Asher coughed and pounded his chest a few times to steady himself.
"Oh my ghosh... Have I truly ingested a piece of the Fruit of Fate? The very fruit that was said to be unattainable by any other race as the Tree of Fate only bestowed it upon the elven race...?"
He shifted his gaze to look at Kyle, eyes brimming with newfound respect.
The man had given him something so precious with such simplicity? If it were someone else, they wouldn't even tell anyone they had the fruit of fate, let alone sharing it with others!
However, he noticed that the seat Kyle occupied earlier was vacant now.
"Where did he disappear to?"
He scanned the lobby like the rest, all a bit perplexed by Kyle's sudden disappearance. But before any of them could extend their senses beyond the building they were in to locate where the silver-haired man had suddenly disappeared to, Kyle's figure materialized on the stairs. Kyle's eyes were cold, and his face was devoid of emotion. Seeing his expression, everyone immediately became alert. After all, even though Kyle typically maintained a nonchalant face, he always displayed this expression when something irked him or when facing his enemies.
Yue swiftly approached him with Bia and Nox following closely behind.
"What's going on?"
Kyle glanced at the individuals around him. Currently, none of them were in a state to engage in combat as they had dispersed all the divine and spiritual energy within their bodies to consume the fruit of fate.
Plus, since they had just recently reached the transcendent rank, he knew that even if they managed to confront supreme rank individuals, he wouldn't be able to help them in a life- threatening situation.
"You all need to leave this place. I sensed danger, so I exited the building to check the surroundings. I saw numerous divine and transcendent rank individuals from the dark side accompanied by three supreme ranks. They have picked up on the concealing array I set up around the building."
Upon hearing his words, Alec quickly checked with the system. Both he and Soul were distracted because of the fruit of fate. Therefore, he was certain the system had neglected to monitor their surroundings, and his hunch was spot on as the system relayed the same information as Kyle. But a sudden thought flashed in his head.
"Why haven't they attacked yet then? They are right outside this building!"
His words echoed in the air, breaking the silence in the lobby. The people around him, who had begun preparing for any situation they might have to face after hearing Kyle words, grew even more solemn.
Kyle was crafting symbols for a portal that would directly transport everyone out of the Sacred Divine Land and to a distant planet as he cast a glance at Alec.
"It's because they are setting up restrictions around the building to trap us all inside so nobody could run away."
His words had barely faded when a massive portal formed in the lobby. He didn't have the coordinates of a safe planet far from this land, so he had connected his portal to the elven planet where he met Yue's mother.
"Leave immediately."
Instantly, everyone exchanged glances. They knew they couldn't handle such a large number of enemies. After all, except for Asher, Alec, Kyle, and Zron, the rest had recently reached the transcendent rank. But rather than moving towards the portal, Jian fixed Kyle with a scrutinizing gaze.
"What about you? You better not be thinking of staying behind alone."
Asher nodded in approval.
"You can't handle that many individuals from the dark side, especially with three supreme ranks among them."
Kyle took out his spear.
"I can't join you. I have to end someone from the group outside the building. Don't worry about me; if things get dangerous, I will use instant teleportation to escape."
All the people around him let out a collective sigh of frustration. They just can't seem to halt this man, can they? He wants to take down a person currently encircled by numerous powerful adversaries!
Nine glanced at Kyle and questioned with a grave yet serious expression.
"Should we stay? Do you think we can win if we all fought together?"
Kyle stared directly at him.
"It doesn't matter if we can win or not because I won't be able to protect all of you if anything goes wrong. The people outside this building can't harm me because I can escape. But if they capture one of you to get to me, then it's a whole different story."
Nine jabbed his stomach, looking irritated. He knew that he and everyone else weren't as strong as Kyle. They didn't even possess a strong teleportation skill like him, but the man didn't have to make it seem like he would die if they joined him!
"Whatever, I'm out. Just don't die. Otherwise, I will hunt down your soul to bring you back to life at any cost!"
He was the first to turn around to leave, because Kyle was right, he could escape with his portals and instant teleportation whenever he wanted, but if any of them were captured by the enemies, Kyle would lose without a battle. The silver-haired man didn't show it, but Nine knew the latter would never put them in harm's way.
"Crazy bastard..."
He muttered under his breath and jumped into the portal. Alec glanced at Kyle and tossed a golden orb at him.
"It's an artifact. You probably don't need it, but it can create a shield around you and protect you for a minute from attacks by supreme-rank individuals."
He quickly followed Nine with the others. Jian smacked Kyle on the shoulder.
"Don't die. I know you have completely forgotten your old memories, but you still haven't fulfilled the promise that you would tell me about the special power you have if I reached the transcendent rank!"
Kyle blinked and gazed at Jian's back as the latter also leaped into the portal. Asher offered him a respectful nod.
"I appreciate the valuable fruit you shared with me. I'm truly thankful. However, I'm not ready to meet my end just yet. I trust in your ability to protect yourself, unlike me. I look forward to our reunion in the near future."
Kyle's eyebrow twitched at the sudden politeness oozing from the half-dragon's words. He tsked when Asher flashed him a wide smile and vanished into the portal.
Suddenly, someone yanked his shirt to pull his upper body down, and his eyes widened a bit when he saw Yue's angry face inches away from him.
She stayed silent and gazed into his eyes for a moment before leaning in to kiss his lips. Then
she stepped back with Nox.
"Take care and let me know when you're done with what you want to do."
Kyle stared into the empty space. He thought she would give him a piece of her mind or
unleash some fury. But what Yue did was completely unexpected.
Bia landed on his shoulder.
-"Get a grip, will you. She's gone already."
She shook her head and glanced at the portal that disappeared after Yue left.
-"Oh, I thought you would throw me into the portal too. Don't tell me I have secretly become
super strong and dependable?"
Kyle straightened up and scanned the vacant space around him.
"You are not going to fight alongside me. I need you to do something else."
Bia glanced at him.
-"What?"
He started walking and settled into one of the empty chairs, waiting for the people outside
the building to make a move.
"If there are so many supreme-rank individuals from the dark side here, hunting those who come out from the lost treasure tomb, doesn't that mean that to protect their people from the dark side many strong supreme-rank individuals from other races have probably also made it to this land?"
Bia's eyes narrowed with confusion. But then she blinked as she understood what Kyle wanted
her to do.
-"Ah... So, you want to use them to pave your way and get rid of the person you desire? But
will they help you?"
Kyle smirked.
"They definitely will once they know I am the nature's favorite, the one who took down the
third shadow general. They will surely attempt to recruit me to their side."
He snapped his fingers, and another small portal materialized behind him.
"I can't believe how utterly useless those array masters from the dark side are. It's been so
long, but they still haven't put any proper restrictions around the building. If it was me, the
enemies would have been buried ten feet underground already."
Bia glanced at the portal.
-"Right, right, I am leaving. I will update you if I succeed in what you want me to do. If not... well, you can just conjure a portal and vanish with the person you want to eliminate." Kyle gazed at the phoenix as she vanished into the portal and chuckled. "That's not a bad plan... disappearing with the person I want to eliminate. However, my true
goal is to eradicate everyone who had come here to harm me and the others."
His eyes grew cold when the building he was in began to tremble.
"I guess it's time to purify this sacred land of all the filth and eliminate every person from the
dark side from this land."
His words had just barely faded when he noticed everything around him crumbling to dust,
and he glanced up when Samara's familiar voice echoed in his ears.
"It's been a while, pretty human, hasn't it?"