"My lady, Biyakis and Dadiyan are already engaged in battle. Jubu targeted Ura, while Kininura attacks Shurein. As expected, this has made our portals go unnoticed. Barahan used one to go South, but nine are still in operation. Very soon, the councilor's order shall arrive."

Munniq nodded. This wasn't her goal at the moment. She had come here to fashion a golem, and she needed body parts to do that. Everything would go as planned the moment she got those body parts.

Another Laluri appeared at the moment. "My Lady, we have won. The man called Commander has fallen and the castle dwellers are all in hiding."

Munniq frowned. So soon? All her careful plans to naught?

She sighed and strode to the battlefield. The so-called Commander lay in a pool of blood and his soul was severely fractured.

There was nothing he could do right now except wait for death, but she wouldn't let him die before she got what she wanted. Only then could she have a guarantee of staying in the loop.

She carefully observed the man before she ordered his limbs to be cut off. Thus having all she had come here for, she turned to leave the castle. But just then, she felt the presence of a very powerful cultivation base rising from the castle.

She frowned. Her investigations had uncovered no pseudo-Deva within the castle walls. All of them were at or below the core formation stage. The most powerful person besides the Commander was the first to flee at the sign of danger. So who was the person behind this strange cultivation?

She released her spiritual sense in a bid to trace the cultivation to the owner. But it suddenly vanished.

She spread her senses further and blanketed the whole castle, but couldn't feel anything anymore. The powerful cultivation had mysteriously disappeared without leaving a trace.

No cultivator on this continent or even the entire world could hide from her, so who was this person? Munniq wondered.

She flew up into the sky and followed the eastern region of the wall, until she reached the end of it, but found nothing. She searched the other ends as well, spreading her senses as she did. Still, she could find nothing.

***

Abdin didn't know the amount of time that had passed when he came to.

He woke up to find himself in a room. It was dark and every part of him ached. He tried to sit up but his hip felt as if it were going to dislodge. He was forced to lie back down.

He wondered why he was still bleeding from several parts of his body when he didn't have any broken bones or even any visible injuries.

He could remember the arrival of Juwaira and his fight with the Deva and then...

His eyes widened after recalling the series of events that followed. Six Deva powerhouses detonated with him. He knew his strength; he should have died and the loop reset, but his captors wanted him alive. At least for the time being.

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That didn't surprise him since they were aware of the time loop. Everything would reset if they killed him - something they were understandably not ready for.

The last thing he could recall before losing consciousness was the orders to remove his hand and foot...

He checked and found that his limbs were still attached to his body. Despite having the skill to regrow any body part that got amputated, he couldn't remember ever using it before he lost consciousness. Someone must have healed him. But who?

There was no way to know the events that had happened after he lost consciousness, so Abdin decisively forced himself back to the present. He could hear movements but nothing could be seen, it was just dark. Where was he?

His first thought was that the so-called queen of Nanata had kidnapped him away, but he could still feel the castle's presence around him. That could only mean he was still inside or around the castle. Being far away from it would prevent him from tapping the skill that allowed him to wield power beyond his cultivation base.

A wave of intense pain hit him when he tried to activate his spiritual sense. The blood coming from his ears gushed out even faster.

Darkness overwhelmed him again and he lost it.

He woke up sometime after that. Still in the darkness, but he was in a better condition now as he could make out some voices around him.

"Biyakis is already here," a voice said. "I heard that Shurein, Dadiyan, and Ura are also here. The castle is no longer under our control."

Abdin frowned. He recognized the voice. It was Walik, the man who abandoned him.

"What are we going to do now?" Another voice asked. It was Renga this time.

There was a moment of silence.

"He still hasn't woken up?" Tairen's voice joined in. "I am starting to fear if he is ever going to wake up. We better find a way out as soon as possible."

"The empires are here to have their share of the castle," another voice said. "I can't fathom how they know about it so soon. Besides, they shouldn't have arrived as early even if they somehow found out about it. I believe it has to do with Commander's assailants."

The voice took a breather from its long narration before adding, "Don't you think our stay here with Commander is dangerous? Let's surrender him while he's still unconscious, they may render us some help by doing that."

Only Sulat had a voice like that. The man was the head of a small town called Wuran, he was also recently appointed by Abdin as the minister of census.

"Why now, Sulat?" A new voice said. "Have you already forgotten Commander's kindness to us? If not for him, I believe you are a goner by now just like your town is. I don't support giving Commander up, even at the cost of our lives." This was Cemu, the ordinary, old man appointed by Abdin as the minister of agriculture.

His council members were all in the room having a session to determine his fate.

Abdin continued to stay in the same position he had been, his mind on high alert.

"Do you believe they would take you in if we surrender him? And do you even have any idea what your position might be with them if they do? We need Commander, I am also against giving him up," Tairen said.

"I'm strongly against giving him up," Renga said through his teeth. He seemed to be brimming with anger.

"I think we should give him up," Walik said, startling them all.

"What... did you just say?" Tairen stammered when he recovered from the shock. He never thought his father would say that. He would disagree as a son, but as a general rule in any sect, he had to support whatever the sect leader said.

"I support giving him up to them, but with a condition." Walik nodded as if to emphasize this. "The castle is right now filled with enemies and we can't do anything about it. Let's assume Commander wakes up, but when would that be? It would be quite futile if he awakes after the castle is completely overtaken. Even he wouldn't be thrilled if we allow that to happen. I want us to use him in baiting Biyakis or Shurein to our side."

There was silence in the room. Despite not supporting the motion, Renga and Tairen realized that they were helpless to save the castle without outside help.

However, would the Commander's name and position as the sole operator of the castle earn them the support of the empires?

The door swung open from outside at that moment, and sunlight streamed inside the room. For the first time since he awoke, Abdin had an unobstructed view of the room.

It was a tiny room and the chairs occupied by the councilmen were tightly packed together.