Kanari led the group down the tunnels with a reserved caution. Four beautiful foxfires illuminated the darkness of the channel, giving the world a sense of beautiful mystique. Charred corpses, most of them decapitated, were littered throughout the narrow tunnels. The elite team had seen gruesome scenes over the years, but few could top the current bloodied atmosphere of the humid passageways. Elrin, a woman who had been holed up in the Zedcris Conglomerate’s headquarters for the longest time, felt completely out of place in the damp quarters. She had to pinch her nose and cover her mouth just to keep the nauseous feeling suppressed within her. The twins were showing similar symptoms, but they resisted the sickening feeling through sheer will.

“Elrin, Ella, Emma, you alright?” Isadore asked with concern. He was a peak martial artist and had trained his body to the apex. There was no way that some burnt and broken corpses could hinder his mental state.

“We’re fine,” Ella answered for the trio. “It’s just a little stuffy in here, that’s all.”

“Yeah, let’s continue...” Emma replied with confidence. The twins, being the two most sensitive people within the team, had some troubles with the pungent stench and choking air. They had to purge out the smoke using a particular breathing technique that Meijing Bingying had taught them a year back.

Elrin, on the other hand, mumbled out a few verses and split her Rosary of Eternity. Pretty pearls rushed to all corners of the tunnel, surrounding the twins and herself. Mana flowed out from the pearls, and a simple bubble enveloped the young women, creating a small pocket of air for their own personal use. Inhaling like a swimmer that had just crossed an ocean, the white-haired woman instantly felt rejuvenated. “Phew… With this, I should be fine!”

“Elrin, that’s...” Kanari glanced over her shoulders as curiosity filled her eyes.

“Yeap, it’s my fifth spiritual ability!” Elrin declared, not hiding a single detail. “After forming my Spectre Soul, I realised that there wasn’t someone within our group that focused on pure defence. So, while I was cultivating, I read some scriptures about boosting defences. I’ve read all about the Heigui Clan’s Xuanwu’s Shell, the legend of the impregnable bubble Aegis and many, many more.” The merchant girl beamed.

“In the end, after much consideration, I decided to create a mobile safe zone that could be used for protection, defence and most importantly… Recovery.” The white-haired girl exclaimed. Elrin was the auxiliary cultivator within their group. She had to ensure that there were enough support abilities in her arsenal to use, while the rest of the elite team ran amok on the battlefield.

“Within this bubble, I can withstand any attack from anyone at the same cultivation level as me. For those that are a realm above, I could probably take five hits before the barrier dissipates.” Elrin continued to explain her abilities with a charming smile. “So, filtering some bad air is a piece of cake!”

“How dependable...” The left side of Kanari’s lips curled upwards, pleased that Elrin had improved herself to match up with the tremendous pace of Shin and herself. Their band of seven had been reduced to six. Kanari and Shin were monsters in cultivation, while the twins weren’t trailing too far behind, with the assistance of the Meijing Clan. Isadore had the support of the strongest man in the world, so Kanari wasn’t particularly worried about him. However, Elrin lacked the same opportunities to grow, as compared to the rest of them. Fortunately, the merchant heiress didn’t need any of the aforementioned opportunities. She was smart enough to make her own…

The group slowly clawed their way through the darkness of the tunnels, inching closer to the unknown source of the Black Masks’ base. For Fred Newton to bring that many Umbras through the tunnels, there has to be a base hidden somewhere…

“Aunt Thea, do you sense anything?” Kanari asked the Spirit Venerate that protected her. Among the few that were present, other than the twins, only Thea was capable of sensing danger at a far greater accuracy than the rest of them.

“Nothing as of...” The burly woman was about to reply with a negative before stopping her speech. She walked in front of Kanari and spread her left arm in front of her. Her brows started to twitch, and her face tightened up. Mana burned within her soul as every part of her body was being strengthened at an astonishing rate.

“Young Mistress, please prepare for contact...” Thea let out a cryptic suggestion, but that alone was enough to get the group on their toes. Every single one of them unleashed their Spirits and assumed their battle positions. Isadore took the vanguard, empowered by Elrin’s Sacramental Boost and False Armaments. The twins stood shoulder-by-shoulder with their marksmen eyes homing in on the darkness and their bows fully drawn. And finally, Kanari assumed her Spiritual Body Enhancement form while ready to unleash the full extent of her domain.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

Slow footsteps broke the eerie silence, as something emerged from the complete dark. A near two-metre-tall man, whose muscles were swollen beyond anything a bodybuilder could manage, showed his face for all to behold. He wasn’t injured in the slightest, but his face was as haggard as an eighty-year-old on the brink of death. At first, Kanari felt a little sympathetic for the man, who had seemed to be drawn into the mess that was the battle outside. However, that sympathy all changed when she saw that familiar black mask that hung on the side of his head.

“A Brahmin!” Thea growled, ready to pounce and defeat the threat before it could even touch the soles of her master. A Brahmin appearing inside of the tunnels wasn’t outside Kanari’s calculations. Some of Shin’s cautious mindset to think ten, twenty steps ahead had rubbed off onto the gorgeous beauty after all these years of sleeping next to him. Kanari had ordered Thea to kill any Brahmin before they could collapse the tunnels, which would be the standard way one would slow down pursuers. So, the Spirit Venerate instantly left her position as a guard and roared all her way towards the Brahmin.

However… The unthinkable happened…

Boom!!!

Instead of readying his stance or summoning his Spirit, the Brahmin fell to the ground with both his knees facing the black-haired beauty. His eyes were twinkling with a tinge of hope, despair and shame, all at the same time. The muscular man, who seemed capable of moving the world, now seemed… so small.

“What?” Confused, Thea halted her charge just moments before her punch landed. She hadn’t been in a fight where her opponent would surrender before anything had even begun.

The man ignored the Spirit Venerate’s disorientation and glanced over the woman, locking eyes with the leader of the group. “Are you Kanari Saniela?”

A rhetorical question. There was no way that the Brahmin would kneel before a Rank 50 Spirit Lord, particularly one as young as Kanari, without knowing her identity. All he wanted to do was to confirm what he already knew.

“Yes, that’s me...” Kanari lowered her arms and replied. She was still on guard, but the state of the man had caused her interest to be piqued. “Who are you?”

With his objective found, the man’s eyes finally unleashed the wetness that had been held back for so long now. Ever since he’d first heard the news, the man had been holding back his emotions. However… There was no need to hold back anymore… A loud thump echoed through the narrow tunnels, as Kanari saw the man slam his forehead upon the solid ground.

“Please… Please save his child!!! Please… Please save Junius’ child!!!”

❖❖❖

Ao saw gallons of blood flying out of his body with each passing moment. The pain was beginning to feel searing hot, and his spiritual energies were leaking out like a broken dam. Before him, one dominant Spirit Venerate was followed by eight secondary ones, each with their own unique Spirits. Oddly enough, even though the eight Spirit Venerates had their quarrels, their coordination was unmatched by any. All eight of them possessed Spirits that had been together since the Lady of Water’s era. Naturally, many fighting combinations had been passed down through the generations.

However, the one that caused the legendary World Serpent the most trouble weren’t the pesky Eight Scions of Water… But the madman with the sword which continued to fling his body into danger, without a care in the world about his own safety. Ao has rarely faced anyone this ferocious, even with his millenniums of living.

‘Funny, the last person I faced with this much fire… Was that Wangu fella, this guy’s disciple… It must be something that’s passed down throughout the Dalgeom Sect...’ The World Serpent joked, while one more cut was embedded into its thick hide. Ao could retaliate, but what was the point? He was outnumbered and outgunned. Even if he defeated the nine Spirit Venerates that was facing him, he would have to take down the Himmel Ancestor, who was just seconds away from breaking down the Obsidian Gate.

‘Ah… Is this where my dream ends? Is this place… my grave?’ Ao couldn’t help but have pessimistic thoughts.

“HAHA!!! You stupid snake!!! Get ready to become cultivation materials for my disciples!” Shenshe Yowang exclaimed in glee. To him, the fight was long over. There was no need for any caution now, and his mind was already thinking about reaping the benefits.

“Focus, Yowang! Don’t get distracted!” Jingyu Hilin barked. “God knows what tricks the World Serpent might be hiding! Target its core!!!” Fortunately, his leader had her eye on the ball.

“Tch, fine...”

While the Lantis Republic Spirit Venerates were playing around, Pangu, the swordmaster from the Dalgeom Sect, congregated all of his mana and dropped his sword down to his waist. He was ready to launch the most powerful strike that he had. “Wangu… I’m going to avenge you… I’M GOING TO KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER WHO KILLED YOU!!!”

Beautiful lights decorated the scenery, as potent spiritual energies burst forth from the elites. Ao, who was weakened by transferring the Allfather’s mana to Junius, had nothing left to protect himself. All he could do… Was to wait for the final slash to arrive, ending his life right there and then.

However… That attack never landed.

“Huh?” The World Serpent let out a voice of visible confusion. As Ao opened his eyes, a dark presence was floating right in front of the colossal serpent, sucking in all forms of energies from the surroundings. That included the attacks by the Spirit Venerates.

“Allfather?”

“Yes… That’s me...” The shadow replied without its usual otherworldly voice. With his cloak on, Ao couldn’t see the face of the man he served. However, based on the tense mana in the air, there was no way that the Allfather was in a pleasant mood. “Ao, you idiot… Were you trying to die without my permission?!”

“Ah, I-I’m sorry!” Ao rapidly bowed his head in subservience.

“Hmph! We’ll talk about your punishment another time… For now, let me get you out of here...” The shadow turned into dark mist and begun to envelop the Tier 9 Spirit Beast. The Spirit Venerates felt that something was amiss and immediately moved to stop the World Serpent; however, all of their attacks turned into mana for the thirsty Allfather. “I’ll bring you to me right now.”

“Wait, what about Junius? What about his family?!” Ao screamed out within the dark mist, begging the Allfather to save his protege’s life. Teleporting people to and fro was a simple matter for the Allfather, who possessed the most mana out of anyone in the world. However…

“Junius… That brat...” The Allfather’s voice turned sour, and the atmosphere seemingly turned a hundred degrees colder. “Junius… That fucking brat… He had betrayed us…”