Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 467: Target.

"He still lives with Ember," Minho reported about Ozul.

"From what I have gathered, Ember takes good care of him and his team. Now that she has become an Empyrean, pretty much no one will dare to touch them."

At that, Old Gu squinted his eyes a little, showing his displeasure.

"So life has gotten comfortable for him... hmm," he shook his head sideways as if it was unfair to the little kids fighting for bread in front of him.

"Master..." Minho called out softly.

"Huh?"

"Can I inquire why you wouldn’t join the Demonic Emperor? Don’t we have reason to go against God’s Son?"

Old Gu sighed, finding it a bother to explain himself, but still went through with it nonetheless.

"That is where you are wrong. I don’t have a reason to go against that brat, at least not yet."

"But he is starting a war spanning across all the realms?" Minho knew that his liege was strictly against war; one that would consume so many smaller realms was something completely against his morals.

Only Minho would think of his master in such a kind light.

Old Gu shook his head again, "The war was inevitable in the first place. I call him an arrogant brat out of spite only. Otherwise, he is smarter than you.

The Demonic Emperor was going to wage the war sooner or later. That brat saw it coming and decided to move first. For all his arrogance, he is playing his cards well."

Minho calmly digested his words, now fully aware of why his liege wasn’t joining the Demonic Emperor either.

Old Gu stood up abruptly.

"Where now, Master?"

"Where else? In all my wisdom, how can I let that kid get comfortable? It will hinder his growth," he smiled to himself, dusting his robes.

. . .

Back in Ember’s estate, the trio and Rai were forced to sit in lotus positions as the new Empyrean guided each of them individually.

Her focus was on Rai since he only needed a little push before he broke through to the Sage Realm.

Meanwhile, Ozul had left the estate after explaining to Ember his newfound ability.

She personally gave him a list of Transcendents and their locations along with scattered maps of the kingdoms near them.

These were all the people she had to get rid of in order to fulfill her revenge on all those who had wronged her in the past.

As an Empyrean, she didn’t need to go through these diversions to achieve her goals anymore. But since Ozul needed to absorb other beings, she gave him the perfect playground.

And so, Ozul had gone to assassinate his first target. The closest to him was a Beastkin affiliated with the Wilderness, residing in the kingdom to the north of Phoenix City.

He entered the kingdom in his simple clothes, and a mask covering the upper half of his face.

However, even that mask was not visible as he once again wore a big pointed hat. It was a bright day and he naturally blended in with the pedestrians as many of them had straw hats as well except for the fact that his was purely black.

He walked through the streets, without having to ask for any directions. With his sharp senses, the aura of a Transcendent couldn’t stay hidden even among a thousand others.

He simply followed the direction of the aura and before long, arrived in front of an extravagant pavilion.

Two Beastkin stood guard at the front gate, eyeing all passerby Humans with hostility.

Occasionally a few Beastkin would be seen walking in and out of the pavilion.

Staying in the shade of another building, Ozul scanned the entire building thoroughly. There were actually two Transcendents in the building.

With his strength, fighting two of them at the same time wasn’t possible unless he sneaked in on one of them.

’That’s not possible either...’ He thought, sensing the aura of the Transcendents.

His main target was only at the initial stage of Transcendent Realm, but the other one was almost at its peak.

The moment he entered the pavilion, his presence would not go unnoticed by that Beastkin.

There could be a chance if only that Beastkin ignored him in his arrogance, but it would be a complete gamble on his part.

’I guess I can only wait...’

It was his own advice to Raven and Blaze to not take a risk when there was no need to.

According to Ember, his target should be the sole Transcendent stationed in this city, and so it meant that the other Beastkin was most likely a guest.

And guests leave sooner or later.

He decided to wait at least until the night. If Beastkin hadn’t left even then, he would have been forced to change his target.

’That would take me another day of traveling...’ The next target was in a kingdom in the opposite direction.

Ember had chosen such people for him that he would most probably find alone and easy to deal with. There were many others, but their successive deaths would cause too much commotion and he would be forced to stop.

...

He stayed in the dark alleys for a long time, so still that someone who saw him would probably wonder if he had died.

His eyes remained glued to the entrance. It also made him realize the ratio between Humans and Beastkin in this city was skewed again in favor of Humans. Phoenix City was the most balanced he had seen so far.

Starlight was beginning to fade from the sky, soon night would fall.

Just then, he felt the aura of that guest Beastkin descending down the pavilion. They were previously staying on the top floors.

Soon after, he saw a figure coming out of the gates with bird feathers in place of human skin.

His target, the dog-like Beastkin also came to see him off.

"I will conclude everything on my part, you need not worry, senior." The dog-like Beastkin cupped his hand to the other Transcendent before the latter took off and soon after, even Ozul couldn’t sense his presence.

The alley he hid in was quite a distance from the pavilion, but he had now mastered his senses enough to focus at a specific point in his range when he wanted to.

Although it wasn’t as easy as he wanted it to be. He needed to stand stationary for it to work.

The streets started getting only more crowded as the Star began to set.

To his luck, Humans would sometimes enter the pavilion as well.

The guards were only standing there to stop if someone caused any trouble. Otherwise, they allowed everyone in.

Right after the other Beastkin left, Ozul walked to the entrance and entered without a care.

Both the guards were at the peak of Nascent Soul. They only glanced at him briefly before shifting their eyes back to the crowd.

Once inside, Ozul walked to the top of the pavilion where he was stopped by a Beastkin at who was at the peak of Origin Realm.

"What business do you have here?" The one-horned Beastkin asked, blocking the stairs with his long sword.

’That is rare...’ Ozul thought in his heart as he eyed the sword.

Here was the first Beastkin he had come across who was using a weapon instead of their own body.

"A pity..." he muttered.

It was as far as he could go without causing a scene. The floor right above him housed his target.

His pointed hat suddenly transformed into a spear and flew at the Beastkin blocking his path.

The Beastkin tried blocking it with his sword, but Purity cleaved through the metal sword like paper, pinning him to the wall in the end.

"H-how?" He managed to squeeze out before the light faded from his eyes.

Ozul quickly noticed that there was no remorse in him. The only thing remotely close to guilt was his being able to sense the emotions of a dying person.

The Beastkin had quick senses. The guards on that floor quickly jumped him while others stepped back in horror at what had just transpired.

His target on the upper floor also roared his aura, having felt the death of one of his men.

Ozul planned to finish it as quickly as possible.

The blade that pinned the earlier Beastkin melted before rearranging itself into several needles. They spun around and killed the guards instantly.

Right after that, they converged and formed a large spear again.

"Stay your hand!" shouted the Transcendent Beastkin as he appeared in front of him, his sharpened claws threatening to behead him right there.

Ozul had already seen it coming as the spear parried his claws, leaving a gashing wound on the Beastkin instead.

"ARK!"

Jumping back in horror, the dog-like Beastkin finally realized that the man without any Spiritual Essence was at least in the Transcendent Realm.

"Who are you?! Who sent you? Was it Ember?"

Ozul didn’t care to reply. Instead, he carefully manipulated Purity to surround him from the back as well.

"Don’t think I didn’t notice it!" barked the Beastkin as he parried the blades aiming at his throat. This time, he didn’t dare to underestimate the strength behind those attacks.

However, there were too many blades.

Ozul stood still in his place as he sent waves and waves of Purity blades at the canine, leaving him with deeper wounds each time.

"This will stop now!!" The Beastkin shouted in rage, releasing all of his Spiritual Essence.

He knew in those few moments that he would lose if it continued any longer.

But just at that moment, his legs suddenly gave away.

He fell to his knees.

"Huh."

Looking down at his wounds, the Beastkin noticed that he was rotting.

Everything happened in such quick succession that he only now felt that all his wounds were charred black!

"What wicked tri-" He was about to shout when another blade pierced his throat.

"Khu!"

Another went to his heart, killing him on the spot.

The few onlookers who remained conscious even under the Spiritual pressure of that Transcendent almost fainted at the sight.

Ozul covered the Beastkin with Purity and without wasting any time, jumped through the broken wall, leaving the pavilion.

And so, he disappeared into the alleys.

No one dared to follow behind him.