Chapter 120: The Lion Ghosts story
Chapter 120: The Lion Ghost's story
After a daily routine, Reylin and Aria hopped back to the game.
They were not too far away from the Burial Ground Dungeon. Mini bosses occasionally attacked them out of spite for losing one of the princes. Still, they failed to leave even a scratch on Reylin's body.
Aria was also unscratched.
Her eyes widened as the gloomy world unfolded before her.
Although her level was higher than the dungeon recommended, Aria knew that this dungeon had a few phases.
She was ready to even try to get the highest one just to capture that lion!
Following the usual setting, Aria accepted the ghost and its inquiries.
She spent some time with him, then visited his grave.
At last, the dark tendrils extended themselves to welcome the beauty to their world!
Reylin used one of the tokens, and he appeared back in the dungeon's underground city. It looked the same as ever, but ghosts were more active with their battles.
The Arena was constantly active!
Reylin spotted his girlfriend and Hania as his maid went alongside Lioness.
Both of them had already talked about the lion a little.
Hania bowed, "Good morning, Young Master! It's good to see no problems barred your way here!"
Reylin smirked.
He eyed Hania and also nodded to her efforts.
She was donned in equipment adequate to her level, evident as she had Reylin's backing. However, her eyes remained undaunted in the gloomy and cold place, and Hania also just killed the zombie without much effort.
Her skills rose at a satisfying speed!
Reylin also heard from Sebastian that Hania snuck out from the dungeon for some time to play with her brothers. Even though they had started playing before them, their experiences weren't as rich as Reylin's.
They were one of those ordinary players that lacked excitement, and their leveling speed was mundane.
Hania helped them play and get more exciting battles, to which Reylin put a blind eye.
"Lion is looking for Lion King, Young Master. He keeps shouting that quite urgently, so once I found him, I never lost track of him!" Hania explained.
Reylin chuckled, "So he is looking for me?"
Hania tilted her head, but Lioness chuckled from the side, giving the maid small enlightenment.
"Show me where it is. We have to speak with that guy and have your mistress practice against it," Reylin gestured to Hania to show the way.
She promptly nodded and turned around, "Follow me."
She ran as fast as she could to not waste any time. Her speed was pretty good as Reylin's legs lit up in flames to keep up with her.
At last, the Lion Ghost appeared before them.
"LION KING! LION KING! LION KING!"
Unlike the humanoid horse, Reylin had talked and made friends with, that was a pure lion.
The lion kept going around the city on its four while shouting its king's title.
It was a fairly short title - Lion King!
The lion was alone and didn't look much different from the animals Reylin would see on Earth. Other than its size, which was quite bigger than Earth's lions, Lion Ghost was pretty the same.
Of course, its jaw opening up and shouting the name in common language also differentiated him from normal animals.
But as Aria was about to appear before the ghost, a few other ghosts ganged up on it!
The Lion Ghost gnarred, and its eyes let out a killing intent!
Other ghosts did the same, but they paled compared to the beast!
Their army of skeletons and zombies rose from the ground, and all of them had hurtled immediately at the Lion Ghost once they stabilized on the floor.
The Lion Ghost arched its head and glared at the black ceiling.
He then uttered a powerful scream that swept through the impending armies, momentarily stopping them.
Alas, that was not the scream's purpose.
From the ground, the skeleton's bones coalesced into skeletons!
Those were mere parts broken and unusable by many ghosts, yet the Lion King casually conjured an army out of discarded parts!
He stomped on the ground, then prepared to pounce!
At the same time, his skeletons dropped on their four as well, imitating their master.
Their rush was much faster than other skeletons, and they prevailed on the arena in the blink of an eye!
After all, those skeletons could just casually die by charging at their opponents.
Their charge was devastating, and once they died, the Lion Ghost called their bones again!
"I WILL DEVOUR YOU WHOLLY!" The Lion Ghost announced.
His jaw opened widely, and he ate the opponent's arm wholly!
With an arm, he didn't stop!
He let out another scream, his skeletons ganged the ghost, then he ate the ghost alive!
Reylin whistled, "We have found a particular Lion."
Aria nodded, "If it takes too long to tame him, you can focus on a dark event instead, Reylin."
"Well, I am interested in what he has to offer. Let him end these fools, then we will approach him," Reylin smiled.
At last, the Lion Ghost killed all his enemies.
His skeletons became mere parts again, and he turned around to return to his former activity!
"LION KING! LION KING! LION KING!" he shouted.
He didn't shout for too long as Reylin's team finally appeared behind him.
Led by Relin, who applauded for the Lion Ghost's persistence, humans greeted the ghost, making him stare at them with vigilance.
Reylin smiled, "Lion King... How about you tell us more about him?"
"Are you even worthy? I would rather scream his name and hope he would hear me than waste my breath on humans!" The Lion Ghost stomped and gnarred.
Aria let out her sword, and her unique skill expanded on her blade, "Nice to meet you, Lion Ghost. What do you feel while looking at this blade?"
The Lion Ghost narrowed his eyes, and he stared at the weapon, "A mere imitation of what we can do!"
He stomped on the ground, then a bone flew up!
He barked at the bone, then it turned into dust!
"Why didn't you use it on the ghosts? Keeping your abilities hidden?" Reylin sneered.
"Hmph! I may keep it for arrogant humans such as you!" The Lion Ghost retorted.
Aria smiled at them both, then said, "Forgive my boyfriend. He has that attention-seeking face you can't blame him for."
Hania and Reylin turned their heads at her, wondering what exactly she meant by that.
"He has made friends with ghosts here already, and I've come here with the same purpose. Let me fight you and your skill to become even stronger, then I will fulfill your wishes. You can only do so much with your ghost form, so let's leverage each other," Aria turned her eyes to the lion ghost and scrutinized its reaction.
It stared at her vigilantly with two thoughts clashing with each other.
"Do any of you have a connection with Changnam?" The Lion Ghost asked.
Aria and Hania shook their heads, but Reylin laughed.
He chuckled, "Isn't it that piece of shit ascended who allegedly used other ascended's treasures to fight abomination? Haha!"
"Your nickname seems more genuine and likable now!" The Lion Ghost laughed with his eyes on Reylin.
He then shifted his eyes to Aria, "You can not become an ally with anyone from Changnam's side! If you swear this to me, I will enter a contract with you."
"I see no problem here... If my man is disliked by the ascended, I am more than glad to become an enemy with them as well," Aria stepped forth!
She didn't even think for more than ten seconds, and her immediate decision reassured the lion ghost.
He stared at them both, "Let's talk in my cave."
Reylin turned his eyes to Hania, "You leave now. Keep an eye on fire ghosts and players who get them. I saw that the list was quite abundant already."
"Yes, young master! But a lot of them were quite... cowardly..." Hania bowed.
"A matter for the future," Reylin sent her away with a smile.
He then followed Aria to the Lion Ghost's cave.
That cave was within one of the houses, and poor skeletons had killed themselves many times to make a home for the lion.
He took his seat and started a story, "In the past, an abomination appeared. As you said, Changnam swore to kill it. However, that was the story he told for humans! Just humans! For our race, he swore to save!"
"Save?" Reylin arched his back as he curiously asked.
"Abomination is a monster born from the world's mana. It revolted against races living here! However, it had absorbed various life forms on a path of vengeance, and our Lion King became its head... We offered help to save our king, and Changnam didn't even bat an eye before accepting it! Alas, we were just used..." The Lion Ghost howled as he cried, seeing the past he would never forget.
Reylin asked, "The second layer. Do you know it?"
"I do... We were so weak after the abomination that I don't even know whether my race went up here... Even if they did, they are at their lowest! I fear that they might be used by others, but I don't have enough sanity to think about it," The Lion Ghost explained.
The events were from the past, so Reylin and Aria needed some time to process through it...
At last, The Lion Ghost said, "This dungeon is shrouded in darkness... But on that day, when the ceiling lit up with scarlet color, I felt the Lion King's presence! I felt his eyes! It was him, not that abomination!
As his loyal servant, I can only scream his name and get to him before the abomination takes over his body yet again!
That's all I can do, and I will not stop until I disappear!" The Lion Ghost declared.