Ju’s right eye was bright like a touch as he brought out a pseudo-spiritual pill and quickly consumed it.

“This is the second one now.”

Ju had also already finished his batch of morning drew and stardust pills to manage his injuries. The large snake was motionless, with its horn in Oberon’s hand as the body lay in a pool of blood. Oberon’s Axe had already shattered and his aura was extremely weak, it was not only him, even Aron and Tylen too quite a lot of damage to neutralize the newcomer as quickly as possible.

Only Zabel was relatively unharmed, as her pretty eyes were filled with fear.

“These items.”

Tylen’s expression was filled with excitement as he sensed the aura of those eggs; every fibre of his being radiated intense hunger for them. They seemed less like eggs but more like rank one core; if he could use their energy to meditate, an essence artist's realm would not be so far away. Aron gradually approached him by the side and said quickly.

“Since I am more familiar with Master Pike, let me keep the eggs.”

Tylen didn’t say anything; he just kept staring at those eggs. Aron's expression soon became cold, but it quickly became normal as he spoke again.

“Tylen, or do you have anything contradictory to suggest?”

“Since Tylen is the leader, why don’t you let him take the eggs instead? After all, we three can not be sure of what you and Zabel have done in secret again.”

Oberon chuckled as he spoke, clearly hinting that he preferred Tylen to claim the price while simultaneously drawing Ju into his decision.

"Sly..."

Ju silently cursed the brute in his mind, but he did not say anything. He did not want Aron to have all the eggs when they later met up with Master Pike.

The value the entire group had was those golden eggs; if Master Pike got what he wanted, their fates would not bother him in the slightest. The Essence artist might even kill all five to cover up what happened today. The eggs were their only countermeasure against the whims of the Master Pike and his associates.

A dangerous aura emanated from Aron’s figure when he heard Oberon’s words.

“Be careful of what you say, oaf. We would not have overcome this situation if it were not for me.”

“If it were not for you, we would not be in this situation.”

Tylen replied, finally saying something.

Aron looked stunned, but he did not back down.

“I admit my fault but promised to compensate you all when I have settled things with Master Pike.”

“I would be the one keeping the eggs, Aron. That is final.” Tylen waved his hand, his body filled with battle intent should Aron decide to attack. Although Oberon was still injured, he didn’t hesitate to clench his fists in preparation if things got hostile.

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The standoff lasted a few seconds, which seemed to last hours, before Aron sighed sorrowfully.

“I did not want things to reach this, but you left me no choice. “

Ju immediately felt a threatening sensation overwhelm the area, all of his instincts honed through out the years in the wilderness kicked in as he felt a fast moving object coming towards him, aiming right at his temple.

“I would not be able to dodge it.”

Ju realized this instantly, but that didn’t mean he would resign himself to death. Ju did not hold back as he mustered all of his Essence. Before this meeting, he had usually practised how to concentrate essence into one region in his entire body, although he was not able to do it efficiently,

Ju did not have much of a problem moving Essence from his nodes to cover his head just in time. However it was barely enough, the young boy’s body was thrown backward several meters because of the impact of the arrow.

As he landed on the ground, Ju remained motionless, with a slight stream of blood flowing beneath him. Oberon faced a similar attack; however, his reaction speed was even worse than Ju's. The arrow had reached him with so much force that the burly man’s head exploded in a burst of blood and brain bits.

"Ju! Oberon!"

Tylen could not believe what he was seeing. In just a short moment, Ju and Oberon were killed without much resistance. The young man looked to his right. Zabel’s aura had strengthened, but her usually innocent eyes were now malevolent. Essence surrounded her like a tempest, showing a much higher level than she had previously indicated. Zabel had opened the same number of spirit nodes as Tylen!

A long chain linked with a cross was shining under her wrists; the inscriptions on her bow had changed from blue to bright red. Another arrow started to manifest, this time aiming at Tylen.

Sensing the attack, Tylen did not hesitate to take defensive manoeuvres. However, he was not just worried about Zabel. He quickly moved backwards away from Aron, but the latter just chuckled. His knives seemed to be ready. Tylen chanted, and a large seal similar to the one he used against the falcons materialized in the air.

Zabel arrow arrived in an instant, the seal that once held out in front of the relentless attacks of the falcons seemed to so weak at the moment.

However Tylen was already prepared, he bit his tongue and spat out a reddish mist, that brimmed with deadly intent. When Aron saw this, he narrowed his eyes.

“As expected, he still held other cards.”

However, Aron did not seem bothered. He quickly took the eggs and stored them in his storage bag. When Tylen saw this, a look of anger appeared on his face, but he was completely helpless. Zabel showed a level of power that Tylen would have never imagined. He had to spend a bit of blood essence to hold on barely.

As he thought of countermeasures, a massive feeling of danger overwhelmed him. Tylen saw Aron throw his knives high up in the air towards him and made a gesture. The knives immediately shattered in a flash of light, the expansion surged towards Tylen, to kill him as fast as possible, Aron had detonated a precious weapon.

Coupled with the relentless attacks of Zabel, Tylen did not stand a chance in front of Aron’s drastic attack. A low explosion sounded in the area as Tylen’s body was consumed in a flash of light.

Aron did not have any reaction on his face, as the remains of the man he had so many adventures with were reduced to bits of bones and burnt flesh. All of Tylen’s possessions also did not survive the attack. Seeing that Tylen was finally dead, Zabel’s countenance relaxed.

“Let us leave quickly before Master Pike comes. You could just use that item to get us out of here, right? “ she hurriedly said as she passed Ju’s motionless body, not even looking at him once.

Aron nodded as the two turned their backs to the dead bodies of the snakes and their former companions. But then, Ju’s body vanished in a burst of air. In an instant, he was already upon Zabel.

Aron's body stiffened before he shouted.

“Watch out.”

“What…” She tried to speak, but Ju did not give her a chance.

The young boy pushed his finger forward.

While he played dead, Ju quietly consumed his last pseudo essence pill, making him able to perform the Hunter’s thorn. The attack met no resistance as it pierced the young woman’s abdomen. Ju was not done yet; with a calm expression, he brought his dagger and, in one smooth stroke, stabbed her upper back, sending bursts of violent Essence inside her thoracic cavity, exploding her heart in one move.