Chapter 349: A Haven in Hell
Chapter 349: A Haven in Hell
"RHAIN VOSS!"
The immobilizing effect of the Monarch’s Soul-Sealing Bell finally shattered. Veydris and the four late-stage Domain Master assassins broke free from the spiritual paralysis, their eyes bloodshot with manic fury.
They frantically scanned the immediate surroundings, but the targets had long gone.
"FIND THEM!" Commander shrieked, "They couldn’t have gone far!"
The five late-stage Domain Masters instantly pushed their vast Spiritual Senses outward, fully intending to lock onto the spatial ripples left behind by Rhain’s escape.
But the moment their soul power rushed outward, it was consumed by the thick fog.
"Damn it!" one of the 8th-level Domain Masters cursed viciously, his face twisting in frustration.
The uniquely dense, toxic miasma of the Sunless Umbral Basin acted as a natural suppressor.
It completely nullified their high-level Spiritual Senses, compressing their perception to barely a few hundred meters.
In this oppressive darkness, their vision was restricted to being only slightly better than that of normal mortals.
"We are practically blind down here," Veydris spat, glaring into the impenetrable fog. "I’m taking to the sky! We can track their movements from above!"
Swoosh—!
Veydris shot into the air, piercing through the lower layers of the dark fog to gain a vantage point.
But the moment he cleared the treeline—
SCREEECH!
An ear-piercing shriek echoed from the thick clouds above.
A massive, mutated flying beast with razor-sharp bone wings dove directly at the ascending Domain Master.
It was a peak Core Formation Realm beast, mutated by the basin’s toxic environment.
"Worthless trash!" Veydris roared indignantly.
He casually swung his blade, unleashing a condensed arc of essence that cleanly sliced the mutated beast in half.
A shower of corrupted black blood rained down onto the petrified forest.
He killed it easily, but the loud commotion of the strike instantly echoed for miles.
"Get back down here, you fool!" Commander bellowed, his face turning ugly.
Hearing the order, Veydris hurriedly descended.
"Are you trying to get us all killed?!" Commander scolded, glaring coldly at Veydris. "If we fly around blindly and indiscriminately expend our essence, the commotion will undoubtedly attract the mutated Domain Master beasts lurking in the deeper zones! We are already heavily injured from that cursed mirror’s rebound! If we are swarmed here, we will drain our essence dry and die!"
The assassins fell entirely silent. Cold sweat began to form on their backs.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Searching blindly in a death zone where their senses were crippled and the environment itself wanted them dead was completely suicidal.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Veydris gritted his teeth, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles popped.
"We fall back," Commander ordered ruthlessly. "We will camp outside the Basin’s perimeter. There is no way that the boy could survive in this place for three months. He will eventually have to come out. And when he does, we will be waiting to sever his head."
With extreme reluctance and boiling hatred, the five assassins turned around, retreating toward the borders of the wasteland.
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Deep inside the perilous zones of the Sunless Umbral Basin.
Swoosh—!
Rhain finally slowed his pace, coming to a halt within a dense cluster of towering, petrified trees.
He gently set Lyra down on her feet.
Both of them were panting slightly, their chests heaving from the intense escape that had heavily drained their essence.
Lyra stared at the dark-robed youth standing before her.
Her crimson eyes were wide with utter shock.
She had just witnessed him casually deploy an Emperor-Grade mirror to reflect a combined strike from five late-stage Domain Masters, followed immediately by an Emperor-Grade bell to paralyze their souls.
Two Emperor-Grade artifacts!
Even their Emberford family which had stood for more than a thousand years, did not possess a single artifact of that caliber.
’Who exactly is he?’ Lyra thought, her haughty pride entirely shaken.
What kind of unfathomable background could possibly nurture a nineteen-year-old youth with such a monstrous level of the martial and alchemical talent, and an arsenal of Emperor-Grade treasures?
But before she could voice her questions, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.
Her vision blurred, and her legs gave out.
"Ugh..."
Lyra collapsed to her knees, coughing uncontrollably.
The healthy flush of her beautiful face rapidly drained, replaced by a sickly, pale-green hue.
During their frantic escape, she had forcefully deactivated her True Heavenly Flame, knowing that blazing like an orange-crimson sun in the pitch-black darkness would have made her an clear target for the assassins to track.
But without the protection of her flame, the highly toxic miasma of the basin had gotten the chance to invade her pores and seeped directly into her meridians.
Unlike Rhain, whose tyrannical Abyssal Sovereign Physique was currently devouring and refining the poison as if it were fresh air, her body was actively decaying.
"Lyra!"
Rhain instantly noticed her collapsing figure. He stepped forward, dropping to one knee beside her.
With a flick of his wrist, an exquisite jade bottle materialized in his palm.
He popped the cork, revealing a perfectly round pill that radiated a pure fragrance.
"Open your mouth," Rhain instructed.
Lyra was too weak to argue. She parted her pale lips, and Rhain gently fed the pill into her mouth.
The moment the pill slid down her throat, an incredibly warm, purifying wave of essence exploded within her stomach.
The medicinal properties aggressively surged through her meridians, hunting down the invasive toxic miasma and neutralizing it completely.
Within mere minutes, the painful sting faded.
The sickly green hue receded from her skin, and she could finally breathe the dense air normally without feeling her lungs burn.
Lyra let out a long exhale, the color returning to her cheeks.
She looked up at Rhain.
"When... when did you even have the time to refine these?" Lyra asked,her crimson eyes blinking in astonishment.
Rhain simply stood up, a confident smile appearing on his lips.
"I wouldn’t walk into a notorious death zone without making the proper preparations," Rhain replied calmly.
He looked around the gloomy, oppressive forest.
"We are safe for now, but we cannot go back," Rhain stated, "Veydris and his men are undoubtedly camping at the perimeter. While I could easily use my disguise technique to change my face and slip past them, you cannot."
Lyra knew he was right. If she was spotted, the royal assassins would not spare her life.
"We must push deeper," Rhain concluded. "We will find that mutated python, harvest its beast core for Dean Carmilla, and wait out the remaining time while strengthening ourselves."
Lyra nodded firmly, using her rapier to help push herself up from the ground. "I am not afraid. Let’s go."
"First, we need to find a place to rest and recover our spent essence," Rhain said.
His dark grey eyes instantly ignited with a piercing golden light.
Eyes of Truth!
The golden glow pierced straight through the obscuring, toxic fog, sweeping across the hostile landscape.
A few moments later, Rhain’s gaze locked onto a specific location about two miles away.
"Follow me," Rhain spoke softly.
They navigated silently through the petrified woods until they arrived at the edge of a deep ravine.
Plummeting down the side of the cliff was a thick, sluggish waterfall of highly corrosive black sludge.
The stench was foul, but Rhain’s golden eyes had spotted the place he was looking for.
"There," Rhain pointed directly behind the curtain of falling sludge. "A concealed cavern. The corrosive properties of this waterfall will naturally deflect any roaming mutated beasts."
Lyra nodded, the two of them leaped across the ravine, slipping cleanly behind the waterfall of black sludge and stepping into the hidden cave.
The cave was spacious and surprisingly secure.
"Sit down and recover your essence," Rhain instructed, tossing her another flawless Mystic-Grade pill. "This basin is extremely dangerous. We must be at our peak before we venture any further."
Lyra caught the pill, her crimson eyes staring at the confident dark-robed youth who had just saved her life, orchestrated their escape from the late stage Domain Masters, and found them a perfect sanctuary, all while without losing his composure for a single moment.
Without a word of complaint, she found a smooth patch of stone, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes to begin her meditation.
Seeing Lyra’s breathing gradually stabilize Rhain silently withdrew his gaze.
He knew she was out of immediate danger.
The purifying properties of the pill would keep the residual miasma at bay while restoring her depleted energy.
Without making a sound, Rhain moved toward the opposite side of the cave.
He found a flat piece of stone, and sat down cross-legged.
Closing his dark grey eyes, Rhain instantly sank his consciousness into his dantian.
The three supermassive pitch-black cores hovering within his dantian spun fiercely.
During the frantic escape, he had pushed the Heaven-Grade Boundless Sky Wind to its limit while carrying another person.
Coupled with the sheer mental taxation of simultaneously activating two Emperor-Grade artifacts, his essence reserves had taken a considerable hit.
As he cultivated, Rhain analysed his current situation.
’Five late-stage Domain Masters,’ Rhain mused inwardly.
To dispatch an execution squad with 8th and 9th-level Domain Masters just to hunt down a Core Formation youth in a designated death zone showed exactly how much Lucius wanted him dead.
He had managed to secure their escape this time, but he was under no illusions about how close of a call it had been.
’I cannot rely on that combination again.’
Emperor-Grade Heavenly Illusion Piercing Mirror was indeed a life-saving trump card.
Reflecting a combined strike with double the destructive force was capable of catching even peak Domain Masters off guard.
But it had a fatal flaw.
It could only be used once every twenty-four hours.
If Veydris and the Commander somehow managed to track them fog before the cooldown reset, he would be left without his greatest shield.
Furthermore, they are not fools. They won’t fall for the exact same trick twice.
In a second encounter, the assassins would undoubtedly seal their hearing perfectly to nullify the Monarch’s Soul-Sealing Bell.
They would ambush and sneak attack rather than grouping their essence into a single area.
The element of surprise was entirely gone.
Against a lineup of experts who outclassed him by practically an entire major realm and a half, parlor tricks and artifacts alone would only delay the inevitable.
’If I want to save my life, and walk out of this basin alive in three months...I need to grow much stronger.’