Unsealing Emptiness

While things were rapidly changing in the Neutral Lands, he wanted to focus on training them and himself during these five years.

Both being talented, would only feel threatened if they faced anyone above their Rank.

He could very well train them himself, but he thought that they might not feel threatened enough. They would instinctively know that he wouldn’t kill them, so they wouldn’t put as much effort.

How would he know that those two were the most afraid while training with him? From their past experiences, they knew best how ruthless his methods could be sometimes.

Raven and Blaze didn’t question their destination as Ozul led them outside the Neutral City.

. . .

.....

Sometime later, they had already crossed the Desolate borders and moved towards that part of the continent where the Leonhard Dynasty had the most influence.

But Ozul didn’t care about that as he only was going to a certain mountain range that might have what he was looking for.

If it didn’t, then he would have no choice but to train these two himself. He doesn’t have enough time to care about which method will be more effective.

As Ozul was thinking that, Raven and Blaze felt a certain chill pass over their body as both locked their eyes at him. They were fully aware that there weren’t many times they felt this way, and when they did, it somehow ended in them praying for their lives.

A day passed, but they didn’t make a stop anywhere in between and continued to fly under Ozul’s lead.

It was still morning when Ozul landed near a village followed by Raven, Blaze, and Jinx.

Though Raven and Blaze were confused why they stopped only here when there had been a few better-off towns and cities on their way here. It would have been better if they took rest there instead of this shabby village which might not even have an inn for them to stay.

Only when they landed did both of them notice the bleak atmosphere around the village and the sullen expressions on everyone’s face.

The air was permeated by a strange odor, but nobody in the village seemed to mind that.

The odd part was how none of the villagers cared about how someone was flying a few moments ago.

Some of the villagers had certainly noticed their presence, but it looked as if they had too much to care for and didn’t have time for some cultivators.

Since they had come far away from the Neutral Lands by now, the people in the village were mostly ordinary people without Mana. A few were Fighters while there might not be a Mage here at all.

However, Raven and Blaze could feel Mana signatures of quite a few people who were at least above Rank-5!

“Isn’t it just an ordinary village?” Raven muttered while looking around.

The fact that there were strong Mages present in this village and considering the depressing atmosphere around, she concluded that there might be some emergency.

Otherwise, Ozul wouldn’t stop at a random village either.

‘This is the village,’ Ozul thought as he took a good look around.

He had heard Haley receiving a report about this village. As he was bored, he asked for more details and found out that there might be a Rank-9 Magical Beast running rampant around these parts.

The gloomy air around the village was the proof that he had come to the right place.

Those near Rank-5 Mages were probably the mercenaries sent to investigate. The Three-Eyed Strangers were already ahead in this aspect of gathering information, so he knew that whatever was happening here was caused by something above Rank-8.

There was apparently a Rank-9 Blood Panther that lived in the mountain range near the village.

The problem was that the Blood Panther demanded regular sacrifices from the villagers or threatened to destroy it completely if they didn’t comply with its orders.

Or at least that is what the villagers explained.

If it was true or not, Ozul would have to see it for himself to believe.

If there really was a Rank-9 Beast here, then he would pit it against Raven and Blaze.

The duo again felt a cold wind brush past their neck as they gulped a mouthful of saliva. They were clueless about what was going on inside Ozul’s head.

Instead of stopping a random passerby, Ozul went towards the tallest building in the village. Usually, the biggest structure in a small settlement like this would belong to the village head.

Judging from the appearance of the ordinary villagers, Ozul could guess that most of them weren’t in their right state of mind either. They would probably exaggerate things depending on their fears.

It was best that he asked from the village head, who should at least be in a better state than these passersby.

As he made his way towards the tallest structure, there were quite a few mercenaries who looked their way. It wasn’t hard to distinguish between the locals and the outsiders because of how gloomy all the villagers were.

“Heh. Check these out. A new batch of newbies sent by some second-hand faction to investigate.”

“Should we tell them how dangerous it is?”

“Why bother? They will be dead anyway.”

A few mercenaries snickered from the side. These people didn’t even bother to check their cultivation base.

Of course, even if they tried to, they wouldn’t be able to since both Raven and Blaze were Rank-8.

Unlike before when Ozul would ignore such comments from random people, he lifted his conical hat a little, enough for them to see his sharp eyes which made them immediately shut up.

They didn’t feel any Mana, but being the target of that cold glare caused their bodies to immediately tense up unconsciously.

Although Raven and Blaze found it odd for Ozul to act like this, they didn’t make any comment and quietly followed his lead.

As they reached the tallest structure of the village which would have been a normal building in a city or a town, Ozul saw more than a few mercenary teams waiting outside.

He then noticed how all of them looked annoyed and impatient as if they had been standing outside for quite a while now.

One such mercenary had it enough and furiously knocked on the shabby door.

“Get out you bag of old bones! You just have to answer a simple question and we will be done!” the mercenary shouted. He seemed ready to destroy the door if the village head didn’t come out in a few minutes.

Silence ensued for a few moments as the other mercenary teams watched the show.

Just when the furious mercenary was about to kick the door, an old voice came from behind the door,

“S-stop it, young man... Don’t break the door.”

A few seconds later, the door opened and an old man slowly walked out. This man didn’t look as old as his voice sounded, but Ozul noticed how the old man looked worn out.

“What took you so long, huh? Don’t you see how many people have been waiting for you here?! You just have to answer a few goddamn questions! It’s been more than a day now!” the mercenary bellowed.

The village head was an old man who was once just a Rank-2 Fighter, so he could only helplessly look at the ground while the mercenary kept shouting to his face.

Ozul didn’t have enough time to watch the whole drama, so he made his way towards the old man under everyone’s squinting eyes.

The man who was shouting at the old man was the strongest mercenary here with the strength of a peak Rank-5 Mage. That is why none dared to interrupt him, but now they saw three unknown people approaching the scene as well.

Just when the peak Rank-5 mercenary was about to continue shouting, Ozul entered the scene and faced the old man, completely ignoring the mercenary’s existence.

“I want to have a conversation with you,” Ozul spoke, interrupting the mercenary who glared at his back with burning eyes.

“Young man-” before the village head could say anything, the mercenary who was previously yelling at him shouted, “Who are you, bastard! Don’t you see I am talking with him?!”

Blaze remembered that they still had those mercenary gold rank emblems. So he took them out of his Spatial Ring and threw it at that mercenary’s face.

“Huh?! What is thi-” the mercenary took a few seconds to remember what that emblem represented.

Tch!

He clicked his tongue but didn’t pursue the matter any further.

Even if he couldn’t sense any Mana from these three people, if they had the gold rank emblem, then it wasn’t worth picking a fight with them. He decisively retreated under the surprised gaze of the onlookers.

Even the village head was stunned for a few moments before Blaze coughed to wake him up from his stupor.

“W-what do all of you want?” the village head stuttered. His eyes looked everywhere but the people who stood before him.

It was obvious that this old village head was nervous as well.

“Are the rumors true about the Blood Panther?” Ozul got straight to the point. He wanted to ask its location from the village head because the mountain range was long and they would have to waste a lot of time searching for it.

“I... I don’t know what you are talking about,” the old man refused to answer Ozul’s question while averting his eyes.