Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 241 The Bridge

"What… what is going on!?"

Prince Abu woke up, only to see Rhys looking down on him with a smile on his face. He remembered being dragged by Edissa, but not much after that. He knew he was thrown into the Forbidden Land, but why does it feel like he was just back inside the castle?

He had always been told by his teachers and by the books he had read that the humans are just cattle, nothing really even noteworthy to add to them. And so what is this?

What was this castle he currently finds himself in?

"Where… where did you take me!?"

"The Surface," Rhys slightly crouched so that his eyes would be on the same level as Prince Abu, who can't seem to stand on his four legs.

"This… why did you bring me to your castle!? What do you plan to do with me!?"

"Sir, this is a prison," Rhys squinted his eyes.

"Even now, you lie!" Prince Abu finally garnered the strength to stand up and started touching the walls of the prison hallway, "Such… such exquisite texture and design. How can this be just a prison!? I can hear it too, the walls are thick!"

"...What's with that dude? What's he saying?" Dominique and even Talia could not help but just look at Prince Abu like he was insane, "I think this hot tigress might have knocked him out too hard."

Edissa, who had brought Prince Dubhai and the other cenleons, glared at Dominique as she was sure she was talking about her again.

"Come on," Prince Abu couldn't really spend more time adoring the walls as Rhys began pulling him away; his long claws, just embedding through the walls as he tried his best to hold on.

"Im…Impressive!" Prince Abu did not seem to care about Rhys for long as he just once again adored the wall,

"Even… even the way it breaks is so beautiful! Such… such masonry, such good!"

"..." Rhys glanced at Prince Abu. He thought he was the more normal prince, but it turns out he is just as weird as his brother — he was just passionate about something else. But if he was fascinated with just this…

…then it was the right decision to bring him along.

He obviously has more authority than his brother, and would probably be even more pivotal in the coming days.

"I am telling you this now, Your Majesty," Rhys then pulled Prince Abu in front of him, looking him in the eyes with his tone somewhat cold, "You are about to meet civilians, I would advise you to be on your best behavior. Because if not, you will die."

"Then just kill me. Do you think I would prostrate myself from your threats?" Prince Abu still held the pride of a monarch as he returned Rhys's glare.

"I am not threatening you, I am warning you," Rhys shook his head, "If you harm any of them, the soldiers of my world will kill you without any hesitation. And also, don't be too shocked with what you are about to see."

"Stop playing mind games with me," Prince Abu scoffed as he glanced back and looked at the door leading to the airstrip, "It is obvious that what I saw back then is only an illusion — why would everything be flooded?"

"Flooded… you mean the sky?" Rhys squinted his eyes.

"The what?" Prince Abu hissed, "It is—"

And before Prince Abu could finish his words, Rhys suddenly pushed him through the door. Prince Abu quickly held onto the door as soon as he saw the sky again, instinctively thinking that he might drown. But after a few seconds, he calmed himself down and let go.

"Tricks, as expected of a sorcerer. What else will you—" And once again, Prince Abu was not able to finish his words as he noticed several humans staring at him, "What are all of you—"

Bright flashes of light interrupted Prince Abu's words as the reporters started taking photos of him. He hissed and roared, and yet none of them cared; he was about to rush toward the reporters, but Rhys grabbed him by the tail and lightly yanked him back.

"Everyone," Rhys then raised his palm, "Please remove your flashes. His kind is not used to it."

"R…right."

"Stupid, why would you use your flash!?"

And with Rhys's words, everyone turned off their flash, leaving only the shutter of their cameras to click in the air as they took hundreds of photos of Prince Abu.

"What is this… what are they doing to me!?" Prince Abu showed his fangs — humans were meant to be food, and yet right now, it almost seemed as if they were the predators and he was the prey as they all looked at him like he was some sort of… meal, "What are they holding!?"

"Do you see those people standing there?" Rhys completely ignored Prince Abu's anxiety and pointed at the soldiers who had their fingers ready to pull the trigger on their high-caliber rifles, "They are the ones that are going to kill you if you make a mistake, so calm down."

"They're all holding the same thing!" Prince Abu's tail started rising up.

"No, those tall people are holding weapons," Rhys then let out a small sigh as he asked one of the reporters for their video camera, "This one is a tool used to… repeat a memory. Like a painting but it does so instantly."

"...You should have just said a heliograph," Prince Abu scoffed.

"Right…" Rhys was once again surprised that the cenleons actually know what a camera is, "...But not quite, heliographs are old. This one is capable of also recording… movement."

"What are you even—Sorcery! Why am I in there!?" And as soon as Rhys saw a recording of Prince Abu to himself, Prince Abu once again bore his fangs and then completely clawed that video camera.

"N… No!" The reporter Rhys borrowed the camera from could not help but just scream there and then, "That… that's worth thousands of dollars!"

"You'll be compensated by the Mayor Hayden," Rhys let out a small sigh as he both gestured to Prince Abu and the reporter to calm down, "And also, let me all introduce you to Prince Abu — I hope that everyone would give him the respect he deserves, he's royalty."

"Woah."

And once again, the people started taking photos of Prince Abu, making him uncomfortable.

"!!!" And once again, Prince Abu then suddenly lowered his entire body as he heard a loud ringing echoing above him. He looked up, only to see a helicopter flying from above, "Is… is that a gryphon!? A dragon!? What is it!?"

"It's a tool we use so we can fly," Rhys quickly explained, "So… are you going to relax anytime soon?"

"A… tool to fly?" Prince Abu whispered to himself. And after a few seconds, he looked Rhys in the eyes; his anxiety and confusion with all that was happening around him, now completely gone,

"If you promise to share with me your tools and teach my people how to make them, I will fully cooperate with anything you want… Rhys," Prince Abu said as he finally stood straight with his four legs.

"That is exactly why I brought you here, Your Majesty," Rhys bowed his head before reaching out his hand toward Prince Abu, "Shake my hand and then smile at the cam—at the heliographs."

"..." Prince Abu looked at Rhys's hand for a few seconds before doing as he said and shaking it, "You still killed my people."

"I defended myself," Rhys smiled as he pulled Prince Abu closer to him; the two of them, smiling at the cameras, "And don't let me regret not letting you join them in their death, Your Majesty — after all, your brother was initially my first choice."

"So…" Prince Abu smiled, "...What are you, the leader of these people?"

"Not at all. I'm a criminal," Rhys looked at Prince Abu.

"And now apparently the most important figure of your people… and mine," Prince Abu scoffed.

"You're not calling me a sorcerer anymore?"

"I'm not a fool, human," Prince Abu shook his head, "I know a politician when I see one. You—"

"So many humans!"

And before Prince Abu could finish his words, Prince Dubhai and his cohorts stepped out of the building and quickly started approaching the reporters, causing all of them to back away while still managing to professionally take photos of them.

"Look at them! All well dressed in all sizes and shapes! That one has black skin and doesn't have hair!"

"Do you think we can keep some of them!? Can they also talk to us!?"

"Everyone, meet Prince Abu's younger brother, Prince Dubhai," Rhys then let out a small but very deep sigh as he introduced Prince Abu, "He is a researcher and scientist in his culture — and the two of them have expressed strong feelings of business with us...

...and with the Former Mayor of Old York's support, perhaps a chance to make both our worlds smaller."

Just like that, Rhys sealed Joseph Hayden's road to being the next president of the country.

And just like that, Rhys placed himself right in the very center of everything — the only bridge of contact between two thriving species. No.

He was the only bridge between the entire people of the Surface and the Underworld.