Journey to Somewhere New (Sun Wukong x reader)

Chap. 11 - A vicious opponent

A bird has been flying without stopping for long hours now all throughout the country, going from the harsh wind to the heat of the desert, finally he reached the snowy mountain tops. The bird demon turned back to his original form and fell on his knees, the snow making his impact with the ground less painful. In front of him was a large and tall metal door, the two ogres guarding it recognized him and went to him asking if he was okay. They took him inside where the cold snow was replaced with the heat of the cave, specifically from the various waterfalls - except instead of water, it was lava. They lit up the whole place and so they saved up on candles. They were about to go treat his wounds but he insisted on speaking to their King right away.
They entered the throne room after walking through a system of tunnels. Their King was sitting in front of a lavafall, the backlighting making him look like a tall imposing shadow.

"My...My Lord!" he kneeled. "Sun Wukong he's...he's beaten us! I managed to run away, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who survived!"
"...So you're telling me," he slowly leaned closer, his low voice echoing throughout the cave. "that my best lieutenant the tiger demon and one of my generals the leopard demon were killed by a mere monkey?"
"No h-he has his Gold-Banded Cubgel again! A-and Golden Cicada, she-"
"She?"
"The newest reincarnation is a female my Lord." he hung his head down. "She managed to remove the seal's first circle, and now he can transform again."

The King hummed and leaned back, thinking for a moment.
"She's getting more powerful... Good." by the sound of his voice, his demon subordinates could tell he was smiling.
"Huh?" the bird demon looked up, confused. "I don't understand, you're not punishing me for my general's defeat?"
"On the contrary, you've given me a key information." he stood up. "Now that a part of Wukong's powers has been unlocked, we can track him down."
"You...you can do that?"
He chuckled lowly and started walking.
"It's been a hundred years, a lot has changed." he said as he passed him. "Wukong doesn't know this, and his ignorance will be his downfall."

He left through a different door, just as he did a few demons rushed towards the bird demon to tend to his wounds. After a while, the King walked into a tall cylindrical room, standing on top of a set of stairs made out of the cave's stone, going down to the bottom of the room in a circle. At the center was a large hole filled with lava. Poorly organized bookshelves were against the wall, and in between was a desk with parchments of all sizes scattered on it, and all throughout the room in fact. As he descended the stairs, he could progressively hear mumbles. Now at the bottom, he saw the young snake demon looking for something under the desk in a panic.
"Nian Zhen."
"Shit-Aouch!" she tried to stand up but instead bumped her head against the desk.

Cursing to herself, she quickly stood up, stumbling a little bit while still holding her head. Then she faced the king and stood to attention.
"My Lord!" she bowed. "You're honoring me with your presence! I-I wasn't expecting a visit from you toda-"
"Golden Cicada has removed the first circle."
"...Huh?" she tilted her head, blinking twice in disbelief. "Just the first one?"
"We don't know much. She did managed to break him out of his prison -"
Her eyes widen when he said 'she'. He continued, his gaze wandering around the room. Nian Zhen really hopped he wouldn't bring up the mess, she already felt like dying of embarrassment from bumping her head on her desk.
"- but she might not be as powerful as the previous one. Since she wasn't able to remove the seal completely." he looked back at her. "Think you can track that monkey down?"

"Um..." she thought for a moment, a hand to her chin. "I think so?"
"You *think*?"
"I-I know so!" she tensed up. "Although, since only one power of his has been unlocked, it will take time and it might not be very precise."
"If it's just a general direction, that's fine. But I won't allow much time. We've been patiently working for a hundred years, but now that the Monkey King and the Golden Cicada have been reunited, it's just a matter of time before they become more powerful and escape from our grasp yet again. Find him as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll scatter some of my men around the land they were last seen in."
With the growing frustration in his voice, she just intensely nodded.