Death… And Me

Chapter 3924: I’m Not Ungrateful!

Anyone coming to check on Roan would definitely have used the same formation. However, Roan noticed that the formation was altered somehow, although very slightly. Sister Orb also confirmed to him that the way the formation was altered, no one would be able to teleport to it for a while.

Roan’s Divine Sense then spread far and wide. He was looking for one specific thing, but he did not find it straight away. He wasn’t in a hurry, though.

The group flew for a few hours, passing several mountain ranges on their way to where the culprits were hiding. With that kind of equipment, the enemy would need to wait for a while before bringing it to the black market to sell it. Thus, they haven’t moved until now. At the very least, the equipment hasn’t.

Roan then noticed that the concentration of Dark Element in the surroundings increased quite substantially, which prompted the question. ”Is this area special somehow?”

Jusesfau looked at him, nodding. ”Yes. Due to a special kind of mineral found underground, Dark Element gathers more easily. Because of that, you won’t find any settlements here. There are very few life forms, too. It is a good place to hide, but staying here for extended periods without proper methods for dealing with this Dark Element can be harmful. The individuals who stole our equipment likely knew this and intentionally chose this location to wait for the dust to settle.”

Roan heard that the missions were given based on one’s abilities, so it made sense that he was sent here.

”Were there many deaths when the fort was attacked? Shouldn’t it have protection formations and such to prevent something like this?” Kristan asked, curious.

”There were only three deaths, but that’s because this area has very few guards to start with. The rest fled when they saw they couldn’t win. As for the protection formations, they were active at the time, but seemingly didn’t work during this attack.”

”Traitors?” Roan asked directly.

Jesesfau sighed and confirmed. ”That’s what we think too. The higher-ups are pretty mad at us because of that, but we still don’t know who was responsible for allowing the enemy to enter the fort. Well, considering the value of the equipment, I can at least understand why someone tried this kind of thing. If they manage to escape and sell everything, they will gain a substantial profit.”

”Sir,” one of the experts from the fort called Jesesfau’s attention. ”We are close. If we fly any further, we will likely enter the enemy’s Divine Sense Range.”

Everyone stopped, Jesesfau looking at Kristan and waiting for his orders.

Kristan pondered a bit, glanced at Roan for a moment. Kristan was quite happy that Roan didn’t try to impose himself at all. He truly just acted as his subordinate for this mission, which was what Kristan wanted.

Then, Kristan focused on the task ahead. ”No point waiting since we can’t hide forever. We charge straight at them, not giving them any chance to escape. But remember, the priority is to recover the equipment. It will be even better if we can make them surrender without a fight. Maybe the weight of our Divine Military Academy will be enough to make them give up.”

”What if there is no one, or if there is a trap?” Klo-Hei, another member of Kristan’s group, asked.

”If there is no one, it is okay as long as we recover whatever is left there,” Kristan answered. ”If there is a trap, we can only deal with it. I doubt that’s the case, though. At most, we will find some concealing or warning formations. I refuse to believe the enemy is waiting for the experts of the Divine Military Academy to come anyway.”

Roan and the others nodded. Soon, they charged forward, those in the Void Tempering Realm taking the front while the rest followed behind as fast as they could.

Truth be told, Roan already found the culprits with his Divine Sense, and they were there together with the equipment. The numbers from both sides were quite similar, and in fact, there were four Void Tempering Enemies instead of three. Still, the quality of Roan’s group should, in theory, be higher.

Roan wasn’t paying much attention to it, though. Instead, his Divine Sense was focused somewhere else, several hundred kilometers away. There, he saw one of those Elemental Space Realm guys he had found back in the Academy.

One might think, how could he be here if the formation was purposely altered? The answer was quite simple: there was likely another teleport formation prepared somewhere in this area. ’So they knew I was going to take this mission, uh? So much for the Academy System’s security...’

Back in the academy, the twins’ group had to go to the Mission Console Hall to access the details of their mission. You couldn’t do that through the Werdlem Network, and it was said it was for the sake of keeping the information secure. And yet, here it is, someone who knew exactly where Roan was going and prepared the field before his arrival.

[Well, let’s be honest.] Sister Orb commented as she watched everything. [That academy is a joint adventure created by all the countries together. Since that’s the case, all the countries must have some back access to some of the more important information. They will always know where we are going and what kind of missions we will take. Of course, they will all deny they have access to other countries’ information if you ask them. Hahaha!]

Roan agreed with Sister Orb. At that moment, Roan’s body seemed to flicker for a split second, but nothing more than that. No one noticed anything either.

Finally, they arrived at the mountain where the equipment was being held. As soon as they got there, several cultivators flew out of the mountain, facing the forces from Junwerk and Kristan’s group.

The battle didn’t start straight away, though. That’s because the enemy neither attacked nor tried to flee. Kristan obviously noticed now that the enemy also had four Void Tempering Realm Experts instead of three. Nonetheless, Kristan flew forward with his group on his sides, giving the enemy an ultimatum. ”You have two choices: surrender and give back the equipment you stole, or die, and we will take the equipment away from your body.”

The leader of the enemy group snorted. ”Flee? Why should I, Montre-Ui, flee? Besides, you arrived right on time!”

Kristan narrowed his eyes, spreading his Divine Sense and looking for any traps or ambushes.

But then, out of nowhere, he saw a spear and sword just a few centimeters away from his body. How did they get there? Who attacked him? He barely had the time to notice those two weapons before he braced himself for the worst.

*Bang!*

Yet, the two attacks that were supposed to have landed on his body missed. Why? Because even faster than the weapons, a foot struck his butt, sending him flying forward and causing the two weapons to miss him by a hair’s breadth!

The attackers looked at who saved Kristan with wide-open eyes. It was Roan who acted even faster than they did. But how was that possible? He was quite a few meters further back than they were. Also, Kristan wasn’t the only target. Roan should also have been targeted by Jesesfau and the other two Void Tempering Experts near him. In fact, Roan was the main target from the very start. Kristan was going to be killed just because the enemy couldn’t afford to let Kristan bother them while they got rid of Roan.

Too bad, though. Jesesfau and the other two Void Tempering Realm experts, who were responsible for attacking Roan together at the same time as Kristan was struck, were now falling from the skies... However, their bodies and their heads were actually falling in different directions. Roan cut their heads off cleanly, and that was before he saved Kristan!

”So that’s how it is, uh?” Roan snorted. ”This is all a ruse. All for the sake of having me come here. Unfortunately for you all, I’m stronger.”

Everyone was taken aback by the scene, but there was no turning back now. Their true mission was to eliminate Roan, and they still had a significant numerical advantage. Other than Kristan and Roan, everyone else was an enemy! All those present, both the robbers and the experts from the Fort, were united in this objective.

Montre-Ui immediately shouted. ”Attack! You must kill him, or we will die instead!”

Kristan was still lost, caught up in the events unfolding before him. Just now, Roan saved his life, but how did he know everyone here was actually a traitor? Of course, that wasn’t the time to think about it. He could see that Roan and he were alone in this.

’You,’ Roan’s Divine Sense voice reached him. ’Just flee or whatever. No point staying here. I can take care of myself.’

Kristan was taken aback. But he didn’t have time to think too much. He turned to Montre-Ui, who came after him with a few more of his subordinates. Kristan was already saved once, and he doubted that would happen twice. Yet... ’Who the hell is fleeing? I am not an ungrateful bastard! I’ll help you by holding Montre-Ui for as long as I can!’

Roan glanced at him, not expecting that guy to go that far. He only saved Kristan because he was close, and that truly cost him nothing. It wasn’t like he would go out of his way to do that again. ’If you die, that’s on you.’

Meanwhile, a few hundred kilometers away, a man had a terrible expression on his face. ”What are those idiots doing?! Fuck, I didn’t want to act, but it seems I have no choice.”

As mentioned before, he was one of those Elemental Space Realm Experts Roan saw in the Academy.

”Don’t worry,” at that moment, a voice echoed in the guy’s ears. ”You won’t have to act anymore. Not here, nor anywhere else, forever.”