Unsealing Emptiness

He couldn’t help but shake his head as he thought, ‘Do they really think they are well hidden?’

Ozul could guess that these people probably had things to worry about since they didn’t even realize that they were doing a lousy job at hiding. Not to mention him, a Rank-9 Mage wouldn’t have needed to spare a few seconds to locate them either.

Since one of the four people sent to watch over them immediately left after knowing their destination, it was most likely that they would send people after them.

They were going to the uninhabited part of the continent, thousands of miles away from any human settlement. The Church would most likely think that Old Gu wouldn’t be able to get the wind of this if anything happened to him there.

They wouldn’t find any better opportunity than this, and he doubted that they would sit still this time since there was only a single year left before the old man’s test.

If Kure knew that the ones who had passed the test seemingly disappeared, never to be seen again, then the ancestor of the Church would be aware of that too.

.....

Him being a ‘Rank-9 Mage’, he would most probably be the strongest there, and the Church should know that they might never see him again after that.

It was pretty evident that they would never miss what could be their only chance to get to him.

And since all of them thought Ozul to be a Rank-9 Mage, he could already guess who might come after him.

‘I will have to be careful. It might go downhill any moment if I am careless,’ Ozul contemplated before he began to plan what he would do.

He would first have to inform this group of unconcerned people about the situation they would face in the near future.

When the battle broke out, he didn’t want any distractions. However, these people would probably try to ‘help’ him. It was better if he told them beforehand.

Just that, ‘Should I kill them or not...?’

Ozul wasn’t sure if it was alright to kill the three Rank-8 Mages keeping a watch over them from a distance.

‘Would the Church think that I was misleading them?’ Ozul thought. He knew that even if these Rank-8 Mages didn’t notice it, Lammert and that ancestor of theirs would realize that they wouldn’t have been able to eavesdrop on him if he didn’t want them to.

When they found that the Mages who were sent to keep watch over them had all died, they might think that it was some sort of trap and not follow along with it.

Ozul himself wanted to face the Church in some open space where he could go all out without worrying about anything. The uninhabited part of the continent was just the place for it.

Moreover, he really did want to get his last limb back from the Church as soon as possible. A single victory could decide if he would get it back or not.

In the end, Ozul decided not to worry too much about it.

A part of the Ball of Purity escaped his body and turned into a straight line before hardening and splitting into three arm-length blades.

Before anyone could even comprehend what was happening, the three blades flew in three different directions, and just half a second later, three people hiding behind the trees died without even knowing the cause of their death.

Ozul didn’t want to bother himself with the constant monitoring of the three people during their entire journey.

And even if the Church thought that it was some sort of trap, they would still follow after the lead since that would be their only option. He might never come back at all until the test, so they would have to search for him on their own.

Either way, he was going to explore the ruins.

“Let’s go. I will explain on the way,” Ozul said as he began to move in the direction of their destination.

Raven and Blaze nodded their heads before following behind him. The Rogue Crew was also behind them.

They could easily keep up with the speed even without showing themselves, but it was only because all of them had learned at least this much after running for their life for years.

. . .

After Ozul had explained the general situation, Raven couldn’t help but show worried expressions,

“Wouldn’t that...”

She didn’t know how to continue her words since she did not want to reveal her feelings, but she was only worried because she didn’t know that Ozul’s strength had already surpassed Rank-9.

“Don’t worry, I can deal with it,” Ozul replied without letting her finish her sentence. He understood her worries.

Hearing those words reassured Raven. However, there was still a lingering feeling of concern that ate her from inside, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

“But we can still help-” Blaze went on to say, but he was interrupted in the middle.

“You will only get in the way. If you want me to die, then feel free to intervene,” Ozul didn’t sugar coat his words which deflated Blaze like a balloon.

None of the Rogue Crew voiced any complaints which made Ozul a little surprised, but he remembered that they were all bound to the oath in which they wouldn’t question any of the orders given to them except for when Ozul himself asked for their opinion.

The group continued their journey towards the mysterious land with Ozul thinking about all the scenarios he could think of about the outcome of their battle.

He knew that it would most likely be the ancestor of the Church of Light who will come after his life.

In a battle between two individuals at Rank-10 battle strength, there was no need for Rank-8 Mages who could even die during the battle if they were careless.

The only reason he was bringing the Rogue Crew was so that he would have more people to explore the area which would lessen his burden by a large margin.

He could create small teams, each consisting of at least one Middle Stage Rank-8 leading the Initial Stage ones to explore in a different direction. Even if none of them found anything, it would at least confirm Ozul that there was nothing of use in that direction.

Meanwhile, if he was alone, then he would have to search in each direction on his own which would have been quite troublesome.

It didn’t take long for them to leave the Neutral Lands and arrive at the Barren Lands.

After crossing the Barren Lands, Ozul led the group to travel straight in the direction of the ruins marked on the parchment.

As they followed along the path, it wasn’t surprising to find that they didn’t come across any town, much less a city right after crossing the Barren Lands.

After crossing through the Barren Lands, almost everyone expected to find a city or at least a town, but there wasn’t such a thing on this side of the continent.

People never ventured into this part of the forest anyway, so what was the use of building a town or a city? It would have been basically useless since no one would have used it anyway.

It was already nighttime, so Raven couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t we going to make a stop?”

The members of the Rogue Crew looked at her weirdly. They didn’t understand why a Middle Stage Rank-8 Mage like her needed to rest after only a day worth of continuous movement.

Raven was already familiar with Ozul’s habits and it was the same for Blaze to a certain extent.

Because Raven could sometimes even understand what Ozul wanted to do without him even voicing it out, but Blaze was certainly not at that level yet. And as far as Raven knew, they might not see Blaze achieving that level in his entire lifetime.

“No, it is fine,” Ozul answered, not wasting his time on useless explanations.

Although he could have very well stopped at almost any place or time to take a nap, he didn’t want to stop around here this time since he had already provoked the Church of Light.

If it was really Darcia, the ancestor of the Church of Light, then he wouldn’t dare to dilly dally in a random part of the forest like this.

Since he didn’t know what the actual plans of the Church were, he had to be extra careful.

After he had learned more about the formations, he wouldn’t dare to underestimate even a Rank-9 Mage, much less someone who he might not even be strong enough to defeat.

It would be quite troublesome if she wanted to chase after them right after hearing the news of their departure.

In that case, he would have a hard time going against the Church as they were still nowhere near the ruins.

It would be in their best interest if the Church took its sweet time before following their group.

Even if they gave them a head start of just a few days, Ozul’s group would already be too deep inside that part of the continent. Being a Rank-10 Mage wouldn’t help much either.

Though he was sure that a month was enough for a Rank-10 Mage to easily find them.

While Ozul was thinking everything through, the Rank-8 Bishop arrived back in the Church...