Black Rat

"It wasn't me who killed them but someone else," Leon said.

"Is that other person you mean the snake woman?" asked Arnold with narrowed eyes.

"Uncle Arnold, do you know that creature?" I asked.

"She is the creature that killed my wife and child," said Arnold with an angry look.

Leon showed surprise at what Arnold said, he then explained to us about the creature. "Well, her name is Zwein, she is one of the Master Black Rat main subordinates, she can transform into a human, half beast, and a giant snake. She was one of those Half Beast people who mastered transformation completely."

"Wait, Black Rat do you mean it's the Black Rat from the Temple of Shadow?" Clarissa asked in surprise.

"Hey, do you know him? But I heard he's not a member of the Temple of Shadow anymore."

"What?! But how is that possible?" Clarissa exclaimed, surprised to hear Leon's statement.

"Can you tell us what really happened at Verra mountain from the beginning? There's a lot we want to know about that." Honestly, this waw the most important question, whether for me, Arnold or Clarissa. What was really hidden behind the tragedy that has happened on the Verra mountain.

Leon seemed to think for a moment, he then nodded and started talking. "It all started when an incident occurred in Roco village, a man suddenly experienced strange changes in his body. Temple of Shadow then investigated the case. they were found a plant with the name Rainbow Fletin. It is a plant that can trigger the animal instinct on the half-beast race and its descendants."

It was Clarissa's father, as expected, the case related to a strange change at Verra mountain. I glanced briefly at Clarissa, she seemed to be listening to Leon's story carefully.

"Wait, who is that? What exactly happened at Roco Village?" Arnold asked as he had never heard of the case that Leon was talking about in his village.

"Shut up uncle, I'll explain that later. For now let's listen to Leon's story," Clarissa said. Arnold immediately understood that Clarissa knew something about Leon's story.

Leon then continued his story, "The Temple of Shadow was supposed to destroy the plant but Mr. Black Rat had other ideas, he saved some plants and set up a hidden garden on Verra mount. For several months he did two things, first took care of the plants. Second, look for information about the descendants of the half beast through the DNA obtained from the initial case."

"Is the reason why the Black Rat isn't a member of the Temple of Shadow anymore because the Temple of Shadow found out what the Black Rat was doing and got him out?" I asked.

Leon nodded, "Temple of Shadow kick out Master Black Rat, however, Master Black Rat continued his action, I don't know the details of this part but it is said that there is a mysterious group that supports Master Black Rat. In the following years, Master Black Rat started his act, he brought one by one the descendants of the half beasts that he found to Verra mount. On the mount Master Black Rat built a barrier that protected an area of ​​1 km."

"What do you mean by bringing the descendants of the half beasts one by one? If there were the number of people who returned was not the same as the number of people who climb, that would certainly suspicious. Besides it, could you explain what a barrier is?"

I understand that Uncle Arnold had many questions on his mind. For this one, I'm also curious. How did the Black Rat smuggle the half beasts one by one.

Leon looked at the three of us in astonishment, "For an Exor creating small illusions is not a problem, disguising a team of 12 people into 9 people isn't that difficult. Moreover, Mr. Black Rat took them one by one.

Barrier what I mean is a kind of magical protective barrier that has an illusory effect on any ordinary person who approaches it, not only that but a barrier also has a disorienting effect so that it can make people feel like they are walking in a straight line even if they are actually circling around the area."

Clarissa nodded and said, "So, it's that thing called a barrier that often misleads climbers."

However, Leon immediately refuted, "The location is a bit far from the main route, there shouldn't be many people who get lost because of the barrier."

I have one important question, "Black Rat carried out his plan from 10 years ago, for 4 years Verra mount was still running as usual. What happened 6 years ago until now, I've heard that the Church of Salvation has investigated this place, why didn't they take any action?"

Leon smiled, he asked, "Have you ever wondered why this country looks peaceful despite many strange things and something like Exor World and supranatural things is close to people's lives?"

That's right, if Exor World was real and the danger was great, why have there never been cases of Exor fighting within the city, or damage that resulted in thousands of lives being lost. Why do society seem so peaceful? I understand that on a small scale, people's memories might be manipulated but if there was an incident that caused a national stir, it couldn't be that the memories of so many people could be manipulated just like that.

"I won't go into too much detail, simply, Churches and Governments will try to solve the problem when it's small, however, if the problem had grown so big that it threatens society, they will close their eye as long as the problem was not making impact to the society directly.

If the Church of Salvation tried to interfere Master Black Rat and his group, the first to suffer would be Siera City. There will be many casualties. Especially with the possibility of exposing Exor World problems to the public. It's basically impossible for the Salvation Church to take such a dangerous step unless they have the confidence to fix things in an instant."

Thinking back on it, Leon's words made sense. Although I slightly disagree with the thought of allowing the problem to just grow on the shadow, but compared to the safety of the masses, that option was indeed a better one.

Leon then continued to narrate, "The reason why 6 years ago until now, Verra Hill caused so many victims was because Master Black Rat was unable to completely control his subordinates. There are people who try to run away, there are people who are passionate about killing humans, there are also people who are bored and decide to play around. I was one of the example. I'm trying to run from this mount."

"What caused the Black Rats to have trouble controlling them, in the previous 4 years, the Black Rats should have controlled the group of half beasts well, therefore there were nothing happened on this mount," Arnold expressed his curiosity. I could guess what makes it difficult for Black Rat to control his subordinates.

"Strength, I think the strength of the half beasts that the Black Rat has gathered has increased drastically." It wasn't Leon who answered, it was me.

Leon who heard my words immediately nodded, "That's right."