𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒙’𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕
At the peak of Mount Kuluo, a small, round, and fluffy little creature flapped its almost negligible small wings. When it was finally on the ground, it clumsily made its way toward the Vermilion Bird, who was frozen on the spot.
“Chu~ Chu~” When it finally approached the Vermilion Bird, the little Phoenix chirped happily at him. Then it pounced onto the Vermilion Bird’s claws and used all its limbs to slowly inch upwards.
All the other magical beasts were in extreme shock, and they could only look on helplessly at that little creature as it climbed up to the Vermilion Bird’s head. When it arrived at its destination, it immediately snuggled into the Vermilion Bird’s puffy feathers. It shook its body left and right until it found the most comfortable position and sat there.
The two Phoenixes were thoroughly speechless.
What just happened?
What had happened?
Why was their offspring so intimate with the enemy? Did it not remember that the enemy had tossed it out of their nest just moments ago?
The Phoenixes were bitter when they saw their youngling snuggled with the enemy.
They had wanted to be affectionate with their offspring too.
The Vermilion Bird was also annoyed. Why was the little Phoenix so courageous to approach him? Had it not noticed how its parents wanted to burn him into ashes?
“Chu!” The little Phoenix was utterly unaware of the grave thoughts in the other three mythical beasts’ minds. It only wanted to snuggle with the Vermilion Bird, and it was very comfortable with his familiar fire-elements.
The situation had become so odd. They were ready to fight, but things turned weird with the little Phoenix’s actions.
The two Phoenixes were not fearful of the Vermilion Bird, but they were terrified of Jungkook.
They knew that they were not his opponent and so they had no intention to fight him. Furthermore, their youngling was already in their hands, so how were they supposed to fight him then?
That youngling had clung to them on its own accord, and it was a sight that they could not bear to see.
The Vermilion Bird’s anger had dissipated when it saw the little Phoenix. He had suffered a defeat at its parents’ hands just a moment before that, but he could not possibly vent his anger on that little creature, could he?
He was a mythical beast with principles!
If the enemy remained unmoved, then it should do the same. At that moment, one could only hear the little Phoenix’s joyful chirps.
Even fools could see that the young Phoenix had acknowledged the Vermilion Bird as its family. How could its birth parents endure that?
However, it seemed like the fight would no longer continue.
When Jungkook was sure that the two Phoenixes would not attack them, he immediately placed Lisa beneath the Vermilion Bird’s wings, and then he returned to her body.
All the living beings on Mount Kuluo could finally breathe in relief when Jungkook left, and the extreme pressure disappeared with him.
The pain that Lisa had experienced also decreased with Jungkook’s disappearance. She touched her chest, and it felt as if everything had returned to normal, and the acute pain that she had experienced was only an illusion.
Was that because of Jungkook?
Lisa fell into deep thoughts. That was the first time she had experienced Jungkook’s strength, and she finally knew the power of the Seven Star Moon Seal in her.
However, that was not the time to ponder about all those things. Lisa stood up and looked at the pair of Phoenixes.
The trouble that the Vermilion Bird had caused had to be resolved. However, after Jungkook’s ‘shock therapy,’ she believed that the pair of Phoenixes would not dare to attack them again.
The two Phoenixes did not dare to attack them. Firstly, the mysterious man was too powerful, and secondly, it was because of their youngling…
When they no longer intended to attack their opponents, the two Phoenixes suddenly transformed into two balls of flames that gradually shrunk as they slowly descended to the ground. The moment they landed, the fire had shrunk into two human forms before a man and woman appeared in front of Lisa.
That man was extremely handsome. He had a headful of fiery-colored long hair that reached the ground and wore a long robe made of flame feathers. His long and narrow eyes carried a trace of arrogance, and there was a flame mark in between his brows. The woman by his side was dressed rather elegantly, and she was also a first-class beauty. Her physique was much smaller than her mate, and that made people feel as if they should protect her in their embrace.
Mythical-level magical beasts could morph into human forms, and the couple was the pair of Phoenixes that resided on Mount Kuluo.
The Vermilion Bird also followed suit as he transformed into his human form. Even though he had shrunk into a smaller form, there was still a petite little creature on top of his head.
“Chu?” The little Phoenix seemed to be curious about the Vermilion Bird’s change in outer appearance. Its mini claws grabbed onto his hair tightly as it squirmed before it exposed its head to look around.
When the pair of Phoenixes saw how their child had acted, they could not stop the embarrassment that crept up to their faces.
“Our child has a playful temperament. I’ll apologize on its behalf.” The Phoenix-man could already guess what had transpired, and he noticed the twitch on the Vermilion Bird’s face.
Most of the mythical-level magical beasts were arrogant and indifferent. Therefore, they would not be pleased to have a young magical beast to suddenly clung to them.
The Vermilion Bird coldly snorted, but he remained silent. His pride had already been severely damaged when the pair of Phoenixes defeated him. He was pretty depressed about it. They would not have been able to do that if it were not for his injury.
Lisa was familiar with the Vermilion Bird’s personality. However, the pair of Phoenixes did not seem unreasonable either. The fight was most probably started when they saw how the Vermilion Bird had thrown their child out of the cave.
It was still the Vermilion Bird’s fault!
“It’s alright. It was all a misunderstanding,” Lisa smiled and said.
The petite female Phoenix glanced at the little Phoenix with the Vermilion Bird again and said in a grieving tone, “We would not have attacked you if it were under normal circumstances. Our egg was about to hatch, and there had been multiple attempts to steal our egg before this. So we have been pretty nervous about it. When we saw this brother threw our child from our nest, we saw you as the enemy. Now that we know this brother is also a mythical beast, I believe that you would not have targeted my youngling.” The Phoenix-woman spoke in a soft and sweet voice; it was very soothing to those who heard it.
Jungkook was right; the Phoenixes were proud and aloof, but they also had a kind temperament. They would not have attacked unless provoked. They had acted the way they did because they had been enraged by those who tried to steal their egg. They could only conceive once every thousand years, and so one could understand the importance of that egg to them. The thieves who had attempted the thievery had crossed their bottom line.
After the Phoenixes’ fury had receded, they could finally talk to the human and the mythical beast in front of them.
The Vermillion Bird was more powerful than either of those Phoenixes. If they had not combined their strength, they would not have been his match.
If one would have such a powerful mythical beast, why would one want a youngling? Even if the Phoenix would advance to a mythical-level beast when it reached its adulthood, it was a long wait for a human. During its growth, the little Phoenix would only be an advanced-level magical beast.
A human can only be contracted to one magical beast in their entire life, and therefore, the human before them had no reason to snatch their child.
Furthermore, that overwhelmingly powerful mysterious man seemed to have a close relation to her.
With the two great assistance by her side, she would not need a young Phoenix.
Once they had thought things through, the Phoenixes were not as hostile as they had been toward Lisa and the Vermilion Bird.
Magical beasts were mostly innocent and naive creatures. There was only right and evil in their world.
“Well, the goal of my trip was not your child. I only wanted the Flame Grass that grew around your nest.” Lisa did not think there was a need to conceal the truth from the Phoenixes. Even though she was not a good person, she had no prejudices toward any magical beasts.
“Flame Grass? There are loads of them in our nest, but the cave has collapsed now. I reckon that we would need to clear the rubbles before we can find any.” The female Phoenix blinked kindly. They were magical beasts, and so they had no use for the Flame Grass. If the grasses did not have any fire element, they would not even use it to build their nest.
It was an olive branch if one could see it.
When they had resolved their misunderstanding, the Phoenixes did not make things difficult for Lisa and the Vermilion Bird. They even helped them to find a few stalks of Flame Grass from the rubbles.
After Lisa obtained the Flame Grass, her mood immediately lifted.
However, at that very moment, there was still a problem.
That was…
“Chu?” The little Phoenix on the Vermilion Bird’s head suddenly noticed the three pairs of eyes that stared at it. It shrunk its neck in ignorance and curled its soft and fluffy body inside the Vermilion Bird’s hair as if to hide from their gazes.
The Phoenix-man coughed and looked awkwardly at Lisa. He had no idea what to do in that situation. It was evident that the little Phoenix felt more comfortable with the Vermillion Bird than its own birth parents.
The Phoenix-woman looked at her child with teary eyes. She reached out as if she wanted to bring the little Phoenix to her side, but it immediately used its claws and wings to hug the Vermilion Bird’s hair tightly. It looked like the little Phoenix did not want to let go of the Vermillion Bird.
“…” The Vermilion Bird was speechless. Could the pair of parents quickly retrieve their unruly child?! Why would it want to stay on its head?
The man sighed and stopped his partner before he looked at Lisa and said, “It seems like our child had taken a liking to this little brother. Humans have been continuously disrupting us recently and now, our nest has collapsed. I’m afraid that we would have to relocate to another safe place to reconstruct our nest. Those humans would likely return here to try and steal our offspring. I have a presumptuous request that would require your help.”
“Please speak your mind.” The Phoenixes had helped her to get the Flame Grass, and she did not like to take things for free. Besides, she decided that they were rather pleasing to the eye.
The Phoenix-man glanced at the little Phoenix on the Vermilion Bird’s head and slowly said, “Before we could find a new home, I would like to request for you to care for our youngling. We would come and fetch it once we have found a safe place for our nest.”