Chapter 177: Stella
There was an unhealthy amount of bold rabbits in this place and Kael finally knew why.
In front of him was another rabbit, different from the fiery rabbit that was escorting them.
The first thing to notice from this rabbit was the suffocating aura coming from her body. She wasn't even trying to hide it, she was strong, stronger than Kael.
As for her size, she was nearly five feet in size, far bigger and chubbier than any rabbit Kael had ever seen. And what was more surprising was that she was still crouching on her four limbs, she wasn't even standing at her full height and she was already five feet tall.
The most eye-catching thing however was the glowing magic runes on her body. She had clean fur that was a mix of brown and white color. This fur was then riddled with different magic runes that were spaced from each other.
The runes were well drawn, like they had gone through a period of multiple trials and errors before reaching this state.
A Magus Rabbit, one that was comparable to a tier 4 wolf.
The golden fur on Kael's body stood on end as he sensed the danger. Eidel and Ruda had already lowered their bodies instinctively, prepared for a fight.
The wind howled as Chloe's wings spread apart slightly, and the power of Air churned.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight," The rabbit said as her indifferent eyes scanned the four of them.
"Besides, if I want you dead, I doubt if all of you combined could stop me," She added. She wasn't boasting, she was just making a logical statement.
Kael, however, knew that he could prove her wrong, but if violence could be avoided, he would avoid it…for now.
"Good day…" Kael finally greeted, but his muscles remained firm.
"Stella, you can call me Stella," Stella the rabbit added.
"Good day, Stella," Kael said.
Stella looked at the fiery rabbit with a look of pity in her eyes, "Release him," She said.
Kael frowned, this rabbit had just ordered him, the guts.
A flash of grey light came and went and the fiery rabbit returned to his senses. He looked around, stunned.
He had been aware of everything he was doing, he just didn't have control over his mind. It had felt like someone else was doing the thinking for him while he remained conscious.
He looked at Kael in fear, his body shaking as his natural instincts kicked in once again.
"You may go, join the others at the border," Stella's words entered his mind, bringing him out of his frightened state.
He gazed at the owner of his voice and suddenly felt like all his problems had evaporated away. This was Stella, the pillar of the rabbits in this safe zone
She had single-handedly stopped the hunting of most rabbits and brought them to work in the safe zone beach. As long as she was here on this beach, no one dared to kill any rabbit.
Seeing Stella, the fiery rabbit regained his confidence and was able to cast a nasty glance at Kael before hopping away.
"Hmm," Chloe frowned, so this was the source of the rabbit's audacity.
"Zed and Zod are not here, I don't know the kind of luck you need to have to show up when they are not around," Stella said as her body began to change and she began to transform.
Her fur shrank and the fat on her body diminished into she took on a slimmer form. Within seconds, what stood before Kael was a curvy woman.
She had wide hips, a small waist, and a short figure. On her head were two long brown bunny ears that pointed upwards.
Her dark red eyes gazed at Kael and his lionesses, revealing a light of interest in them.
By now, the surrounding animals had all stopped making noise and cleared the way to leave a vacant space with Stella and the four lions.
"What's Stella doing here?" A tier 3 wolf whispered to his comrade beside him.
"I don't know, she seems to be acquainted with those four," The wolf beside him said.
"Are those lions? It's been long since I saw one of those," A large woodpecker bird said from the roof of a bone hut.
"Yeah, Zed and Zod really made it hard for them to stay here. It couldn't be helped, those guys were in trouble." A black bear commented.
"Maybe that's why she's here, to make sure that these four don't make trouble,"
"What if they are here for business, I wonder what items they bought to trade,"
"That's true, but it's also very unlikely. Last time lions were here, they tried to monopolize everything,"
"It's a very disgusting nature, to be honest, can't they just leave everyone alone?" A young deer said.
At his words, the tier 3 wolf laughed, "Hehehe, you're still young, so you don't know anything. If you leave this safe zone, wolves like me will hunt you down and eat you.
A lion's nature would be the last thing to worry about,"
"Mummy?" The young deer turned to her mother who only gave her a sorry smile. The mother deer could only remain silent, she had to make sure her child heard those harsh words.
Although the little deer had been born here, staying in the safe zone forever was impossible, no grass grew in this barren beach sand. It would be a disaster if her child went out into the world with this kind of naive mindset.
"Follow me," Stella, who was now fully in her humanoid form, said to Kael. She turned away and walked in the direction of the shoreline.
Kael also followed her, not liking the looks he was getting from these onlookers. He had noticed that there were a lot of high-level creatures here, which was a good and bad thing.
He didn't know how deep their loyalty to this safe zone was but he had to at least leave some warnings for Commander Bibi and the rest.
"Why did you come here?" Stella suddenly asked as they were walking.
"We're exploring," Kael replied.
"So you've never been to this place before, that's why you don't know the rules," Stella said.
"Why haven't you tried to punish us yet?" Kael replied with his own surprising question. His eyes lingered on her swerving butt and the rabbit tail at the end of her spine.
"Hmm, why would I want to punish you?" Stella asked with a meaningful smile.
"Why would you not want to, you just saw us breaking the rules, and you would want to make an example out of us.
You're a Magus Rabbit, a creature that thrives on logical reasoning. I have met someone like you and I am in a way, also like you…,"
"You are not like me," Stella added while shaking her head.
"...Well, the only reason why you would keep us around is that you have a logical reason for not punishing us."
"Hmm," Stella narrowed her eyes, she didn't think her intentions would be ready through so easily.
She and the four walked in silence until they reached the shores. Here, the massive bones used to demarcate the borders were few and only some rib bones were erected.
Stella stared at the sea with her hands behind her back and her legs put together. Looking at her from behind, Kael had to admit, she was very beautiful and had a sensual body.
"A lot of strange things have been happening in the sea lately, huge me forces have been gathered.
Zed, Zod, and Aeon are quite tight-lipped but the rest of us were bound to know. A few unfamiliar faces showing up at the beach looking like they were ready to dominate did not seem like a coincidence.
It may be a guess, yes, but you guys are definitely here for a purpose, and there is a high probability that what you came for is related to what's happening in the sea." Stella said.
"What's happening in the sea?" Kael asked, interested.
"I expected you to know," Stella said as she turned around to face the lion and his lionesses.
Kael stared into Stella's eyes, his lion form almost towering over her. "I don't know,"
Stella smiled, Kael's answer revealed that he was indeed here for whatever was happening in the sea.
"Good, we'll have to work together then, I have a plan…" Stella started.
"Wait!" Kael suddenly commanded.
Stella frowned but didn't react at first, Kael's expression at this time seemed…odd.
Not just Kael, the three lionesses behind him also had weird focused expressions on their faces.
"It's there," Eidel said with her eyes wide open as she gazed at the horizon. Kael and the other two seemed to be staring in the same direction too.
Kael's golden eyes locked on a particular spot, far away, even he couldn't see what he was looking at, but he was sure he was looking at something.
It wasn't just him, every single lion within the forest and the plains all looked in the same direction in a weird zombie-like way.
It was like they could sense something that had a deep affinity with them. It was like a signal meant to intentionally get the attention of lions.