Death… And Me

Chapter 4366: No One Left

Back at the facility, Rean guided his airplane into the hangar where he and his personnel had been working before stepping out a moment later. Dristan had been waiting for his return and immediately approached him, curious about the results of the test flight.

"So, how was it?" Dristan asked. "Were there any problems?"

Rean nodded slightly as he recalled the journey. "Just a few minor issues and some efficiency problems. Overall, however, everything worked exactly as intended. The airplane is pretty much finished at this point. During the next two months, we’ll focus on optimizing the runes and improving the efficiency of every system. Once that’s done, the blueprints can be made publicly available."

Dristan couldn’t help but smile upon hearing that. Rean was known for being extremely demanding regarding his own creations. If he considered the airplane practically complete, then the project had undoubtedly exceeded expectations.

Rean still had no intention of keeping the airplane’s technology hidden. Even if he somehow managed to prevent others from studying it, companies and guilds throughout Besgol would eventually develop similar concepts. If these technologies could improve transportation and save lives in dangerous regions, there was little reason to monopolize them. With that matter settled, he immediately returned to work alongside the rest of his team.

---

Meanwhile, far away in the country of Percovel, one could find the small city of Suvved. Compared to the great cities scattered throughout the Besgol Region, Suvved was insignificant. The strongest expert living there was merely a Middle Stage Aura God who also happened to be the city lord. Most of the local economy revolved around agriculture, especially the cultivation and maintenance of alchemy herbs that were later sold to the Alchemist Guild.

Several kilometers beyond the city limits, past countless fields and farms, stood a modest estate belonging to the Tungra Clan. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the clan itself. Its history didn’t even span a full century, and most of its members spent their lives managing farmland or participating in the occasional defensive war whenever the region required additional manpower. Their primary source of income came from agricultural products and alchemy herbs sold to the Alchemist Guild.

To any outsider, the Tungra Clan looked like a perfectly ordinary local power.

However, appearances could be deceiving.

The estate visible on the surface was little more than a facade. Hidden deep underground was a vast network of chambers protected by numerous Anti-Celestial Sense Arrays. Together, those formations created a maze that would be extremely difficult to discover even for powerful cultivators.

Within one of those underground chambers stood a relatively new Teleport Array.

Beside it sat a man who appeared to be in his forties. Naturally, his actual age was far greater than that. Considering his cultivation, maintaining such an appearance was effortless.

For several months already, the man had remained hidden within the underground complex. From time to time, subordinates arrived to deliver reports before quickly departing again. Certain information couldn’t be trusted to the Besgol Network, not even when transmitted through coded messages. The risks were simply too high.

As far as the man was concerned, everything was proceeding according to plan.

The Godly Creatures Farm had nearly reached completion. Once the official announcement was made, the final stage of the operation would begin. Until then, all he needed to do was remain hidden and wait.

Yet, as he sat there, something suddenly caused him to frown.

The temperature inside the chamber had begun to drop.

At first, the change was subtle enough to be ignored. However, within only a few breaths, the cold became impossible to overlook. Frost started forming on the walls, and even the air itself seemed heavier than before.

The man’s eyes narrowed.

"What is happening? Report!" His voice echoed throughout the underground complex. Since he was the master of the arrays protecting the estate, his own Celestial Sense wasn’t restricted by them. Immediately, he spread it through the entire area.

The moment he saw what was happening above, his heart sank.

Everywhere his senses reached, there were frozen bodies.

Servants, guards, cultivators, and clan elders alike had all been frozen where they stood. Some of them hadn’t even had time to react before death claimed them. A few were Aura Gods themselves, yet not a single warning had reached the man in the chamber. Whoever attacked had done so with terrifying speed and overwhelming power.

The realization had barely settled in his mind when a deafening explosion shook the estate.

*BOOM!*

The roof of the manor was blasted apart. Massive chunks of frozen stone flew through the air, shattering into countless icy fragments. Through the opening descended a gigantic demon bird radiating terrifying waves of cold energy.

Its icy gaze swept across the entire estate.

Anyone who looked into those eyes would immediately understand one thing.

Arcis hadn’t come to negotiate.

At that very moment, Arcis felt another Celestial Sense sweeping through the estate. Although the Anti-Celestial Sense Arrays prevented him from directly examining the underground chambers, he could still sense the presence of someone hidden beneath him if they used a Celestial Sense on him instead.

His gaze immediately shifted downward.

Deep underground.

"Shit!"

The man instantly understood what had happened.

His clan had been discovered.

Without wasting another second, he rushed out of the chamber and headed toward a secondary Teleport Array prepared specifically for emergencies. The required Celestial Stones had already been installed long ago, allowing immediate activation if anything went wrong.

Naturally, the array wouldn’t send him very far. Teleportation was incredibly expensive, and Celestial Stones were nowhere near as effective as Godly Crystals. At best, he would be transported a few hundred kilometers away. Nevertheless, that distance was more than enough. He already had contingency plans waiting beyond this location.

Unfortunately for him, he had severely underestimated Arcis.

"Trying to escape?!" The moment Arcis sensed the movement below, he released his power without holding back.

The temperature throughout the entire estate plummeted.

Walls froze solid.

Floors became covered in ice.

Even the surrounding arrays started cracking under the pressure.

Deep underground, the fleeing man was forced to release his full cultivation just to prevent his own body from freezing. However, he quickly realized that Arcis wasn’t actually trying to freeze him.

At least, not yet.

Arcis had another target entirely.

The freezing power surged directly toward the Teleport Array.

*Crack! Crack! Crack!*

The runes froze one after another.

"What?!" The man’s face instantly turned pale.

The array that represented his escape route was becoming useless before his eyes.

Desperation overtook him. Without hesitation, he pulled out a golden talisman and sent his Celestial Sense into it. The talisman ignited immediately before disappearing into ash.

It was a communication talisman, and a very expensive one, judging by its quality. He had just sent a message asking for help.

Unfortunately, he was already too late.

*BOOM!*

The ceiling above the chamber exploded apart. Ice and debris rained in every direction as Arcis descended into the room. His freezing power spread throughout the area, sealing every possible route of escape.

"So it was you." Arcis’s voice was frighteningly calm. "Don’t worry. Tobao specifically asked me to capture whoever was in charge of this place."

The man gritted his teeth but remained silent.

Meanwhile, Arcis slowly approached. "You know, I could have kept the existence of that Godly Crystal secret and used it myself. Even then, I decided it would be better if it benefited the entire Besgol Region. Yet some piece of shit like you tried to steal it from us."

The icy aura surrounding him intensified. "Hmph! Get ready. We’re going to spend a lot of time together. Once I’m finished with you, you’ll tell me everything you know and probably quite a few things you don’t."

The man’s expression suddenly changed.

A small crimson statue appeared in his hand.

Without the slightest hesitation, he crushed it.

Immediately, a terrifying concentration of Red Godly Energy erupted outward. The power flooding into his body surged to astonishing levels, raising his combat strength far beyond what his cultivation normally allowed. Although his cultivation itself didn’t change, the energy released by the statue granted him power comparable to that of an ordinary Initial Stage Law God.

True, he still couldn’t manipulate Laws or deploy a Domain. Those abilities belonged exclusively to genuine Zone Gods and Law Gods.

Even so, the increase in strength was enormous. "Let’s see if you can really keep me here!"

Arcis narrowed his eyes and prepared for battle.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

*UGHHH!*

Blood suddenly erupted from every pore of the man’s body. His confident expression immediately transformed into one of horror. The borrowed power wasn’t empowering him. It was killing him.

His organs began rupturing one after another. Veins burst throughout his body, and his flesh rapidly darkened as corruption spread through him.

"AHHHHH!"

He collapsed to his knees. "That’s not what we agreed! You betrayed me! You be—"

*BLAST!*

His body exploded before he could finish speaking.

Black blood splattered throughout the chamber, and not even his soul survived the detonation.

For a brief moment, Arcis simply stared.

Then more explosions echoed throughout the estate.

*BLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!*

One after another, the remaining members of the operation met the same fate.

Even those Arcis had intentionally left alive suffered identical deaths. Several higher-level cultivators had merely been frozen and rendered helpless, yet now they exploded just like everyone else.

Within moments, every single person connected to the hidden operation was dead.

Arcis’s expression darkened considerably as he examined the aftermath.

"Fuck!"

His icy aura surged violently throughout the underground complex. "They really are a bunch of nasty bastards."

In the end, not a single prisoner survived. No interrogation could be conducted. No information could be extracted from the dead.

The organization behind the conspiracy had erased every loose end before Arcis could get his hands on them. Whether the estate itself had other clues, it would have to be seen yet.

Even so, one important fact had been confirmed beyond any doubt.

This hidden location in the estate was indeed the location where the Godly Crystal had been meant to arrive.