"Take me to them," Abdin said. He had decided on what to do, but he couldn't fly and, therefore, needed the princess to take him there.
Juwaira was startled by his request. She understood what he meant, but then, his seemingly mild request was punishable by death in Shurein. Asking a princess to fly you somewhere... Anyway, they weren't in Shurein. She could just close her eyes and take him there. It was only a short distance. Nobody would ever hear about it. Besides, the man had been helping her a lot with her cultivation...
"Commander..." said Janta, one of the few core formation experts on the party. "I can fly you there if it is fine by you."
Abdin agreed, but it occurred to him just then that it would look somewhat weak to be seen hefted by another.
That could only hint to the other party that at least one of their opponents was beneath the core formation stage.
It would be more intimidating if the enemy believed all of them to be at the core formation stage.
"I have changed my mind. You two should go on my behalf. Take one of the heads and show it to them. Tell them we have the power to end them all."
Two core formation experts nodded and selected one of the female heads and flew through the window.
But something stopped them a few feet from the hideout. The two men stood still in the air and their bodies began to visibly swell.
With a great effort, Laran turned to look at Juwaira. His eyes were full of fear.
He tried to speak but couldn't.
Half a minute later, their bodies exploded. Blood and gore splashed into the room through the window.
"A-rank warding," Abdin mumbled. Their opponents had somehow managed to surround their hideout with warding without their notice. Anybody who passed through the trap would suffer the same fate as Laran and Janta.
Juwaira gritted her teeth in anger.
"I am going to kill them all and feed them to the dogs."
Abdin had become so used to seeing deaths. He had exploded so many times that he lost count. It could be aptly said he had stopped being affected by the sight of death, especially if he knew the dead person would return after a reset.
He tilted his head and studied the princess. He understood what she was going through. After all, she believed she had lost these two men forever.
Janta and Laran had been with her for a long time. It was their close relationship that made them flee the empire together.
Laran was formerly a butler to Juwaira's mother. He used to look after the princess since she was very young. And eventually, he chose to disobey his emperor for the princess. That was how he ended up fleeing with Juwaira.
Abdin turned around to study their opponents again.
From afar, the opponent seemed disorderly and without a goal, as though everyone was following their whims - some were trying to set the castle on fire, some were running around on horses or demon beasts, and some were just making noises and screaming in an unsightly manner - but Abdin was beginning to understand that all these were mere façade, deliberately done to distract them.
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This was a special and well-organized army. From the way they discovered their hideout so fast to the way they used the black python to distract them while giving their comrades a chance to enter the room without their notice. And how they entrapped the hideout in a sinister warding without their knowledge...
All these pointed to near-perfect expertise and organization.
He found a seat on the floor and sat, and motioned to the others to do the same.
No one spoke for a whole minute before Abdin cleared his throat.
"To avenge Laran and Janta and defeat our enemies, we have to prepare and know our opponents. Where do you think they came from?"
"Nánata?" Juwaira clenched her teeth and answered.
"Nánata is certainly involved." Abdin nodded. "But they are too far and the number is too high to believe they all come from there. Look at this." He said, pointing at the heads on the floor.
"There is a contrast between them and the ones outside. Even their attire is not the same. But assuming they are all from Nànata, then why are they here? If they are not all from there but just an alliance, still why are they here? What are they allying for?"
"How did they even manage to get here without anyone noticing?" Denyanu asked.
Abdin was quite sure they entered through the underground. But he was doubtful of Biyakis.
This looked more like a collaboration with the empire. Though the real question was, what were they up to?
Abdin believed they were not after him or his castle, just like he wasn't after them. Their path just happened to clash.
"All tribes are under the watch of either the empires, the cultivation sects, or the religions. All except for Nànata. Perhaps the secluded tribe wants to break that norm."
Abdin answered his question when they didn't respond. It didn't seem plausible. But it was the only reason he could think of that could make the Nànata invade Biyakis.
But, then, why would they come to a level one empire as Biyakis? If their mission was to break the order of the empires and the cultivation sects, shouldn't they be attacking the level 6 empire and the legendary cultivation sects?
"If Biyakis falls," Juwaira said. "What shall become of the empires' strength? Level-one empires are falling every day. Not long ago, Biyakis destroyed Dikan. I don't think Nànata are here to destroy empires."
Abdin nodded. "Unless there is something we are missing about Biyakis. Maybe, just maybe, the fall of Biyakis can ruin all empires. Otherwise, let's assume they do not seek the empire's fall and they are after something else that we are not aware of."
"Or maybe this is just a passage for them?" Another said.
Juwaira shook her head. "Where would you go from here? All you would meet due west are forests. East is Shurein, while south and north are all small cultivation sects."
The room became quiet again. It would be difficult to guess anything without a thorough investigation. But nothing seemed to be possible in this loop.
Juwaira sighed and glanced at Abdin. "Or is this all part of your plan?"
Abdin chuckled. He planned to evacuate the two towns and three villages on the direct path of the castle before he would then cultivate to 250 years and then expand the castle.
He would face Biyakis then. Using battle tricks and his skills, he would deceive Biyakis into thinking he was a Deva.
That way, he would force the empire to come under him.
He would then gain 1,000 years of longevity by simply inviting people into the castle. This was his plan. How could he have known that a secretive army was on its way to Biyakis?
"We will wait and see their next move," Abdin said. He closed his eyes and rest his back on the wall.
No one attacked them that day. The soldiers outside remained out. And Abdin stopped getting messages of any intruders, it seemed everyone was already inside the castle.
Occasionally, they would hear the noise of other parties arriving nearby. But Biyakis didn't come, which was both surprising and disturbing. The castle should have been noticed a day ago by the empire.
"Would this have happened if we had stayed in the old castle? ...do you think they are after the castle?" Asked a young man. The party had by now displayed their full cultivation.
This young man was the third person tested by Abdin the first time they arrived at the Castle. His cultivation was 73 years then, but it was now four hundred plus.
When she heard the question, Juwaira merely shook her head without opening her eyes or giving him any answers.
Abdin also didn't reply. He wanted to tell the young man that there was no old or new castle, it was the same castle that had just expanded, but he thought better of it. Besides, there was no way that such an army would be there for the castle. That much he was sure of.
However, unlike Abdin and Juwaira, the rest of the party started to argue with the young man. Some felt that the army was there for the castle and that they should just escape and leave everything behind. Others felt it wasn't like that. That the army was there for Biyakis.