Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 485: Sacrifice.

The three of them glanced at Ozul, silently asking him to order for retreat.

Sadly for them, they were bound to be disappointed.

He too knew their odds of winning were narrow, but the opportunity to be able to absorb a Sage also couldn’t be missed.

’At least Rai cannot defeat him alone...’ He and Rai both knew this judging from that old man’s aura. But they couldn’t help him either since they would be busy dealing with two peak Transcendents.

"Tell you what. If you can survive me, I will follow you back," Jaka said gravely, beckoning his two disciples.

"Hey hey! Isn’t this unfair? At least give yourself some handicap!" Rai pointed at him, expressing fake anger.

"This whole forest is my domain, boy. I am not activating any arrays, that is mercy enough," grunted the old man with a feral smile.

Rai turned around to face four of them with a shameless grin. They were truly fucked. He didn’t even sense stepping into any Spiritual arrays, but the old man didn’t seem to be lying or Ozul would have pointed it out for them.

Meanwhile, Ozul stood expressionless as ever.

’Yes... It is better if they fight like their lives are on the line. No need to tell them the old man is lying...Mhm...’

Sadly, neither Rai nor the three of them could read emotions like him.

Jaka faced his two disciples.

Both of them had short hair and were dressed similarly as well. They would be hard to distinguish if not for the burn scar on one of their faces.

"Do not underestimate them. Go for the kill!" He loudly instructed them.

The two ladies solemnly nodded their heads as everyone sprung into action.

"Bones and flesh of a fellow Sage, that ought to help me in creating a life-saving artifa-"

Before Jaka could finish his words, Rai’s claws were already reaching for his face.

"You talk too much for an old man!"

Everyone quickly sprung into action.

Much to Ozul’s annoyance, they already seemed to know that he was stronger than he seemed on the outside.

The scarred woman attacked him while the other cornered the trio.

The crystals on Blaze’s forehead shone with a deep blue glare as two ice shards the size of a saber appeared in both of his hands.

Zier kept his distance, waiting for an opening where he could use his poison.

Raven acted as Blaze’s support, using writhing shadows to create diversions and helping him maintain a safe distance from her.

"We can do this!" Zier shouted 5 seconds into the battle, convinced that they could tie her down like this until Ozul was done with his opponent.

Right as he spoke those words, Blaze was sent crashing into the ground and he noticed the woman focus in her direction.

"Fuck me-"

Meanwhile, Ozul and the scarred woman fought toe to toe but the latter had a clear upper hand as he kept getting pushed back.

From the start, there was no opportunity for a surprise attack to give him an edge like most other battles.

’This is getting nowhere...’ He thought in frustration, trying to sneak in even the tiniest of attacks.

However, after one of the blades scraped her hand, she noticed the subtle necrosis of her skin and was even more careful from then on to not let a blade touch her.

It wouldn’t have been much of a problem if not for the fact that she was a cut above him in terms of strength.

"Urgh!" An involuntary groan escaped his lips as he was hit on the chest for the second time! His shirt was already in shreds.

On the other hand, Blaze and Zier were not faring much better either. They were worse than him even.

At this point, the war which was going to envelop all Realms didn’t seem as important.

If they were going to die here, the scale of the upcoming war could be ten times worse for all they could care.

The strongest of them, Rai, was also at a clear disadvantage.

He was semi-transformed into a canine beast with long nails and sharp teeth, but Jaka seemed to have experience dealing with feral beasts.

It was already impressive that he was able to keep up with the old man who had clearly lived more than a few centuries as a Sage!

"With this lousy strength, you dared say those words?" Jaka continued his assault as he mocked the suffering Rai.

However, he still couldn’t understand why the Beastkin who was taking a beating from him for the past twenty minutes still had that bloody grin on his face.

"Did you know, old man? It has not even been a decade since I became a Sage!" Rai spit the blood in his mouth at the old man, hoping for even the slightest bit of advantage.

The way he fought was erratic and unconventional. With every attack that Jaka landed on him, he was willing to sacrifice another hit just to land a punch as well!

As such, even though the old man was stronger than him in all ways, he was still covered in small wounds.

Meanwhile, the situation with Ozul and the trio didn’t fare any better.

Ozul was battered and hurt all over his body, but with a few cuts and grazes, he was able to steal some of her stamina.

’But this is not enough...’ He thought, acknowledging his situation.

He was finally starting to realize that absorbing a Sage would not be an easy task even if presented with the opportunity.

If they kept fighting like this, that scarred woman would eventually get tired and he would win, but that could take more than a day considering the fact that she was a peak Transcendent.

The trio were in worse shape than they had assumed at the start.

It hadn’t been long since they had stepped into this Realm, and it was showing in their helplessness against her.

Dodging another attack from the woman, Zier breathed heavily, "This is getting nowhere. A single wrong step and we will lose our lives!"

The woman they were fighting had started using a sword and with each slash, she not only cut down trees but even split apart the ground!

Blaze looked at their opponent easily evading Raven’s attacks before kicking her in the guts with frustration.

Even when they outnumbered her, they couldn’t land a single blow to her.

Wiping the blood trailing down his neck, he desperately looked for any openings or patterns in her fighting style that they could exploit.

One glance at Ozul and Rai, he understood that they were in no position to help them either. Something had to be done to turn the tides of this battle and if not them, he had to do it!

As Zier distracted the woman, he mouthed a few words to Raven, letting her know to be ready.

After that, like an explosion of ice, he shot toward the woman. It was now or never for him.

"No more games, you old hag!" He shouted as the woman in question readied her sword for him.

She smirked, seeing multiple openings as Blaze desperately closed in their distance.

’I guess it is time to end this,’ the woman thought as she narrowly dodged Raven’s shadows.

"HAA!"

The crystals on Blaze’s forehead shone the brightest as he seemed to bring a snowstorm with him!

40 meters...20 meters...3 feet...!

The woman thrust her sword forward, aiming straight for his heart. She was ready to change the direction of her attack at the last second when he would side-step.

’Are you craz-’ Her eyes widened as the tip of her sword touched his chest. How could she have predicted that he was about to sacrifice himself?

Blaze grinned. ’Got you!’

His hands reinforced by ice shards were pointed at her guts, as the ice slithered through his hand, and like a snake waiting for its prey, it lept and pierced her abdomen as well!

The woman couldn’t even step back as Raven and Zier both pinned her down.

As the sword mercilessly cut through Blaze’s chest, his ice shards inflicted just as much damage on his opponent!

Just then, Zier threw several needles, all of which the woman could not avoid as she was pinned in her place.

"Akh!" She grunted, her eyes desperately looking around to find a way out of this.

Unfortunately for her, the needles were laced with poison never before seen in this realm. Zier had delved into the poison arts for so long that he could even sedate a Sage given enough time, much less a Transcendent!

’Cowar- no...’ With fading consciousness, the woman didn’t even know what to call them. No coward would get a sword thrust into his chest. But no honorable warrior would use poisons either.

"Leave me!" Blaze shouted, watching Zier approach him.

Raven didn’t waste a single second and was already rushing toward Ozul’s location.

Not listening, Zier threw him a medicinal bottle, "Hold on for a little longer!"

With the woman unconscious, the sword remained inside Blaze’s chest. He had narrowly dodged his heart, but still, many of his organs were severely damaged.

With a thump, he dropped to the ground, breathing heavily as he struggled with the medicinal bottle.

Meanwhile, Zier and Raven quickly reached Ozul.

The scarred woman seemed shocked, watching them here. She tried to sense the aura of her sister but to no avail. Anxiousness swelled up inside her.

"What did you do to her?!" Enraged, she shouted at the two of them.

Fortunately for Ozul, it was yet another opportunity for him. He quickly blocked her path, thrusting the blades at her.

With renewed spirit, the three of them simultaneously attacked the scarred woman.

"Halt!"