<h4>Chapter 353 Returning</h4>


    Earth, The Middle East


    Among the sands of a red desert, the scene looked idyllic. The sky was clear, as usual, and a middle-aged man calmly meditated despite the scorching temperatures, ignoring everything around him. This was Zak Bond, the Elven Ancestor. He had been waiting for Damien for the past two weeks and taking countermeasures in case any unwanted beings turned up.


    Suddenly, the ground shook and two rocky pirs rose, revealing a teleportation gate. This ruckus woke Zak abruptly. "It must be the time," he said as he stood straight. "Hmm, I only hope youe in one piece, brat!" He readied himself for whatever mighte out of the gate.


    To his surprise, a gigantic figure jumped out of the gate''s dark, mirror-like surface andnded nimbly on the ground. The creature was also carrying a petitedy around his arm. They were none other than Shadow ve and La, who had just passed through the teleporting gate from the other side of the Tenderloin Ex.


    "What the heck?!" Zak screamed in horror. It was his first time seeing a Nagina, a mutant with a half-human upper body and a snake tail. A greenish aesthetic longbow appeared out of nowhere in his hand. He installed a ck arrow and tugged the bowstring along with it, warning, "What are you?... Just let the girl go, and we can talk this out nice and easy."


    Ignoring him, Shadow ve ced La gently on the ground and sat on the sandy ground. Zak was still pointing the tip of the arrowhead at Shadow ve''s forehead, ready to release the arrow at any moment, but he didn''t as thetter didn''t show any hostility towards him or thedy.


    La greeted with a smile, "Oh, hello there! Can you put your weapon away?" Unfortunately, Ancestor Zak didn''t speak Sanskrit. Realizing her mistake, she greeted again in English, scratching her head awkwardly, "You must be Mister Zak Bond. We are friends of Mister Darhk."


    "Mister Darhk!" Hearing her strange ent unfamiliar to earth, Zak asked suspiciously. "Alright, why is he noting with you? And what is that, that thing?" He pointed at Shadow ve.


    "Oh, you are being vignt toward Uncle Shadow. That''s understandable," La responded, exining patiently. "Don''t you worry? He''s my Master Damien''s subordinate."


    Then she recounted, unfolding some stories of Damien briefly, and gained his trust.


    Putting his weapon away, Zak sat beside her, still keeping a close eye on Shadow ve. "Did something happen to Damien? Why is he stilling out, yet?" He asked.


    "He''lle out soon. I believe in him." La answered vaguely.


    As they waited, Zak connected the dots regarding La''s identity through chit-chatting about a variety of topics. To his surprise, he learned that the youngdy had learned to speak English just two weeks ago. ''So this girl is from that Tenderloin world? Now I understand why her ent is so weird.'' He concluded.


    After ten more minutes of waiting, Damien finally emerged from the gate carrying a country-toppling beauty with him. "Oh, you''re still waiting for me all this time," he said.


    "You know this is the Sacred Ground of the Elven Family," Zak added, giving a look at Shadow ve. "And it''s my responsibility to guard against any unknown thingsing out of that ce."


    Understanding his words, Damien gave his order. "Come to me, Shadow ve. Your presence is making an elderly gentleman unfavorable."


    "Yes, my liege!" Responding courteously, Shadow ve chanted a mantra in a horrid tone while making a series of hand seals. "Explode!" Just as he yelled, his body exploded, turning into a thick veil of dark energy. It swamped toward Damien and entered the back of his left palm, leaving a tattoo of a ck humanoid figure with three heads.


    This surprised Ancestor Zak even more. However, he remained nonchnt this time, keeping the surprise inside his mind.


    When she saw Meera still on Damien''s arm, La pouted enviously. "My dear teacher, who is she?" She asked.


    "Countess Meera!"


    "Y-you mean Countess Meera, the Lethal Queen!?" La stuttered, stepping multiple steps back. "W-why are you bringing her?" There was fear and respect in her eyes. Yes, as a ve girl, as she grew up back in the Tenderloin World, she had heard about the infamous name and deeds of Countess Meera.


    "Alright, enough with the questions. Let''s focus on helping Meera with her walking," Damien said as he ced Meera on the ground. "La is a human from your world, and she is also my disciple. So please be kind to her," he added, addressing Meera directly.


    La approached Meera cautiously, questions still on her mind, but she kept them to herself. She offered her support to Meera, who remained silent. Damien then infused a trace of his lightning Qi into the Purple Spatial Beast''s Eyeball, and by gesturing into his palm, a sleek aircraft appeared on the sandy ground. "Shall we?" he said.


    La helped Meera board the ship, as she was still not used to walking yet. By this time, the teleportation gate hadpletely submerged into the ground, and the rusty medallion floated in the air. Damien caught it and was about to pass it to Zak, but thetter shrugged and said, "Just keep it." He then disappeared into thin air.


    "Fair enough. I''ll keep it for now," Damien said as he tossed the medallion into his golden space ring and boarded the aircraft. In a few minutes, the engine revved loudly, and the aircraft took off, leaving the desert behind.


    After six hours of flying, the aircraft finally stopped before an old-looking ck lumber ship that was floating high above the clouds. Landing on the dock, Damien and the twodies disembarked from the aircraft. Miss Onsen and Catherine Drac, who weed them in their own ways, greeted them. Miss Onsen bowed courteously while Catherine eyed the twodies with him cautiously. "More flowers, huh?" she said with a mean look before dashing inside the cabin.


    "Wait, Cath!" Damien called out as he rushed after her.


    (please, stay tuned!)