Leon’s excited voice rang out across the sea of flowers that trembled slightly. He instantly whipped his head toward Amon and Caria, his eyes practically shining.
"Let’s pick them all up!!"
"With these flowers, we can comprehend many Natural Laws! Afterwards, for all of us, reaching the pinnacle of the Celestial Rank would be just around the corner! Do you two understand what this means?!"
Yet, before either of them could respond—
A sudden burst of mad laughter echoed from behind them.
"Hahahaha!"
Amon, Caria, and Leon immediately snapped their heads around. Their eyes flashed with apprehension and wariness.
A figure dressed in luxurious attire was floating in the air behind them. None of them had noticed when he had arrived!
It was a stranger the trio had never seen before. What they didn’t know was that he was the same Ruler who had rushed into the gate under the pretense of exploring it when it had flashed with a different light.
He had claimed to Mirabel and the other Rulers that he was merely going inside to investigate, but the truth was that he had sensed the presence of an extraordinary treasure within, and greed had taken over. In the end, rather than informing the other Rulers about what he had sensed, he had deliberately kept the details to himself.
What the man hadn’t expected was to stumble upon this place while looking for the treasure whose exact location he had been unable to pinpoint after entering the frozen grounds beyond the towering gate.
He had also noticed the butterflies.
At first, he ignored them because the little creatures seemed to despise approaching anyone, even scattering into wisps of frost whenever the surrounding Celestials tried to catch them. Yet, when he passed by Amon, Leon, and Caria, he accidentally noticed something strange about their behavior.
The butterflies didn’t scatter into wisps of frost when the three youths touched them.
Nor did they despise them! Instead, they stayed close, circling around the trio and even guiding them deeper into the place.
So, he had secretly followed the youths from a distance, never imagining that following them would turn out to be the best decision he had ever made in his life!
Now, as the Ruler gazed at the countless ice flowers and the small shimmering lake at their center, his eyes burned with greed.
"Hahahaha! I haven’t even found the treasure I sensed, and I have already stumbled upon something incredible enough to make me the strongest!"
His laughter echoed through the frozen land, disturbing the tranquil atmosphere.
"Hahaha! What incredible luck!"
His eyes were slightly bloodshot, clearly revealing his joy as he gazed at the flowers.
Leon’s eyes flashed with anger.
They were the ones who had found these flowers first! They were the ones who had come here before anyone else. So why was this strange man speaking as if everything in this place already belonged to him??
Leon immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to have a ’friendly’ conversation with the man—as Uncle Jian had taught him.
But Amon and Caria held him back.
Neither of them could tell just how powerful the stranger before them was.
Only after noticing their movement did the man spare the three youngsters a glance.
His expression carried a hint of disdain as his hostile gaze finally swept over them, as though their presence was an annoyance.
"Kids, don’t touch what is mine."
The man chuckled, his tone carrying an unmistakable sense of arrogance.
"Roll away for me. Otherwise, you won’t like the consequences of displeasing a Ruler."
In his excitement, the Ruler completely failed to notice Amon’s familiarity with the terrifying man they had declared a devil.
Nor did he notice the indifference that flashed through Amon’s green eyes.
Those eyes were similar to Kyle’s, yet distinctly different because of the thin amber ring surrounding his green irises.
For a brief moment, the peaceful atmosphere around the sea of flowers seemed to grow sparks.
Amon and Caria stepped back, away from the flowers, dragging Leon along with them. The butterflies followed closely behind.
Finally, Amon spoke.
"We will leave."
As he said this, he grumbled inwardly.
’Let’s see how long you can remain the stronger one.’
The Ruler looked satisfied when he saw them distancing themselves from the ice flowers. With that, he ignored them and rushed toward the sea of glowing flowers, intending to take everything for himself.
He tried to use his power to collect the flowers, but to his surprise, it didn’t work.
Left with no choice, he decided to pluck them one by one with his bare hands.
The man even planned to take the small lake at the very center of the vast sea of flowers and store it within his mind space.
But... what happened next made Amon, Caria, and Leon, who were about to turn around and leave, freeze in their tracks.
The three youths watched as the Ruler suddenly rushed toward the flowers. He was fine when he touched one of the flowers, which was pitch black in color.
Yet the moment the man tried to pull it from the frozen land, a burst of dark ice erupted from the flower. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying frost spread across his body, sealing him inside an ice statue.
The man’s last expression was terror. He didn’t even get the chance to scream.
Leon’s jaw dropped.
For a brief moment, no one moved.
There was complete silence.
Then, with a faint cracking sound, the ice statue suddenly shattered into countless pieces before vanishing into nothingness.
Leon stared at the empty spot, his face slowly turning pale. He could practically hear the sound of his wildly beating heart as he remembered how he had also touched one of the flowers earlier!
If... by chance... he had tried to pull it out the way that man had—
Wouldn’t his fate have been exactly the same?!
Leon dropped to his knees with a cry.
"Uncle Kyle! I don’t want these flowers anymore! I was only joking earlier! If you can hear me somewhere, please try to be magnanimous and forgive this foolish me!"
He even clasped his hands together and bowed toward the sea of flowers, looking as though he had just narrowly escaped a catastrophe.
Amon and Caria stared at him in silence.
Only their twitching brows showed how speechless they were at the moment.