"D-did you say that you were called... the great devourer?" The orc mumbled from afar on hearing Rhaegor speak. His voice was trembling as if fear had seeped deep within his bones. "Surely not... that terrifying name is only of legend in this world."
Rhaegor turned, a smug smirk on his face.
"Oh? The wretched freak speaks. I guess you orcs have evolved since the last time I met you." He raised an eyebrow as he scanned the orc up and down, "Actually... you have evolved a lot. Orcs’ back in the day weren’t so damn... muscular."
"My name! It’s..." Midas shouted from behind before pausing. He alerted Rhaegor.
Before even turning, however, Rhaegor’s eyes slowly widened and glistened with hints of awe and surprise.
"I know that name." He said in a low tone before turning.
"I haven’t even said it yet, though..." Midas quickly replied.
Rhaegor spoke: "Midas Kyrios Stars..."
...
"You can read minds... I guess it’s not a surprise you already know my name." Midas said.
"No... I’ve known that name, Kyrios Stars, for a while."
"Huh? What do you mean when you say, a while?"
"..." No reply came from Rhaegor.
He now turned, facing Midas directly. He clenched his jaw.
Out of nowhere, the orc behind Rhaegor exploded in a blast of blood that splattered across all twelve pillars.
"Hmm... interesting," Rhaegor said, turning and walking away toward a random direction.
He reached into the air, picking an apple from seemingly nothing before taking a bite.
He began mumbling to himself like a crackhead: "What should I do now? Looking at the sun, it seems a few years have definitely passed... okay, maybe a bit more than a few. Well, I could go there... but nah, last time I... yeah, they definitely wouldn’t let me in. Uh... oh, I know! That place would be fun! Eh... but then again, I was forbidden from there, remember? Tsk..."
He continued walking as he muttered to himself.
Midas just sat there in sheer shock for a moment.
’The orc... exploded.’ He mused, at a loss. He slowly turned to face Rhaegor’s back.
’That guy... was it only because he clenched his fucking jaw? And he knows my name... this new name I have. Why? How? How is he even here? What the hell happened? And his titles... the dude seems like a god and a demon at the same time. And he said he would kill me... I fucking believe it. I’d better stay clear of him... he seems to already be thinking of leaving, though. Good... It’s good that he leaves. The sooner the better, in fact. I am nowhere near ready in my journey to face any brute like him... hell no... fuck that!’
Out of nowhere, Rhaegor stopped walking.
Midas’ eyes flew wide open, ’Shit! Did he hear me call him a brute in my head!? I’m screwed if that’s the case!’
After a few seconds of absolute terror for Midas, Rhaegor muttered under his breath:
"Oh... that’s it! I’ve got it! That’s the perfect place to go..." He began walking again.
Midas breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "Phew!" He said, chuckling, "Saved." He whispered before slowly pushing himself up to his feet.
He swung his right hand up and down, getting blood to flow back within and rejuvenate it.
His hand felt like a stone had sat on it for an hour. It felt like it was asleep, buzzing as though he had hit his funny bone.
As his arm’s function slowly began to return, he walked over to the corpse of the orc... or what was left of the work, one should say...
Midas walked across the wide pool of blood, finally arriving at the center of the ruins.
"He died right there... instantly." He glanced in the direction of where Rhaegor had gone. "So beings like him also exist in this world..." He said.
Just then, Midas felt a tug at his pant leg near his calf.
He glanced, noticing the blood-stained hand of a goblin grasping for his pants.
"P-please... help me." Gool managed to say in a low, weary tone.
"Huh?" Midas immediately retorted, turning around and facing the goblin directly. "Why the hell should I help you?" He lowered his eyelids with a condescending look, "You tried to kill me only seconds ago."
"K-kill? Hmhm..." Gool chuckled, and a smile appeared on his face, albeit a weak and soft one. "No... we had been tasked with capturing you."
"Capturing me? What for?" Midas asked, Gool’s words having caught his interest.
Gool smiled harder, "W-well..." He wheezed, "For that... you will have to help me." His voice grew even weaker.
He closed his eyes while still smiling.
"Oh? Making demands now, huh? Listen, you... goblin! If I didn’t have a heart, you wouldn’t even be speaking right now. Even if you have some useful information for me, who’s to say I can trust you? Hell, you are trying to make a deal with me even in this state! Don’t you have any morals?"
The goblin paused for a long time, "I’m... not making deals or demands. The reason I can’t tell you before you help me is that... I... don’t have the strength left to do so, you see..." After saying this, Gool’s head nodded down like a bobblehead, and he passed out again.
"H-huh?" Midas said into the silence.
He paused.
"Uh."
He waited.
"Wait... you can’t just. Well, that’s not fair! You can’t just pass out and expect me to help you!" Midas was pissed off by this, but he decided to help in the end.
He sighed, picking the goblin up and throwing him over his shoulders.
"Fine... but only to interrogate you, just as you were going to interrogate me."
Midas began making his way home. He knew that the goblins had gone east, as he had seen these pillars in the eastward direction earlier in the day.
That time that he was being carried by the Giant Mosquito, he had marked the information and location of the ruins in his mind.
Using the sun as a compass, Midas quickly made his way through the jungle.