Death... and me

Valeu and Calina didn't notice, but the Blue Pendant inside Calina's clothes was pulsing with a faint blue light at the moment. Back then, Calina's Blue Pendant's Sealed Array recognized that she was in danger, so it immediately activated. This happened while Calina, Erna, and Silo had just been surrounded by the Decaying Devourers.

Reans group had taken a few minutes before they started moving. However, Calina and her protectors also took quite some time to break through the Decaying Devourers' encirclement. They also used another few minutes before Valeu cut Erna and Silo's head. Last but not least, Calina's own struggle and the Surge's sudden start had bought her just enough time for Rean's group to arrive at the scene.

Now, Calina was saved in the very last moment by Roan's first not weapon-related skill, Shadow Bind.

Calina couldn't help but blush a bit as she looked at Roan's cold eyes just a couple of centimeters in front of her face. Wasn't this one of those situations where the hero saved the princess in distress? Unfortunately for her, Roan shattered the young lady's dreams in the very next second.

"Heavy! Get the fuck down!"

Sure enough, Roan already released her. It was Calina that was still entangled around him like an octopus, not letting go.

"Ah!"

Her face got more red as she immediately let go of Roan.

"Wh-who's heavy?! I-"

*Bang!*

Roan didn't give her the time to talk. Instead, he gave her a kick, sending Calina flying to the back. Calina, of course, was left at a loss for words from that action. Didn't he just save her? How come he was kicking her now? However, as she flew back, she saw a flash of light appear right in front of Roan. Obviously, that was Valeu, who wouldn't wait for them to talk.

*Clang!*

Arcs of Lightning and Dark Light spread as both swords hit each other head-on. However, Roan was an entire cultivation realm behind Valeu, so the force behind the attack still made him take several steps back.

"I can't believe you brats are still alive. All those idiots that I contracted seemed to be completely useless, but that's okay. Now that your little group is here, I can deal with you myself and recover the Pendant at the same time."

Too bad for him, but Roan ignored his words. At the moment, he was feeling the Yin Power of the Surge interacting with his body. The Yin Energy in the Decaying Fog of the Surge seemed to be far purer than what he had felt so far. Because of that, he could tell that his combat strength had increased quite a bit.

'A temporary boost, it seems.'

Roan was right. He was already a Yin Energy generator himself, so there was no need for him to absorb the Yin Energy in the Decaying Fog. What increased his own power was the environment that made it much easier for him and even Rean to control the Dark Element. Once they left the Profound Abyss, it wouldn't happen anymore. Rean felt that difference thanks to their Soul Connection. 

All the way on the back, Malaka had just leaped and caught Calina, who was falling once again. At the same time, Calina heard Malaka's Spiritual Sense Message as she hugged her tightly.

'Calina! I'm so happy we arrived on time!'

'Malaka?! How...?'

'It was your Blue Pendant! You showed us the way to find you.'

'But... I've never told you what the Pendants could do.'

'My brother is good with Formations. He was the one who understood that it had a Sealed Array capable of alerting the others when one of them is in danger.'

Calina was taken aback by those words. As a member of the Imperial Family, she knew just how advanced the Sealed Array inside the Pendant was. It would be one thing if they understood that the Pendant could show the location of the other. But it was an entirely different story to know that it only activated when one was in danger. Of course, she didn't realize that Rean only knew that because of Sister Orb's help. He was still a rookie when it came to formations and wouldn't have been able to analyze that Sealed Array at all at his actual level.

'Your brothers are quite impressive.'

Malaka nodded vigorously.

'They're the best!'

Their conversation seemed to have taken some time, but it was done through Spiritual Sense, so it only took a few seconds in reality.

Back on the side where the action was happening, Valeu noticed how Roan ignored his words and became furious. Roan was right about one point. Valeu considered those from far organizations as nothing but peasants. Compared to his status as a member of a subordinate clan, they were simply nothing.

Lightning Power began to gather around Valeu's body and enter it. Soon after, it spread everywhere.

'Thunder Body!'

Rean and Roan immediately paid attention to Valeu as soon as he saw that. Sure enough, Rean wasn't the only one that could use enhancement skills. However, Rean could tell through his Life Force Sense that Valeu's skill damaged his body. In Rean's Life Style case, not only did it not leave any damage behind, it even healed the body.

Valeu's body then flashed away and moved at a terrifying speed. However, he didn't aim for Rean or Roan. Instead, he circled them and went straight to Calina. Roan understood his reasons for that very well. If he lost his time fighting the twins, Calina would have time to escape his Spiritual Sense Range. Once she exited the Profound Abyss, he would be pretty much done for.

Of course, the twins wouldn't stay still looking at that. Still, Valeu was truly fast. With his Thunder Body, his speed surpassed the Core Formation Realm level. That was something that Rean and Roan couldn't achieve yet.

"Kentucky!"

*CREEEEE!*

Kentucky immediately appeared in front of Malaka and Calina, blocking Valeu's path once more. Not long after, his body burst with Black and White Flames as he tried to protect the two girls.

"Out of my way, chicken!"

Lightning gathered inside Valeu's Sword once more as he aimed to cut the Minokawa's head.

'Thunder God Slash!'

Unfortunately for him, if there was one part of the body that Kentucky could move quickly, that was his head. Kentucky saw the lightning sword come at him and didn't back down. His eyes flashed as his head moved as fast as Valeu's sword.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the cave. Black and White Flames shot everywhere together with arcs of lightning. However, Kentucky was indeed too weak at the moment. Although he resisted the attack, he was once again forced back by Valeu's sword strike. Nonetheless, it was enough to stop him.

"What?! How can its beak be this sturdy?!"

While Valeu was aghast, Rean and Roan didn't let the chance pass up, heading towards Valeu with a full offensive.

'Death Style, Fifth Form, Mirage Assault!'

'Death Style, First Energy Form, Shadow Bind!'

Valeu didn't have time to think as he noticed those shadow ropes appearing around him this time.

*Zap!*

He immediately used his Lightning Movement once again, dodging the ropes. However, Roan already expected that Valeu would be able to react fast enough. That being said, he used his Shadow Bind in a way that would force Valeu to dodge in a specific direction, theirs!

Valeu was enraged to see that. It was evident that Rean and Roan wanted to have a head-on clash with him.

"Don't get too conceited, brats!"

Valeu's sword continued to flash with arcs of lightning as he changed his target to attack the twins. Immediately, both sides used their own skills.

'Lightning Arc Slash!'

'Death Style, Second Form, Crescent Moon!'

Similar attacks came against each other, exploding in the center. However, Rean and Roan's Crescent Moon proved to be weaker than Valeu's Lightning Arc Slash, crumbling against its power almost instantly. In the end, Rean and Roan could only raise their swords and block the remaining power of the attack.

Of course, Valeu noticed this chance, following right behind the attack and acting at the exact moment the twins blocked his attack.

'Thunder God Slash!'

Valeu showed a victorious smile. The twins couldn't resist the power of the attack and were cut by the power of the Thunder God Slash. However, his smile only lasted a split of a second. The moment the twins were cut down, their bodies disappeared into specks of light and dark lights. Immediately, he felt a foreboding sensation.

He immediately used his Lightning Movement and jumped back at full speed. Right in the place where he had just been a moment ago, Roan's Shadow Binds appeared once more. Valeu escaped from being confined by just a hair.

Still, it wasn't over. Right behind the dissipating bodies, another Rean and Roan appeared. Not only that, but they were already in the middle of using their skill.

'Death Style, Third Form, Three Claws of the Dragon!'

Six Swords of Dark and Light Element materialized right in front of Valeu. Not only that, but they were even more powerful than usual thanks to the boost that the Decaying Fog's Yin Energy environment provided.

"Fuck!"

'Lightning Explosion!'

Valeu couldn't tell which sword was real, so he immediately counter-attacked all of them together. The lightning energy in his body then burst outwards, sweeping towards both of the twins at the same time. However, Rean and Roan's attack was already on its way, so Valeu could only jump to dodge the attacks.

The Lightning Explosion turned out to be very strong, sending the twins crashing back. It was then that Valeu saw those two bodies disappearing as well. He immediately focused on his Spiritual Sense and found the twins once more, right below him!

"Just how many clones do you two still have, fuckers?!"

Rean and Roan smiled as they shot upwards.

Rean and Roan could only use four clones in total. Now that those were destroyed, only their real selves remained. Still, that also meant that it was going to be their most potent attack so far.

'Death Style, Fourth Form, Soaring Dragon!'

Valeu noticed the power behind the attacks and could tell that they were much stronger than the four clones he destroyed. However, he already used his Lightning Explosion and would need to gather Lightning Energy again to repeat that.

"Do you think I can't do anything?"

He desperately gathered all the Spiritual Energy he could, ready to defend himself from the twins' attacks. However, it was at this moment that Water Element converged around his area in the air. No, that was wrong. The Water Element was already assembled there by the moment he reached that altitude. It's just that his attention was entirely on the twins, so he didn't notice it in time.

He noticed Malaka holding Calina's hands with his Spiritual Sense, sending as much Spiritual Energy as she could. 

"Calinaaaaaa!"

At the same time, she helped Calina with the Water Element control. Calina had no intention to flee to start with. She had been waiting for an opportunity. An opportunity to help take revenge on Erna and Silo, and it finally showed itself.

'Water Prison!'

Valeu simply had no time to react anymore. The world around him became a giant sphere of water that bound his movements completely. In normal circumstances, it wouldn't be able to lock his actions. But after so many surprises after the other, he had nothing prepared to deal with it. That was the decisive factor that cost him this fight.

The twins' Soaring Dragon arrived a split of a second later, crashing against his Dantian's position inside the Water Prison.

*Swich, Swich!*

*Crack, Shatter!*

Roan and Rean were intending to aim for Valeu's vital points at that moment. However, even they didn't expect that Calina would act at that very last moment. That Water Prison was indeed perfect, so Roan immediately contacted Rean through their Soul Connection, telling him to change the target to Valeu's dantian.

"Arghhhhh!"

Valeu screamed in pain as his cultivation at the Peak Stage of the Core Formation Realm disappeared in a matter of seconds. However, he didn't die. Roan still had a lot of questions to do, and so did Calina.