Four days after Vicente's group escaped from the Chutha Dynasty, they were still making their way to the Fallen Angels' headquarters, which was ten days away from Oldbarrow.
They hadn't been pursued because they had managed to enter the Kenyth Empire before the people of the Bone Mountains began to investigate the traces of those behind Dax's death.
On the other hand, the sect had to deal with a Sovereign-level ghost to clear the space where they could begin their investigation, which hindered them and helped Vicente even more.
Four days after Dax's death, Vicente's group finally noticed movement near the empire's border due to his actions.
...
Not far from one of the main crossroads Vicente and his group used, they could see several specialists flying in the sky in the opposite direction of where they were going.
Looking in the direction of this flying group, the people in Vicente's group couldn't help but notice the high level of magical cultivation of these people. Not only that, they all noticed the same symbol engraved on their armor.
"The Fallen Angels," Vicente muttered as his group slowed from running to walking as he watched them pass.
Layla ignored the bridge about a kilometer away from them and asked. "Could this be because of us?"
"Probably." Casey nodded in agreement. "Vicente was right. The death of a sect's experts is an opportunity for the organization's enemies. It will probably make our journey easier."
Vicente smiled, imagining that this was the case. "Perfect. It will give us time to plan our actions and deal with Malik like I did with Dax."
Layla looked at him and said. "We must be careful, Vicente. The Kenyth Empire has more Paragons than the Chutha Dynasty."
"I know. Don't worry. I won't kill more than I have to or take unnecessary risks. But everything will be fine if things go as well in this state as they did in the dynasty. I'll be at peace with my revenge mission." He said soberly.
"I hope so..."
They walked on until they passed a bridge between two waterfalls in the area, where there was a beautiful view of part of the empire's border with the dynasty but also of the empire's interior.
The Kenyth Empire had fewer forests than the Chutha Dynasty. It was a place characterized by high peaks and rock formations where life could hardly thrive.
There was a desert zone on the state's border with the Seidel Kingdom, while glaciers were on the border with the northernmost state. In the more central parts of the state, rocky reliefs stretched across much of the state. From the small forests of this state came the many local rivers, creating waterfalls like the one near where the party was passing.
Given these characteristics, the empire had a number of peculiarities that made it specialize in certain areas, such as forging, engineering, and other areas that made great use of minerals.
Once they passed that point, they would encounter the empire's soldiers and several groups of travelers passing through the area, but they wouldn't have any problems there.
They would pass through the area and continue on their way to the headquarters of the Fallen Angels sect.
...
As Vicente and his group went to Spiritbell, there was a place built in the mountains of that city where the headquarters of the largest local force was located.
This place was as big or bigger than the headquarters in the Bone Mountains, and it had buildings built around the hills and underground, making good use of the rocky terrain.
The green areas there adorned this large area, while living quarters, training grounds, and a battle arena were located around these areas, near the entrance to the sect's headquarters.
On the highest peak of the area, there was a large 30-meter statue with large wings, the symbol of the Fallen Angels sect.
In one of the most beautiful areas there, built on one of the peaks, was the residence of the sect's elders, from which all the residences had a beautiful view of Spiritbell.
In one of the 50 houses built on that side of the highest peak in the area, a middle-aged man with gray hair was lying on a bed while a few people kept him company in his luxurious bedroom.
Among these people were his three wives and his eldest daughter, each doing something for him, while two of his friends sat on chairs to the right of his bed.
These two friends had just arrived with news for him.
"Malik, it's always good to see you, but today, we're here to talk about something important." Said one of the two men, while he and the friend sitting next to him couldn't stop smiling.
Malik smiled at the two men and asked. "What is it?"
"You won't believe this, but bloody Dax was killed near Oldbarrow a few days ago!" The other man said.
"What?" Malik, who had been slowly recovering from his injuries since the battle with Dax, almost got out of bed when he heard this.
But as he moved, he felt a sharp pain in his back, which he quickly expressed on his face and made the women there move to help him.
"Kane, why have you come to bring this news to my father?" Asked the beautiful blonde woman sitting in the chair on the other side of his old man's bed.
She looked like Malik in many ways, but she had the curves of her mother, who quickly climbed into bed to help her husband.
Kane just smiled at Malik's beautiful young daughter while the man couldn't help but look at Kane and his other friend with a question mark on his face.
"What happened? As much as that bastard is my rival, or rather was my rival, he wasn't easy to deal with!" Malik said, clenching his fists.
He wanted to kill Dax himself. Their history was long, beginning more than 400 years ago, when both were mere Acolytes who participated in an annual competition for young people up to the age of 20 in a neighboring state that was neutral towards the empire and the dynasty.
Since then, they had met and fought on many occasions, with one of them even stealing the other's wife and impregnating her.
That woman was there today with Malik and the rest of the family, so when she heard about her ex-boyfriend's death, she couldn't help but be interested.
Even though their relationship had ended over 250 years ago, she had been with Dax for over a decade.
Kane explained what had happened to them. "I don't know exactly how it happened or who did it. The people of the Bone Mountains think it was someone from the Dark Path... Anyway, the fact is that this murderer killed his son and his wife before luring him to the place of his death with parts of their bodies. Then he was killed and turned into a ghost."
Everyone in the room opened their mouths in shock when they heard this, for all these things that had happened to Dax's family were quite cruel. Even though he had been an enemy of theirs for a long time, they couldn't let on that it was all wrong and undignified for a magician as strong as that man.
"Too bad I couldn't kill him." Malik commented, closing his eyes and smiling. "But his death ends our differences. After all, I outlived him..."
