As soon as Valeu's body hit the ground, Rean grabbed and protected him with a layer of Spiritual Energy. At the same time, he sent a wave of Light Element inside, stopping the bleeding and driving out the Decaying Fog Energy.
Roan saw that and nodded before giving another order.
"Retreat now! With this amount of Decaying Energy, the Decaying Demon Beasts from deep inside will appear at any second."
Everyone nodded, and they immediately dashed away. Sure enough, around a minute after Rean's group left, the area began to be filled with Decaying Devourers! That was to be expected since this was close to their territories.
Rean's group quickly exited that decaying cave and disappeared into the Decaying Fog. With the Surge's appearance, it became even harder to see or use one's Spiritual Sense. Even if Roan didn't know about the Decaying Devourers' territory, he wouldn't have chosen that path anyway. After all, it wasn't as good as the one he felt before.
Valeu tried to struggle several times on the way. Still, without any cultivation, he wasn't anything better than an ordinary person. Finally, he tried to bite his tongue to kill himself. After all, he knew that he wouldn't survive anyway. Unfortunately for him, Rean was present. Such a small injury like that wasn't anything hard for him to heal. In the end, Valeu was only suffering the pain in vain.
Finally, they found an inconspicuous corner and stopped to recover their energy. Of course, they made sure to keep Valeu protected against the high concentration of Decaying Energy. There was no need to worry about it with Rean present, even if Valeu lost his entire cultivation.
"How can your healing skills be this good? No, first of all, how can you completely eliminate the Decaying Energy in my body that easily? I've never heard about cultivators at the Core Formation Realm and below being able to do such a thing."
Calina was also surprised by that. On the way out, Rean had used his Light Element to help her heal the injuries and drive all the Decaying Fog Energy from her body. Even the pills made by the Imperial Family Alchemists were not that efficient.
Rean looked at Valeu and just shook his head.
"That's not your problem. You should be more worried about the block of ice on your side."
Who else would it be if not Roan?
"You shut up! Now, how about you start talking?"
Valeu snorted in response.
"What? You gonna torture me if I don't say anything? That's useless. We, protectors, receive special training to resist such things. Pain is far from enough to make me give in. However, I don't mind making a deal with you guys. If you bring me alive out of this Profound Abyss, I can tell the things you want to know."
Calina couldn't help but explode in a fury.
"How could you have done that, Valeu?! You are a member of the subordinate clans! Erna and Silo have been my protectors with you for over 3 years already! But killing them as if they were stalks of grass? Are you really going to keep silent now that we reached this point?"
Valeu couldn't care less as to what Calina said, responding.
"Being your protector was one of the worst things that ever happened to me, so you can shut up already. I already said what I had to say. If you want to make this deal, then I can talk more."
Malaka and Rean looked at Valeu with a hint of pity in their eyes. They got up and told Calina.
"Come with us for a moment. All you need to do is give Roan a few moments."
Calina shook her head in response.
"I'll stay. Do you think I've never interacted with such things before? Don't worry, I'm fine. Roan, I don't know if you are really able to open his mouth. But by all means, go ahead."
Roan faintly smiled as he looked at Calina. He had to admit that his opinion of her improved a little bit.
As expected, resisting Roan's technique, paired with his own Dark Element, was not something that Valeu expected. Dark Element destroyed Life Force itself. Having his own Life Force being eliminated while not having a shred of Spiritual Energy to defend was terrifying!
What was even more surprising was that Calina didn't even flinch. It's not like she didn't mind it, but that her rage for Erna and Silo's deaths had exceeded her limits. She thought that Valeu deserved that and even more for what he had done. Calina was far closer to Erna, who had been with her the longest.
Roan was surprised by Valeu's resistance at first. Usually, others would give up in the very first few seconds. However, it still took more than a minute for Valeu to finally open his mouth.
"Speak. Why did you attack Calina? Don't tell me that this was because of some deal. With the Imperial Family's power, you would obtain even more if you denounced it."
Valeu gasped for air as he laughed in ridicule.
"Deal? What deal? It was an order, and I was more than happy to take it. You Chroles people had been mixing your blood with our Imperial Family. What bullshit political marriage? This is obviously a scheme to slowly take control of the Sasamil Empire. All the higher-ups of the clans know about it already."
"What?!"
Calina was taken aback by it. She didn't expect that the name of the Chrole Empire would appear at this moment. As mentioned before, Calina was the fruit of a political marriage between the Sasamil Imperial Family and the Chrole Imperial Family. This wasn't the only one, though. The Imperial Family just had way too many descendants. They had sent their men and women to marry other powers several times in the past. Of course, they also received them.
In Calina's case, her father had the Sasamil Bloodline while her mother was from the Chrole Imperial Family.
"What the hell are you talking about? I've never heard about anything like that. Taking control over the Sasamil Empire? Bullshit! Mother's Chrole Empire had a peaceful relationship with the Sasamil empire for centuries. Why would they do something like that now? You're delusional!"
Valeu snorted once again as he replied.
"Hehe... You think so? Seems like they really kept you in the dark. That's to be expected. After all, you are just a twelve-year-old kid at the Foundation Establishment Realm. What help would you be able to offer with such cultivation?"
*Pah!*
Roan slapped the man's head before saying.
"Stop wasting my time and get to the point. What's it all about?"
Valeu felt a trace of fear when Roan talked to him and immediately continued.
"Just like Calina mentioned, the Sasamil and Chrole Empire had been on good terms for a long time. However, this is just on the surface. A lot of elders from our clans and even high members of the Imperial Family noticed it already. The Chrole Empire lives in the extreme north in the middle of the cold. They want nothing more than to come down and take the territory of our Sasamil Empire that borders them. Accepting political marriages was only one of the ways they used to slowly take control over us. Sooner or later, you will also be recruited by them to do their deeds."
As Valeu talked, he became more furious.
"Still, that idiotic emperor insists that we are just imagining things. That the Chrole Empire doesn't even have the power to conquer us even if they wanted. He doesn't see that the longer we wait, the worse the situation will become. However, this situation will not last for long. Hahaha!"
Calina felt a chill on her back after hearing that.
"What are you talking about? What do you plan on doing?"
Valeu cackled as he continued.
"Hahaha! How would I know? Do you really think that my clan's higher-ups would go as far as to tell me their plans? Don't be naive! All I know is that it won't be long before that idiotic emperor is driven out of the throne. When that time comes, we will immediately wipe out your Chrole bloodline from our ranks."
"No! I don't believe you!"
Calina refused to believe his words.
"So what if you don't believe me? Hahaha! Sooner or later, you will be forced to when the emperor falls, and a new one takes his place. Of course, that is considering that you will be alive by then. Still, there is no need to worry. It won't take long before your mother and her entire Chrole Empire to follow you. Once the new emperor takes the throne, he will immediately get rid of this evil in the north."
Calina's expression turned pale as she fell to the ground. Sure enough, this was way too much for a girl that's barely twelve years old. Malaka noticed Calina's face and immediately hugged her.
"It's okay. The actual emperor is someone strong, right? Valeu must be lying. Yes, definitely!"
However, Calina was now thinking about her time in the capital. Valeu's words made her consider the things that had been happening there recently. Her father always had a severe expression while at home. Her mother seemed to be always worried as well. They told her that nothing was wrong, but everything began to make sense after hearing all of this.
Roan then put a hand on Valeu's shoulder and sent a wave of Dark Element.
"Arghhh!"
He ignored Valeu's scream as he asked.
"Who else other than you wants to kill her? Did you act alone? What's the contingency plan in case you failed? Are there more enemies waiting outside the Profound Abyss? Are there more enemies inside? Who are the ones in the capital on your side, clans, organizations, Imperial Family Members, so on? Talk!"
