One-Eyed Monster

The Great Mentor wore a rather odd expression. His plans had been temporarily stalled by Kadi, and the shock Kadi had brought him continued to reverberate through his mind. In such moments, he dared not make any hasty decisions.

Kadi’s pride surfaced at that moment. He was relatively unacquainted with the Great Mentor. While familiar with the other monsters of Guru Mountain, the Great Mentor was an unknown entity to him. He had never met the Great Mentor before; he hadn’t had the opportunity to approach the Stone House in the White Swamp. He had only heard that the King of the Monsters of Guru Mountain resided there. Later, while exploring the unknown regions of Guru Mountain with Igor, he finally met this King of the Monsters.

Initially, he couldn’t accept this reality. However, after he and Igor listened to the Great Mentor’s stories, he understood why Kevin had always held the old man in such high esteem.

Now, he stood within a defensive circle with the King of the Monsters of Guru Mountain…

Kadi scratched his head. The peak of his pride and excitement had passed, and now he had to figure out what to do next. He had long forgotten his original task and had no intention of recalling it. His heart was still surging, making him feel as though he held the reins of control over everything here. Consequently, when he now spoke to the King of the Monsters of Guru Mountain, it was with a patronizing air, utterly devoid of the deference a junior should show an elder.

The Great Mentor paid no mind to these things. His heart was in turmoil, his judgment long gone, so he naturally wouldn’t notice such details.

Kadi observed his surroundings. He had never sensed anything peculiar about the defensive circle, and so his pride swelled even further. His patronizing words once again echoed throughout the Great Mentor’s defensive circle.

Only at this moment did the Great Mentor begin to recover his composure. The shock had been significant, but other matters had to proceed. He couldn’t let this minor disruption derail his entire plan. His plan was disrupted, so it was time to recalculate. Although this turn of events was frustrating, the reality of the situation compelled the Great Mentor to reconsider his next move—or, more accurately, what needed to be done.

This was where the Great Mentor differed from the Dark Force. If it had been Wizard Reed of the Dark Force in this situation, he would have been momentarily surprised, then methodically proceeded with his plan to fight Kuyi Tulan to the death. The Dark Force wouldn’t care whether the intruder, Kadi, was innocent, nor would they scruple to drag Kadi into a perilous situation. They prioritized results above all else, disregarding right or wrong. The Great Mentor, however, was not like that. He didn’t want to, and wouldn’t, involve innocent parties. Thus, Kadi’s intrusion had thoroughly unsettled him.

Unfortunately, Kadi was currently consumed by pride and paid no mind to such subtleties. Then again, even if he were calm, he likely wouldn’t consider them, as he had never been fond of overthinking things.

The Great Mentor found the situation particularly thorny. He knew Kuyi Tulan; it was inevitable that Kuyi Tulan would covet a being with powers as unique as Kadi’s. Therefore, the Great Mentor felt that Kuyi Tulan had to be dealt with now, or there would be endless trouble in the future.

But the question remained: what should the Great Mentor do about Kadi?

If Kadi remained here, an impending spell would strip him of all protection, causing him to vanish within the Moonflow Stream. This would be a disaster for Kadi, and deeply unfair, making him an unwitting sacrifice. However, the alternative was to send Kadi out of the defensive circle. While not difficult, the situation outside would be even worse. In the current circumstances, who could prevent Kuyi Tulan from capturing Kadi? Everyone else was immobilized, completely at Kuyi Tulan’s mercy.

Moreover, if Kuyi Tulan captured Kadi, how could the Great Mentor dare to launch such a desperate, all-or-nothing attack? He would be forced to hold back, fearing for the hostage’s safety. Once Kadi became Kuyi Tulan’s captive, a living hostage, the Great Mentor would be crippled by the worry of harming Kadi, no matter what method of attack he considered.

Thus, the Great Mentor found himself in an impossible dilemma. Retreat was unpalatable; Kuyi Tulan, this menacingly growing threat, would undoubtedly endanger their entire world in the future. Yet, to advance filled him with trepidation. Harming a hostage was unthinkable, and a magical being like Kadi could not be allowed to simply vanish here.

”Why is everyone still looking so surprised? It’s making me a bit embarrassed,” Kadi remarked, once again lost in his own delusions.

Kadi’s words snapped the Great Mentor back to the pressing dilemma, yet they also brought a moment of levity. Who would have thought this one-eyed monster possessed such remarkable self-esteem?

The Great Mentor considered telling Kadi that everyone was surprised by his unusual nature, but fearing it might dampen Kadi’s current optimism, he refrained. And so, Kadi remained the only one within the defensive circle keeping up a stream of chatter.

”Sometimes I don’t want things to be this way either, but if it happens to me, what can I do?” Kadi shrugged, implying he hadn’t wished to become this ”hero” but had only stepped into the Great Mentor’s defensive circle out of necessity.

Watching Kadi, the Great Mentor felt a fresh wave of conflict. What could he possibly do to both protect Kadi and eliminate Kuyi Tulan?

Unaware of the Great Mentor’s turmoil, Kadi continued to recount his own experiences, naturally with some exaggeration born from his inflated ego.

”I’ve never understood why things have to be like this. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone could just talk things out nicely? Why all this fighting and killing, trying to ensure one side annihilates the other?” Kadi had harbored this confusion for a long time. He genuinely didn’t understand why the Great Mentor would resort to such a life-or-death gamble.

”And why did you have to restrain Yuga and the others? They didn’t do anything wrong, did they?” he added, occasionally speaking up for the other monsters.

”I just don’t think what you’re doing is appropriate!” Facing the King of the Monsters of Guru Mountain, Kadi showed not a hint of fear, only puzzlement. He felt that this King of Monsters, the Great Mentor, was acting rather foolishly.

If it were him, he certainly wouldn’t do things this way. He would use his own methods to resolve these matters. And Kadi, naturally, had his own methods.

The Great Mentor had initially dismissed Kadi’s words as irrelevant, believing Kadi to be in a somewhat delusional state. However, Kadi’s assertion that ”this isn’t appropriate” piqued his curiosity. What kind of suggestion might Kadi have?