Chapter 70: Fiery Hair And The Alliance

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"If any of you present is an Avatar, I recommend you quickly change your Classes into something not controlled by them. I found out through the memories of those two gods that Avatars slowly have their souls degraded and assimilated by the gods; eventually, you end up becoming a secondary body for them; your mind and memories disappear, replaced by theirs," I explained.

"Eh?!" Francisco panicked. "N-No way! I don't want that to happen to me!"

"T-This is… Are they like parasites or something?!" John looked completely different, sweating all over, his eyes opening wide, and he was panicking. "No… I don't want them to take over my body!"

"…The thing is, there's no way to change Classes once you choose one; Class Advancements only make the Class Stronger," Jackes answered. "We are already trapped in this situation..."

It seemed that amongst everyone here, Jackes, John, and Francisco were God Avatars already. Thankfully, the other half of the group was safe; Aiyan and Yanisse never chose an Avatar Class because they knew it was sketchy, and it seemed that Nicholas was never offered one.

"If true, this is tremendous news," said Nicholas. "It both means that our true enemy was always the gods, and it also means that Bing Xue… is stronger than even them, capable of slaying two!"

"T-That's right…" John muttered, suddenly calming down.

"You truly killed them?" Francisco wondered. "T-Then, does that mean that they aren't as invincible as we thought?"

"I wouldn't say that. None of you could ever defeat one," I said. "I grew as powerful as I am in the world I was sent to eleven years ago, Murim, where time went much quicker. I spent eleven thousand years there, training, cultivating, and becoming stronger while surviving hardship after hardship. I defeated the strongest beings, the Venerables, and made their powers mine before escaping back to Earth."

"That sounds so crazy and hard to believe, but I guess it's all true—your strength and what you've accomplished…" Yanisse said. And that power you've gifted us—does it have something to do with that world, with Murim?"

"Indeed, I've gifted all of you the power to become stronger beyond the system; it's called Ki," I explained. "You will be able to cultivate it within your bodies, forge a physique and a martial core, and through it, rebuild, evolve, and transform your body and souls into stronger beings. This is an "Inner Strength", not something connected to any System, something that will be yours and cannot be taken away."

Everyone looked at their own hands, and the golden essence of Ki flowed out, blossoming like beautiful lotus flowers.

"Of course, I've modified it. The Ki you've received from me is much richer, stronger, and of a higher quality than what a mortal would usually cultivate in Murim," I explained. "It will help you grow stronger much faster… As long as you're willing to become stronger and work hard."

"Bing Xue…" Nicholas said. "You're perhaps the only person who could save our world right now, we are all weaklings compared to the monstrosities out there. And the Gods… We could never hope to defeat any. You… seem to have a plan, could you share it with us? What are you planning to do? It feels like you've been looking at the big picture for a while now."

"…" Yanisse remained silent because she kind of already knew my plan.

"First of all, I shall explain to you the reason we were attacked and what the origin of the world is beyond the gray-colored gates that have sprouted not only here but across several areas of the planet," I said. "Does the name "Grandfather of Time" ring any bells?"

"Grandfather of Time? No…" John said.

"Is it a God of some sort?" Francisco asked.

"I have no idea who it is," said Jackes.

"I know who he is…" Yanisse said. "I was once offered to become his avatar... I declined, and since then, he has been sending otherworldly players to kill me. Well, he stopped a couple of years ago after he realized he couldn't kill me with a small fry."

"So I assume he's some kind of really resentful god, huh?" wondered Nicholas. "Bing Xue, was he the one that…?"

"Indeed, I've checked the news recently; there are roughly five other places around the world where these gates have appeared. Some seem silent, but others have already begun to bring forth strange beings or even floating buildings…" I checked one piece of news showing a giant golden pyramid floating above Egypt. "The Grandfather of Time is a powerful God of the Tower, someone who controls the very fabric of time and can connect to... parallel worlds."

"Parallel… Worlds?" Francisco wondered. "Wait, like our own world but different because of something else that happened?"

"Yes, I am still trying to understand how these powers actually work, but based on this information alone, I can already tell that the Grandfather of Time is an incredibly powerful God that might be as strong as I am... If not stronger," I sighed. "It is hard for me to admit it, but across the endless cosmos, I was bound to find my match or even those that could surpass me in various aspects, or all of them. The Grandfather of Time has a big grudge against me, but it appears that is also against Yanisse and maybe many others on our planet. And now he's sending his full attack on our planet. He has opened portals to Parallel Worlds from our own, which seems much easier and deadlier for him to do than to simply create conventional Gates."

"So those dinosaurs were actually real dinosaurs and not monsters that looked like them?! And the cavemen too…!" Nicholas said. "So there's a parallel Earth out there where dinosaurs never went extinct! But that still doesn't explain something; how were they so strong?"

"Well, this is why I've brought with me a few friends. Remember the cavemen we met that helped us fight the Brutes?" I asked. "Well, before coming here, I allowed them to enter my Inner Realm as a place they could use to rest and prepare for anything else."

It was done before I arrived in New York, when I let Yanisse and Nicholas walk back to New York. The cavemen that helped us all were still confused and were asking for help, but our people were too tired, wounded, and exhausted to offer any.

I managed to convince them after telling them I had slain the Primal King, which they believed the moment I showed them his head, which I had managed to keep while the rest of his body was disintegrated.

Their leader, Fiery Hair, a beautiful primitive woman with an enormously tall, muscular build, fiery red hair, and skin as black as charcoal, seemed to immediately trust me after I had done that, and she made everyone else kneel before me.

"Anyways, here's Fiery Hair; she's an inhabitant of that world and the only one that can talk the best amongst them all, as well as the friendliest. She's honestly a wonderful girl, so please treat her with respect; she has a hard time talking but does her best." I quickly opened a portal as the giantess stepped in, looking around her surroundings, sniffing the air, and then placing herself behind me.

She was a bit afraid of the strange surroundings.

"S-She's really her! I remember she saved our lives back then!" Jackes said.

"I thought we had lost her, but it seems she was saved by Bing Xue; what a relief…" John sighed.

"Hey! You're so big, holy shit!" Aiyana gasped. "I work out every day, but I'll never get that build!"

"S-She's a big woman…" Francisco gulped saliva.

"Uhhh… I greet…" Fairy Hair muttered. "Nervous… Um, what do…?"

"Calm down," I patted her big, rough hands. "Can you sit by my side?"

"Bing bing, I trust…" Fiery Hair nodded. "But confusion! Why here? These people… don't help! Me angry… they don't help!"

She seemed rather pissed that after she and her people helped everyone, they were utterly ignored and left behind, without knowing how to go back and without even being offered some food or anything.

"She's angry you didn't help them," I sighed. "I know you were in a hurry to go back and assess everything, but you should have at least invited them."

"I-I am deeply sorry, Fiery Hair!" Nicholas asked for forgiveness. "The thing is, our people... We were desperate to go see them; we couldn't lend a hand and... Well, this might come out as harsh, but you might have intimidated the population."

"We scary? Not scary!" Fiery Hair showed her sharp fangs. "We good! People good! We fight brutes! We protect… protect children and the elderly… We… we are not bad…"

"Sorry… I know, I understand," Nicholas nodded. "T-This is an incredible moment nonetheless; to talk with people who might be the descendants of long-extinct ancestors of our species, it's an incredible opportunity. My name is Nicholas, and I will make sure to make up for the difficulties we might have caused your kind."

"Hmmm…" Fiery Hair wasn't taking it kindly, though, crossing her very big arms as she sat down by my side.

"Come on now, Fiery Hair; calm down, dear," I gently patted her muscular thighs. "Let's get along, okay? They said they were sorry; let's forgive them for now. If you can't do it for them, do it for me, alright?"

"Hmm," she groaned. "Bing bing, I trust… Confusion. Why this? Area? This is… building? What?"

"This is indeed a building made by our kind," I nodded. "Was there nothing like that back home?"

"No…" Fiery Hair said, suddenly standing up and towering over everyone; even Nicholas stepped back in fear.

She walked towards the windows, looking from above.

"Wooaaah…"

She smiled with her cute face, her big, red eyes opening wide, showing their orange irises.

"She's like a child, somewhat…" John muttered.

"She's actually very mature; she's not a child…" I said. "John, mind your words, okay?"

"S-Sorry!" John apologized.

"Now, Fiery Hair here; she will explain to us the origin of her world," I said. "Right?"

She nodded as she walked back to me and then held my hand. She liked holding my hand as it calmed her down.

"Bing bing hands so soft… I like," she smiled cutely, rubbing her face on them and sniffing them. "Flower smell… relaxing."

She was making me blush a bit, but I let her do as she pleased, if that calmed her down.

"Now I explain!" she nodded again. "Our world… home. Big world. Big creatures. Good and bad people… brutes, evil. Other people, good! Maybe… sometimes fight. But we got… along! To fight the big, evil brute king. But Bing bing… She killed him! She's our savior! We love bing bing!"

"So she loves you, huh?" Yanisse asked with a teasing smile.

"I-I am fairly sure she doesn't mean romantically, haha…" I laughed a little, but I also felt embarrassed.

"Our big world… Ancestors say. Elderly says. That it originated. From star! Big star hit our world… fell from the big black veil! The scaled lords… they didn't die. Nobody died, actually! Big star, didn't kill like others. Big star… big star brought power! Ancient power. Everyone. The world! Power that everyone acquired! Stronger… scarier! Years… millions! Many years! We were born… weak and small people. Work together to survive! We make tribes. We make cultures! We make friends and family! We live together… we die together." Fiery Hair explained.

It seemed that not many understood what she meant, but Nicholas caught on to it.

"If your world is truly a parallel world, does that mean that the meteor that fell… took much longer to do so? When your people were already alive, the dinosaurs were still there. And above all, once the meteor, which you call the star, fell… You say that energy permeated the world? Was this when your kind was alive or before? No wait, if it were before, you would have never known…" Nicholas said.

"Ancestors saw star! They illustrated… in the caves!" Fiery Hair nodded. "We Children of Fire… our hair became red, our eyes red! We became the children of fire!"

Suddenly, flames emerged out of her own hands. It wasn't magic, it was as if her own body could naturally produce flames through biological processes enchanted further through the power of their unique energy source, Primal Power.

"I believe they come from a world where the meteor that ended the dinosaurs never came, and instead, a different one arrived much later in time, one that brought the power they all acquired—I call it Primal power—and it made both the animals and people very strong," I explained. "Fiery Hair here is part of the Children of Fire Tribe; there are other tribes with supernatural abilities too."

"That sounds really interesting…" Yanisse nodded.

"Amazing! I kind of want to visit such a world now!" Aiyana said.

"I-It's really baffling to think about it," Francisco said.

"So they're really just us, other humans…" John said.

"An alliance is a must then, as long as our worlds remain connected," Jackes nodded.

"Fiery Hair, would it be okay for you to ally with our tribe?" I asked her.

"Hmmm… Ritual needed for alliance… Big sis married… hawk eye prince!" said Fiery Hair. "I must… pick someone. To mate with! Then alliance possible."

"Eh?!" Everyone reacted with embarrassment and shock.

"I-is there no other way?" I wondered, trying to make sense of their customs without wanting to offend their culture.

"NO!" Fiery Hair answered angrily. "We must not… violate ancestors' rules! Ancestors protect, ancestors guide!"

"Ah, oh well… Let's say, hypothetically, who would choose among us?" I asked her. "I assume you're the leader, so…"

"Bing bing!" she immediately said, hugging me with her big arms. "Bing bing is the only one! I mate with bing bing, we ally! Bing bing is perfect wife!"

"Ah…"

"No worry! Mates can be any… any sex!" she smiled. "We adopt children… later!"

"I-Is that so? You're all always open-minded…" I giggled nervously.

"W-Wait a second, you can't just force her to become your wife out of nowhere!" Yanisse complained.

"Yeah, that's right!" Aiyana said. "Bing Xue, you surely don't want to, right? Don't just go along with her whims…"

"Hmm, I'll have to consider it…" I sighed. "Honestly, I find her very cute and beautiful, but I want to know her more. Perhaps?" I gently patted Fiery Hair's big hands. "Is that okay with you?"

Fiery Hair nodded happily. "Yes! Yes! We hunt together and eat together! We know each other… then love is born!"

The way she talked was, honestly, very cute.

"Hahah, okay, fine… Sure," I shrugged. "But don't think I am easy, okay? I already have two mates."

"No matter!" she said. "Thank you for accepting… my feelings, bing bing!" she suddenly hugged me and tried to kiss my face.

I ended up accepting a kiss from her on my cheek, as she caressed my hair.

She was very affectionate and smelled kind of like charcoal.

"A-Anyways! Now that the alliance is in progress, I guess we should move on to the next subject," I muttered, trying to keep my composure.

Everyone quickly went back to the main topic, trying very hard to ignore the giantess in love.

"Ahem!" I straightened my face. "I will recreate Murim's Heavenly Court and bring order and justice to this world and all worlds in the Tower."

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