Inside a dimly lit room, a tall man with short black hair, brown eyes, and a deep scar running across the left side of his face was staring at a large glass tube filled with thick green liquid.
Inside the tube floated a young girl, about 110 centiters tall, unconscious and suspended in the liquid.
The tube was connected to several pipes and wires that continuously injected a strange red substance into it—liquid that looked disturbingly similar to blood.
"She is by far the most suitable one. If she succeeds in adapting, we might finally be able to obtain that thing," A wheat-skinned woman with shoulder-length gray hair and black eyes said, her voice brimming with excitent.
The scarred man nodded at her words, then shifted his gaze sideways toward a grotesque mass of flesh, about a ter in diater, pulsing faintly like a heart.
The pipes connected to the tube where the little girl floated were also attached to this monstrous organ, and it was its blood that flowed through them into the glass container.
Suddenly, the expression of the gray-haired woman who had spoken earlier changed drastically.
"Soone killed Mark and Jacob," She said sharply to the scarred man, referring to the two n stationed outside to guard the formation.
The scarred man frowned deeply at her words.
"Monsters?" He asked coldly.
"We cleared out most of the monsters in this area long ago. Moreover, both of them died at the exact sa ti, it’s more likely the work of a human."
The black eyes of the scarred man flashed with killing intent upon hearing this, and his voice turned even colder.
"Take care of it. I don’t want any problems at this stage."
The woman nodded quickly and left the room in haste.
****
The mont Azrael passed through the illusion formation, he found himself standing at the edge of a small establishnt.
But before he could even take in his surroundings, he imdiately sensed a presence just a few ters away.
His gaze snapped in that direction and fell upon a man, level 17, who was sitting so distance away with a relaxed expression.
The instant the man sensed soone entering, he lazily turned to look in Azrael’s direction. However, when his eyes landed on Azrael’s unfamiliar face, his expression changed in shock as he realized Azrael was not soone from the Transcendent Organization.
"Wh—" The man abruptly stood up, wanting to ask who he was.
But before he could finish, he felt a deep sense of crisis and instinctively leaped to the side.
The mont he jumped, a razor-sharp wind blade cut through his previous position, missing him by re inches.
Even though the man successfully avoided the first strike, no relief appeared on his face. Instead, his eyes widened in horror as the mont he dodged, Azrael appeared right where he had jumped, like a phantom.
His arm was covered in condensed wind energy, shaped like the blade of a scythe and in a single motion, it sliced through the man’s neck, severing his head.
With disbelief still etched on his face, the man’s head tumbled to the ground, followed monts later by his body, which erupted into a fountain of blood.
Azrael’s expression remained indifferent even after killing the level 17 man and he finally took a proper look at the establishnt before him.
The establishnt resembled a small town, filled with nurous buildings and houses.
If not for the illusion formation concealing it, anyone looking from above the Rovila Forest would have imdiately noticed a small town hidden in its depths.
By observing the houses, warehouses, and various facilities, Azrael could tell that the Transcendent Organization had not created this place recently. This hideout had existed for quite a long ti.
The wind carried countless voices to him, confirming his assumption that there were many people within the establishnt, most likely mbers of the Transcendent Organization.
’By now, they must have realized I’ve entered their hideout.’
Azrael was certain that, just like the others, the three n he had killed earlier were under the effect of the curse as well and were unable to reveal any crucial information about the organization.
And now since they were dead, he was equally certain that the caster of the curse had already been alerted to their deaths.
As Azrael looked at the establishnt, the sense of urgency burning inside him grew stronger with every passing second, and he knew he had to move quickly if he wanted to resolve the source of this warning.
Scanning his surroundings, his eyes soon landed on a tower-shaped building located at the very center of the establishnt.
The mont his gaze fell upon it, the sense of urgency intensified drastically. Which confird that whatever it was that his Eternal Grade Trait was reacting to, it was inside that tower.
’I need to go there.’
That thought appeared instantly in his mind, and without hesitation, he dashed forward.
As he moved, his Cold-Blooded Trait activated, turning him into a calculating machine that made the most efficient decisions without allowing his chaotic emotions, fueled by the overwhelming sense of urgency to interfere.
He had only been moving for a few seconds when suddenly, a loud alarm rang throughout the establishnt, alerting everyone.
A cold gleam flashed in Azrael’s eyes and he knew that the caster of the curse must have already discovered the deaths of those three n.
The once quiet establishnt ca alive instantly and Azrael could sense dozens of auras rushing toward his location.
With his Infinite Comprehension Trait and both of his consciousness working together, he analyzed the sounds of the approaching footsteps and estimated there were at least forty people heading directly for him.
He briefly considered changing direction to avoid them, but then noticed that everywhere he stepped, glowing footprints were being left behind on the ground.
’A tracking formation... or perhaps an artifact.’
Azrael dismissed the idea of escaping imdiately.
With his agility, he was confident he could reach the tower-shaped building within a minute, even while slightly altering his route to avoid the incoming people.
But the glowing footprints ant the enemy could follow him no matter where he went.
He did not know what kind of danger awaited him inside the tower, and if he allowed these people to follow him in, he would be forced to face both the threats within and these enemies at the sa ti. Instead, he preferred to deal with them here and be done with it.
’I can’t waste too much ti on these people.’
Even though he wanted to deal with these people, he knew that he couldn’t afford to waste too much ti on them, as the sense of urgency within him was still growing stronger with each passing second.
His mind worked rapidly and as the group of people drew closer, their auras beca clearer, allowing him to sense their levels.
About half of them were apprentice warriors, which wasn’t surprising considering the Transcendent Organization was only a third-rate underground force that had erged only a few years ago.
Aside from them, he sensed about twenty class-level warriors, most between levels 11 and 15. Five of them, however, were above level 15, and among those five, one had already surpassed level 20.
But that wasn’t all.
’An Epic Level warrior.’
Azrael could clearly sense the presence of a powerful aura among them, one that made even him feel threatened.
What unsettled him further was that this aura carried a sinister undertone, eerily similar to the cursed power he had felt from Joseph when extracting answers from him.
’I don’t have any effective way to counter the power of a curse...’
His gaze flickered briefly to the Purification Ring on his hand, but he quickly dismissed it as he had already used its ability earlier this morning and could not rely on it now.
With his Infinite Comprehension Trait and dual consciousness working in unison, Azrael calculated all of this in less than three seconds and reached a single conclusion.
’I need to end the battle before that Epic-level warrior can make use of his cursed power.’
As soon as he reached the conclusion, a flash of black light appeared in his right hand, and Fallen Star materialized.
A few seconds later, he finally saw the group of people charging at him and at the rear of the group, his eyes locked onto a gray-haired woman, the very source of the sinister aura he had felt earlier.
The mont the group entered his sight, a strange green rune lit up within Azrael’s purple pupils and for the first ti since reaching entry-level mastery, he activated the Skyrift Slash Essentia Art.
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