Death... and me

Chapter 1828: Decay

Hilanshi was also there, waiting for everyone. "So, are you entering or not?"

After a while, Olly took the front and immediately passed through the spatial gate with his two Transition Realm subordinates. Luina followed with the others right behind him. Naturally, the twins were in the mix.

The twins' vision blurred for a moment before coming back to normal. The next time they saw anything, they were already in the central region of the Free Continent.

*Pin!*

[Initializing search for the Foundation Fragments...]

Sure enough, the system also detected itself inside the central region and began its search. However, the twins noticed something different as soon as they got there. They had left during the daytime, but everything in this region was dark. They weren't inside a building, though. It's just that daylight couldn't enter the central region.

Though, that wasn't all. The monitoring spheres, which had been present in the entire continent so far, had disappeared. 

[Fragment detected. Recalculating Destiny Point reward.]

[New Reward for Fragment Recovery: 300000 Destiny Points.]

[Failure Condition: Leaving the central region without the Fragment.]

[Failure Penalty: 300000 Destiny Points.]

'So in the end, the reward had become the same as the penalty, huh?' Rean couldn't help but point out.

Roan nodded, replying, 'It's still a lot. More than we need for the Dimensional Realm upgrade, in fact.'

Surprisingly, the system continued.

[Restriction of entry of the Dimensional Realm has been deactivated. The hosts can now enter the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm anytime.]

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response. 'Well, that's quite a surprise. However, it's not as important as before.'

In the past, being in the Dimensional Realm kept the twins completely safe. However, the story was different now. Anyone with a pocket dimensional realm of their own would be able to detect the twins' dimensional realm as long as they saw where they disappeared. With that, they could attack the dimensional realm and destroy the twins together with it. Philip had already warned the twins about it back in the Jhiod Sect.

'That's why the system removed the restriction access. It knows we won't be safe any more just because we entered it,' Roan explained.

'We still have the Circuitry Teleport Formation, remember?' Rean asked back with a smile. 'We can flee into the Dimensional Realm and use it straight away to teleport up to a thousand kilometers away. That's already very safe, in my opinion.'

[That's true. However, you must be careful.] Sister Orb voice's echoed in the twins' minds in response to those words. [The Circuitry Teleport Formation in the Dimensional Realm still needs a stable spatial environment. And that's most likely not something you'll get during a battle, especially if your enemy can attack the Dimensional Realm.]

'Well... shit!' Rean couldn't help but curse.

Roan, on the other hand, asked something else. 'What if we try to use the Circuitry Teleport Formation while the spatial environment is scrambled?'

[Hmm... it's hard to say, to be honest. You might just die from the spatial storms of the area you tried to pass through. Or maybe you'll end at some other point in the universe. The first option is a lot more likely, though.]

'Let's try not to use the Dimensional Realm if possible,' Roan added.

Rean then looked around and decided to finally bring out the other elephant in the room. "By the way, Roan. Where's everyone?"

That was true. Let alone Olly and the rest. Even Luina herself was nowhere to be found in the place the twins' appeared.

Roan didn't seem to mind. "I don't care. They're all Space Bending Realm experts, so they can take care of themselves." 

After that, Roan contacted Sister Orb. 'So, you should be able to feel the presence of the Fragment, right? Where should we go?'

[And here I thought you'd never ask. It's about 3400 kilometers to your right. The Fragment you guys have here in the Dimensional Realm is resonating with it, so it's very easy to detect.]

Roan immediately took flight, and Rean did the same. However, Rean had a few concerns as they flew in the direction Sister Orb pointed. 'Sister Orb, can you feel the monitoring formation in this place?'

[No. It's completely gone. There are formations running in this place, but they have other uses. For example, the spatial barrier that separates the central region from the others. Or the Cultivation Suppression Formation that's still present. I can't tell what the others are used for, though.]

'I don't care. Sister Orb, have you finished your task at least?' Roan asked back.

[Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have been on the continent for over twenty years, you know. As slow as I might be, I'm not THAT slow.]

Roan nodded after hearing that. 'If that's the case, fuck the competition. Let all the Space Bending Realm idiots kill each other. I already told Luina before we teleported that she should avoid any battle, and we can only hope that she'll follow my words. For now, let's concentrate on the task at hand.'

Rean could tell what Roan was really concerned about. 'You find it strange that the Rambram Sect hasn't found the Fragment, right? Or maybe that's where the guy who destroyed Sunkan came from.'

Roan nodded. 'The chances do exist. It goes without saying that whoever tried to destroy Sunkan and us with it should also be looking for the Fragments. We can't guarantee that there really isn't any monitoring method acting in this place, so we need to be careful. Sister Orb, keep Rank Four Divine Stones positioned in the Circuitry Teleport Formation at all times. Whatever the risks we come across here may be, we might need it.'

[Leave it to me.]

Meanwhile, in another area of the central region, the bodies of several Space Bending Realm experts were decaying as their cultivations were completely sealed. They weren't the only ones, though. All their Transition Realm subordinates were caught in the same fate, and due to their lower cultivation, most had already died.

As for the ones who were still alive, they looked at a small group of Transition Realm subordinates that were not supposed to have that power. "W-Who are you?"

"Kekeke..."

Suddenly, these Transition Realm subordinates began to change. Dark Energy came out of their bodies as horns grew on their heads. Their eyes turned red, giving the impression that they were some kind of demon. Well, it wasn't just some mere impression.

"Y-You... *cough, cough...*" One of the Space Bending Realm cultivators couldn't believe his eyes as he coughed out blood as his body decayed even more. "W-Why are you here? Demons aren't supposed to cross from the northeast side of the Realm of Gods!"

Rean and Roan would have definitely found a few similarities between these demons and the one they saw back on the Zasfins' planet. Other than their eyes, Roan would definitely identify their Underworld Energy. It was the same energy they felt from the skeletal hand that opened a tear in space and captured the other demon.

The demon at the front came closer to the guy and grabbed his head, saying, "Indeed, we weren't supposed to do that. But guess what? Your security is pretty shit. In fact, all of you are quite a bunch of idiots. You haven't even noticed the decay seals that we've placed on your bodies. Usually, it would have taken years to achieve that. Hahaha!"

*Bang!* Soon after, that demon destroyed that cultivator's head. He was one of the strongest Space Bending Realm cultivators there. That's why he lasted that long. Unfortunately for him, it was all for naught.

Following that, the demon's red eyes shone with light, covering the guy's body. Something that looked like an ethereal form of the man who had just died came out as it struggled. Surprisingly, it was the cultivator's soul. The demon then opened his mouth and sucked it inside his body before showing quite the satisfied expression. "Phew... at my level, I wouldn't even dream about eating a Space Bending Realm soul. They sure are tasty."

Another demon came closer after seeing that. "It did take years, Rlakux. However, they didn't notice where we came from at all. We were able to place the decay seals on all their bodies without a hitch. Now that we're finally here, we don't need to pretend that we're their subordinates anymore."

Rlakux nodded in response. "Absorb the other souls while you guys have time. We are pretty low on Underworld Energy already. All the sacrifices we got back in the Dotrufe Region were low-level souls, so they could only be barely used to feed our power."

The five demons then continued to do the same thing as they extracted the souls of the now-dead participants and their subordinates. However, they had to destroy quite a few of them in the end. They were all Transition Realm demons, so there was a limit on how many souls they could use, especially souls of a much higher level than them.

Rlakux then looked at a female demon on the side before asking, "Have you found the location, Fratekla?"

The demon named Fratekla nodded, saying, "Yes. The ruins are not where the participants of the competition are going, after all."