Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 431: Phoenix City.

As Ozul confirmed that they would stay with her, Ember didn’t waste any time and called one of her men.

Zier recognized him immediately; everyone did. He was the man responsible for changing the location they would appear in when they exited this estate. The man who could always be found at the gate.

"It’s time," she spoke as the man’s eyes lit up, understanding the implication, "Bring the estate back."

"As you command, Master!"

The man ran out in a rush of excitement as evident from his loud voice.

Following this, Ozul could feel the emotions of happiness rising all over the estate. The man was running around, telling everyone that they were setting the estate back to Phoenix City.

With his sharpened senses, he couldn’t miss these details even if he wanted to. His mind automatically started scanning the people with strong emotions.

Before he could stop it, he stumbled upon a few people who weren’t resonating with the same feeling of delight and relief as everyone else. On the contrary, their emotions were the complete opposite.

"I never noticed before... But you have quite a few spies running around," Ozul spoke softly as he gazed in one particular direction, his eyes scanning beyond the confines of their room.

"Ho~?" His words caught Ember’s attention as she leaned back on the chair with a sigh, "I know there’ve been spies, but I never had the time nor energy to root them out."

Her twinkling eyes stared down at Ozul with an interest greater than before as she spoke,"It seems, however, that you have already found some. Those geezers waiting for my last breath should see some blood at my ’awakening’, what do you think, would you do the honor?"

He nodded his head without much thought. Except for Ember herself, everyone in the estate was at his mercy. "I just need to execute them, right?" He asked, knowing he didn’t have the energy to interrogate these people.

To his surprise, Ember didn’t care what these people knew and who they belonged to. She simply nodded with a smile.

"Three... no four. I can confirm these four at this instant," he muttered, looking past the walls.

"Ah, Ozul. If I didn’t know you would reject me outright, I would have adopted you as my grandson." Ember smiled in anticipation. The fact that he could locate the spies in her estate while standing in the room with her spoke volumes of his uncanny abilities.

As for the possibility that he could be lying? She never doubted him for a moment. She had reached the Realm of a Sage and could judge people’s personalities.

"Go ahead. Start painting this estate in crimson. To the new beginning!" She shouted as she raised the glass in her hand that appeared out of nowhere.

Ozul didn’t need any more confirmation as the Purity spread throughout the estate and reached the four people he had no doubt were spies.

And with a single command, the four of them were immediately beheaded in front of their colleagues.

Showers of blood sprouted in four random locations of the estate, throwing everyone into a panic.

"Even I didn’t feel it until they died! You would really make a great assassin, did anyone ever tell you that?" Ember commented, while Raven and Blaze fiercely nodded their heads.

The two would occasionally talk about how Ozul could make the world’s best assassin.

Only a few seconds passed when a man ran through their room, sweating all over, "Master... There’s been an assassination!"

"I know. Take the heads, and hang them outside the estate when it’s settled back into Phoenix City. Make sure they take at least a week before they start rotting."

"Huh-..." For a moment, the man didn’t know what to think. But it only took a few seconds before it all clicked in his mind. "As you command, Master." He left just as quickly as he had arrived.

He was a smart man, which was also the reason Ember chose him to handle the matters of the estate.

’Foxes really are clever,’ Raven thought in her mind, noticing his ears and the orange tail protruding out of his back.

"Oh, and it’s finally done..." Ember suddenly stood up and took a deep breath.

Ozul also felt something change in the air as his senses started to spread outside the estate.

Before, even though the range of his senses had increased, it was limited to the estate as this place was isolated in space; like a small realm.

It seemed like the man responsible for settling the estate back into Phoenix City didn’t waste any time even when four random people were beheaded.

"So this is Phoenix City?"

"Oh, you haven’t seen even a glimpse of it, my executioner."

"I am not your executioner."

They walked out of the room as they noticed the sky being more oppressive than before. The cause of which lay at the center; a crack in the space through which endless stars could be seen.

Lightning crackled around that thing continuously, but no Beastkin in the estate paid it any heed. They were all used to it.

Ozul was more drawn to it than anyone else. He kept staring at the fissure in space. Something inside of it wanted to suck him in, but there was no physical force. His breath quickened as he tried to find the source of this attraction, but his contemplation was broken as Ember announced,

"Do you not feel it? The air? This is Phoenix City!"

They didn’t say anything, but the heaviness in the air which was attributed to the high density of the Spiritual Essence was proof of the city’s might.

"A little more and normal people wouldn’t be able to live here," Ozul assessed.

To which Ember nodded, "And that’s why even the weakest pedestrians of Phoenix City have at least trained their physical bodies if not walk the path of cultivation."

Ozul looked toward the gates of the estate and noticed for the first time they could see through it. There were people walking outside the street.

Just then, the fox Beastkin walked out of the building with four severed heads he held by their hair.

Two of the faces even had small smiles on their faces, not even realizing they had died.

Ember only smiled slightly looking at those faces and then addressed the people of the estate,

"We have returned to our home! And these four were spies from my enemies. There must be more~ Listen to me, and listen well! Those who harbor any ill intentions toward my home will meet their end just like them!"

"I also have a new executioner. He’s a silent one, so beware~"

Ozul only groaned in frustration, realizing that Ember would pester his long-anticipated naps.

"Go take a walk outside, I want to sleep right now..."

He told the trio who were more than happy to explore this Phoenix City after spending so much time holed up in their rooms while cultivating.

Meanwhile, he went directly to his room, much to the disappointment of Ember who wanted to talk more.

"Oh well, I have a lot on my hands as well..."

The first thing that came to her mind was dealing with her enemies, but that could wait. She first needed to establish contact with her friends, allies, and her underlings who were forced to leave her side.

"I still remember the Nightwalkers. Their little group has had their fun," she muttered ominously to herself.

Recently, there were a few times a member of their organization came to disrupt her work. She had found out the reason: Cass, her detested cousin, paid them each time he found out what she was planning.

A nightwalker had even come after Ozul once when she was forced to make a move. Picturing that mocking face of Cass when he came to brag about it caused her to frown in annoyance.

’That little bitch Cass can wait... But these Nightwalkers have walked too long in the night...’

The ominous smile on her face bothered more than a few Beastkin in the estate, but none dared to show it.

...

The next day, word got around of the heads hanging in front of the estate of Beastkin.

Humans gathered around the streets, whispering and murmuring while pointing at the preserved heads which refused to rot for some reason.

Two Beastkin had also suddenly disappeared from the estate, whom Ember labeled as spies. It was easy to guess that they got scared and ran away.

One thing Raven quickly noticed was that there were a few Beastkin on the streets as well.

Most of them were related to common beasts. They hadn’t seen any features that matched those of Ember.

"What type of Beastkin was she, anyway?" Zier asked as they walked through the streets.

"If I have to guess, it would be... a Dragon," Raven answered with a pause.

Blaze rubbed his head while trying to remember something, "Didn’t she say she was a dragon?"

Zier shrugged his shoulders. Even if she was a dragon, he didn’t want to see it, wondering just how much rage would force her to transform.

As they walked inside the estate, the people on the streets kept murmuring,

"Aren’t they humans?"

"Why are they walking inside the Beastkin’s estate then?"

"Maybe they aren’t humans?"

"Who knows..."

The trio ignored their whispers, but it gave them a general idea of the people of this city. Although there were some Beastkin walking among the common people, they hadn’t seen a single Human conversing with a Beastkin.

But they shrugged. Only Zier felt a little bad for the Beastkin who were discriminated against, but ultimately, it wasn’t their problem.