"They managed to escape, master."

"Yes, indeed," Kire replied, his gaze falling upon the collapsed young lady before him.

"We should move," Kire instructed, his Qi forming a protective bubble around Sline, who was teetering on the edge of death, preserving her fragile life force, supporting it.

"Master, shouldn't we search for the other two?" one of his students questioned.

"One was taken away, and I don't sense anyone else lingering in this vicinity," Kire responded. He proceeded to explore the tunnels, following the trail of Qi that lingered still in the air, ‘curious,’ Kire thought as the trail led to a dead end. There was a massive chunk of ice that extended for a few kilometers but the trail passed was going through it. He let his sense expand until he could sense everything within 10-kilometer radius, allowing him to make sense of what had transpired.

His students and the floating body of Sline followed behind him and they came to a stop in a location that was filled with ice pulverized into fine dust. It made the few frozen droplets of blood strewn on the ground extremely noticeable.

“Master, it looks completely one-sided.”

“You are correct.”

He was certain he had only detected the presence of one child being carried away by the abductors. Yet, there was no sign of another body anywhere in this place.

He extended his senses even further, even physically visiting various locations that showed any sign of fighting but Kire found no further traces, except for the remnants of the armored suits and the unconscious child who had been possessed. He returned with the children and the wreckage of the armor in tow.

"Master, I want to climb out," one of his students expressed their desire.

"Me too!" another chimed in.

"I'd rather not, master," the remaining student said.

Employing his Qi, Kire levitated all but the two who wished to climb, slowly ascending while the two tried to climb up through the smooth and straight wall of the hole.

During the ascent, Kire's attention shifted to Sline, whose body began trembling, a sign of awakening.

"Rest," Kire transmitted, and her body immediately settled into a calm state once again.

Emerging from the hole, they returned to the laboratory. The landscape had been transformed in the aftermath of the intense struggle. Kire waved his hand and the remaining monsters were crushed and then the whole valley cleared of the monster corpses. It was now possible to stop the fragments of torn armor suits scattered about.

"We were only able to locate this young lady. As for the princess, she was captured by the enemy, and they fled before I could intervene," Kire informed Knrama.

"What about Harvester Inero-ie?" Knrama inquired, concerned.

"I did discover the place where he should have been forced into a fight but I could not find his body," Kire explained.

"Bad news on bad news. He was a talented young boy."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Turning to the few that remained, Knrama spoke decisively, "Let's go. We need to return ASAP!"

***

‘No. NonononononoNO!’ Inero-ie was consumed by denial. He had believed this would be his end, but once again, he found himself alive, against all odds. There should have been no way for him to survive this encounter, facing an entity far superior to his own power. He had been utterly defenseless, unable to offer even the slightest resistance. He should have been a lifeless corpse, with his neck crushed. Yet, here he was, alive, experiencing only a faint ache around his neck.

'How many times now?' he pondered, his mind gradually recalling all the instances where death should have claimed him, yet he had managed to evade it time and time again. This time, however, he felt no desire to take action. Despite his overwhelming urge to end his own life at this very moment, he found himself unable to do so. He had made a promise, after all.

"But do I have to honor that promise?" a whisper insinuated itself into his mind, slowly unraveling a deluge of suppressed emotions and dark thoughts. For once, Inero-ie allowed these unsavory notions to circulate freely within his mind. He was tired, drained of any desire to even try.

He focused on his core, slowly controlling the Qi while thinking.

"You will not be able to do it," a voice resonated within his mind.

"Why won't I?" he retorted sharply.

No response. Time slipped away making him think that maybe it was just a hallucination, that it was something of survival instinct that had still remained inside his body but that was impossible. The level of abuse he put himself through would have been impossible if it still existed.

His threads extended outward, causing a brief surge of pain as his core protested against the sudden strain. So, he reduced the number of threads, alleviating the burden, although the pain persisted.

Utilizing Qi was akin to using any other part of his body—when unharmed, they could function within their prescribed limits without issue. But when injured, depending on the severity, they could be mildly painful or rendered completely useless.

In this unfamiliar environment, surrounded by obscurity, Inero-ie's threads unexpectedly brushed against something he had never anticipated encountering again—the snake. He opened his eyes, seeing despite the absence of light. Anger threatened to consume him once more, but he forced the plug close, he could still remember that feeling of being imprisoned inside his own body, unable to sense, unable to feel, unable to move. That was torture worse than losing most of his body, worse than having his arms and legs chewed while he was conscious.

The membrane was enveloping his body, shielding him from the frigid cold and confining him like a prison, just like the last time.

"Recover. You will be granted freedom once you can wield the law," the voice declared.

This time, Inero-ie made no effort to elicit a response, devoid of any desire to take action. Strangely enough, it felt preferable. Suspended in this state, a sense of dread engulfed his heart—the fear that he would never be able to die. If something possessed enough power to teleport him from tens of thousands of kilometers away to this place, leaving no trace of its presence, surely it could put a stop to whatever attempt he made at taking his own life.

He remained stagnant, unwilling to engage in any activity. Until now, the only reason he had been able to press on was due to the hope that he would die and he could see that hope each time he fought. He had always placed himself in life-or-death situations. Wandering alone in these frozen wastelands while others did so in groups. Leaving the Grand Formation when most dared not leave the safety of the settlements. But now even that hope had been stripped away from him. If he could not die, then why bother? Why even attempt anything? If he was not allowed to die, then what purpose did it all serve?

Time marched on, seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, and as a week neared completion, the voice that had remained silent spoke once more, delivering words that sent a jolt through Inero-ie's entire being.

"Your parents, and their friend, were murdered. Their deaths were not due to illness."

"What do you mean? Tell me! If you don't, I will shatter my core this very instant," he threatened, but once again, no response was forthcoming.

"Once you can harness the power of the law."

The anger he had suppressed suddenly erupted, and he manipulated his Qi, intending to wreak havoc within his core, to shatter it. However, before he could achieve anything, he lost control of his own power.

"As I told you, you won't be able to end your own life," the voice echoed once more.

Inero-ie struggled, but the control he had always excelled in was no more, as his Qi which he was always attuned to, refused to heed his commands.