The infant sea serpent managed to retain its life by reminding Niki of his friend, and maybe it didn''t do anything at all, but it was simply Niki awakening some sort of weird conscience.


    "Laughable," Niki shook his head as he sat in front of the serpent. "There''s no way that I have a conscience this strong," he said and pondered more. "However, it can be that I''ve seen the end of times."


    The natural hate between monsters and humans seemed trivial when invaders ughtered both. Furthermore, Niki didn''t know which side to favor anymore. After all, he wasn''t a human, but was he a monster?


    Niki decided it was time to choose, and he stood up. But, unfortunately, he lost a lot of his Absolute Charge to get here, and there was not any time left to dwell on this matter.


    ''You areing with me, and I''ll trade you for a good price.'' So Niki decided to beat up the sea serpent and ce him in his pocket dimension before stealing as many gems as he could before leaving.


    As he walked toward the monster, he paused because there was a change in mana behind him. Niki looked back with confusion toward the darkness of the cave, as there shouldn''t be anyone beside him.


    A portal opened in the middle of the cave, and Niki''s heart dropped. Then, as his fear came to a reality, someone walked out from within the portal. There were two people here, and Niki hated that he recognized them.


    "Who would have thought that the Bestial Army would be here?"


    The voice was slippery and high-pitched, and the speaker had a lisp. Niki frowned felt goosebumps as memories resurfaced in his mind. Then, after taking a step back, he heard another voice answer.


    "No harm is done," the voice was deep. "Rather, we are lucky that the monster is busy at the moment. I guess this is the heavens aiding our cause."


    "Spear me from your religious talks," the slippery voice scowled as it got closer to the chamber. "The Princess instructed that we make this matter swift, so no time for chitchat."


    "You think you know of her wishes better than I do, bloodsucker?"


    As the two bickered, Niki''s mind was racing. It has never urred to him that he would meet two of her people here. Furthermore, it was Seven and Twelve.


    ''Lilith wants this sea serpent?'' Niki nced back as he looked through his memories. ''This monster is the one she used to conquer the ind?''


    It all made sense now, but the coincidence was indeed unexpected. After all, how would he know that the sea serpent Lilith would raise would be none other than this one?


    It was all because of Eight''s secretive nature that Niki never got to meet the monsters she tamed. However, it mattered not anymore because he was in trouble.


    The rage he had toward Lilith didn''t mean he wanted to meet her as soon as possible because he was still far too weak to take revenge. Instead, if she indeed finds him, Niki''s fate would be worse than that of his previous life.


    His stealth was almost omnipotent, but it didn''t help that Seven''s element was light. So, as the man walked into the cave, it lit up like the brightest of days.


    A treasure hunt has turned into a deadly encounter within a few minutes. The light made the darkness sizzle, and it vanquished most of it. Niki hid in the shadow of the egg, which was the only ce left without light. Furthermore, he made sure to conceal his face using the mask he used in Rohan Ruins.


    ''They should be weaker,'' Niki knew that they can''t be as strong as he remembers, so this might be a chance to weaken Lilith''s generals. ''However, you can never estimate the strength of these monsters.''


    These people were the specially handpicked pets of the Elven Princess. Lilith spared no expense to stuff them with all sorts of treasures and strengthening items until she had countless monsters at her disposal.


    "There''s something here," Twelve''s voice hissed as Niki''s heart raced. He nced from behind the serpent''s egg and could see the two monsters after more than a year of parting.


    They were as terrifying as they used to be. Seven was a giant man with white hair and scarred eyes. As for Twelve, it was a big lizard that was the size of a human.


    The eyes of the lizard scanned the ce as it was the master of stealth. It seems to be preceptive of those like itself, and it disappeared.


    "I can''t see anything," muttered Seven.


    "You have no eyes..." came Twelve''s reply. "Something is hiding in this ce, but I don''t know where."


    As it said so, the lizard began looking around the chamber to search every nook and cranny. Niki held his breath in the dark dimension as he leaned on the serpent''s egg, which was wailing because of the blinding lighting out of Seven''s hands.


    Maintaining the stealth was getting increasingly more challenging because of the decreasing darkness. Even though Niki can use his darkness, it woulde at the cost of being found out, so it was counteractive.


    ''What should I do now?'' Niki wondered to himself. These people were at the very least at the D-rank and might even be C-rank already. However, ranks meant nothing to these freaks with abnormal skills and elements.


    Twelve''s forte was at hiding things and concealment, which was necessary to avoid being sensed by the giant sea serpent. As for Seven, he was one of the strongest pets that Lilith raised, an abnormality.


    ''Then I just need to do what they are trying to avoid,'' Niki thought to himself as his darkness left his hand and traveled toward the sea serpent.


    The monster''s natural ability activated, and it gave a screech that shook the heavens. There was, after all, nothing more destructive to living beings than darkness and chaos.


    "Something is there!" Seven shouted as the cave shook, and their cover was blown. The infant''s screech was mirrored by its parent, who dived back into the water and hurried toward the cave.


    "I know," a voice whispered beside Niki, and it made his heart clench. A reptile hand reached out to him and pulled him by the shadow, dragging him out of the darkness. "We found ourselves a rat."


    Niki was thrown on the chamber''s floor as the whole cave shook. Luckily, his face was concealed, so he avoided being seen by the two monsters.


    "Where was it hiding?" Seven frowned as he turned toward Niki, and Twelve appeared beside him.


    "You are not going to believe this," the lizard pointed at Niki with surprise. "This thing is a Dark Being. It was hiding in the darkness."


    "A dark being?" there was a rage in the man''s voice. "Are you an idiot? He is a beastman or a human." Seven looked at Niki, who was standing up slowly.


    "Call me an idiot all you want," the lizard shrugged as its tongue yed around. "However, you can''t deny that this creature was hiding in the darkness. Ah, My Princess will be so d when I bring this one back."


    "You were only able to find it because of my light, lizard," Seven scowled as he took a step toward Niki. "I''ll be the one to bring it back."


    Niki trembled as he heard their conversation. He couldn''t deny that Lilith would be d about obtaining a dark being. However, simply imagining the experiments, she would do on him made Niki willing to lose his life rather than allow them to take him.


    ''Why am I scared?'' Niki shook his head to dispel the thoughts. ''They can do nothing to me because I can always hide in the pocket dimension. However, this is my chance to hinder Lilith''s growth.''


    As his thoughts reached her, Niki''s darkness exploded, and the ck lotus appeared on top of him. The twin scimitars appeared in his hand, and the Abyssal Weapon absorbed the petals.


    "This creature can use an Abyssal Art?" Seven grew cautious. "To think that we would not only find a dark being but an art that the princess wants..."


    "Lucky!" Twelve shouted as he rushed forward to snatch Niki away, but his des yed a song of destruction. As the des danced in the air, the petals exploded to bring chaos to everything in their paths.


    "Careful!"


    Seven turned into a ray of light and appeared before the lizard to strike the darkness away. But, instead, two des of light appeared on his hands, and they collided with the destruction brought by the scimitars.


    Niki pulled back his des before he threw them in an arc from both sides at Seven. Then, as light exploded from the man''s body to push away the darkness, Niki was already standing in front of his body.


    ''This is the first payback,'' a lotus appeared on his hand as he punched the man''s abdomen, and the chamber shook under the destruction of darkness and light.