Chapter 396: Aftermath (1/2)
A dense killing intent suffused the whole hall, causing the numerous guests of the Pill House to look over with consternation after hearing the roar. The source was obviously the interloper, who looked angry enough to spontaneously combust. His eyes had turned completely bloodshot, and he was already reaching for his Cosmos Sack.
Rasuliel was inwardly delighted the way things turned out. Sometimes Luck was as important as skill, and he had no doubt been helped by his massive pool of 52 Luck today. Who would have thought that the scoundrel who somehow snatched the Thayer Consortia from underneath his uncle’s hands would present himself here?
Furthermore, he was only some no-name cultivator who lacked any proper connections to enter this place the right way. And better yet, he was a hothead who only needed a little bit of goading to lose control.
He couldn’t believe a person dumb enough to emit killing intent inside the Zethaya Pill House would be able to get inside, let alone snatch a Mercantile License that their family had targeted for decades.
The arrays in here would block any attempts at retaliation, allowing him to freely kill the interloper without repercussions. The biggest risk to his plans was if this Zac character crushed his token and fled, but as he looked at the man who seemed to have lost all rationality he knew his gambit had proven successful.
As soon as the fool got himself killed he would hopefully be able to glean the whereabouts of those damn Sky Gnomes from his belongings. This level of contribution to the clan was almost at an elder-level, and he couldn’t imagine the bump in resources he would enjoy when presenting the signet and this man’s body to his uncle.
The aura of the man in front of him kept rising, and even Rasuliel started to feel some pressure. But even then he wasn’t overly worried. Someone who could both get through the entrance array and even block Rudrik’s strike was strong, but the Zethaya had spent hundreds of thousands of years to strengthen this place to the limits of what the System allowed.
“I apologize for the harsh words from my friend here,” Boje said with a frown. “But I urge you to remember where you are. Violence will not be tolerated within these walls.”
But the warning fell on deaf ears as Zac's aura kept increasing, and Rasuliel started to frown when he sensed an extremely sinister energy within it. It was unlike anything he had encountered before, and it elicited an intense sense of danger.
‘This guy mentioned some modifications that pushed one’s power beyond the natural limits. Has this lunatic actually done the same to himself?’ Rasuliel thought, some worry finally creeping into his heart.
The worry quickly turned into a primal fear in Rasuliel's heart as the aura of the man suddenly skyrocketed as a black rune appeared on his forehead. Lines started to cover his whole body as well, creating a pathway reeking of destruction.
Rasuliel suddenly found himself falling backward as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Just looking at the fractal caused his Soul to get cut, and a glance indicated that Boje had suffered the same fate.
”Stop!” Boje roared as the whole Pill House hummed with power like a beast waking up from its slumber.
One restriction after another appeared in the air, and defensive treasures of inestimable value created an inescapable net around the man who still stood rooted to his spot. But a wave of unadulterated destruction rippled out from his body, and the massive arrays cracked like they were some cheap talismans bought from a flea market.
Thoughts of escape filled Rasuliel's mind, but streams of terrifying power ensconced the whole lobby, cutting off any path of retreat. Rasuilel could only reluctantly turn back toward the human-shaped monster, and he took out a small tube from his Spatial Ring. There was no way he would be able to crush his token and escape from this evil star in time.
He could only bet it all on the cursed object in his hand.
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Pain with enough urgency to jolt him awake plagued Zac’s body. He found himself bruised and battered in the middle of a huge pile of rubble, every part of his body hurting beyond imagination.
His vision was a bit blurry, but he still saw the towering trees from [Hatcheman’s Spirit] dissipating around him. When had he activated that skill? And why did it look so different from when he tried it out back on earth? The leaves and trunks shouldn't be black.
And where the hell was he? He had been inside the luxurious lounge of the Zethaya Pill House just a second ago.
A broken-off head of a statue depicting some unknown mythological creature jogged Zac’s memory awake. It had been the centerpiece of one of the fountains inside, but now the fountain was gone, replaced with broken pieces of stones and the crushed remnants of the furniture who sat around it.
Zac's mind still had some problems connecting two and two, and his head slowly swiveled around to take in the surroundings. A couple of familiar faces, many with minor wounds and looking haggard, stared back at him from a respectable distance, undisguised horror evident on their faces. It was the other customers and residents of the Zethaya that had spectated his entrance to the Pill House.
Even further back a small crowd had gathered, likely people who were visiting Tower Square. No one dared to take a step forward, and some were even running away after Zac trained his eyes in their direction.
Zac couldn’t bother with the onlookers as his muddled mind tried to compute what the hell was going on. He knew he had been bested by the Splinter once more, and it had caused him to completely lose control when he heard the taunts from that Rasuliel guy.
Normally he might have been annoyed, but he still had years to find a cure for Alea. He wouldn’t risk everything at this juncture just to forcibly steal a treasure. Doing so would cause unneeded enmities and more trouble than it was worth. But the accumulated anger from the Splinter of Oblivion had pushed his rage to unprecedented heights, ruining his plans completely.
Just thirty meters away a young man in a blue robe lay huddled in a fetal position with multiple layers of arrays shimmering around him. Zac realized it was Boje who was still fine albeit somewhat worse for wear. And just in front of him he could see the outline of another body.
He arduously looked down, but he almost immediately regretted it due to two reasons. The first reason was the huge wound that had mangled a large section of his torso, which put both his bones and innards on open display.
The second was the bloody head he held in his right hand, where his fingers were completely entrenched. His index and ring-fingers were pushed all the way through his eyes, and the sockets were still leaking some mix of blood and brain matter. His thumb meanwhile was inserted in the victim’s mouth, making it look like he was holding a bowling ball.
The head wasn’t connected to a body, but a grisly and broken spine dangled from beneath. However, a matching headless corpse lay at Zac's feet, clearly indicating who it was.
Rasuliel Tsarun.
Zac groaned as he knew that he had really caused a shitstorm this time around, but he didn’t feel too broken up about it. He obviously regretted causing this trouble, but Rasuliel was targeting him for some reason. This random guy had caused him so much trouble for no reason at all, and he didn’t feel too broken up about killing him. People died for far less every day.