Mystical Journey

"That was the best time of my life." Skyharp said calmly, as though she was immersed in the past, her mouth curled into a smile.

Garen didn’t say anything. He recalled Ivy’s reaction when he met Skyharp, and it seemed that he didn’t have any feeling towards her at all.

Could it be that Ivy had been violated for far too long, so long that he got addicted himself?

Garen rubbed his chin in thought.

"What embarrassing things are you thinking now?" Skyharp suddenly reacted, and stared at Garen as she spoke.

"Nothing" Garen firmly denied. "I was just thinking, perhaps Ivy did have some feelings towards you. Who knows if he was half hesitant about it, he might get used to it after a few times."

Skyharp had a face filled with realization.

"When you said so, I felt it too." she nodded her head slowly.

"Then it all checks out." Garen smiled. "Pursue your love bravely, that is the world’s best thing! After all, Ivy is the shy kind."

Skyharp licked her lips, a glint of lust within her eyes.

In the instance Skyharp’s attention got diverted, he picked up his cup and pressed it against his lips.

"Speaking of which, you are knowledgeable, possess incredible abilities, and are also a Potion Master. About looks, isn’t it simple enough to swap your face? What’s there for Ivy to be dissatisfied about?"

Skyharp nodded in strong agreement.

"Indeed, he is the kind that wants things but never says it." she had a lusty smile as she spoke.

Her true nature was exposed…

Garen looked at Skyharp in disgust, the kind of female gangster nature in her had been fully exposed.

"Speaking of which." Skyharp snapped back and stopped smiling, looking at Garen.

"You’re not too bad yourself, Palace Master."

"Eer…." Garen never expected that he would get caught up in this.

Skyharp touched her chin as she checked out Garen.

Silky smooth white skin, a handsome appearance, a mysteriously evil mark on the forehead, shoulder length blonde hair. He looked extremely stern, and perfect, as he sat on the throne.

"Not bad at all… I still have a few sisters, perhaps I can introduce them to you. My daughters from the sea had been the one that’s picky; they love and hate proudly. Even though they aren’t the most capable, but quantity can make up for quality."

"About this, I already have a fiance...so it’s fine." Garen rejected immediately.

"It’s okay, so long as it’s not a shotgun marriage." Skyharp waved her hand, and the issue, off altogether. "My sisters wouldn’t mind."

But I mind….

Garen was speechless.

Looking at Skyharp's attitude, he could guess what kind of people would interact with her.

"Alright, let’s not talk about this, I have no plans for marriage for now." Garen took out his luggage, opened it, and took out the map for this journey.

"Let’s confirm the location again.." He had already memorized the map and whatnot, he was only looking for an excuse to change the topic.

**********************************

Fuuuu…..

Fuuuu…..

Fuuuu…..

Beckstone’s eyes turned purple as he staggered into the dense forest. The bushes under his feet were uneven, and a swarm of grey bugs had been flying around him relentlessly.

The long robes on him had already turned grey, and the original color could no longer be recognized. Instead, it became a hard, crusty and greyish-yellow from the mud.

As he looked up, he could see towering trees; he didn’t know where he’d ended up in.

"Eleven and the rest should have fled successfully, right?" he mumbled.

As was according to plan, he would distract the poison lady alone, whereas Beard would escort Eleven to safety, as well as those who were caught for experimentation purposes.

Poison Lady was indeed the rare expert of poison in the Three Departments. As he stumbled and fumbled, Beckstone had relied on the antidotes brought from the Society and barely managed to escape to this place.

After all, he was only a Form 4. He was never close to Poison Lady’s abilities. Even though Beard was slightly stronger as a fellow Form 4, but due to his heavy injury that he had barely recovered from with the totem in the same state, he had to return to the Society to fix it.

Suddenly, he turned back and caught a green flash at the corner of his eyes.

"She caught up!" It was Poison Lady’s Searchlight, a special Tactic; being caught in the light meant revealing your position to Poison Lady.

He had to pick up his pace and rush forward.

"Soon….. Almost there" Beckstone looked ahead and his face seemed to be complicated.

The seconds and minutes passed by. He dared not use Totem’s Light or Totem’s Power. Once he did, his location would be pinpointed by Poison Lady, and there was only a single dose of antidote with him, Whereas Poison Lady’s poison only got stronger every time. He wouldn’t know if he would be able to get through the next attack or not.

As the forest came to an end, he occasionally had to leap over the roots above the ground and avoid slanted trees. Soon, the sound of armored troops marching could be heard faintly, sounding very uniform.

Beckstone staggered over, as dried leaves and twigs crunched beneath his foot.

"Who’s there!!" the soldiers at the side of the forest shouted.

Beckstone swiftly took out a green seed and lightly threw it forward.

Bam!!!

The seed suddenly exploded, turning into smoke the shape of a skull.

Suddenly, a few wails could be heard from the side of the forest.

"Enemy ambush!!"

Dumm!!!

A straight black line was shot to the sky, and suddenly exploded into an unfolding image; it was a ferocious black dragon head.

Beckstone once again took out his last simultaneous movement seed.

"Once again, this is…." His face seemed bitter. He squashed the seed and his silhouette slowly disappeared.

The ring of light from Poison Lady had also spread from where he was, also engulfing the soldiers in the forest. The few soldiers didn’t even make a sound, and all died immediately.

"People from Nine Dragon’s Palace? Beckstone, you’re courting death!" Poison Lady’s nervous and angered voice could be heard from behind, but it was no longer approaching. Instead, it began sounding further away.

She hadn’t bothered to stay to watch the ending, instead fleeing from the area.

"That’s Poison Lady!! Report in Immediately, Poison Lady was spotted in this region!" a cold voice of a lady was heard from the forest.

"Division Three of the Special task Force has already received the news, and are rushing over now!" someone answered.

"She shall not escape this time!" The lady said with anger.

This sentence traveled into Beckstone’s ears before he completely disappeared.

The Nine Dragon Palace was the name people commonly used to refer to Black Swamp Palace. As Garen had a conflict with Poison Lady before, after its establishment, Garen ordered the establishment of the Special Task Force which totaled four divisions, and only recruited totem users with extreme poison resistance. All were at least Spiritualized, and specialized in a joint attack tactical array.

After a few fights with Poison Lady, she was heavily wounded a few times and escaped.

Her abilities relied mostly on poison. After being suppressed, her power was cut by more than half, and when these Spiritualized people grouped up, they had actually completely suppressed her.

The four divisions completely surrounded her. These totem users were all recruited externally, and each of them were bounty hunters possessing extreme amounts of experience. Among them, two leaders held old grudges with the Poison Lady, and after being recruited into the task force, these Spiritualized totem users had a desire to bring Black Swamp Palace to the next level.

The Nine-Headed Hyrda’s growth was too quick and too powerful. he controlled vast amounts of power and influences’ resources; enough to sustain large amount of external totem users. At the same time, the benefits for these totem users were exceptionally good.

Adding on the insane bonus for killing Poison Lady, a totem inheritance that is enough to reach form 4, this was the foundation which one would build a family upon!

Then, the task force doubled down on the effort

Beckstone knew this, which was why he led Poison Lady to the Black Swamp Palace personnel’s territory, latching on Garen’s power to successfully escape Poison lady’s hunt.

He owed one to Garen, by this incident.

However, the reason they were heavily wounded was indeed because of Garen. Plus, he was crossed by Garen the other time, so Beckstone himself didn’t know what to feel about Garen.

In essence, his vengeance primarily stemmed from the death of Vanderman, and Beckstone’s first love.

The main reason for Vanderman’s death was primarily himself, and also the Obscuro. In the end, the entire manor had been destroyed by them.

But because of his self-experimentation, Vanderman’s days were already numbered, so in the end, he released all the energy during the battle against Obscuro’s secret weapon.

He was a pioneer, who had offered his life to research in the name of breaking through the limits of one’s talent.

In the end, the Green Vine Sphere was not a let down either. Garen used it as a foundation to enhance the Black Swamp Palace.

Whereas Leian, whom Beckstone adored, had resolved part of the grudge after Vanderman’s death and regrets.

Garen’s actual target was Obscuro. Be it Vanderman Manor’s destruction, or the death of Dragonhawk King of the three heroes, these were all due to Obscuro. Which was why he kept expanding his influence and power with the intention to make up for the time where Goth died; by pulling all the strings possible and continuing to strengthen himself, gaining power from every huge incident and waiting for a good time to move.

Beckstone actually felt that Garen had a laxed attitude towards him, as his real target was Obscuro.

There will be a war between Obscuro and Black Swamp Palace one day.

Which is why he planned this; to use Black Swamp Palace to fight the Obscuro’s spy Poison Lady. In the end, he did succeed.

The special task force had all started pursuing Poison Lady. There should be another large-scale battle that ensued. Like experienced hunters, slowly ensnaring the Poison Lady, who was only good with poison.

*************************

In the outskirts of Caeserton.

The night sky was blanketed with stars.

There was a thin, white, hemispherical screen covering the entire compound of Kovitan, like a toppled bowl, clear beyond comparison.

Under the night skies, a mountainous region spanning tens of thousands of kilometers laid to the screen’s southwestern direction

Within a black mountain valley.

A large lava ball emerged in the middle of the valley.

The lava ball kept rotating, and the lava inside moved along with it, radiating large amounts of heat and light. Just like a giant volcanic whirlpool, it emanated a faint rumbling sound.