571 Fears and Reassurances
Iris glanced at John, slightly surprised at how calm he was. Despite having seen the visions before, it was the first time Iris had shown him the visions without him in them. She had withheld them last time, but decided to reveal all today. However, his reaction was almost as if he had been expecting it, surprising her.
“Visions of your future?” Adam replied in shock. “How can you be so calm after what you just saw? Everything was destroyed, the world was destroyed. And those creatures…just what the hell were those things? Especially that one with four arms…it’s cold red eyes…it was…it was…as if I was staring at death itself…”
Adam’s voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He was still far too shaken up by what he had seen, and almost seemed more terrified by the creatures he had seen, than the ruin of the world that had been shown. The visions were so real, as if he had been the one standing there himself.
John thought about the creature Adam was describing, the one that had stood out the most in his vision. Although it was just a vision, the auras of those depicted could be felt to a certain extent.
In the vision it towered over him, like a god of death coming to claim his life. The creature stared directly at John, its blood red eyes filled with cold disregard. Sharp, straight horns, six in total, jutted from the top of its head like a spiked crown.
Wearing only the lower half of a black robe, its skin, dark red like the color of dried blood was bared for all to see. Sharp sabers, several times larger than John’s body rested in each of its its four arms. Each arm bulged with muscles that looked like they could shatter mountains from casual movements.
Most notable of all was its aura. The aura of the creature was terrifying beyond measure, as if it was evil from the pits of hell itself. Were it not for his previous experiences with sinister auras and terrifying creatures, John would have been just like Adam and Chase after seeing the visions.
“Are you certain those visions were of the future?” Chase asked Iris after recovering from his shock.
“I am,” Iris replied. “The visions started coming to me when I was just a child, and were almost too much for me to bear. However, I was eventually able to deal with them after many years, and decided to set out in search of the one depicted in them. Fate seems to have favored me quite highly, as I ran into John quite early on in my search. The moment I laid eyes on him, I was certain he was the one depicted in the visions, and you can all clearly tell that I was right.”
“Ok, but how do you know it’s in the future?” Adam asked, finally calming down slightly. “Couldn’t they just be nightmares, or false visions, or something else?”
“They’re not,” John replied, his voice still calm and steady.
“How can you be so sure?” Adam asked.
“Because the visions align with something else that was revealed to me previously, and the two match up quite accurately,” John explained.
“Match? Match with what?” Iris asked, as this was the first time she was hearing about something else that dealt with the same things as her visions.
“A prophecy,” John replied, not hiding the truth.
“A prophecy? A prophecy of what?” Adam asked.
“I’ll most likely be fighting those things you saw in the vision. The details aren’t worth getting caught up on, just know that there’s nothing to worry about,” John replied as he walked up and patted Adam on the shoulder.
“Nothing to worry about? How the hell can you say something like that?” Adam yelled, but quickly lowered his voice as he realized he was taking his fear out on John, and was in the wrong.
“Sorry,” Adam muttered, while John patted him on the shoulder once again.
“You don’t need to apologize,” John replied with a smile.
“Still…how can you be so calm? If everything we saw is going to happen?” Adam asked.
“Because, did you see me cower in those visions? Did you see me on my knees?” John replied with confidence in his voice. “I may have been bloodied and bruised, but my back was still straight, and my aura towering to the sky. If I had no hope of victory in these situations to come, do you think I would exude such confidence?”
“Ah…I suppose that makes sense,” Adam replied after thinking it over, calming down a little bit.
“Besides, have you ever seen me lose a battle before?” John asked with a cheery smile on his face.
“No, I haven’t,” Adam replied, gaining back some confidence in the situation. However, his breathing was still slightly uneven from his previous panic.
“Exactly, so there’s nothing to worry about,” John reassured, before he draped an arm around Adam’ shoulder in a brotherly manner.
“However, if you’re still so worried about the future, why don’t you focus on becoming as strong as possible yourself. Become so strong that even that creature you so fear is nothing more than an ant to you. And if that’s not possible, then at least become strong enough to help me in those battles. With you and I working together, who can stop us?” John asked Adam.
A look of contemplation appeared on Adam’s face, before a look of determination replaced it as his arm draped around John’s shoulder as well.
“Right!” Adam exclaimed loudly. “With your might, and my genius formations, no one can stop the two of us when we work together! Hahaha” Adam bellowed out, his prideful attitude back. However, there was still some nervousness in the laughter, as overcoming what he had just seen would take more time than this.
“Good, then let’s talk no more of this situation. If those visions ever come to pass, we’ll deal with it at that time” John said to Adam, but his words were clearly intended for the entire group. Iris opened her mouth to speak up, but closed it after a moment of hesitation.
She had wanted to bring the visions up to clearly discuss them, and make sure John was aware of what could potentially come to pass. However, she could tell that such a thing was not necessary after all.
“You made Iris show us those visions on purpose, didn’t you?” Chase asked John after regaining his calm as well. “You wanted us to see the visions, and use it as motivation for getting stronger, right?”
“What do you mean?” John asked with feigned confusion. “I merely didn’t want to leave you two in the dark about such an important topic is all.”
“Liar, you did this on purpose,” Adam bellowed out as he finally saw through John’s actions. John had always attempted to push Adam forward regarding cultivation, but Adam always protested, as he hated such things. It would take something beyond monumental to change his attitude regarding cultivation…something monumental like they had just seen.
John shrugged at Adam’s comment before ignoring him, which caused both Iris and Chase to laugh. It instantly lightened the incredibly dark mood, as the four began to dig into the earth once more. The others followed suit, and the gloomy atmosphere slowly faded away as the four returned to their normal selves.
Digging into the earth while faced away from the others, John’s eyes became narrowed and cold as he thought back to the visions. He had maintained his calm demeanor for two reasons. One was that he had already expected such a thing, as the prophecy told to him by Thunderzen detailed as much. The other was that he had already experienced truly terrible things, like the menacing illusion creature shown to him in the Elysian Lightning World, or the sinister aura within his palace realm, and was not taken by surprise by such things anymore.
However, the vision that Iris showed him today contained additional details to the one she had previously shown him, one that shook even someone as sturdy as himself.
‘That creature…with four arms and piercing red eyes…the prophecy alluded to it already, but I was unable to be certain until now. But that creature is most definitely the Asura of Anguish…and his aura is incredibly similar to the sinister aura within my palace realm.’