844 Alaric

"Ugh, Why is this guy so cautious? It's not like anyone would dare to attack him in his territory." A beautiful woman with long black hair grumbled in annoyance as she walked through a dense forest.

The woman's black eyes were glowing brightly and her irises were star-shaped, slowly spinning.

"Damn, another trap..." The woman suddenly stopped walking and sighed while looking at a small formation on the ground with her glowing eyes.

"For God's sake, that guy is a Rank Six core evolver with millions of monsters under his command, so why does he act like a coward..." Anastasia said in an irritated voice and smashed the formation with a ball of black energy, completely isolating it from the outside world.

Once the formation was isolated, Anastasia walked past it and continued moving deeper.

"If I hadn't left most of my powers with the essence clone in the shadow realm, I would have already stormed this entire place," Anastasia muttered in a low voice as thoughts of destroying the forest crossed her mind.

Two hours later, Anastasia was looking at a small mountain in front of her with dead eyes. Through her special eyes, she could see that the mountain was covered in thousands of different kinds of runes. Instead of a mountain, it was more accurate to call it a war fortress.

"All right, I've had enough of this nonsense..." Suddenly, a frightening aura left Anastasia's body and covered an area of thousands of kilometres. Though she left most of her powers with the essence clone in the shadow realm, the pressure released by the Progenitor Of The Shadow Dragons was still powerful enough to shake the centre area of the Dark Forest.

"Alaric, don't try to push your luck. Do you think I don't know what you are trying to do..." Anastasia said in a cold voice as dark energy started to come out of her body. "I was playing your game because I don't want to start a needless conflict, but if you continue to act like a piece of sh*t, I don't mind—"

Woosh!

Anastasia didn't get to finish her words when the mountain in front of her suddenly disappeared, and a portal appeared there.

The angry female dragon looked at the portal with the same cold eyes, and after a few seconds, the dark aura that was coming out of her started to disappear.

"You should have done this earlier..." Anastasia said and stepped inside the portal. "... Or do you have a fetish for hearing abusive words before allowing someone to enter your territory."

Upon entering the portal, Anastasia found herself inside a beautiful garden. Unlike the darkness of the forest, the garden was filled with serene light. There was a crystal-clear pond in the centre of the garden, reflecting the azure sky and fluffy clouds.

Around the pond, a vibrant tapestry of flowers bloomed in a riot of colours. Bees and butterflies flew from flower to flower, adding a symphony of movement and life. Nearby, a weeping willow tree gracefully draped its branches, creating a cool, shady spot perfect for contemplation.

"I thought during the past thousands of years your temperament would have improved, but it seems that you are still as hot-blooded as before, Anastasia," An elderly voice sounded from all directions of the garden, making it impossible for people to pinpoint the location of the speaker.

Anastasia didn't react upon hearing the voice and walked towards the shady spot under the willow tree, stopping some distance away from it.

"I am not in the mood to hear a lecture, Alaric," Anastasia said, looking at the willow tree.

Suddenly, the willow tree started to shake and a transparent image of a man with fox ears and ten tails appeared there. The man looked to be in his fifties, and his entire figure was covered in a mist-like energy.

"Do you need to act so cautiously? It's not like I am here to harm you," Anastasia said while rolling her eyes when she saw the man didn't appear in front of her with his real body.

"I am just a weak fox, Anastasia, and I need to take care of my safety in front of a powerful dragon like you," The fox man said in a calm voice and sat down under the shade of the willow tree.

"Weak fox my ass, if you are weak then what should I call other monsters of the Dark Forest," Anastasia said with a disdainful smile on her face.

"So, what is the reason for someone who suddenly disappeared thousands of years ago to visit me?" Alaric ignored Anastasia's words and asked in the same calm voice.

"Don't pretend, Alaric, I am not in the mood to play your games. Knowing the level of your intelligence, you should already know why I am here."

Hearing Anastasia, Alaric looked at her without saying anything. After a full minute of silence, he sighed and asked in a serious voice, "Is he really him?"

"Though he looks somewhat different, you should already know the answer to your question."

Anastasia didn't answer his question directly, but the words she spoke were more than enough.

"I see..." Alaric said and looked at the pond with a wistful look on his face as if thinking about a past event.

Anastasia didn't say anything when she saw the wistful look on Alaric's face.

Yes, she didn't disturb him... At least for the first two minutes.

When Alaric didn't say anything even after two minutes, she lost her patience and spoke in an irritated voice.

"Alaric, I really don't want to disturb you while you are thinking about your rosy past, but... can you tell me what I want to know before you lose yourself in your memories."

"Oh!... Sure." Alaric came back to his senses hearing Anastasia's irritated voice and nodded his head. "So, what do you want to know?"

"First, tell me, when did you find out about him?"

"I received a request from Leopold to find two people who stole an Enlightenment Stone from his auction house and are hiding in the Dark Forest. Along with the compensation to find them, he also sent the photo of one of the persons who was involved in the robbery..."

an Enlightenment Stone from his auction house and are hiding in the Dark Forest. Along with the compensation to find them, "So you found out about him because of that picture, huh..." Anastasia nodded her head, thinking about Evan's picture she had seen after killing the people who tried to rob her a few days ago. (Chp-783)

After a moment of silence, Anastasia asked another question. "You didn't tell anyone about him, right?"

Even though she asked the question in a normal voice, the atmosphere of the surroundings visibly cooled.

"Oh please Anastasia, I know I am not a good person, but I am at least not ungrateful to harm someone who saved my life in the past."

Anastasia looked at Alaric for a few seconds and after seeing no signs of falsehood, the cold aura covering the surroundings disappeared and she smiled lightly.

"So where is he?" She asked in a normal voice, but Alaric could see the excitement in her eyes.

"Before I tell you anything about him..." The fox said and a black paper appeared in his hands. "...Sign it."

Anastasia looked at the black paper and her eyes narrowed. "Soul contract."

"Yes, the place where he is currently staying is quite, umm... Special," Alaric said as he couldn't find the right word. "I can't tell you anything about it before you sign the soul contract as I don't want other people to know about that place."

Anastasia looked at the soul contract for a few seconds, and after seeing the only term in the contract was that she wouldn't tell anyone about the place Alaric was referring to, she signed it.

"Now tell me, where is he?" Anastasia asked after signing the soul contract.