Catripple had finally presented herself properly, as she should have the moment she met the others. Now she was finally able to do it without any more problems. "As I've told you, I come from Ardoris… and we need your help." Suddenly, her expression changed; the big smile slowly turned into a serious look.
"You can tell us what happened, we will do everything we can to help you!" said Lily, as she offered her help to Catripple.
The woman in front of her nodded her head and slowly touched one of the feathers behind her back. "You see… yesterday I wasn't able to tell you everything, but Karyuz has actually fallen." Hearing this, everyone else gasped in surprise, unable to believe what they were listening to.
"But only because the name has changed, right?" asked Liro, standing next to Catripple while his heart beat faster. He knew that wasn't it, but he still wanted to be sure.
Catripple shook her head. "No, I mean literally. Karyuz was actually destroyed over 300 years ago. Right now, a new city has been created, which is Ardoris, as I've told you." Hearing this, everyone started to shake, some in fear, like Liro and Lily, and others out of curiosity, like Darian and Bianca. Vane was the only one shaking in excitement.
"Woah, so what happened? A group inside the city took power with a big takeover?" asked Vane as he leaned his fists together. Before, he was feeling extremely tired, but hearing this, he was able to fully wake up.
"Not inside the city… but actually someone outside the city completely destroyed it," answered Catripple.
'Someone?' thought Darian, as he felt that something was wrong. "Wait, you said someone, right? So only on—" While Darian was asking, Catripple nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, he was only one." Hearing this, everyone felt more scared.
"Could it have been Kyujin?" asked Bianca from behind. Catripple looked at her confused, not knowing anyone by that name.
"No, it can't be a Krukin. The city was built in the des—" Liro started speaking, but Catripple suddenly interrupted him. "No, it was actually a Krukin who conquered the city." Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
"A Krukin? All by himself!" shouted Vane as he took a step forward, both in excitement and in fear.
"I'm sure that because it is one of the four main cities, it must not have been small…" Thinking about this, even Bianca began to shake, thinking about what powerful creature might have done it.
"But it was built in the desert, no? It shouldn't be possible for a Krukin to destroy it without any problem," said Liro as he tried to find a solution. The only thought in his mind was Kyujin.
"Do you know something about this Krukin?" Darian asked Catripple. "Everyone in Ardoris knows about him; he's the one ruling over everyone," answered Catripple. It felt like Lily had noticed something.
"Don't you find it strange? The others on the planet always referred to Kyujin as a 'she,' and now Catripple is calling this Krukin a 'him,'" pointed out Lily. Everyone else hadn't noticed it, hearing her suggestion made everyone feel afraid.
"Wait, but how tall is this Krukin? Like a mountain? Does he go even higher than the clouds?" asked Darian as he moved his hand up, trying to give Catripple an impression of how high it might be, even if he would never be able to reach Kyujin's true height.
Catripple, hearing what Darian was saying, remained only more confused. "No? He's just a bit taller than a human." Hearing this, everyone was shocked. It felt like Catripple was saying something simple, while for the others, it was creating a huge weight over their bodies, making the air feel heavier.
"But is he like a normal Krukin?" asked Liro. Catripple didn't understand what he meant. "I don't get what you mean by 'normal Krukin'… I've just seen him my entire life. I know that some other Krukins exist, but none of us has ever seen them." Hearing this, the others remembered when Bianca explained her first encounter with Catripple and how she had reacted.
"He has always kept us locked in the town…" As Catripple said this, she slowly removed her hand from her wings and started to shake. In her mind was the scene when she tried to escape from the city, the same spear that was used to threaten her was shot at extreme speed toward her wings. The moment the spear passed through her wings, a literal hole was created, and Catripple started to bleed throughout her whole body.
Now, at the thought of this, her body started to shake. Bianca, worried that she might collapse again, positioned one hand over her shoulder. "Calm down; everything is alright now. We're here," she said in a reassuring tone in Catripple's ear. Hearing this, she started to breathe heavily.
"I know… thank you," she said, feeling a bit sad, though not as much as before.
"By the way, I feel like I've gathered enough information… just tell me one thing," said Bianca to Catripple, who moved her head until her eyes met Bianca's.
"Could that Krukin speak?" asked Bianca with a serious tone. Catripple's face did not look serious, as if Bianca had asked something obvious. "Yeah? Can't all Krukins speak?" Hearing this, Bianca's heart began to beat faster.
"A Black Defender…" whispered Liro from behind.
"He's probably the ninth one…" murmured Darian.
Bianca immediately turned away. "I've received enough information. I'll return to Skar-Zhul. You go and help her; I'll immediately call for help. It might be something really big for us," said Bianca. The others, in fear, nodded their heads.
"Oh, and can you go to Therya too? Let them know that we will not return for a bit," said Darian. Bianca gave a thumb up. "It will be done. Well, I'll see you later, guys…" Suddenly, Bianca turned more serious. "I don't know anything about the last Black Defender… you'll have to do it by yourself," she said in a scary tone. Darian and Vane, without any fear, answered together.
"Don't worry, we've got our ways," said Darian as he slowly petted Snowy on his shoulder. "We've already fought against mysterious Krukins… even if this is the first one who has completely destroyed a city." Vane slowly closed his fists together, no longer in fear but in excitement.
"We've already fought against Poisudonom when we had never heard anything about him, we will be alright," said Liro as he finally walked closer to Darian and the others.
"I have faith in you… still, I'll return with allies." With that, Bianca waved one last time at the others and returned toward Skar-Zhul to deliver the news.
"Well, we should not lose any time. I'll lead the way!" said Catripple, as she had already headed forward. The others behind her nodded their heads and followed.
"I've heard everything… good luck, Master Darian." Rusty suddenly stopped the group; he was nearby and happened to hear everything. "Don't worry, Rusty; we will return without any problem." Darian hugged Rusty one last time before he headed outside the base too.
Darian, walking nearby Liro, slowly rubbed his fist against his head, making his hair messy. "I'm happy to see you here, friend," said Darian with a proud voice. Liro slowly adjusted his hair and smirked. "I'll always follow you, Biologist," said Liro as he gave a small punch to Darian's shoulder. Darian laughed softly.
"Thank you, Liro," said Darian as he smiled warmly. Liro, next to him, did the same.
Vane had started to speak with Catripple the moment Darian and Liro finished talking to each other. "By the way… how strong is this Krukin that he was able to destroy an entire city by himself?" asked Vane as he started to walk next to Catripple. "Yeah, I wondered that too… and isn't the city in the desert? It shouldn't be possible for a Krukin to walk in the desert," she pointed out.
"I've heard that Krukins can't normally walk in the desert, but he is different. From the stories I've heard, even if it was night, he was walking in the desert without any problem and… well, I've told you the rest. He simply destroyed everything," said Catripple.
"But like… didn't Karyuz have guards? Didn't it have an Altered group?" asked Vane, confused. As he asked this, Darian and Liro reached the group too. "Yeah, I was wondering that too. From how you said it, it sounded almost easy for the Krukin to destroy the city," added Liro. Darian, next to him, nodded his head.
"I don't know much; what I know is that it really was him." Hearing this, the others started to feel scared, but they realized it was too late to actually turn back.
"Maybe the city was big like Yalemba?" whispered Lily, confused, trying to find an explanation for why this Krukin had been able to destroy a city so easily.
"It can't be possible… I've already read about Karyuz in a book from about 400 years ago. It said it had around 30,000 people; it was the same size as Therya," pointed out Liro.
"Sadly, I don't know much about this. I can just tell you… that he is really strong, probably the strongest one. It doesn't matter how many people you throw against him… he always comes out as the winner." Catripple began to remember when she was in a group of eleven people, all Altereds, each with their own power. All of them were rushing toward the Krukin, but the fight was over in less than 30 seconds. The Krukin decided to spare some, Catripple was one of the luckiest to survive.
The moment she felt her body about to shake again, Catripple breathed heavily, calming herself down. "What? Eleven people all by himself?" shouted Vane, excited, realizing that eleven people were more than enough for a level 3 Krukin, and definitely for a Black Defender too.
"I couldn't even see his movements… but I'm sure of something: he didn't make any useless movements. It was as if he was taking every single step in a perfect way. It felt like he had already controlled every single movement," said Catripple. Hearing that, Vane slowly stopped shaking in excitement and walked slower.
"By the way… you haven't told us his name yet," pointed out Darian, as he wanted to write about him in his diary.
"Oh right, he's called Ashikunz." Hearing these words, Darian took his diary and began to write about this Krukin.
"Can you tell me something more about him?" asked Darian with the diary in his hand. The moment Catripple began speaking, Darian started to write about Ashikunz:
'Ashikunz: I can't believe we finally found the last of the 9 Black Defenders, and how we learned about him makes my body shake in fear. He is currently the leader of Ardoris (the old Karyuz) and is a sort of tyrant. Ardoris is closed because of this; in fact, the people can't come out anymore and are obliged to remain there suffering. We know that the other Black Defenders are searching for him too. Bianca has told us that he stole something from them; we can't understand what it might be.
Catripple told us that Ashikunz always wears armor; in fact, no human in the city has ever been able to see what's under his armor. Catripple knows that a human is helping him, even if she doesn't know anything about him. Ashikunz always goes around with his spear; Catripple told us that no matter where you find him, he will always have his spear.
Ashikunz is a really skilled warrior. Even if you throw more than ten warriors at him, he will be able to kill all of them without the slightest effort. We're scared to fight against him, but we can't leave poor people like this, and we believe that Ashikunz is more important than we realize.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE – HE CAN SURVIVE THE HEAT IN THE DESERT. WE DON'T KNOW HOW… BUT ATTENTION!!'
Darian spent the whole day writing in his diary, and when it was finally night, the group still hadn't reached anything important. They had found some old ruins and decided to sleep there.
All of them were currently inside the same small house, talking together about this creature.