by Yuri Ajin
He threw the seal into the coffin. As soon as the objects touched, an insanely bright flash illuminated the hall, affecting even Kai’s energy vision, his spirit perception, and even his will. When it was over, Kai was disoriented for a good minute, until all his senses returned to normal and he opened his eyes.
The coffin disappeared. So did the lid. Kai didn’t sense any trace of the Forces of Space, but he suspected that the seal had transferred the coffin somewhere. Probably straight to Nomen.
Suddenly, he felt like something clicked inside his Ring. First, he checked the artifact itself and realized that it was now working perfectly, like before he entered the tomb. After that, he took out the Ring Nomen gave him. As promised, the owner’s mark was gone.
The Three-Bladed Flower appeared in Kai’s hand.
Finally.
A tiny smile lit up his face for a couple of moments.
Attention!
The oath between Kai Arnhad and Nomen Millia Animarus has been fulfilled.
“It’s time to go...”
***
A group of eleven Exorcists entered Sim. They went to the city center, and then immediately headed back to the gate.
“Are you sure he left town?” Aldus asked.
The thirst for revenge still seethed in his blood. He had no evidence for it, but he linked the explosions on the ground floor arena that took the lives of many of his brothers with Kai.
“I am,” Bane replied, concentrating on the compass in his hand, the needle of which was constantly shifting. “He used a teleport to leave the city, but the artifact still sees his trail.”
Bane hadn’t forgotten his fight with Kai. He had been watching him this whole time, he even hired assassins to take care of him in the Abode, wanting to see his development rate and how strong his nemesis really was. Kai proved to be much more powerful than he thought.
This only infuriated Bane more. He was so fixated on getting revenge that hatred engulfed his heart and he lost his way on the path of cultivation. He could no longer meditate properly, which meant that he could no longer reach the higher stages of development.
His failures were so severe that he had to go home to the capital of Tael, where the family elder told him how to find his way once again. For this to happen, he had to remove the obstacle standing in his way. That is, he had to face Kai, and the latter had to die.
Unfortunately, even the aristocrats from great families couldn’t go against the Abode and its Laws. But they were able to help Bane by providing him with artifacts, one of which was the compass he was currently using.
After he left home, he started following Kai. And when he went to one of the anomaly zones, a plan for revenge began to form in Bane’s mind — he’d kill the person he loathed from the bottom of his soul, outside of the Abode. For this to happen, he made a deal with Aldus, which, unfortunately, he had already regretted several times.
As for the rest of their group, it consisted mainly of dorgans from the Great Pack, as well as several elves, Bane’s relatives, who joined the Abode before he did. However, he had no high hopes for anyone from the team. He didn’t count much on himself either. After all, he knew well who had gone with Kai to the desert. But there was one thing he was certain of —the power of his family’s precious artifacts.
But none of those artifacts helped him sense the figure that was following them.
Candidates can’t harm or kill one another. Neither directly nor indirectly. But Master doesn’t know about my sortie. And if I kill the human and the half-breed here, it won’t be a violation of the rules. I’d just be putting the ball in the master’s court, flashed through Raiden’s mind.
***
Between Sim and the tomb, right in the middle of the sandy dunes, appeared a group of six people: an end-level Elementalist, three experienced peak Exorcists, and two initial-level Exorcists.
“Our array has no teleportation marks. Someone has erased the one that was at the base,” one of them said.
“In which direction is the base?” the Elementalist asked.
“That way, Lord Velator,” another Exorcist replied, pointing north.
“So, what exactly happened there?” Velator, who had been forced by his master to drop everything he was doing and come here without being told why, looked at the youngest cultivators in their group. “Were you in charge of communication? Who is your boss? Why aren’t you with him? What happened?”
The strength of Velator’s voice pressed the young cultivators into the sand. A boy and a girl stood in front of him.
Jiang Suin and Elize.
A little over a month ago, these two were sent to Reithem along with a large group to infiltrate the desert cities and overthrow the largest criminal organization on the continent — the Black Hand. With the help of a peak Holy Lord, the leader of their mission, they managed to pull it off once they identified where the Hand’s main base was.
As for Elize and Jiang Suin, they were assigned to one of the peak Elementalists as assistants.
“We were under command of Lord Novak.” Elize bowed, being the first to pull herself together. “Yesterday, we were in that settlement with him. However, this morning, he sent us to the city to buy the resources he needed for an experiment. We were already halfway back when the attack happened. After that, the spirit connection broke. The artifact informed us about Lord Novak’s death, and we received an order to return to the city and wait for further instructions. And then you arrived.”
“What was your master’s last memory which you got out of the artifact?”
“That the settlement was attacked by monsters. A large swarm of strange bees. Each an initial-level Titan. And there was a giant sandworm. A peak-level Tyrant. It looks like there were other beasts, too, but Lord Novak didn’t have time to see them.”
“I see... Monsters...” Velator hissed.
Either the non-human counterintelligence has already found us, or Novak had gone too far with his experiments. In any case, we have to check it out. I don’t know if the monsters are still there or not, but we must either return or destroy all the scrolls with imperial techniques that were given to the locals. I have the necessary artifacts, so I’ll take that task on myself. Help will arrive soon. I just happened to be the closest. Sometimes, I think the Heavens hate me...
“All right. Forward!” Velator commanded.
While the pitiful two-legged creatures were bumbling about, trying to complete the tasks given to them by the Heavens, the elements were heading toward them. A terrible sandstorm was approaching.
Chapter 30
A FIGHT IN THE SANDS
It wasn’t difficult to get out of the tomb. Passing through the now empty halls and corridors, Kai made his way back to the unusual barrier. That is, to where it had once been. It was no longer there, having probably been removed along with the coffin. Now the tomb was open to everyone.
Having exited the hole through which he had descended into the tomb, he saw Ailenx fruitlessly trying to talk to the ever-silent Malvur, who, as if hearing nothing, was observing the sky.
To the side, An’na was shouting at Shacks, who once again managed to piss her off with his jokes and witty remarks. In the center, Ranmaru was trying to meditate.
Guts was there too. Sitting at a table near the far wall of the house built right by the tomb, he was studying some scrolls with genuine interest. Among them were various techniques, alchemical recipes, artifact schematics, extremely valuable notes on various Paths, and very deep thoughts about cultivation. He had never seen anything like it anywhere before, so he stuck around.
Kai’s appearance surprised no one. He had revealed his aura once he had climbed out of the tomb, so everyone already knew that he was coming.
“You look like a beast ate you, shat you out, and put the undigested pieces together like a puzzle,” Shacks spoke first and then grinned. “Like An’na when she gets up...”
There was a whistle as An’na’s fist flew through the air. But Sha
cks ducked and dodged. Sticking his tongue out at her, he made a run for it.
“Come back and say that to my face, you bastard!” She grinned. “Stop running so that I can hit you! I’ll make your face into abstract art!”
Shouting curses, she lunged herself at him, but he dodged again, making her almost lose her balance.
“I’d love to see you try!” Bursting into laughter, Shacks continued to dodge. “I really would.”
“Got you!” An’na sharply closed the distance between them, catching Shacks by surprise. He was good, but she was better.
There was another whistle, and her fist slammed into Shacks’ left cheekbone. Although she didn’t use her full strength, he ended up turning one hundred and eighty degrees and falling back. He fell face down on the floor and stopped moving. Everyone became quiet.
The gazes of all those present, except for Ranmaru, who was still meditating, concentrated on the motionless archer.
“Hey... What are you doing?” The triumphant smile disappeared from An’na’s face. Worried, she took a couple of steps forward, stopping right next to Shacks. “That blow wasn’t strong enough to—”
Before she could finish, Shacks suddenly grabbed her right leg with his own and jerked hard. She found herself on the floor next to him.
“I got you too!” He laughed.
***
The group soon left the destroyed Black Hand base, deciding not to linger there more than necessary. Together with Guts, they headed north to Sim. His teleport worked one-way, so they had to walk back. In less than half an hour, they crossed almost a third of the distance, relying only on their strength. They didn’t dare to use techniques since no one wanted to attract the attention of the desert dwellers.
Moving across the sea of sand and scaling the dunes, the group suddenly stopped without saying a word, their train of thought halted by a looming sense of danger.
A moment later, a massive explosion occurred in the middle of the desert. The force of the blow was equal to a Royal-rank technique, imbued with an enormous amount of super-dense energy of an Elementalist.
The entire group was driven into the sand despite their defensive barriers. One of Guts’ pets, a gigantic Golden Turtle, saved their lives by forming a huge dome over them.
“What’s happening?!” Ailenx shouted, his ears still ringing from the explosion. “Monsters?!”
“We’re under attack,” Guts said calmly, getting to his feet. He didn’t need to play the flute for a simple command to make a pet use one of its techniques to form a shield. “And not by monsters. The Forces embedded in that technique were too... well put together. It must be a cultivator. At least an Elementalist.”
“Where did the attack come from?” Kai asked, looking down at the cracks in his ice armor that were slowly closing up.
“I don’t know. But...”
A second explosion drowned out Guts’ words. This time, the Turtle did a much better job of defending them as it was prepared for a new attack. Still, the power of the technique was so strong that the beast roared in pain as its barrier was almost destroyed.
If we don’t do something, my pet will be killed! The attacker is strong. They’re at least an end-level Elementalist! Guts growled angrily, seeing and feeling the damage done to his pet with each attack.
“Can you defeat them with your Sandworm?” An’na asked.
“I’d need to find out where the fucker is first. Also—”
Explosions rang out again. This time, four at once. Flashes of fire, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, covered the barrier, raising the temperature inside to unbearable levels. The Flame’s Forces and energy penetrated inside, scorching everyone’s clothes and hair, and charring the Turtle’s shell.
The beast roared, experiencing intense pain in its soul.
“Spotted the fucker!” Shacks grinned as soon as the rumble died down. “They’re almost ten miles north from here. They seem to have specialized in long-range Fire attacks.”
“How did you feel that?” Ranmaru asked in surprise. “Ten miles is quite a distance even for the spiritual perception of a peak Elementalist.”
And you’re an initial-level Exorcist. Moreover, our attacker probably has good cloaking techniques...
“I didn’t,” Shacks replied, shaking his head. “I watched which direction the fire was coming from and calculated the approximate speed and distance. I’m a tracker, I know what I’m doing.”
“What matters is that we know where they are! That’s good news!” An’na said, delighted, and glanced at Guts.
“Not necessarily.” He frowned. “I need energy to control the Sandworm. I haven’t regained enough of it since the attack on the base. If I dismiss the Turtle, we’ll be left without protection. I’d rather not do that since we have no idea who we’re really dealing with.”
He would’ve stayed at the base till he had regained his strength had he not known how quickly blood and corpses would attract beasts. They fed on the flesh of strong cultivators not only because it was a good source of energy and nutrients, but also because by devouring the strong, they became stronger. For them, cultivators were no less valuable resource than Spirit Plants.
“In that case, we ought to strengthen the barrier at least a little,” Kai proposed and then poured a certain amount of Cold Void particles into the barrier.
The others nodded and followed his example, strengthening the barrier with particles of their elements: Water, Earth, Flame, Sand, and Mist.
“If I understood correctly, we won’t manage to escape on the Turtle, will we?” Kai asked.
“That’s right. Although it’s quite nimble, it couldn’t escape such a powerful enemy,” Guts confirmed.
“What about that eagle of yours? Could it survive the attacks and carry us away at the same time?”
“Theoretically, it could. Flying over anomaly zones is also quite dangerous, but it’s better than staying under fire. However, once again, I need energy. Even if I dismiss the Turtle now and immediately summon the Eagle, I’m afraid we’ll die instantly. We won’t have time to fly far enough to make room for maneuvers, and the Eagle, unlike the Turtle, won’t be able to withstand a direct blow,” Guts explained. “I don’t have enough time to restore the required amount of energy before our defenses fail. So it’d be a great risk...”
“Take your time,” Kai said in a serious tone, interrupting Guts. “I have a plan. You continue to control the Turtle and I’ll help you regain energy.”
“What? What are you talking about? How do you plan to do that?” Guts asked, turning to look at him.
“You’ll find out in a second. Sit down.”
Guts hesitated for a moment but eventually did as he was told.
Kai swallowed several Crystals, sat down behind Guts, and put his hand on his back, transferring energy to him.
It usually took Exorcists five to ten hours of meditation, depending on their foundation and talent for energy control, to restore all of their ki. True Masters had a bigger supply of it, which was why their recovery time was longer. Energy-restoring drugs, herbs, and items were helpful only up to a point since their supply was finite and since cultivators had to spend more spiritual stamina on them than on absorbing prana.
However, Kai was able to fill Guts’ astral body with prana at no cost. He could greedily absorb the energy that Kai sent to him directly from the air. Putting his hand on Guts’ back had no real purpose other than to help Kai hide his abilities from the rest of the group. Energy transfer via touch was much more common and accepted than simply filling someone’s astral body from a distance.
Unfortunately, Kai himself was not in the best shape after his fight in the tomb. He easily restored ki and healed, but he couldn’t get rid of fatigue, which indicated that his spirit endurance was about to be depleted.
A series of explosions merged into a continuous rumble. Bright flashes now appeared not only over the top of the dome but on all sides. The ground shook and the sand around the barr
ier began to melt.
“Motherfucker!” Guts swore. “They’re checking the dome for weak spots. If this continues, I won’t be able to mend the barrier. Each blow makes the Turtle resist my orders further, which drains even more strength from me!”
Kai frowned and tried to increase the flow of energy into Guts’ body. But he couldn’t.
“So what you’re saying is that we need to distract them?” Shacks asked thoughtfully. “I think I can do it... Is the barrier one-sided? Can it let techniques through?”
“It is.”
“Excellent!” Shacks grinned, flaring up with excitement, and jumped to the top of the Turtle’s shell.
A moment later, the dome was attacked again. Another series of explosions formed a three-foot-long crack on its surface.
Shacks activated a defensive technique, but it failed. The aftershock kicked him back, tossing him off the Turtle.
Coughing out sand and cursing, he got up, shaking his head. The flames that burst through the dome had burnt his eyebrows, eyelashes, as well as some of his hair and clothes, revealing a torso covered with many old scars. On his back was a large tattoo in the form of a luminous moon that emanated a mysterious power — the Bright Moon clan’s insignia.
“Son of a bitch! I look like I’ve just returned from hell!” Shacks spat blood and grinned. “You’ll pay for that!”
Slightly crouching, he jumped back on the Turtle in one powerful jump.
“Cover me,” he instructed An’na, Malvur, Ailenx, and Ranmaru.
Following his order, they climbed onto the shell. A small dome formed around them, with Shacks standing in its center.
“Let’s have some fun...” he whispered with an anticipatory smile and summoned a weapon from his Ring.
What materialized wasn’t his usual bow or one of the many clan artifacts. The item was bulky and heavy, and it consisted of many parts.
[Electromagnetic Mass Accelerator RLG-7]
Rank: Royal
