Unsealing Emptiness

394 Kumaou.

‘The bear must be the manifestation of his soul,’ thought Ozul as he gazed at the giant manifestation sweeping down the Black Horned Fox.

While others were staring at that woman fighting with the Imperial Prince, the wild man took the opportunity to get even with the Fox.

It was too engrossed with the woman who had earlier given it a beating to defend itself. Despite its weight, the direct hit threw it off the ground with a gashing wound on its stomach.

With a shrill scream once again, the Fox bared its teeth at the wild man with blood-ridden eyes. A fiery red aura flung over its dark brown fur as it bared its teeth and jumped at him.

Meanwhile, the woman who had crashed between the charging beast and the ‘recruits’ had already flown back to face off against the Prince.

The battle between the Prince and the woman from the Steel Mountain Kingdom was almost evenly matched. Not at one point could anyone tell who had the upper hand. The Prince, wielding his powers over water, summoned massive waves and floods to engulf her, while she, who controlled thunder, countered with bolts of lightning and thunderous claps.

The woman taunted the Prince, “You were quite confident for someone who is only running away like a coward!” But the Prince wasn’t having any of it. Although they both seemed to have the same levels of strength, he had an edge since he didn’t lose his focus.

“I think the blood loss has messed you up or were you always on the slow side?” the Prince laughed at the end. The results were expected; the woman came charging at him like a raging bull.

The forest and mountainside around them were left in ruins as the battle raged on. Trees were uprooted, and boulders were tossed around as the two clashed, each trying to gain the upper hand. The Prince created a massive whirlpool to suck in the lightning bolts, but the woman was quick to summon a thunderstorm, unleashing a torrential downpour of rain and hail on him.

.....

The ground shook. Each strike of the woman and the Prince’s Spiritual Arts left deep craters in the earth. Neither of them was willing to give up, uncaring of the destruction of flora.

Fortunately for the ‘recruits’, they both took their fight far away from them, only occasionally flashing a glimpse of their prowess.

Back to the other side, the Fox was charging at the wild man who stood ready with a wry smile on his face. He wasn’t going to run away, but he also understood that he was no match for the beast.

A bear-like aura again appeared behind him as he readied himself to face the burning meteor-like beast.

“Come on you bloody fox!” he shouted while taking a few steps back. He was going to dodge and try to attack its previous wounds. The beast wasn’t in good shape after fighting that woman and his attack had only worsened its condition. If they were just lucky enough, they could actually kill it!

Yet, he was hesitant. After all, he himself had sustained internal injuries.

Just then, however, he noticed something unusual between his legs. A cloud of black smoke was gathering behind him and darkening as the moments went by.

Looking past the beast, he noticed Ozul who nodded at him and mouthed the word ‘bait’.

Getting the gist of what was happening, the wild man gained more confidence. This was their best chance since the Fox was enraged; if its bloodshot eyes and the suffocating pressure it released were anything to go by.

The Fox wasn’t running fast, but the pressure it released with each step made it seem as if running away from it was impossible. The wound on its stomach was bleeding, but the heat around the beast was enough to evaporate all the blood.

“I’m not afraid of you!” again shouted the wild man while holding his stance firm on the ground.

The Fox jumped, ready to tear apart the tiny human between her jaws.

However, unlike what his stance suggested, the wild man lept to the side when the Fox was midair.

The beast’s eyes followed the man as he moved, but they missed the enormous spike that suddenly materialized out of the black smoke!

Before it could move, the spike slammed into its stomach, driving deeper into the bloody gashes left by the wild man.

*kyiukh!* The Fox bellowed a shrill scream as the black spike punctured its internal organs.

The beast twisted and turned to get the spike out, but it was left hanging midair. Its feet floppily thrashed around but to no avail.

Everybody held their breath as eventually, the beast’s body stopped struggling. Its body went limp as enough blood was drained out. The Black Horned Fox was dead.

The stillness was only broken by the sound of air cracking in the distance.

Having realized that they couldn’t do anything while these towering figures were taking care of the battle, the crowd gazed helplessly at the dead Black Horned Fox.

Just now, they were a few feet away from death, but a few seconds later, that very death hung loosely on a black spike drilling a hole into its chest.

The only two people who could do anything in this situation; Ozul and that wild man turned their attention to the two people wreaking havoc half a mile away from their location.

Ozul came face to face with the wild man who grinned at him and offered his hand,

“Tell me your name.”

Understanding his gesture, Ozul sighed internally but still shook his hand and answered him, “Ozul Ashfall.”

The wild man’s grin only widened, but the blood dripping down his nose and smudging his teeth made up a grotesque sight.

“You alone are worthy to hear my name, Ozul Ashfall. I am Kumaou1!”

‘... Didn’t everyone just hear him now? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of only me hearing his name?’ Ozul squinted his eyes and noticed that everyone had heard his name. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked back at the darkened sky above.

The man named Kumaou wasn’t disheartened at his lack of interest in his name.

“Want to give him a helping hand?” he asked Ozul.

He didn’t think twice before nodding his head. Earlier the Prince seemed to have the upper hand as that woman was sent flying and not him, but Ozul was keeping an eye on their battle as well; she only suffered a direct blow after underestimating him earlier.

‘Just a small mistake and the Prince would be dead,’ Ozul could feel both of their emotions. Their killing intent oozed out like a river cutting through mountains.

From their conversation earlier, Ozul and his group understood that the Prince knew about them being the so-called Dragon Hatchlings. Due to that, the woman seemed hesitant in killing them.

However, he couldn’t be sure what would really happen if the Prince died in this battle.

And so he was willing to risk it in hopes of giving the Prince a small opening that he could take advantage of.

But just as he and Kumaou were going to fly in that direction, a familiar figure appeared before them; it was the commander who had been only spectating all this while.

He shook his head and spoke in a determined tone, “You won’t interfere in the Prince’s battle. Not unless he commands so.”

Kumaou frowned and shouted, “What if he dies?”

Against his question, the commander stood still and quiet, but unmoving nonetheless. He wasn’t going to let them pass.

Kumaou clenched his fists, wanting to take on the commander as well, but Ozul shook his head. If he were to compare the two, the commander was just as strong as that Black Horned Beast.

They could kill the beast since it was already beaten up before, but the same could not be said about the man standing in front of them. Though Kumaou and the commander were both in the Origin Realm, there was a huge gap between them.

If anyone could really give the Prince a helping hand, it would be the commander. But since he wasn’t doing anything, Ozul didn’t think he should either.

Backing down, Ozul called back The Purity that hung the Fox midair. The beast dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, making its muscles twitch, which gave another scare to the people.

Kumaou grunted in annoyance before walking back with Ozul who went straight toward his little group.

When the Fox was running at them, everyone threw whatever they had at the beast, but nothing slowed it down. Their courage was admirable, but they were stupid in Ozul’s opinion.

Finding a good rock to sit on, he sighed in relief and watched the thundering sky in the distance.

Behind him stood Raven, Blaze, Zier, and Rose with scheming eyes.

“Next time you face something stronger than you, just run.”

He would have done the same thing in their place. His abilities allow him to sometimes take down opponents stronger than him, but even he wasn’t all-powerful. If faced with something he couldn’t deal with, the most rational decision was always to run.

Hearing his comment, Rose slid like a snake and appeared right beside him, and said in a coquettish tone, “...They started attacking before I could tell them to retreat~”

In her mind, she had already registered him to be as strong as Kumaou. She reasoned, just like everyone else, that he was using a Spiritual Tool to hide his strength.

Turning his face to the source of the voice, Ozul asked, “Can you move aside? I need room to breathe.”

Zier controlled his burst of laughter as he imagined Rose turning into a stone statue that slowly disintegrated into dust.

Raven and Blaze only nodded their heads, knowing full well that the charms of women never worked on Ozul.

Beside them, Kumaou also nodded his head in satisfaction. In his mind, this was how a man should act.