?Kyle's head peeked out from behind a huge boulder as he gazed at the familiar figure floating mid-air in the distance.
Emion let out an angry laugh. He gazed at his surroundings and his harsh aura shook everything around him.
"It's been so many hours but why is it that I haven't seen even a single outsider?"
His eyes dilated into narrow slits. He was so angry that blood rushed to his head.
Kyle diverted his eyes with a frown. Just like Emion, he was equally confused because, on his way, he didn't see a single soul except for some people from the dark race.
Secretly he followed behind the frustrated man. They passed through a few treasure islands, mountains, and a large river. Yet, for some reason, the air was eerily quiet. It was as if the humans, elves, demi-human, mer, and dwarfs all vanished into thin air. Leaving behind no one except Emion and the few scattered people of dark race.
Kyle let out a soft chuckle. At first, he planned to distract Emion by attacking him but now with such a strange situation, he was not sure anymore.
'I don't think I need to distract someone who is already on the verge of madness.'
Bia yawned gingerly on his head. She was very comfortable. It was strange how Kyle's quiet and cold presence put her heart at ease. The fact that a fire phoenix prefers to stay with someone as cold as ice is astonishing, to say the least.
After another hour, Emion roared into the air madly and crushed a nearby boulder into pieces.
Kyle noticed with a raised brow. The sheer power of Emion's attack was at least ten times stronger than his own. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had been on the receiving end.
A chill ran down his spine as he shook his head with a dark face.
Still, he thought deeply. Just where the hell did the people who entered the realm go? After all, there's no way the dark race can kill so many people within such a short amount of time. Moreover, he sensed distress etched on the faces of the dark-race individuals he encountered on his way. It was clear that they were equally baffled.
'Whatever, it's better this way.'
With a sigh, he slowly followed behind Emion. They traveled for another hour toward the west before the wings behind the man fluttered roughly as he gazed at one of the treasure islands.
The look on Emion's face was screaming desperately that if he did not find anyone outside. Maybe everyone entered the treasure islands.
Kyle raised a mischievous brow and a strange glint flashed through his eyes. Just because he couldn't defeat Emion didn't mean he couldn't torture him enough to make him wish for death.
He rubbed his hands and Bia almost jumped off his head with fright when she heard his evil laughter.
-'The heck? Why are you getting so scary...'
Immediately, she lit a candle for Emion in her heart. The man was not going to live long. What a pity.
Kyle ignored her remarks and watched the man with utmost focus. As long as they entered the same treasure island, he was sure even if he did nothing, Emion was going to suffer a lot.
Opposite him, Emion felt a chill run down his spine. The man glared back but found no one. In the end, he flapped his wings in mid-air to enter the treasure island.
Kyle tiptoed behind him with an innocent look. After Emion entered the castle, Kyle slowly moved his finger to write on the castle gate.
"Caution; Do not enter!"
Bia's eyebrow twitched violently when she saw Kyle's satisfied face.
-'What the hell are you doing?'
'Just putting on a warning for those who might accidentally enter this castle.'
Without waiting for Bia's reply, Kyle jumped into the castle gate. The familiar darkness blurred his vision for a second before he finally opened his eyes in front of a big enclosed arena.
He lifted his head to gaze at the massive structure with towering walls made of stone and marble. In the distance, four towering humanoid statues adorned the edges of the arena. Also, for some reason, the exterior was very old. Older than the other treasure islands.
Kyle's eyes fell on the figure standing in the middle of the arena. Emion managed to plant his feet firmly on the sandy floor as he battled against a large two-horned black bull.
Kyle let out a harsh breath when he focused and tried to pinpoint the latter rank. It was probably a lot higher than his expectations. After all, his attacks never had any effect on Emion.
'(SS)-Rank...?'
-'No it's a little higher.'
He shot Bia a look and gazed at the thin boundary in front of him. His eyes trailed off to the bright transparent dome around the arena and the towering bull before they finally stopped at the hovering white orb outside the dome.
Kyle raised his hand and for the first time unclasped the white earring present in his ear. He stepped inside the boundary and the familiar mechanical voice echoed in the arena.
"Welcome new participants to the '104' treasure land."
"Counting the number of new arrivals...."
"Total new arrivals two; A (B-)-Rank divine beast and a (S-)-
Rank human."
"Please do your best to clear the challenges in front of you."
Emion snapped his head back abruptly in the middle of his fight. His eyes widened with fury when he saw Kyle's figure. He wanted to lung at him but the towering bull made it impossible for him to move.
Kyle let out a chuckle and watched him from a distance. He folded his hands on his chest and his feet left the sandy ground.
Bia hurriedly left his head because after staying with him for so long, she knew what he was going to do. Her tiny figure flew across the arena before she lazily stopped above a faraway statue.
In the next second, two more similar bulls appeared out of thin air in the arena. The two bulls' roared at Kyle and rubbed their hind limbs on the ground before charging toward him at full speed.
However, Kyle did not even flinch. He met Emion's furious gaze mid-air and the corner of his lips trickled upward into a smile before he vanished from his spot.
Under Emion's dilated eyes, Kyle's figure appeared mere inches away from the white orb floating outside the dome.
The winged man roared at him with bloody eyes.
"You dare!"
Kyle shrugged his shoulders with twinkling eyes. His wriggling fingers approached the bright orb as he watched the two bulls' who were supposed to attack him and Bia. The bulls suddenly halted in their tracks when they lost their targets. At first, they gazed around in confusion but the moment they heard Emion's thundering voice, the bulls snapped their glaring eyes at the shouting man.
Emion eyes widened with disbelief. He looked at the bulls. Now, they were charging toward him with the same speed they went behind Kyle.
"You bastard!"
He punched the bull he was fighting and jumped in another direction to avoid the two other bulls.
Kyle watched his struggle from above with glee. Suddenly he vanished from his spot and appeared inside the dome. Emion eyed his figure and the man shuddered when Kyle raised his hand and summoned countless ice spears that rained down at him with lightning-fast speed.
Bia let out a hiss instead of Emion and turned her tiny head away. The sight was just too painful.
Kyle's eyes zeroed in on the battered figure underneath him. He wanted to use his flames or ice domain but the skills would probably affect the bulls as well. That's why he crossed his fingers and gazed at the sandy ground.
Under Emion's wide eyes, ten glowing fire skeletons crawled out from the land and jumped at him without any fear. The skeletons were weak barely (B)-Rank but because the man was already surrounded by three towering bulls, he suffered a few injuries.
Kyle clicked his tongue when Emion managed to kill the strongest bull and badly injured the second one with the vortex. Still, when the man managed to subdue the last bull, Kyle spread out his palm and mumbled under his breath.
"Fire rain."
It was not his strongest skill but instantly a sea of fire descended inside the dome. Bia opened her eyes when she sensed the scorching heat. She flapped her wings and joined Kyle. After all, fire was her natural element.
-'Oh, it's actually a little fun..'
Emion let out a cry. He was already tired after battling with the bulls and the skeletons. He flapped his wings and after struggling for a minute managed to extinguish the fire.
When he was done, his body was burned in various places and countless injuries adorned his figure. Yet, the boiling anger in his eyes did not dissipate as he lifted his bloody gaze to stare at Kyle. Ready to tear the human into hundreds of shreds.
However, the sight he saw made him cough out blood.
Bia landed on Kyle's shoulder when the latter grabbed the white orb floating above the arena. The transparent dome had long vanished the moment Emion killed the last bull.
Kyle rolled the orb in his hand and a portal appeared behind his back. Before jumping into a portal he flashed a smirk at Emion.
"Dark race leader, try to stay alive because I want to be the one to end you. Remember... we will meet again, hahaha."
Emion's pupils dilated with rage. He couldn't believe that punny human was throwing the same words he said back at him!
Amidst all this, both Kyle and Emion failed to notice the tiny white ball lurking around the arena. Haylee wore a blank expression as he glanced at Emion's tattered condition and slowly followed behind Kyle.
'Just what had the world turned into? Now a (S-)-Rank kid can easily beat up a (SS+)-Rank being...'
'I wish master was here to witness the countless uses of instant teleportation.'
