Minutes after leaving Saltstar City, Vicente arrived in a coastal forest area where several smaller hills surrounded the largest peak in the region.
From where he had stopped, he could see a beautiful view of the sea, the forest, and the city where he now lived. He stopped there momentarily, not to admire the view but to find the place he was looking for.
'I have arrived near the area indicated by Snow Claw. He must be cultivating somewhere underground...' Vicente thought as he used his supernatural senses to search for Jonah.
He hadn't encountered any problems so far, and there wasn't anyone hazardous around at the moment. So he didn't have to worry about holding back, and soon he spotted a strange sign.
'That must be him.' Vicente sensed an area devoid of mana, which was surely surrounded by magical items to camouflage what was happening there.
He took what Snow Claw had given him earlier and made his way to the place, examining the terrain as he went.
When he found some mechanisms at the entrance to a cave, he used the key he had received from Jonah and saw a path open for him.
Entering a long, dark corridor, he saw an intense glow at the end of the path as he finally felt the aura of the items in this secret cave and Jonah.
'He's advancing...' Vicente sighed as he finally entered the place and saw Jonah sitting in a lotus position, meditating in the middle of the area.
He didn't watch Snow Claw for long and soon began to observe the surroundings of this secret cave, where he would have to stay until Jonah's progress to the 4th stage was complete.
The place looked like a small shop!
Many shelves reaching the ceiling divided the space of this underground chamber, storing magical resources, books, scrolls, spells, artifacts of all kinds, coins, and magic stones.
There was an exciting amount of everything in there, from 1st-grade items to even a 4th-grade artifact, a rarity to be found in Scott Province.
'He is really rich.' Vicente thought to himself.
But that was only natural. Jonah was a High-level Mage who was about to become a Sovereign. He had lived many years, fought countless battles, and murdered more people than he could remember.
He had amassed considerable wealth through his actions over the years. Since he had been imprisoned in Long Bay Correctional Facility for several years, his wealth had been lying idle in this cave for a long time.
Vicente looked around until he got a real sense of the value stored in the cave and sat down at the entrance to guard the area.
He had no greedy thoughts about the Snow Claw items. He had a particular interest in some of the things there and was already thinking about making a deal with Jonah later. But he would not insult the man for those riches. It would be much more valuable to have the support of a Sovereign than to have everything stored on those shelves.
'I hope nothing gets in his way, and I don't have to get involved in any fights.' Vice thought as he closed his eyes. 'Everything will be better this way...'
Vicente was thinking this when suddenly something changed in Jonah, and he was forced to open his eyes awkwardly.
Vice looked at Jonah and saw the man leave the state of meditation he had just been in as he coughed up blood and brought a hand to his chest.
"What? What's going on?" Vicente rushed to Snow Claw's side, watching the man's body shake as his eyes slowly closed.
"Jonah! Jonah! What's happening?" Vicente shouted, not understanding the situation, as he watched the man pass out in his arms.
He checked Snow Claw's pulse, and an ugly expression appeared on his face.
"Shit! His heart stopped beating!"
Sensing this, he began massaging Jonah's chest, just as doctors on Earth would do to save their patients.
Using his mana, he tried to get oxygen into Jonah's mouth without having to put his lips on Jonah's.
'It's not working!' His eyes widened as he continued, still trying to save Snow Claw's life but already aware that this man had died.
It was a disappointing death, so Vicente didn't stop the heart massage right away. But how could he not be disappointed and angry? Snow Claw was one of the province's strongest, if not the strongest! How could he die of a heart attack?
Such a powerful warrior should die gloriously in the middle of a battle against enemies stronger than him, and only after seriously wounding or even killing some of them!
It was unfair for Jonah to die like that!
So Vicente continued what he had started for a while longer.
...
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away from that cave, Miss Death's group stood by a waterfall while she let her three pentagrams gradually disappear from her surroundings.
Her Book of Death became more and more transparent. At the same time, the dreadful aura around the beautiful Lauren disappeared to the delight of the terribly frightened animals nearby.
"He's dead," Lauren told her companions, confirming the end of their mission in this place.
Thirty-Three smiled in satisfaction for her Miss, for killing Snow Claw was no small feat. Even she, an Earth Sovereign, would find it difficult to kill Jonah. But Lauren had eliminated the man without even confronting him!
"That's great!"
"I always get goosebumps when the Miss uses her powers. It's always amazing!"
"Hahaha, I can't wait to see the young lady in action when she becomes an Earth Sovereign."
"Tsk! You won't see it, Thirty-Nine."
Lauren took a deep breath as her companions talked, feeling the weight of killing someone of Jonah's level. As easy as it was for her to do what she did because she hadn't put herself in danger, this death had cost her practically all of her mana.
'That man was really different. It's a shame that I had to kill him. He could have become someone monstrous and known throughout the continent.' She thought to herself.
Jonah had died for her, but she was aware that this had happened because of a small difference between their powers. If she had been 2% weaker, he would have survived that deadly attack!
He would certainly have been weak after surviving Lauren's powers, but he would have lived to tell the tale.
Lauren said after thinking about it and drinking a recovery potion. "Let's collect his body before we go to The Ruby Devils."
"Yes, Miss."
So they headed for Jonah's Cave, with Thirty-Three leading the way.
