NOVEL WEB Chapter 66: Dark Black Rose
"Are those bats Ordinary Beasts or Primordial Beasts?" Jack asked.
"The smallest one I saw was about four meters long," Paul replied.
"Damn, then they must all be Primordial Beasts. How big was the largest?"
"About eight meters long, and there were quite a few of them."
"They're at Tier 8. We can't fight them."
"Young master, why don't we just report this to the clan?" Paul suggested.
"Idiot! If the clan finds out, will they still give it to us? Of course not—it'll be handed to that little slut, Grace," Jack snapped irritably.
Paul fell silent, scratching his head, as if wondering what solution remained.
But before Jack could say anything further, Richard, who had been watching the four of them, unleashed a Mind Attack on three of them—everyone except Paul.
With his mastery still only at 3%, he could only attack three targets.
In an instant, their eyes bulged before turning vacant.
Richard had expected this. The three of them, especially Jack, were far too weak to resist his Mind Attack. Jack seemed to have less than 2000 Aether Accumulation.
The two Sky Armor Knights might have been strong in terms of raw strength, but they had no way to defend against a strike aimed directly at their minds. Their armor could only release power outward, not channel it inward.
After the Mind Attack struck, Richard immediately knocked them unconscious, shocking Paul so much that he leapt backward.
But before he could process what was happening, the Mind Attack struck him too.
In truth, he was slightly stronger than Jack and managed to resist for a moment—but only for a moment—before Richard's attack took over his mind.
Richard did not knock Paul unconscious. Instead, he walked toward him.
"Tell me where the Dark Black Rose is," Richard demanded.
"At the three o'clock direction. Keep going until you find a river. It's right across from that river," Paul answered immediately, his mind controlled by the attack.
Richard gave a slight nod, then made him collapse as well before heading off on his own.
Even for him, the Dark Black Rose was something worth fighting for.
The trees in the three o'clock direction were thick and overgrown. Richard could only pass through narrow paths that were sometimes blocked by branches, forcing him to leap over them.
Fortunately, the forest Paul had mentioned wasn't too far. Soon, Richard saw a river about ten meters wide, filled with massive rocks and rushing with a violent current.
Across the river lay a grassy hill swarming with bats.
Just as Paul had described, they ranged from four to eight meters in size.
What made them truly terrifying was their overwhelming number.
The sky above the hill looked pitch-black, completely blanketed by the creatures.
On that hill, Richard spotted many rose stalks—but only one bore a black blossom. The rest were red.
That single black rose emitted a faint, endless stream of black smoke—a clear sign it was the Dark Black Rose, not just an ordinary black flower.
'It'll still be troublesome if I have to fight those bats,' Richard thought.
Even though he was confident in his strength, their sheer numbers made him worry that he might actually lose.
'But what if I roar?' he wondered, recalling his experience in the Forest of Darkness. His roar had not only killed beasts before but also driven them away in terror, leaving him completely unchallenged.
The moment the idea struck, he didn't hesitate.
ROAR!
He unleashed a thunderous roar, many times louder than the last time. The air itself trembled, and the river surged as the sound waves crashed across it.
Richard had no idea how far his roar carried, but he saw the bats trembling uncontrollably, several dropping dead on the spot.
The ones that survived frantically flapped their wings, desperate to escape.
Even more astonishing, countless beasts from around the area fled their hiding spots, running as fast as they could to get away from him.
Among them was a lion, nearly six meters tall, with a massive mane encircling its face. Despite its ferocious appearance, even it bolted in fear.
Richard could only stare with a strange expression.
The sky above the grassy hill, once darkened by countless bats, was now clear.
He couldn't understand how his roar could terrify beasts to this extent—unless dragons truly had the power to instill such primal fear.
Not dwelling on it, Richard leapt across the river, hopping from rock to rock until he reached the other side.
Luckily, it wasn't a very wide river. Once across, he sprinted toward the grassy hill.
He trampled over the red roses surrounding the Dark Black Rose until he stood directly before it.
Faintly, he caught a smell reminiscent of burnt charcoal wafting from the black smoke it emitted.
As far as he knew, the rose needed to be burned and its smoke inhaled to unleash its effects.
Richard cut it from its stalk and stored it inside his Storage Artifact.
After glancing around once more, he turned back toward the forest.
With the black rose in hand, all he wanted was to return home and cultivate. Besides, he doubted he'd encounter any other beasts after that roar.
In no time, he returned to where Jack and his companions still lay unconscious. Richard couldn't be bothered with them and moved on.
Soon after, he was back in the city. He slipped into a narrow alley to remove his Phantom Cloak, restoring his appearance as a seven-year-old boy.
Walking briskly through the streets, he suddenly caught snippets of conversation among the crowd.
"Did you hear? Gray demanded to represent our three provinces, saying Wren is unfit. He even challenged Wren to a fight, but Wren didn't dare show himself."
"Can a participant even be replaced after Gray openly admitted defeat? Besides, he already accepted compensation from Wren—did he return it?"
"Who knows? But apparently, he's seeking support from influential figures. They might back him since it's practically impossible for Wren to reach the Life Aether Realm before the tournament in the capital begins."
"…"