Heaven Destroyer

After buying the horses, the group didn't stay in the town, sitting on their horses, they dashed towards Shadow City. Everyone had their individual horse , only Ayaan was also caring Akash on his horse. As they sprinted farther and farther away from the town, the plain land greeted them.

They rode on the horses until the sun was on their heads. They stopped under a large tree to rest. They ate their food that was prepared in the town. After replenishing their energy, the group again continued their journey. 

As they rode their horses, many villages passed by them. These villages weren't indicated on the map, so they didn't know much about these villages. Not their number, nor their condition.

After two days of journey, they arrived far away from Spiritstar Town. Everyone was covered in sweat, drenching their clothes. Somewhat exhausted look appeared on their faces. After taking their first rest, they only rested once more before arriving at this place. That's why they looked so exhausted.

"Let's rest here," Ayaan proposed, and no one opposed. It was evening, but blazing suns still hovered as the two kings ruling the mortal world. The group settled under a tree. Noor unfolded a mattress, and Leafwhisk brought fruits from her space ring for everyone. There weren't many trees around, so they could see far away from this place.

There was greenery in all directions, far away stood high mountains, waiting for the arrival of this group. The birds would fly from time to time over them, heading in the direction of the mountain. There were all kinds of birds, Ayaan couldn't even recognise many of them, because he never saw them before. As the group talked and laughed, the environment became rather tranquil.

When they were talking, Noor gazed in a certain direction—towards the mountains—and shouted, "look, what is that?"

The group turned around and saw the smoke rose towards the sky. Though it looked like it was just a little smoke, that was because they were too far away. 

"It looks like that place is on fire, " Ayaan said, looking in that direction.

"Should we go check that place?" Rebecca proposed. 

"Why bother? We don't know anyone there, and I don't want to make unnecessary ties with others. It is unbearable to leave your friends behind." said Ayaan uncaringly.

"You guys can stay here. I will go check out what's going on," Leafwhisk stood up without any hesitation and untied her horse.

Ayaan looked at her helpless and said in the end, "let's go we are also going." 

Leafwhisk turned around and said, "didn't you say that you don't want to build unnecessary ties?"

"I also said it is unbearable to leave your friends behind," Ayaan replied.

The lady stared into his eyes and turned around without speaking anything. Ayaan walked towards his horse and settled its saddle before sitting on its back. Akash also sat behind, grabbing his shirt tightly so to not fall.

The group rode their horses for half an hour at a fast speed before they could see the scene in front of them clearly. In front of them was a village that sat on fire, still burning furiously. 

Ayaan looked and saw many corpses on the ground. Men, women, children, there was no exception. Though Ayaan said he didn't care about the lives of others, he still felt furious when he saw corpses of children who were not more than five years old. Such savagery, such viciousness. Ayaan could feel these people were just ordinary mages from their body fluctuations. In the Era of Cultivation, mages weren't worth much, and even among them, these people were lowest of low. Why would someone kill these people?

"I think they were bandits," Leafwhisk said and sighed emotionally seeing the corpses on the ground. She could still see the fear and terror these people felt before dying on their faces.

"A… plea…se... Hel…p me…" just when they were about to leave, a painful moan sounded from the corpses.

Ayaan looked around hurriedly and saw the man, who still had little life left in him. "Leafwhisk!" Ayaan looked at the lady and dashed towards the man.

Leafwhisk used her wood energy to heal the man and also took out a potion from her space ring. After drinking the potion, the man opened his eyes, however, he was still not far away from his death. "Can't you do any better than this?" Ayaan demanded.

Leafwhisk looked into Ayaan's eyes and said, "There was a saying in the ancient time: Heal the sick, treat the wounded, but let the dying spirit go." she paused. "Interfering in the matter of life and death isn't something we should do. Necromancer controls undead and summons dying spirits, however, do you know how horrible their deaths are?"

She looked at the man on the ground and whispered with grief, "there is a reason why Nolan died. Don't think because you have a treasure like the World of Life and Death, so you are invincible in this world. I thought Nolan couldn't see these souls you refined, however, I was wrong. He knew about souls and spirits all along, and he knew something else that we didn't know, that was the reason he never tried to interfere with the matter of life and death."

Though her whispering was low, Ayaan could still hear them. He was shocked after hearing her. He never thought why the previous owner of the World of Life and Death died. Was it related to the Life and Death Element?

"Please, please… save my daughter…" as he was deep in thought the man on the ground pleaded in his painful voice. 

"What happened? Please tell us," Noor, being the kindest heart in the group, couldn't control herself when she heard man's pleading.

The man struggled to say something, "The..y kid...napped my dau..ghter… mountain…"

As he pointed towards the mountains, his hand fell on the ground and life left his body. Ayaan sighed when he saw the indignant look on this man's face. He didn't die peacefully.

He looked at Leafwhisk and said, "Please, bury them."

Leafwhisk threw seed on the ground and a large tree formed at the centre of the village. The roots extended from the ground and dragged all the corpses under the ground. Surprisingly this tree didn't die after completing its task.

Leafwhisk explained, "I have broken through into the next realm; now my trees will not wither that easily. It would be able to remain alive for a few years at least."

"Can't you take your energy back from this tree?" Rebecca asked.

"I can, but I don't want to," Leafwhisk replied.

Everyone nodded and settled the saddles of their horses as they looked towards the towering mountains. "Is it really necessary to go after those people?" Ayaan asked.

"It is not," said Leafwhisk. "However, I would like to fulfil the dying wish of that man."

Ayaan could only follow her helplessly. They rode the horses towards the huge mountains. As they neared, they saw the forest in front of them. They have also found traces of the people. The bandits were riding the horses, and they were more than fifty.

Ayaan followed the traces left by the bandits and entered the forest at the foot of the mountain. They heard the roars of tigers, and howls of wolves. They fought vicious bears and slaughtered cunning foxes.

After chasing bandits for more than a day, the group arrived in front of the tunnel. They knew it was a passage to go to the other side of the mountains. And Ayaan had a feeling that the bandits might be hiding inside.

Surprisingly enough, they realise that it was the road they needed to take to reach Shadow City. However, on the map, there was no mention of this mountain range. That was the reason they took much time to realise this.

At the entrance of the tunnel, the group stopped. Ayaan looked at them and said, "The bandits might be hiding inside this tunnel, so be extra careful inside the tunnel."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and entered the tunnel. The darkness greeted them and it took more than a minute for them to adjust their eyesight according to the tunnel, though Ayaan didn't have any problem in seeing things clearly due to his Dark Element.

The trundle was cold, damp, and staunched reeked everywhere. They didn't see anyone in their vision, so they proceeded with caution. Though there weren't any bandits there, bats and wolves run amok inside the tunnel. Every now and then, a vicious wolf appears with its glittering eyes, and they weren't weak. Rebecca, Noor, and Isobel weren't a match for them. In the end, Ayaan, or Leafwhisk had to take action to slaughter these beasts.

The group travelled for around twelve hours to see the light—exit—at the end of the tunnel. Though they didn't find bandits as they thought, they were happy to leave this damn place.