When Master John severed Sorgon's neck with his sword, it was the end for him. After a momentary tremor, his half-transformed serpent body shook and collapsed to the ground.
Sorgon was dead. John looked at the sword and took a deep breath. The sword's glint reflected Hades, the planet's star, which was just beginning to light up the sky.
'Hmm, that kid?'
At that moment, Sorgon sat up as if he had just thought of something and looked behind him. Where Kasuur had been, the wind blew.
"He fled, then. Smart kid."
Killing Kasuur had truly crossed Sorgon's mind. Now that his identity had been revealed, he could kill Kasuur for the sake of his children's lives, even if not for his own. He had done such things before.
"He can't have run very far."
Unfortunately, John's legs were not in very good shape. Kasuur was injured, but so was John. He knew that attending to his injuries increased the risk of death. There was an Origin Heart Beast around, which meant there could be Core Realm beasts, too. Despite the 7-Year Dungeon's protection, he had to keep his body strong in case of the unexpected.
If the Origin Heart Monster started coming this way, John had to be sure he could escape.
RAAAAAAGGH!!!
The roar shook the forest. At first, John thought it was no different from the monster's previous roars, but it was. He felt the ground begin to shake. The concentration of origin energy in the environment was rising, and the tremors were intensifying.
An earthquake was happening.
John realized that the monster was doing something. It was doing something big, and its target was precisely...
The old man's face changed.
"My children!"
***
His black hair fluttering in the wind, Mais leaped onto the back of a tiger-like creature. A small, white-furred beast with three tails stood on his shoulder. The Sage Realm's aura hadn't spread far, but it kept nearby creatures at bay.
They were heading toward the inheritance area at Core Realm speed. Mais was silent. The Little Immortal was silent, as was the bullied little tiger. Suddenly, Immortal White saw a light behind them among the trees.
SQUEAK!
Little White's squeak was a warning to Mais. The little boy's eyebrows instantly furrowed, and he turned the tiger sideways. He was ready to flee from anything that might happen but was also unafraid to face whatever was coming.
RAAAAAAGH!
That was when the roar was heard. The expression on Mais's face became uglier. He didn't know what was coming; the terrifying beast's voice sounded different this time. There was powerful rage in that roar.
Then, the ground began to shake. Mais didn't hesitate any longer and drove the tiger straight toward the Legacy Area to escape the unknown. However, the Immortal White saw the approaching light and noticed that people were inside.
At that moment, the tremors intensified to the point that the ground began to crack. The light behind them faded, and as soon as their feet touched the ground, they began running after Mais with all their might. They all radiated auras from the Core Realm, and among them were a few 10th-stage experts.
Mais sensed their auras and knew that only one captain could lead such a powerful group.
"The young master of the Mond family, Darius Mond."
the gray-haired man.
At that moment, Darius Mond appeared behind the others and suddenly passed them. They seemed to be standing still. The truth was that Darius was simply very fast.
Darius was the young master. He would become the next patriarch of the family. The other captains were merely talented individuals. After losing to Yukimura in the capital, Darius's desire to become stronger was ignited. That's why he came here, despite the danger. His grandfather was on par with the inheritor. The risk here did not meet his standards. That's why his rivals stayed behind in the capital.
But Darius chose to advance. Even if it was just one level.
Now, he was choosing to flee.
The Immortal White could sense a powerful force approaching. Along with the increasingly intense origin energy, a man was approaching.
But that man wasn't after Mais. He was surprised to see Mais. With a Sage on his back and a Core monster beneath him, he presented a rather interesting sight. But now was not the time to think about him. Darius knew the reason for the intensification of the origin energy very well.
At that moment, he could feel the tremendous noise and shockwave coming from behind him. His face turned even paler.
"Run faster or get out of the way, idiot!"
Darius couldn't turn around at that moment, but as he ran, passing Mais without caring about him, he could hear his friends screaming behind him. The ground was cracking, and they were being swallowed by an unnatural valley. Everyone in the Core Realm—thin or fat—was being swallowed by the erosion of the canyon.
At that moment, Mais and Darius both realized something at the same time.
'I have to run to the edges.'
It didn't matter how far they moved away from the source. It was as if the monster had an endless supply of energy. Darius quickly changed direction when he saw the size of the forming rift, his eyes narrowing. The rift was gradually widening and was already 10 meters wide. If he looked further ahead, he could see that it was much wider.
'How did we provoke that damn monster?!'
Darius and a few others had provoked the monster in the first place. The monster they encountered was only at the first level of the Origin Heart Realm. It was eating the corpse of a sage monster. Darius chose to fight instead of flee because he knew the others couldn't escape. Even though he did the honorable thing, he didn't expect to be punished so quickly. Then the monster's mate came, and that monster had reached the peak of the Origin Heart Realm!
On top of that, it had reached the Stepping Stage in the Earth Tao.
This was all a product of the monster's ability. Only now did Darius understand the monster's true power and why it had allowed them to escape. At first, Darius had wounded the monster at the first level with an artifact his father had given him. The other monster must have stayed behind to protect it. It must have also thought that pursuing them wasn't necessary to kill them. One attack could have cost them all their lives.
In fact, all of this was true. Everyone was dead. Except Darius.
While running, Darius turned around and saw the child about to fall into the canyon. An ugly expression appeared on his face, but he didn't slow down at all. He turned back around, began using a technique, and his speed accelerated.
'I've done enough good for today.'
Meanwhile, Mais cursed as he felt the monster's convulsing body, heard the Immortal White's fear-filled screams, and listened to the ground splitting violently. He was so focused on running that he probably wasn't even aware of the ugly expression on his face.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'
He should have been lying on his ass in his palace. Why was he the one experiencing all this?
Why was he the talentless one?
He hadn't even provoked the monster!
'Damn it, I'm only 10 years old, would you have died if you had given me a hand?!'
At that moment, Mais noticed that the core monster beneath him had started to fall, so he instantly stood up on the creature. Furrowing his eyebrows, he raised his staff, pressed down on the monster's head, and leaped forward with all his might.
The sounds diminished, and the area's destructive power slowed. Mais pushed himself a little further as he leaped, using his staff to push the monster. As the Core Monster rolled toward the pit, Mais could only hear Little White's violent screams. They seemed unable to catch up.
He extended his staff forward but nearly lost his balance in doing so. His forehead was covered in sweat; at that moment, all he needed was for the staff to touch solid ground. Then, he would try to do something.
He clenched his teeth and tried to straighten up. It would be wonderful if just one foot touched the ground.
TINGG...
At that moment, the tip of the staff made a sound as if it had touched something metallic. Unaware of this odd occurrence, Mais forced a smile and put all his strength into his right hand, which held the staff. He was trying to lift himself up, defying the torque, when another movement confused him and set off alarm bells.
A hand grabbed his.
The hand pulled him, and suddenly, his body hit something. It was a hard, strong back.
"We're not going to leave a child to die!"
Two strong men emerged from the dust and continued running with all their might through the slowly eroding terrain, carrying a child on their backs.
They were Master John's twins!