Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 284: Still not back?

The old physician on the ground could only shake his head while his body was still trembling from fear after experiencing that menacing aura. In the end, he was only an Initial Stage Rank-8 Mage; a Rank-10 existence was too much for him to handle.

And it didn’t help the fact that even his own companions didn’t help him in that situation.

While the old physician lamented the fact that he couldn’t convince Darcia to let them do a few experiments first, the Rank-10 Mage was flying straight towards the uninhabited part of the continent. She didn’t even bother to inform Lammert beforehand.

On the way, Darcia looked for any trail that the Church’s people had left behind in order to let them know their route, but she couldn’t find anything as such no matter how hard she looked.

In the end, she came to the conclusion that Ozul might have already taken care of those people following them.

‘Hm? No matter... It still won’t take me long before I find you,’ Darcia thought before cackling as she flew in a straight line with a blinding speed.

——

.....

Back to Ozul and the group, they were blissfully unaware of the fact that a Rank-10 Mage was out to hunt them down and she was even bringing a weapon that might even kill beings above Rank-10!

At this moment, Blaze was fighting another peak Rank-8 Magical Beast with the help of the Rogue Crew.

It was a Golden Roc with Wind Element, so it was quite difficult for them to deal with it in the air as it had better maneuverability in the air.

But despite its advantage in the air, it could only helplessly watch as Blaze led the Rogue Crew to slowly tire it out before killing it. There were over thirty Rank-8 Mages after all.

While they fought with the Golden Roc that had descended from the mountain range in the far distance, Ozul watched over Raven so no stray Spell disturbed her cultivation.

It had been a few hours since she had started meditating and the aura around her was getting increasingly denser.

Kreeeee!!

Just then, the Golden Roc died with a deafening shriek that echoed back because of the mountain range near them.

Blaze had successfully taken down the peak Rank-8 Magical Beast without letting any member of the Rogue Crew get into harm this time. He stored the corpse of the Beast inside his Spatial Ring and descended on the ground followed by others.

Just as he was about to boast around how easily he had gotten rid of the Beast this time, Blaze noticed the sudden spike in Raven’s Mana and stopped at his spot.

“She is about to achieve a breakthrough!” Blaze instantly realized as he had gone through the same process some months back as well.

“Keep your voice down,” Ozul looked at Blaze and said with an unamused face.

One would think that he was being considerate of Raven. However, only Blaze knew how much Ozul hated people shouting near him.

His next words got stuck in his mouth as he excitedly cheered for Raven in his mind.

For all his rivalry with her, at this time, it looked as if he wanted her to surpass him instead.

Ozul also examined Raven’s body, but his focus was his Scent rotating around her heart instead of her Mana Core.

He had noticed it before too when Blaze was about to achieve the breakthrough to the End Stage, and it truly intrigued him how his Scent would start to spin increasingly faster at the time of their last step towards the next Stage.

He hadn’t been able to figure out the reason or what changes it made back then, and no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to feel anything this time either.

His Scent was spinning at a fast rate around Raven’s heart, but everything was exactly the same as it would be with someone who didn’t have the Scent. He could spot no obvious differences.

When it came down to things that Ozul didn’t know but he wanted to, they kept piling on with the years instead of decreasing.

He sighed before shifting his focus back on Raven’s aura. Her Mana had a very dark hue because of her Darkness Element and it made many members of the Rogue Crew frown subconsciously.

They were all aged Mages who had seen many Dark Mages throughout history using Darkness Element to kill the innocents. Although it had been a few days together with her, they still couldn’t help but be wary of her.

Fwoosh!

Just then, pitch-black particles began to seep out into the air from the torrent of dark Mana circling around Raven.

The members of the Rogue Crew were actually surprised by the intensity of the phenomenon since she was only going to break through a small Stage and not the entire Rank.

Only Ozul and Blaze were unaffected by this since it was many times greater when Blaze had advanced.

They realized that the intensity of this phenomenon was directly linked with the affinity one had with their respective Element. Raven’s understanding of Darkness Element had certainly increased her affinity with it as well.

Slowly the Mana began to calm down and Ozul noticed Raven taking a deep breath before opening her eyes. Her eyes instantly fell on Ozul’s figure and a sweet smile blossomed on her face. It was only because she could notice that acknowledgment in his eyes.

Though her smile instantly died down as she noticed everyone else staring at her as well. It wouldn’t have been so annoying if it wasn’t for that familiar look in their eyes.

Except for Blaze and Ozul, all of them held a little wariness towards her.

Though she didn’t mention it as she had already gotten used to it. Not to mention, Ozul had warned her about this even before she had chosen to cultivate with this Element.

Raven stood up before she started to feel the changes that happened to her body. She not only felt lighter but the Mana she could wield had also gotten denser. She even felt her other senses improve as she looked around in the distance and heard the birds chirping in the forest behind them.

She then shifted her gaze towards Blaze and said, “I am not going to be left behind!”

Raven meant her words as her eyes held a determination that Blaze was all too familiar with. He knew that she was trying too hard, but he could understand her worries.

Even he didn’t want to be left behind by Ozul who had clearly stated that he didn’t want weak people. He only needed those who were useful to him, and being strong was the only way for them to be useful to him.

Amidst their resolve to reach new heights every day, they never questioned themselves why they so desperately wanted to stick with Ozul.

“Recover your stamina and stabilize your Mana Core, we will leave as soon as you are done,” Ozul gave an approving nod towards Raven and started giving out the new orders.

‘They might be here anytime now...’ Ozul believed that Darcia might already be here in the unexplored lands searching for him.

The fact that they hadn’t found him yet had already been a surprise, but he wasn’t complaining because it was for the best that they explored the ruins first. They were supposed to be just on the other side of the mountain range.

Though he still wondered why it was taking Darcia so long since she was a Rank-10 Mage.

Raven sat back down and started to stabilize her Mana Core.

It didn’t take long for her to be done as she stood back up and informed Ozul.

“Let them finish first,” Ozul told Raven who only now noticed that another peak Rank-8 Magical Beast had appeared out of nowhere and Blaze was busy dealing with it.

Raven’s eyes lit up as she couldn’t ask for anything better to test her new strength.

“Leave it!” she shouted at Blaze before rushing straight towards the giant gorilla-like Beast.

Ozul didn’t stop her. He was busy in his own thoughts. Even for these lands, it was unusual to see so many peak Rank-8 Beasts in a single location.

He subconsciously shifted his eyes towards the mountain range, ‘Could whatever is behind those mountains be the reason?’

Although the old parchment indicated that there were ancient ruins behind that mountain range, it was still a wonder to him why there were ruins in the middle of these lands.

“Only one way to find out,” Ozul muttered before he noticed Raven and Blaze killing the Beast without breaking a sweat this time as they were both End Stage Rank-8 Mages now.

“Hurry up, don’t waste any more time,” he told them he also stood up, ‘Still no sign of Jinx...’

Usually, when he would think about her, she would come back in a day before disappearing again.

He sighed before trying not to think about it. There was nothing he could do about it after all.

The group started to pack up as Blaze again stored the corpse of the Beast inside his Spatial Ring. The raw materials obtained from their corpses were really valuable.

“We already have so many now, do I really have to collect them all?” Blaze asked Raven. She was the one who had instructed him to do this. If not because of her, he wouldn’t have bothered doing something like this.

After all, Storing Magical Beasts inside his personal space wasn’t exactly comforting.