In a dark but extremely clean place in the Saints Killing Sect, Mortimer was lying on a large bed, dressed in white clothes and smiling strangely.
He had bandages over his eyes, with small red spots on them, indicating wounds in that area of his body.
But these were not battle wounds but rather the surgical procedure this man had undergone hours ago.
After days of preparing for Gavin's eye transplant, this man had reached the day he had been waiting for. Now, he was waiting for the doctors of his sect to finish with that individual.
Amid his waiting, Mortimer heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him, and shortly after that, one of the doctors observing him said. "Sect master, I am here to look at your situation."
"Hmm, all right." He said in a low voice, being in a highly fragile state at the moment due to the surgery to remove his eyes.
To inherit Gavin's powers, he would have to give up his own eyes and transplant that individual's three eyes into his body.
Since it was not simple to permanently remove organs from Spiritual Saints' bodies, the surgery was somewhat complicated.
Spiritual Saints could rebuild their bodies with their own will. But this was not something as simple as it seemed at first sight. To reconstruct a leg, for example, the soul of that expert would have to have the component responsible for this.
And if this soul had the 'code' for the right leg, for example, such a body could not transplant the right leg from another being and control it as its own. Instead, this person would first have to 'delete' the 'code' for his right leg and then assimilate a new leg and control it as his own.
In this way, it involved the manipulation of one's soul, the most important spark of life of all!
Thus it was naturally tough to permanently remove part of a being without endangering they, which justified the man's temporary weakening.
To get an idea, Mortimer would spend the entire next year without being able to use his own strength while at the same time getting used to his new eyes.
After this, it would take him some more time to learn to control all of Gavin's powers and bring these abilities up to his level, which was far superior to that young man's.
But Mortimer accepted all the risks and problems that could arise because of this, imagining his future journey post-recovery.
"It looks like everything is all right, sect master." That doctor said while smiling at this man lying down, who, even without eyes, could feel everything in his surroundings because of how strong he was. "We were able to remove your original eyes successfully. So even if you try to regenerate them, you won't succeed."
"Perfect." Mortimer said in satisfaction.
"When it comes to the third eye cavity, it is more complicated, and we can only leave it to do it during the transplant. Then we can proceed when the sect master sees fit."
"Oh? Have you guys done the work with that fellow?" Mortimer asked with a tone full of anticipation.
"Yes, sect master. The head doctor who will lead your operation has just finished and is recovering." That person, all dressed in white, said.
"Very well. Take me there." The sect master ordered, not having to wait long in that place and soon be taken to the operating room at the safest point on that floating island.
When he got there, Mortimer could not see, but he could feel everything in the surroundings, including the dead body of the young man he had been chasing for years.
'It looks like we got revenge for all the headache you put us through, huh?' He paid attention in the direction of that corpse, which had its entire face disfigured at the moment.
To safely remove Gavin's eyes, the Saints Killing Sect's doctors had opened his skull and removed his eyes along with his brain.
The slightest mistake could make that powerful lineage variation disappear, so whenever this organization and the Rowse family performed this operation, they always removed the brain as a guarantee.
Because of this, those who 'donated' these eyes always died!
As much as Spiritual Saints could recover from almost any kind of physical damage, this surgery was like the one Mortimer had undergone. The kind that removed that part of one's body from their soul.
Only then could his lineage ability be transplanted to someone with the sensitivity to the Rowse family lineage!
In that way, Minos' ally had met a terrible fate in this place.
'But don't be sad, Gavin. Now you will suffer no more, and I will carry your powers with me for many years to come.' Mortimer smiled broadly. 'Besides, I will soon make your companions from the northern region and the cursed Gray Clouds Sect to the same place as you.'
He turned his face to the side of that corpse while Gavin's body, legless, armless, extremely burned, and with an open head, lay in a trash can.
After this, it was not long before the chief doctor of this organization finished resting and went to the operating room to begin the most important transplant of his life.
...
While Mortimer was undergoing that surgical procedure, Minos and his group were arriving in the capital of the Flaming Empire at this very moment.
Alongside his grandfather and the men of the Edwardstone family who had picked him up earlier, Emperor Stuart was slowly landing in Payton in a sizeable 7th-stage beast.
But even though he had arrived at this place that would face local justice in a short time, Minos was not in the least bit grumpy. On the contrary, he was in an excellent mood, while the grumpy ones were precisely those who were supposed to arrest him.
Not only had they failed to do what they had been ordered to do, but they had had to put up with Minos' words for two weeks, and they still saw this fellow advancing, something terrible to see.
Nobody liked to see someone so immoral and lawless getting stronger!
That was a danger to the institutions and the common people's peace!
Seeing him reaching level 68, those people could only get more apprehensive and grumpy.
As for Minos, he was already starting to plan for the near future, when he would kill Abe and become a Spiritual Saint.
'In three years at most, I should reach level 70.' He thought as he looked at the troop of soldiers coming to receive him and his group. 'When that happens, I will learn my base technique for the Soul Avatar, advance the mastery of my techniques, and most importantly, advance the quality of my Physique.'
He clenched his fists at this thought since his innate ability was of utmost importance to him.
Even he had no idea how strong he would become after going through such a qualitative breakthrough!
'Innate abilities show their true prowess when a Physique reaches the Saint grade. Then I'll finally be able to get a sense of how strong my skill is!'
With that in mind, he and his group landed in Payton, soon being surrounded by individuals from the royal guard.
"Minos Stuart, we will not accept your threats. Surrender now, or we will have no mercy!"
...
