Death… And Me

Chapter 4643: Bending the Rules

At some point, Howard could no longer contain his curiosity. While continuing to fend off the cultivators trying to force their way into his spot, he sent a message through Godly Sense to the twins’ group. ’What the hell is happening here? How come none of them are trying to touch you guys?’

Celis was the one who answered, although he began with a question of his own. ’Under these extreme levels of Godly Pressure and not enough immunity to even stand up, tell me, what’s the most important thing you need to worry about when trying to defend your position?’

Howard obviously knew the answer. ’Energy, of course. Everyone knows that as soon as the cover disappears, the temperature will skyrocket again. It would be meaningless to secure a spot if you couldn’t survive the heat for the rest of the day afterward. And don’t expect anyone to help you, either.’

Celis nodded. ’Exactly.’

Howard shoved another cultivator away, still looking puzzled. ’Exactly what?’

’Energy,’ Celis repeated. ’Anyone who gets close to us will immediately feel their energy being drained away. It’s simply not worth the effort to try to take our positions.’

’Uh?!’ Howard was taken aback. ’How’s that possible?’

Well, what else could it possibly be if not Celis’s Energy Draining Prison? As a World Swallowing Cedar, Celis possessed an incredible degree of control over the area affected by his absorption ability. Truth be told, he didn’t even need to create an actual prison of vines and roots for it to work.

His ability to absorb energy functioned perfectly well without any physical barriers or visible structures. The ’prison of vines and roots’ itself was only there to stop others from leaving, and at this moment, Celis obviously didn’t want to keep anyone close to his group.

Roan had noticed this possibility the moment Howard explained the Cover Hour to them. After all, the entire situation revolved around energy conservation, and Celis’s innate ability was particularly suited to exploiting that weakness.

One thing worth mentioning was just how extraordinarily rare energy-stealing abilities were in the cultivation world. Such abilities usually originated from innate skills or special affinities, which, unsurprisingly, was also the case with Celis. Most cultivators had no reliable means of draining an opponent’s energy directly, much less doing so simply by approaching them.

Normally, cultivators could fight back against Celis’s Energy Draining Prison. Plenty had managed to escape it in the past. The most recent example was Doluno’s group, which had escaped both Rean’s array and Celis’s prison at the same time. When someone had enough strength and energy to resist the absorption, Celis’s ability wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle.

However, there was absolutely no need to imprison anyone here.

The moment another cultivator came within a meter of the twins’ group, who were clustered tightly together to avoid occupying unnecessary space, that cultivator would immediately feel their Godly Energy being drained away. It didn’t matter whether Celis had surrounded them with vines or established a visible prison. The absorption itself was enough to make approaching them an unpleasant experience.

And that was before considering the consequences of losing energy in this environment.

Forget about surviving after the daylight returned. The Godly Energy required simply to overcome the Godly Pressure so you could just crawl was already substantial. Every movement drained energy, and maintaining a barrier against the scorching heat would consume even more. The newcomers were already struggling to preserve what little energy they could control. Could they really afford to spend additional energy resisting Celis’s absorption just to force the twins’ group out of its spot?

The answer was an obvious no!

There was another factor working in the twins’ favor. Kentucky, Arcis, Kachia, and Celis were all in their humanoid forms. Had they spread out and occupied a large portion of the shop, the desperados might have considered it worthwhile to risk the energy loss and fight for the space. After all, every additional square meter they could secure might make a difference when the temperature rose again.

Fortunately, the group was packed tightly together. They occupied as little space as possible, leaving no obvious reason for the desperate newcomers to target them when there were other holders scattered throughout the shop.

Of course, someone might wonder whether Celis’s actions counted as providing external assistance. He could use his ability to protect himself, but if that same ability also benefited the others, wouldn’t that violate the rules?

Once again, the answer was no.

At least, that was the argument Celis presented when he received a message through Godly Sense from one of the guards.

The guard insisted that if Celis’s ability was indiscriminately draining the energy of everyone who approached him, then it should also affect the twins’ group. Why were they apparently exempt from the absorption? Wasn’t Celis deliberately sparing his companions while using his ability to discourage other cultivators from approaching them?

Celis responded with a snort.

He explained that he knew the twins’ group wouldn’t attack him, so why would he waste his energy trying to absorb theirs? He wasn’t helping them. He simply had no reason to waste energy draining cultivators who posed no threat to him. That was all.

It was an obviously ridiculous argument, and any idiot could see through it. The main advantage of such an absurd explanation, however, was that it couldn’t actually be disproved.

It wasn’t as though the guard had caught Roan swallowing a pill or witnessed Luxa and Lunelle directly attacking someone to prevent them from approaching the twins’ group. Celis was merely using his innate ability, and the others happened to be standing within its effective range.

Furthermore, Celis argued that deliberately focusing his absorption on his companions would force him to expend additional energy trying to drain them, making the situation more dangerous for himself. Why would he bother doing that when he could simply allow them to remain nearby?

It was a remarkably selfish explanation that produced an equally remarkably selfless result.

Of course, Celis wasn’t entirely certain the excuse would work. It had been Roan’s idea, and they were prepared for the possibility that the guards might refuse to accept it. If that happened, they would have to deal with the situation directly, just as they had when the guard kicked Roan’s Anti-Godly Pressure Pill away.

For the moment, though, the guard seemed rather helpless.

Energy-stealing abilities were simply too rare. He had encountered very few cultivators capable of using such skills, and in the cases he remembered, their abilities hadn’t conveniently benefited anyone else. He couldn’t readily compare Celis’s situation with an established precedent, and there was no obvious proof that Celis was deliberately assisting his companions, even if it was the obvious outcome.

Bend the rules without breaking them. That was the plan.

It certainly wasn’t the first time someone had exploited a loophole in Granfel’s rules, and it wouldn’t be the last. In a place where even the smallest advantage could determine whether someone survived the day, finding a way to work within the rules while obtaining an unintended benefit was a strength in itself.

Naturally, the chaos around them continued.

With cultivators pushing one another, crawling over bodies, and desperately squeezing through every available gap, some inevitably stumbled into Celis’s effective range. The moment they did, they felt the already meager amount of Godly Energy they could control being siphoned away.

Celis couldn’t care less.

If they didn’t want their energy drained, then they should stay out of his Energy Draining Prison’s range. He wasn’t forcing anyone to approach him, after all. If they insisted on trying to seize his position despite knowing the risks, the consequences were their own problem.

And Celis wasn’t the only reason the twins’ group was being left alone.

There were also Luxa and Lunelle!

Don’t misunderstand. Neither Eternal Creature was actively doing anything to protect the group. Just as the guard had warned them, they weren’t supposed to provide direct assistance, and neither of them was breaking that rule.

Nevertheless, both Eternal Creatures were positioned on opposite sides of the twins’ tightly packed cluster. Their Fire and Water Elements circulated through their bodies as they moved around freely, with Luxa walking and Lunelle occasionally taking to the air. Neither seemed to suffer any noticeable effects from the oppressive Godly Pressure.

That alone was enough to make the surrounding cultivators wary.

After all, Luxa and Lunelle could move freely in an environment where even the weakest movements were an exhausting struggle for everyone else. They weren’t visibly weakened, and there was no telling how much of their strength they could unleash if someone provoked them.

What if a desperado approached the twins’ group, only to find himself facing those two Eternal Beasts? Even if he managed to endure Celis’s energy absorption, he might still have to fight opponents who could use their full power while he could barely crawl.

It was a terrible risk.

Why would anyone take it when there were so many other holders to target?

Finally, there was one last reason why nobody seemed interested in taking the twins’ group’s spot.

THEIR SPOT WAS PRETTY SHIT!

ON PURPOSE!

The twins’ group had been among the last to reach the shop, so they had ended up close to the entrance. Even with the enormous object covering the city, the temperature near the entrance would inevitably become more dangerous once the cover disappeared. The deeper sections of the building offered far better protection, and every desperado wanted to secure one of those more desirable spots.

In other words, even if someone managed to force the twins’ group out, they would gain a position that was worse than all of the alternatives.

Between the energy drain, the two seemingly unaffected Eternal Creatures, and the undesirable location, the twins’ group simply wasn’t worth the trouble.

And so, the Cover Hour came to an end.

The enormous object flying above Granfel began to move away, and the light of the day gradually returned to the city. The shadow that had granted the cultivators a brief reprieve was disappearing, exposing the streets to the same terrifying heat as before.

Thousands of desperate newcomers had managed to squeeze into the various buildings, while countless others remained outside, still crawling toward whatever shelter they could find.

The cultivators inside the shop hurried to secure their positions, knowing that anyone caught too close to the entrance would face a far more difficult time enduring the coming heat.

The cover was gone.

The frying show was about to begin.