Unsealing Emptiness

The Sect Leader turned her focus back to Ozul and asked, “Can you at least tell me who you are?”

Since she could not feel his Mana, that could only mean that he was also a Rank-9 Mage. However, the astonishing thing was that he looked too young for a Rank-9 Mage.

It was either a Magical Spell or this person had reached Rank-9 at such a young age. The Sect Leader was more inclined to believe the former to be true, but a Magical Spell would have left Mana traces that she could not feel around him no matter how hard she tried.

“I am the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers,” Ozul answered truthfully. He saw no reason to hide this fact anyway.

Hearing his answer not only made the Sect Leader raise her brows but even Raven and Blaze looked surprised. Naturally, they had heard the name of Three-Eyed Strangers as well. But they didn’t know that it was Ozul who operated that organization.

“I didn’t know that the Three-Eyed Strangers’ leader really looked so young,” the Sect Leader commented. Before she turned around, she took another look at Ozul and spoke, “I wish we had met in better circumstances.”

.....

If Ozul hadn’t been taking their Sect’s never before seen geniuses, the Sect Leader might have decided to have some talk with him. Now, she couldn’t just ignore the fact that he was robbing them of their glorious future.

The Sect Leader was pretty confident that both of them would reach Rank-9 in the future, and once the word got out that they were both from the Nine Petals Sect, there would be a line of people trying to join them every year.

Though she didn’t show it on her face, she was burning from inside. She didn’t do anything only because of the fact that they indeed had no right to stop them. It was their choice.

If not for all of this, she might have thought of having a talk with Ozul to see if he wanted an alliance.

‘It seems she doesn’t know. Hm... It’s better this way,’ Ozul realized that Raymond had probably not told their allies about the deal between the Three-Eyed Strangers and the Order of Dusk.

The Sect Leader disappeared together with the Elders who had followed her here, leaving only the trio.

“Let’s go,” Ozul said as he noticed the disciples keeping their distance behind the houses. Raven and Blaze nodded their heads and they disappeared from the ground of Nine Petals Sect, leaving Alda to look at the sky with tear-filled eyes.

‘Just you wait! Alda will get stronger and come looking for you Big sister!’ Alda clenched her fists with all her strength.

. . .

“Are you sure you don’t want to take her with you?” Ozul asked as they flew back to the Neutral Lands. The question was naturally directed towards Raven.

Raven stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before replying, “If she stayed with me, it will only affect her negatively...”

Ozul was satisfied with her answer since that at least meant that she had started to realize the consequences of depending so much on others.

It was dark, but they didn’t stop and continued their journey till they returned to the Neutral Lands.

Only after the sun had risen again did they arrive back in the barren lands. From there, it didn’t take long for them to get to the headquarters.

Raven and Blaze both being Rank-8 Mages didn’t need any rest from the continuous expenditure of Mana.

As they arrived in the town, Blaze wasn’t able to sense the tower because of the invisible formation. However, Raven’s senses twitched as she looked around in alarm.

‘As always, Raven is sharper,’ Ozul mused as he noticed both of them. Although Raven hadn’t spotted the tower either, she was at least able to feel that something was wrong here. Whether it be her instincts or because she had her guard up, Blaze had lost to her the moment he didn’t sense anything.

Ozul landed right at the entrance of the door and just as he did, the tower showed itself to Raven and Blaze who were just a couple of feet behind.

Being in the Nine Petals Sect for more than 10 years, they had seen many things, but hiding the whole tower in plain sight was something they had yet to experience.

Ozul ignored their surprised expressions and walked inside. Following his entrance, the usual scene played out and all the members almost became mechanical.

For some reason, a rumor had spread among the normal members that their leader was even more strict than Miss Haley. Not to mention, the fact that he was a ‘Rank-9 Mage’ was already enough to make them panic.

Behind him, Raven and Blaze walked in while observing everything. Those who had the courage to sneak a glance at Ozul were curious about who the two walking behind their leader were since they had never seen them before.

Looking at everything around, Raven could not help but think of what Ozul had to do to build all of this. Being the one who had lived with him from childhood, she knew how much he hated doing tedious work.

On the other hand, Blaze’s face was full of smiles. There was not a day he regretted taking Ozul’s hand that day.

Following behind Ozul, the duo reached the 7th floor where Irvin, Haley, and Oliver were having a chat on the couches. Noticing him, the three hurriedly stood up. They were never able to feel his presence until he was too close, so it always made them jump in surprise.

“Oh~ The Raven and the Demon of the Feral? What a surprise!” Oliver was the first one to speak up as he noticed the duo. Even though he respected Ozul as his leader now, there was no way that he would stop teasing him.

Listening to his words, Irvin was curious at first and then remembered that they were the people following his Young Master during the time when he met him.

‘They must be Young Master’s friends!’ Haley and Irvin thought at the same time.

“There you have them, Irvin. Only these two will participate in the tournament from the Three-Eyed Strangers,” Ozul ordered without bothering to introduce them. After a pause, he continued, “Arrange their rooms on the floor above as well.”

There was only a single room on the entire 8th floor and Ozul trusted Blaze and Raven not to disturb him while being there.

“As you command, Young Master.” Irvin bowed.

“Also, I need to talk to you tomorrow,” Ozul remembered something but he was too lazy to ask right now. He turned towards the duo and said, “Ask Haley whatever you need. Tomorrow, I will check on your progress, so be prepared.”

After saying everything he needed, Ozul went to the 8th floor to sleep. Long travels always made him sleepy because of the boredom.

No one spoke a word until Ozul was finally out of their sight. The first one to speak was Oliver, “Hoho~ You remember this old man, little girl? How about you spar with me before him? I want to see how much you have grown up.”

Oliver had only spoken casually, he didn’t even try to sense her cultivation base. But his words caused Irvin to look at him like he was an idiot.

“What?” Oliver noticed Irvin’s look and asked.

“She will crush you. Why do you always look for trouble Oliver?” Irvin’s look almost seemed like he was pitying Oliver that for all his brilliance, he could not learn to control his tongue.

“Eh? What? She can crush me?” Oliver didn’t believe his words and immediately checked to see Raven’s cultivation base but he wasn’t able to determine anything. Realizing what it meant, he turned towards Irvin and asked, “What... is her Rank?”

“Both of them are Rank-8 at the middle stage,” Irvin answered with a smirk. Oliver always pulled his leg about being the slave of Haley, so he could not help but smile looking at the changing colors on his face.

Oliver didn’t speak for a while and had to digest this new information. It was hard to believe that the little girl had surpassed him by such a large margin. After a while, a toothy smile bloomed on his face as he muttered, “... Our victory is confirmed!”

Two Mages of Rank-8 middle stage! Even a single was enough to win the tournament, and they had two of them! Oliver might have not been so strong himself, but it was widely known to everyone how rare Rank-8 Mages were at such a young age.

Irvin and Haley agreed with Oliver’s sentiment and also nodded their heads.

“You don’t want to spar anymore, Oliver?” Raven asked and Oliver shrunk down like a balloon that had all of its gas leaked.

“Hehe, I won’t stand a chance against the Raven,” Oliver would rather be shameless than to show some stupid bravery and throw himself before an angry lioness.

“Your rooms will be arranged in an hour, if you need anything specific, just tell me. Till then, you can take the couches,” Haley warmly informed Raven and Blaze before taking leave to prepare everything.

“So you are the reason Young Master was called the Raven’s Shadow...” Irvin could not help but mutter. Though he still couldn’t understand why Raven’s name at that time became famous while his Young Master’s didn’t.

If only he looked beside him at this instant, he would instantly receive his answer from the way Oliver rolled his eyes.

Blaze didn’t act reserved and casually took the couch and muttered, “That reminds me, why was Master called the Feral? I mean, I haven’t met anyone more elegant than Master...”

Irvin and Raven quickly nodded their heads with a serious face, wholly agreeing with Blaze’s last sentence.

Meanwhile, Oliver’s tone again changed to a teasing one as he spoke, “Ho~? The Demon doesn’t know why the Feral got his nickname as such?”

However, before Blaze could even glare at him, Oliver displayed a toothy grin “It’s because whenever he was annoyed, his enemies’ bodies were found cut in hundreds of little pieces...” he answered while motioning with his forefinger and thumb to show their size.