Evolution begins with an ant colony

Chapter 225 Ruler of the Forest: Zenith's Fragmented †Authority†

Leandor gazed around at several other burning buildings that were closer than the one burning in rainbow flames. He then crouched down slightly, his reddish mana surged around his body, making his lion mane rise upwards. He breathed in and then breathed out.

Suddenly, he propelled himself forward, creating a massive crater where he stood. He zoomed through his tribe at high speeds, leaving afterimages in his wake. He arrived at one of the regularly burning buildings.

Just as he was about to begin the process of putting out the fire, a beast folk dog woman approached him with tears in her eyes as she pleaded, "My lord, please save them. My husband and our daughter, they are both trapped inside."

Leandor then used his left hand to slightly move her sideways as he said, "Stand back; you will be meeting with them soon enough." He then also added, "All of you, fetching water, also clear the area."

Listening to his instructions, all the other beast folk gave way for their lord.

"This will be my first time using it on fire," Leandor mused as he gazed at the intense flames before him. He then mumbled, "Roar of Zenith, first form, Ruler of the Forest." He let out a massive roar directed at the burning building, red streaks of mana could be seen as the roar echoed.

But this roar wasn't just any ordinary roar; it was a special art taught by the goddess of all beasts, Zenith. To the tribe leaders of the split breast folk clan. She had found a way to teach her †Authority† among her people. The †Authority† was divided into three sections, each section was divided into six forms.

This was done because mortals had no way to actually wield the full might of an †Authority† in its entirety, and this was a feat only she, as a divine being, had ever achieved. The roar section was handed to the lion folk of the beast folk clan.

The roar directed at the building seemed and sounded very powerful, but it didn't seem to damage the building in any way. Instead, only the flames started to shrink until they all went out. It seemed as though Leandor's roar had forced the flames to be extinguished.

Once the flames were out, a dog beast folk and his daughter emerged from the building, their fur took on a blackish hue, most likely due to the smoke that was in the building. They also looked weak and were gasping for air.

The woman beast folk was so happy to see her daughter and husband then she ran over to give them a loving hug as tears streamed down her cheeks. She then redirected her gaze at Leandor and managed a smile as she said, "My lord, thank you." All the beast folk in the area were amazed by their lord and couldn't help but cheer for him.

Leandor then mumbled, "That's one down," turning his gaze slightly in the direction of the other flames as he added, "and several more to go."

Without giving the dog beast folk woman a response, Leandor dashed off, to go to put out the remaining fires.

Leandor moved with a massive amount of force that created huge gusts of wind as he moved. A massive crater was formed where he initially stood. Red streaks of his mana and afterimages could be seen as he zoomed through his tribe. He visited multiple other fire sites and put out the fires there with the special roar of his tribe.

He then proceeded to finally approach the building engulfed in rainbow flames. Arriving there, he witnessed the scene of Kazor and the other beast folk around him panting. They had fetched water repeatedly, but they still couldn't put out the flames.

Seeing Leandor, all the beast folk instantly recognized him and greeted him properly.

"Greetings, my lord," they all got on their knees and bowed.

Leandor then waved at them dismissively as he said, "Come now, this is no time to pay your respects; we have a problem on our hands."

Leandor then added, "Alright, everyone stand back while I put out the flames." All the beast folk listened to their lord and made way for him to extinguish the flames, just as he said.

He redirected his gaze at the rainbow flames, his reddish mana still surrounding his body. "This is the last one," Leandor mused as he slowly crouched down and mumbled, "Roar of Zenith, first form, roar of the forest!"

Leandor then let out a massive roar at the building in flames, just as he had been doing to all the other burning buildings he came across.

But this time, something was different; the flames refused to go out. They persisted even after Leandor's roar. Leandor paused, stopped roaring momentarily, as he then mused, "Its resilience is most likely due to all the mana in the runes that are constantly being turned into flames."

He clenched his fist as he mused further, "The more reason I should quickly put out the fire so that the runes will not be completely depleted of all their mana. That would spell incurring my liege's wrath."

Leandor then assumed a battle pose, preparing himself to unleash a very powerful roar. His yellow eyes shone brightly with his red mana as he let out an even more powerful roar. This time, the building seemed to lose structural integrity, with cracks rippling all over its structure, and some of the already burnt parts started to vaporize.

Watching this sheer display of power, the beast folk people couldn't help but admire their lord and how radiant he seemed at that moment.

Inwardly, Kazor mused, "My lord is truly amazing and powerful. I wish I can become someone like him one day." He gazed at his paw, where there was a small scar that seemed to bring up some sad memories, and his face took on a more regretful expression. He then let out a sigh as he decided to gaze at the full moon that hung overhead in the star filled night sky, finally letting out a sigh.

Moments later, the rainbow flames finally went out.

Once all the flames were finally extinguished, the guards of the royal palace assisted the citizens who lost their properties in the fire. They also questioned the origin of the flames.

"Yeah, I saw it," an elderly beast folk zebra replied, using a stick to support her footing.

"Are you sure, ma'am? Are you absolutely certain?" the tiger beast folk guard asked as he leaned in close, his red and black striped fur glinting in the moonlight.

"For the last time, I know what I saw," she said in a frustrated tone as she lifted up her other hand, formed into a fist, emphasizing her seriousness.

The guard then mused, "But if she is telling the truth, then there are invaders in our territory."

"Thank you for your time, ma'am," the guard gave her a respectful bow as he then proceeded to hurry over towards the building that had originally been engulfed in the rainbow flames. Leandor and some other beast folk guards were sorting out the completely depleted runes from the half-depleted ones and the ones that were completely untouched.

"If you break any of them, then you will face my wrath!" Leandor yelled at the guards as they separated the depleted runes from the others.

Runes that have been completely drained of their mana are very fragile and tend to break very easily. Leandor was still protective of them because he wanted to show them as proof to Akun that he and his people had run into a problem that caused the runes to be completely drained of their mana in a fire.

"My lord, a lead," the voice of the tiger beast folk guard echoed as he ran towards his lord, eagerly wanting to deliver a very important piece of information. He paused as he finally arrived beside his lord.

The guard then began to tell Leandor all he had learned. "My lord, according to multiple eyewitnesses, they claim that the flames came from the north side of the forest and split in the air. Once they landed on the buildings, they also exploded, further sending flames to other buildings, thus the sudden unexplained fire outbreak," the guard concluded.

"Fire from the forest?" Leandor echoed in confusion. He then proceeded to let out a sigh as his demeanor suddenly shifted to one of seriousness. "Then I shall go personally and find out just who dares to throw flames on the homes of my people." Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

"My lord, please wait, there's more," the guard called out to his lord, wanting to add to what he had just said.

Leandor paused momentarily, turning his gaze to meet the guard's as he said, "Go on."

The guard then added, "Well, my lord, there have also been multiple missing beast folk reports. Most of them were beast folk who went to fetch water from the streams to be used to put out the flames."

Hearing the news, Leandor simply narrowed his gaze as he assessed, "How peculiar."

Meanwhile, Adrian, Marcus, and all the other magic knights had grouped up after finishing off all the beast folk they were able to get on their end.

"How did it go on your end?" Captain Markus asked, in a serious yet curious tone, wanting to know how many cores Adrian and his team were able to secure.