Chapter 84: He wants you

After a long period of time, the whale opened its mouth and sunlight flooded the inside, making Riven wince in pain and cover his eyes. But like a thirsty man with water, his eyes turned towards the sun even as they watered.

Just how long was he in there?

He stood up shakily. Fortunately, the whale was moving much slower. He was able to crawl his way to the front, where the sharp fangs stood like small trees.

Malum once again showed himself upside down, but this time two of his bandages snapped down and wrapped around Riven. “You’re up!”

Before Riven could utter another word, he was lifted up straight into the air outside and dropped at the head of the undead monster whale.

Riven took a deep breath. He had a lot to say, and he would use up all the remaining energy in his thin body to say it if he had to. But just then, his gaze turned down to their surroundings.

They weren’t flying as high up as he thought. A city spread below him.

But unlike the glorious city he saw back when Kivara was traveling with him, this one was in ruins. Tall towers lay broken, buildings lay shattered, and here and there were large holes, craters that would swallow the whole of the Green Clouds Sect without any issues.

Large ditches decorated everywhere, overturned buildings, and between them all, forest had begun to reclaim the land. And among them all were the bones, white against the background. Hundreds of thousands of them, picked clean and just left discarded like broken toys.

And the city was big. Even though Riven was standing so high up, he couldn’t see the end in all directions.

Riven became sad immediately. It was so beautiful and sad. “What is this place?”

Malum stared at the ground in curiosity, as if it was the first time he was seeing it. “This is a battlefield between the Skull Lords. After the King fell, each wanted to become the next King. Even my master, more so him. He was always the King’s favorite.

And the fastest way then was to be in control of the Capital. This wasn’t just the capital of the King. It was the capital of the West, the capital for all necromancers. It was a terrible fight. A lot of life was lost.”

“And in the end?” Riven asked.

Malum snorted. “In the end, my master gained control of it. But it was already too late. This place had long been destroyed, leaving behind nothing. Well, there were the buildings, but even the wealth perished along with it.

Do you know, Riven, there are five regions ruled by five different Skull Lords? But did you know the total number of the Skull Lords?”

Riven shook his head. “I don’t. Tell me.”

“There are a total of eight Skull Lords. Five of them rule the five regions of the Old West.”

“And the remaining three?”

“One has a sect in the Unified West. One is an elusive bastard that wanders around, and the last is the Faceless Lord, my master. He’s the ruler here. He rules the ruins of the old capital. Well, that’s what people say, but my master just mostly wanders around when he’s not sleeping.”

But even with all that, Riven looked at the city again with new eyes. He was directly flying above the territory of a Skull Lord. Although he didn’t know how strong they were, he saw just how strong Malum was, and that was enough.

Riven opened his mouth, but his stomach growled again. He closed his mouth and tried again. “I’m hungry.”

“I can see that,” Malum said dryly. He reached into his head and brought out a coffin. He opened it, and when he brought out his hand, it was a live chicken that came out, its legs tied by a rope.

Riven blinked at him several times, but Malum just shrugged.

“They’re not normal chickens. See that beak? It can tear through iron. Why are you looking at me like that? This is not the first time I’ve had to entertain living humans. I have to be ready for all things.”

After saying that, he brought out pots and other instruments, even fire and a cooking stand with a bucket of water. Then, with quick efficiency, he butchered the chicken and began to cook it.

Riven’s mouth watered all through, and his eyes were on the pot. Nothing Malum said entered his head until the meat was done and he ate it, hot and all.

“You really were hungry,” Malum said after he was done eating.

Riven glared at him. “You locked me in that place for days! Why would you do something like that?”

Malum shrugged. “I just didn’t want you whining in my ears, and I kept you from falling off. Why are you glaring at me? Do you know the distance we crossed and how fast this thing was moving?”

Riven took several deep breaths and reminded himself that there was nothing he could do to Malum right then. He was simply too strong for him. But he put the incident to the side of his mind. A day would come.

Riven sat in silence for a while and forgot everything, only feeling what it felt like to have a full stomach.

But Malum shattered it.

“We have to talk, Riven.”

He tensed because he knew what was about to happen. “What is it?”

“My master, the Faceless Lord, one of the Skull Lords, wants to take you as a disciple.”

“What?” Riven stared at him without blinking. He’d been thinking of a lot of things and how he was going to react, but what Malum said was the absolute word of surprise that stunned him to the core. Him? A disciple? To a Skull Lord?

It hit him like a slap to the face.

Riven grimaced because he didn’t even know how to act. What was he supposed to say to something like that? Something that he never thought could happen?

He shook his head. “I don’t know what that means.”

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