CHAPTER 831: DROWNED

Aldrian had already returned to his real body and given back the avatar’s consciousness. Munez, Godard, and Sir Ferix truly did not expect him to come here, nor did they understand how he could arrive instantly.

They were certain that no one was tailing them, and in the environment of the Poison Valley, it was impossible for anyone to follow without being detected. Speechlessly, they could only look at the figure who was now observing the red crystal in his hand.

What he held was a devil stone, an energy stone that had been exposed to devil energy for a very long time, causing the properties within it to change. While normal energy stones stored the natural energy of heaven and earth, a devil stone stored devil energy instead.

However, devil stones could also be enriched by devils pouring negative energy into them. For example, if one were placed in an area filled with death or destruction, the stone would absorb the thick negative energy there as time passed.

In Aldrian’s hand was a rather large devil stone, big enough to fill his entire palm. From how dense the devil energy inside it felt, he guessed that the stone must have been stored for tens of thousands of years in a negative environment.

"The devil stone... and it’s quite big, filled with dense devil energy. You, who know how to use this platform, must have quite detailed knowledge about the devils, huh, Patriarch Barevisk?" Aldrian said as he looked into Munez’s eyes.

He then released the spatial lock on Munez’s lips so he could speak.

Sensing that his lips could move again, Munez’s trembling lips parted.

"I... I..."

"Tell me, Patriarch Barevisk—ah, I’ll just call you Munez from now on. Well then, Munez, would you like to tell me how you have a connection to the devils? And how close that connection is for you to know about this platform and operate it, hm?" Aldrian asked again.

Munez truly did not know how to answer the question without exposing many secrets about himself and the Valroy family. If he told the truth, then the Valroy family would be dragged into this. But if he said nothing, he would have to endure Aldrian the Great’s torture.

"Come on, Munez. You better tell me the truth. I know what you were thinking, and I could just search your memories and be done with it, but I want to hear it from your lips. How do you have a connection to the devils? How do you know about this place?" Aldrian asked, putting his hand to his forehead.

Munez’s lips trembled and he seemed about to speak, but then, as if remembering something, he gritted his teeth.

"I have my little brother’s wife as a hostage. I could answer your question, but you have to give a guarantee that you would—"

"Shh. shh. shh, wrong answer, Munez. Do you mean the men you sent to Sir Ferix’s manor just now? What a funny threat. The only thing you will get from that manor is not Sir Ferix’s wife but your men’s corpses," Aldrian cut him off, which made Munez’s eyes tremble.

’He knew about the men I sent to Ferix’s manor?!’ he thought. ’Impossible! The only ones who knew about it were the ones I personally assigned to visit Ferix yesterday!’

At this moment, the outside had already fallen into night. The moon of the Akares star shone beautifully, and countless stars filled the sky. In one part of the world blanketed by the peace of night, Sir Ferix’s manor glowed with light from its windows, illuminating the surroundings.

However, amid the light that touched the ground outside the building, six silhouettes were closing in. The figures seemed to be using a concealment technique, hiding within the darkness of the plantation surrounding the manor. Their auras were so well hidden that no one could detect them, even if someone passed right by.

They halted their careful steps and observed the manor for a moment. All six wore black robes that concealed their entire features, leaving only their eyes visible.

The strongest among them was at the middle pseudo-immortal establishment stage. His eyes calmly scanned the manor before he sent a voice transmission to the others.

"Alright, spread out and follow the plan. This should be easy, and I expect we can finish without any trouble."

The voice came from Elder Ignar, the same elder who had visited Sir Ferix yesterday.

The others nodded, but before all of them could disperse, Ignar finally realized that there was another black silhouette in the darkness not far from them. From the silhouette, he could clearly see two blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

Those calm eyes were looking directly at them, and he instantly knew that this figure was someone outside their group, and that this figure could see them!

The others also immediately turned to look in the same direction as Ignar and were stunned to see someone standing there. They hadn’t sensed anything, even now, though they could see the silhouette, which sent chills down their spines.

It could only mean that this figure was far superior to them in concealment technique, or much stronger.

Ignar narrowed his eyes as he looked at the silhouette and sent a voice transmission to the others.

"Attack on my mark. This guy is dangerous."

The others could only prepare as they carefully readied themselves to attack. They gathered the surrounding energy as they watched the figure, who did not seem to move and only looked at them with those calm eyes. However, they suddenly felt their surroundings change.

In an instant, they appeared underwater, unable to breathe normally. Beneath them was darkness that stretched endlessly, as if they were in the middle of a deep ocean.

Shocked by the sudden change, they reacted quickly, using their energy to protect themselves and to help them breathe underwater.

However, they soon realized that they still couldn’t breathe, even though they should have been able to. Cultivators at their level should easily be able to breathe underwater using this method, yet they still felt suffocated, as if they were actually inhaling water.

They couldn’t understand where they were or why they couldn’t breathe, even though they were already using the same technique they always used underwater. They tried to swim upward toward the surface, but soon discovered that they seemed to stay in the same place, even though they could feel themselves swimming.

The surface was visible above them, yet they could not reach it.

They realized that something was wrong with this place. All of them were cultivators at the Immortal Transition Realm, experienced and well-trained. They forced themselves to calm down before observing their surroundings.

They finally sensed a strong illusion law, which made them instantly understand that what they saw and experienced at this moment was an illusion. A powerful illusion that could affect all of their senses to the point of distorting their perception of reality.

They could only try to break the illusion by force.

"Break!" Ignar shouted inwardly, his aura flaring. He tried to gather the surrounding energy, but he couldn’t. It was as if something was blocking him. He kept trying to shatter the illusion, but nothing happened. He was still trapped underwater, and as time passed, his breath grew shorter.

The others faced the same situation. Those who had comprehended water laws tried to control the surrounding water to create space for them to breathe, but the water did not move at all, as if it were something beyond their control.

After what felt like hours, one of them finally ran out of breath and opened his mouth, trying to take in air. However, what entered was only water. Panic filled him as he struggled to breathe, and moments later, he drowned to death.

One by one, the others began to lose their breath and met the same fate. The last one was Munez. When he finally opened his mouth to take a breath—

’No, no, I... I...’

Blubububub...

Air bubbles streamed from his mouth as he tried to breathe, blocking his vision. A moment later, his body went stiff as his soul sank into the underworld, drowned by the illusion. Silence followed as their lifeless bodies drifted, as if swept by ocean currents.

Suddenly, the scenery changed once more. Their surroundings returned to Sir Ferix’s manor grounds. At that moment, all of their bodies had already collapsed, no longer breathing. Their corpses bore the signs of death by suffocation, as though they had drowned, which was quite funny considering they lay dried on the ground.

At this moment, a figure that was obviously Aldrian’s avatar was touching Ignar’s forehead and released him after he died. He had just looked through Ignar’s memories for anything useful and nodded in satisfaction.

He had, of course, easily trapped all of them within his powerful illusion, an illusion capable of affecting reality itself. Although they felt as if they had been underwater for hours, in truth, only a single minute had passed.

During that time, the avatar had already gone through Ignar’s memories before he drowned within the illusion.

The avatar looked at the corpses and sent a voice transmission to Aldrian.

"Done."