Blood scattered across the ground, along with small pieces of flesh.
At the same time, Adam’s soul dissipated before Caius’s eyes, while his body collapsed forward until his face slammed into the ground, revealing the back of his head, which had become a large, bloody cavity.
It was true that Adam was far stronger than any one of them... but let’s not forget that each of them represented the finest talents in the entire empire.
Even after they all fought together as a coordinated team, Adam still held the upper hand... after all, his goal had never been to kill them from the start.
But when he realized that subduing all six at once was far too difficult, he decided to eliminate the problem.
The person who caused all of this.
So, he launched a single lethal attack... he had considered the possibility that he might not be able to kill him with that one strike, and even the possibility that there were other surprises hidden up his sleeve.
But there was one possibility he never considered.
That Caius would take the attack head-on... after all, humans are beings that fear pain and death.
Even if his vital organs weren’t struck, a large hole in his body was still enough to kill him in a short time.
So, when he struck, he didn’t retreat, and as a result, he received Caius’s concentrated attack at a single point. Even his body, which had been greatly enhanced in toughness, couldn’t withstand it.
And now he lay on the ground, lifeless.
Through his vision, Caius could see those ethereal threads fading and unraveling as his knees hit the ground.
Cough.
Caius coughed involuntarily, blood spraying from his mouth.
Essence surged toward the wound as he lowered his head to look at it.
There, on the left side of his chest, directly beneath his heart, an entire chunk the size of a fist was missing from his body, allowing him to see his veins and even his shattered bones as blood seeped out and stained the ground beneath him.
But it didn’t last long, as his body soon began to regenerate.
At the same time, Elliot arrived above him, his voice filled with concern. "You’re not going to die from this, right?"
Caius smiled, blood staining his teeth. "What do you think?"
At that response, Elliot exhaled. "Alright, you don’t look like you’re about to die... I sometimes forget you can regenerate at a ridiculous speed." With those words, he turned his head and looked at the corpse lying on the ground.
At that moment, Adam’s body began to wither, but unlike the previous man, the process was much slower.
After a few moments, the others arrived as well, and Caius’s eyes scanned them. In reality, no one had suffered any serious injuries.
Izel, Ellen, and even Kyle had some burns and torn clothes as a result of the Essence Adam had released toward them, while Elliot had some cracks in the bones of his hands from blocking the punch directly.
As for Leona, it could be said she was the only one who hadn’t taken a direct hit.
"This... can you really heal from that?" Izel asked, looking at the wound in Caius’s chest with a hesitant expression.
Caius smiled. "It’s not that serious... Cough..." He wanted to add something, but his voice was cut off.
"That was fast," Kyle muttered. In the end, the battle hadn’t even lasted half a minute.
Ellen tore off a loose piece of fabric from her arm, letting it fall to the ground, while looking at Caius, who was trying to stand again. "You didn’t have to do something that reckless."
Caius gathered the blood in his mouth before spitting it out and letting out a tired breath. "There’s no need to risk wasting time here, we need to move quickly so no more surprises happen."
Even now, he still didn’t understand what was happening in this city.
He glanced at Adam’s corpse on the ground. ’It seemed like he knew our movements.’
If that was true, then every individual in this city knew their movements... perhaps.
’No matter how I think about it, none of this makes sense.’
And honestly, Caius didn’t want to understand what was going on here. All he wanted was to leave before anything new appeared.
He looked at the wound, where his skin had rebuilt itself and become flawless once more.
The only evidence of that injury was the torn clothes stained with fresh blood.
He turned his head toward the city... where the house lights were turning on one after another like a normal city that had heard the noise of a violent battle.
But his eyes were on the tens of thousands of ethereal threads descending from the sky as a thought crossed his mind.
’Ascension ritual.’
He turned his head back to the others. "Let’s go before more come."
...
Moments before Adam’s death, in another place within the labyrinth, several kilometers away from the city and above the high walls, Arthania was moving alongside the woman who had been with Adam earlier, named Rem.
"Were those things really seen here? That hasn’t happened in a very long time."
Rem nodded, her hair moving with the wind generated by their movement. "Maybe they’ve started changing their movements for some reason."
Arthania sighed. "Alright, we’ll see."
But at that moment, Arthania suddenly stopped.
Rem, who noticed that, stopped as well, giving Arthania a look. "We need to hurry, or they might disappear again."
But Arthania didn’t respond. As a result, Rem’s eyes became strange, and even her tone changed to resemble Adam’s. "Lady Arthania."
But Arthania didn’t notice that, because she was focused on something else.
In the next moment, she turned her head toward the city to see a white light shining near the labyrinth walls.
And it didn’t stop there, because in the next moment another thread of light shot toward the sky before disappearing.
Arthania narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"
"You don’t need to concern yourself with that. Adam is there with many strong individuals," Rem interrupted her.
"We need to find the corpse eaters before they start multiplying here," Rem insisted on ignoring the matter.
Arthania gave her a look before making her decision and turning toward the city. "It doesn’t matter; I can deal with them even if they form an entire colony here."
With those words, she vanished from her spot, moving toward the distant city.
Arthania moved at a terrifying speed, changing her trajectory to head directly toward the source of the light.
...
With one last glance at the city that was beginning to awaken, everyone turned and started running toward the labyrinth.
Elliot glanced at Caius from the side as he moved forward. "It feels ridiculous that you healed from that wound so quickly."
’Ridiculous... no, you’re the ridiculous one here.’ Without replying, Caius continued moving with the others toward the great rift ahead.
It only took a few seconds to reach it.
Through his perception, he didn’t feel anyone following them from behind.
’Just let us leave... this has nothing to do with us.’
With that thought, the six stepped into the labyrinth once again.
But in the next moment, Caius felt a familiar presence enter the range of his perception, moving at a terrifying speed.
They were still at the entrance of the labyrinth when a heavy pressure fell upon them.
It didn’t compare to what they felt from the fragment of the fallen star, but it was still significant.
"Stop."
The familiar voice spread and slipped into their ears, but unlike usual, it was cold like ice, sending chills and stiffness through their bodies.
The first to stop was Caius as he turned his head back.
There, Arthania was staring at the withered corpse on the ground with an unreadable expression.
Without realizing it, Caius clenched his jaw tightly. ’What is this damn situation now?’
It was impossible for the six of them to run from someone like Arthania in this situation... so the only option was to explain what had happened to her.
But would that be useful?
Everyone froze in silence, while Leona clenched her fist tightly, biting her lower lip.
"Arthania, we can explain what happened... it was—"
But all that happened was the pressure around them increased.
Then in the next moment, Arthania disappeared from her spot, only to appear directly in front of Caius.
"I trusted you and brought you here, and this is how you repay my kindness."
Her words echoed in the heavy air, like a remnant of the past... cold and indifferent.
The moment she appeared in front of Caius; her hand moved toward him at incredible speed. He couldn’t react or evade it... or even comprehend what was happening.
All he could do was widen his eyes as her hand reached him, tearing through his flesh for the second time.
Forming a hole in his body.
At that moment, a single thought flooded his mind.
’I’m going to die.’