Spirit Immortal

"This story..." Shin raised his head up after reading the book from cover to cover. The story that was told was quite the fantastical one. Four animals that lived in a secluded area untouched by civilisation itself? It was quite the tall tale to believe. However, it was just a fictional story, so there wasn’t any need to take heed to its contents... Right?

"What’s the matter?" Raphael came over and peeked into the book as well. Like Shin, the Alliance Head scrutinised the story with a solid eye but didn’t really feel anything of the tale. "Hmmm, an interesting story. I wonder who wrote this book?"

"Senior Raphael... Don’t you find it a little odd?" Shin raised his brow as he questioned the man. "The Rabbit in the Moon... Why would such a book be stored here?"

"Why would that be odd? There are literally millions of stories created all over the globe. Spirit Beasts that gained human intelligence are also no strangers to reading up on our literature." The Alliance Head didn’t think that it was strange for the twin Spirit Beasts to possess a few literary items. However, the Light-Elemental Spirit Venerate didn’t have the spiritual sense to pick up on the immense Mind-Elements that were congregating on the simple book.

"No that’s not what I meant..." Shin shook his head as he raised the book slightly higher. A refreshing aura burst forth from his soul and enveloped the object in his hands.

"The owner of this book... Or the one that held this book last... They had so many emotions for the story. I can feel the happiness in the first chapter, and the anguish in the last... It’s as if, this story isn’t fictional... But an account of the owner’s life story..."

"You can tell that much just by picking it up?" Raphael scoffed, wholly unconvinced that Shin’s ability could pick up something so specific.

"Unsure..." The Prince frowned before falling deep into contemplation. There had to be a missing clue somewhere...

"Wait a minute... Senior Raphael, didn’t you say that Kin and Gin loved to take the forms of humans, just like the other Nine Coloured Noble Beasts." Thinking of something, Shin’s mind burst into life.

"Yes, that’s what our intelligence concludes," Raphael scratched his chin while recalling the numerous reports that were placed on his table. "The Nine Coloured Noble Beasts would normally take human form, and their hair colours would manifest according to their attribute. Kuro would take the shape of a thirty-year-old black-haired man. Ao, a blue-haired intellectual. Akai, a hot-headed, red-haired man. So on and so forth..."

"What about Kin and Gin?" Shin asked.

"Hmmm, if I’m not mistaken... Kin takes the form of a golden-haired woman in her mid-twenties, while Gin takes the shape of a silver-haired man with equal beauty."

"Gold and silver... Ain’t that the colours of the Golden Fox and Silver Monkey in the tale?" The Prince flipped the pages and landed on the first chapter. "Also... Wasn’t there a pink-haired young girl among the Nine Coloured Noble Beasts?"

"Yes, but we’d never found out her true identity... Wait, are you suggesting that..."

"..." Shin remained silent, but that’s all the Alliance Head needed to hear his thoughts. Throwing his eyes down at the book once more, Raphael started to read the first few paragraphs out loud.

"Once upon a time, in a lush garden untouched by civilisation itself... Four animals lived in complete harmony. The Grey Otter... The Golden Fox... The Silver Monkey, and... The Pink Rabbit. And if the man who had entered the garden during the later chapters was the Allfather, that means!!!"

"Yes..." A sinister smile crept up the sides of Shin’s lips. All this while, there had been this patch of blank information when it pertained to some members of the Noble Beasts. However, if this book wasn’t just fiction... Shin may have stumbled upon the last piece of the puzzle. "Kin is the Golden Fox, Gin is the Silver Monkey and Momo... The third strongest Spirit Beast under the Allfather’s command... Is the legendary Moon Rabbit..."

The Moon Rabbit.

It was a Spirit Beast that everyone, no matter how young or old, would know about. A mythical creature said to be the companion of the Moon Goddess herself, the Moon Rabbit was a staple in humanity’s culture. It had appeared in numerous folklores throughout the years. Some say that the Moon Rabbit was the companion of the Moon Goddess and was the one responsible for pounding the medicine that the Immortal uses. Others say that the Moon Rabbit was an animal that created elixirs that could grant eternal life, the one thing that every living mortal chased after.

No matter what the myth, there was one constant... The Moon Rabbit was said to be the bearer of the Key of Immortality, the being responsible for opening the gate to the Immortal Realm. Naturally, most people in the modern age denied those claims as fiction, much as they did the Eternal Burning Tree, Yggdrasil. Nevertheless, it hadn’t curbed most people from seeking and worshipping the enigmatic creature.

"So it really is the Moon Rabbit..." Raphael bit his lower lip. "The number of times humanity had seen the Moon Rabbit could be counted with the fingers of one hand... Why would such a legendary and elusive Spirit Beast join forces with the Allfather?"

"If the story is to be believed... The Moon Rabbit wants to gain the Key to Immortality as well, which just so happens to coincide with the Allfather’s ultimate plan." Shin explained.

"So the legends aren’t true, huh... The Moon Rabbit isn’t the Moon Goddess’ pet or the Key to the Immortal Realm."

"Well, since when fairy tales are considered to be facts?" The Prince chuckled; however, his face quickly scrunched up. Wasn’t he chasing a fairy tale as well?

’No, let’s not think about that for now...’

The man shook his head and flipped through the pages once more. Reaching the page he sought, Shin asked Raphael the crucial question. "Now that we know what Kin, Gin and Momo’s real identities are, we can configure new methods to deal with them! So, Senior Raphael... Do you know anything about the Golden Fox, Silver Monkey and the Moon Rabbit’s abilities?"

"Not per se..." The Alliance Head replied with a negative. "I’d never even heard of the Golden Fox or the Silver Monkey! The Moon Rabbit, on the other hand, is so elusive that I doubt any library in the world would have a record of its abilities."

"Now that’s a problem..." Shin frowned. They had just found a significant breakthrough in the case, and yet they had nothing to show for it. If they could at least figure out the abilities of the Golden Fox and the Silver Monkey, they could understand how the sentries from the outposts were disappearing and plant traps to ensnare the twin Spirit Beasts. However, if Shin and the Alliance knew nothing, they could do nothing.

Fortunately...

"Mmmm... The Golden Fox and Silver Monkey..." Zishen’s aged voice echoed from the side, bringing a flash of radiance back to Shin’s pale complexion.

"Senior Zishen! Do you know anything?"

"Mmmm... My ancestors had recorded a thing or two..." The Azure Dragon Lord tilted his head as he started to recall what little knowledge he had. "Mmmm... The Golden Fox and Silver Monkey are auxiliary-types from what I can tell. The Golden Fox has control over the Space-Elements while the Silver-Monkey is proficient in Time-Elements."

"Space and time?!" Raphael exclaimed. Among all of the elements of the known world, the Space-Time elements were always the rarest. Even though those were the most omnipresent elements, they were always the hardest to sense and therefore, the most difficult ones to control.

"Mmmm... That’s from what I’ve heard. As for their abilities, I think the Golden Fox is able to morph into whichever form that she chooses and is capable of teleporting between her marked items. Mmmm... As of the Silver Monkey... It’s more secretive of the two, so I don’t really know what it can do."

"No, your words are more than enough..." Shin gratefully bowed down. "Then, do you know anything about the Moon Rabbit?"

"The Moon Rabbit..." At that moment, Zishen’s brows were knitted into a singular line. His mind was trembling just at the memory of his ancestor’s words and even feared to word out his next statement.

"The Moon Rabbit... She... Controls the power of death."