon didn’t understand what was happening at first. He had encountered terrifying creatures before—immortal beasts, mutated monstrosities, spiritual manifestations of ancient wills—but this was different. This wasn’t fear instilled by power.
This was ancestral suppression.
It went deeper than his mind. It spoke directly to the marrow of his bones. To the ancient core of his bloodline.
Submit. Yield. Kneel.
The darkness inside him—his lifeline and greatest weapon—flickered like a dying fla. It whimpered under the weight of an invisible force. His eyes began to dilate. Vision blurred. Breath ca ragged and uneven. And yet... there was no malice from the two tiny snakes.
No hostility.
Only overwhelming majesty.
And then it struck.
His mind conjured the image—not of the small serpents on ng Bai’s shoulders—but of what they truly were.
The illusory form erged unbidden in the space of his mind. In the endless darkness within his spirit sea, two titanic serpents coiled and uncoiled, their bodies stretching beyond the edges of the realm.
One was a shimring, endless white like the heart of a sun, burning with golden Yang fire. The other, a black abyss of ever-churning Yin mist, so cold it made the void itself seem warm.
They rose like twin peaks, towering over mountains and storm clouds, their eyes aglow with universal truths.
The heavens bowed before them.
The stars dimd.
Their gazes alone twisted ti and space.
And below them... was him.
A lone wolfkin, trembling, as if laid bare before primal deities.
’What... what are they?’ Elyon’s thoughts were jagged, half-ford. ’What kind of monsters are these? What kind of beasts... possess such bloodlines? This isn’t immortal... no, no... this is...’
Celestial. Or beyond.
The very concept shook him to his soul. His Dark Wolf Tribe bloodline, already considered elite and noble within beastkin society, was now curling in on itself in terror. It wasn’t just weaker—it was inferior. Fundantally, wholly inferior.
His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground with a harsh thud.
His palms slapped against the stone floor of the courtyard, bracing his body as tremors raced through him. He didn’t even have the strength to speak.
Sweat poured from his face, soaking his collar and matting his fur. His breaths ca in short, desperate gasps, each one like trying to drink air through fire.
It was as if all of creation had just weighed down on his back—and now that weight was gone, leaving his body collapsed and trembling in its aftermath.
Then ca Lin Mu’s voice.
Calm.
Unfazed.
A touch of amusent mixed with a firm undertone of discipline.
"All right, you two. That’s enough," he said softly. "You’ll scare our guest."
The twin snakes—still nestled on ng Bai’s shoulders—hissed in innocent protest, their tongues flicking out playfully. But they obeyed.
Their auras receded.
The suffocating pressure vanished in an instant, like the sudden passing of a storm.
Elyon collapsed fully onto his knees, arms limp at his sides. He could feel his heart hamring in his chest, and his vision was still swimming with the ghostly afterimage of the twin behemoths.
He remained motionless for several long monts, gathering himself. The cold stone of the courtyard was a grounding presence beneath his hands, reminding him that he was still alive. Still whole.
But his worldview?
That had changed.
Elyon lifted his head slowly, looking up at Lin Mu—not with resentnt or embarrassnt, but awe. Genuine, unfiltered awe.
"W-what..." he rasped, throat dry, "What are they?"
Lin Mu looked at him with a faint smile, one hand reaching out to help him up. "My companions. The Yin Yang Twin Serpents."
"But... that pressure... that bloodline—" Elyon shook his head as if trying to dislodge the illusion still lingering in his spirit. "That wasn’t immortal... I—I’ve never felt anything like it. Even the oldest beast patriarchs don’t feel like that."
"You’re not wrong," Daoist Chu chid in, stroking his beard. "They’re sothing quite special. But don’t worry, they don’t usually do this unless they’re playing or showing off."
Elyon took the offered hand and slowly stood up, legs still shaking.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and stared again at the two snakes, who now looked innocently at him with their bead-like eyes—one glowing black, the other white.
Their adorable forms gave no indication of the monstrous existence he had just glimpsed.
"I thought I’d seen a lot in my life..." Elyon muttered. "But I think I’ve been living in a cave."
"You’re not the first one to think that after eting them," Lin Mu said lightly.
Elyon let out a dry laugh, half in disbelief and half in amazent.
"How do you even keep them around? Don’t they... I don’t know... try to ascend or transform or... sothing?" he asked.
"They’re still growing. But they’ll stay with for a long ti. We’re bound together," Lin Mu replied.
"Bound?" Elyon’s eyes widened again. "You... bound them?"
"Not in chains," Lin Mu clarified. "They chose to follow . That’s all."
Elyon sat down heavily on the nearby stone bench, still trying to gather himself. His thoughts raced, his blood simred with unease and wonder, and his instincts still whispered caution.
But beneath it all was sothing else.
Respect. And perhaps... the beginning of reverence.
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