Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Weirdly, the elder didn't display the same kind of hostility the other elves had.

After recovering from the initial shock, the old man invited the guests to take a seat.

That was how Zaroth, Vera, and Luna found themselves sitting across the elder and his granddaughter—Ari.

As for Eldros, he had already gone back into Zaroth's shadow, awaiting further instructions.

"First of all, thank you for saving my humble village," the elder bowed his head, showing his appreciation.

"Don't thank me," Zaroth cut him off. He knew that he wouldn't get what he wanted here, so he wasn't even going to bother to keep up with the formalities.

"I want to know why you, the supposed leader of the village, were safe and sound in your little home, while your people were getting slaughtered. Not to mention your granddaughter had to venture far beyond the village to find help."

The eyes of the elder hardened at the words. It wasn't that he was offended—it was because he knew that Zaroth was telling the truth.

"It might be hard to understand, especially for you humans…" The elder began to explain, referring to Luna as human. She had long mastered the art of appearing harmless, so these weak elves weren't able to see past her disguise.

"But we here put weight on the life of an individual quite often. If we have to choose which one dies, then we must make sure the most valuable one survives."

Luna scoffed, "So are you saying that your life is more important than every single one of the inhabitants of the village?"

"Yes," the man nodded plainly.

'Wow,' Zaroth was honestly impressed, 'Even if I thought that way, I'd never admit it out loud! To have such high levels of narcissism makes me almost want to respect him.'

"There has to be a reason for that, no?" Vera joined in. She had caught on that when the elder spoke about his life being the most valuable, his granddaughter didn't seem offended. She believed that statement too.

"I… and the whole village is here for a single reason. We have to keep a certain rune active."

The elder leaned back in his chair, breathing raggedly. His weak body was too frail for even a normal conversation.

"Its use is for containment," Ari joined in, seeing the inability of her grandfather to go on.

"What are you containing?" Zaroth questioned.

"That we don't know," Ari shook her head. "It's the same with the whole area. We have received orders from the inner circle of the continent to keep the containment runes intact and safe. If something were to happen to it, something devastating is set to come out."

"Can we see it?" Vera asked, voice beaming with enthusiasm.

A flicker of hesitation passed over Ari's face, letting them see it was against the rules—not to mention that Zaroth was part demon. But at the same time, the only reason it was still standing was because of him in the first place.

"It's okay," the elder coughed, reassuring the woman. "They have the right to see what they have saved."

Getting the confirmation, she went to one room of the building, and Zaroth and his group followed.

Lifting a carpet revealed a trapdoor that led underground.

"It's here," Ari reassured, being the first one to descend.

The idea of going underground was a bad one. It was the perfect place to be ambushed—but it wasn't like they had much choice to begin with.

"Here goes nothing," Zaroth muttered, being the first one to go in.

They climbed down and navigated a twisting, shadowed tunnel until a wave of strange energy pulsed through their bodies.

"It's here," Ari whispered, eyes not leaving the rune. Even as an elf, she struggled to comprehend the thing before her. It was like handing a first-grader the most complex equation imaginable.

Zaroth stepped forward, feeling the same inexplicable force pressing in.

The rune was embedded in a dark stone towering four meters. One that looked old… older than time itself. The Beast Master had never seen any kind of material like it. The darkness of the rock was strange—even foreign. It wasn't just black—it was consuming the nearby light as if using it for a fuel source.

The rune itself had lines… too many to count. What was more surprising was that they weren't stationary. They moved. Some thicker ones would be divided into several smaller ones; others would combine with one another. Moving like waves—calmly and smoothly—yet with no clear direction. Lawless was the only way to describe how these lines were acting.

An intense green hue was being let out by the rune and that light wasn't being consumed by the dark rock.

"Can you make sense of this?" he asked the two women that were with him.

Vera stood silent, gaze focused solely on the way this rune was acting up. She was no doubt trying to use every single ounce of her mental power to learn how this thing worked.

Her concentration was so deep that she even took a step forward and traced a finger over the surface of the black stone, imitating the movement of the rune.

Luna meanwhile yawned, "It's impressive, I admit," she said, nodding.

"However, whoever did this has most likely made sure that we will fail to understand how it works. There is no point in trying to learn its mysteries. Worse, we might learn it the wrong way."

Zaroth's expression remained unreadable, as he studied Ari.

"I presume you don't know how this works?"

Ari, still staring at the active rune, nodded.

"Then can you at least teach me how your powers work? That thing you call the will of the world—or a few simple runes?"

"We are able to use will since birth, and the runes are extensions of it," she explained. "I doubt that a race other than our own will be able to master our powers."

'This isn't what Sira and Night told me,' he thought grimly. 'They were either lying… or they knew something that these elves didn't.'

Considering that they had the ability to go to the human continent with no trouble, Zaroth was inclined to believe it was the latter.

With nothing else to do, they went back the way they came.

The Beast Master was thinking, pondering over the situation, until Vera tugged his sleeve.

"What is it?" he whispered, making sure it was low enough for the elf to not hear.

"I've figured part of it out," she said, her voice alight with excitement. "If we visit more runes like this, I might be able to learn how to use them—without needing anyone to teach us."

A menacing smile crept up on Zaroth's face. He now knew what to do.

*****

"I now understand how important preserving these runes is, after seeing one with my own two eyes," Zaroth lied through his teeth.

"So would it be possible for you to guide me to other villages that guard similar runes? I want to protect them—if they're in danger."

A large smile formed on the elder's face, inwardly thinking, 'So the prophecy was correct after all.'

"Sure," the old man offered. "But since we don't have maps, and we travel by instinct, we'll need to send someone to guide you."

His eyes trailed off to Ari.

"You have always wanted to explore the far places other than here, no?"

Getting at what the elder was hinting at, Ari's eyes seemed to sparkle. She bowed toward Zaroth and his group, "Please allow me to guide you to the other places!"

And just like that, the guide of the group had been found.

*****

"They sure grow up fast," the elder chuckled. It had been some time since Ari went off with the Fragment bearers, and he was starting to miss her a little.

With nothing else to do, he descended into the tunnel, going toward the rune. Looking at it and its beauty of energy always lifted his mood.

That, however, changed the moment his eyes landed on the rune… or at least what had remained of it.

The old man's knees buckled, collapsing on the ground, eyes wide in shock. His heart beat in chaotic, erratic rhythm, straining toward what felt like the edge of a heart attack.

"Why?" he whispered in despair.

The life that had once pulsed from the rune was gone.

The rune had been broken.