Just as Ibaan brought his right hand forward toward the two figures, suddenly at the same instant, the room shook violently. Something massive emerged from above and the leader and hus wife were swallowed whole by the creature.
The Creepy Orrock—it was the creature who had swallowed them completely into its abyss, just like it did at the last moment of his battle with that bald creature in the Realm of Dead Eye of the Fallen.
He had thought it before—foolishly—that they could wipe out the Iron Knuckles without a battle, without any anamoly. But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
Just then he remembered something—Master, who was also his ancestor.
How ironic! Isn't it?
His master had always believed: "One never gains anything without paying a price." More precisely, "Pay to get."
He was also known as the Nemesis of Angels, the one whose name was feared among humanity, even by higher beings because of who he was. But his name had now perished in the fog of forgotten history, as it had been almost more than ten decades. The one who had extinguished the angels was now remembered only by the blood field.
And now he had to fight to get what he achieved, and in the fight, blood is a must from both sides—and one has to die or kill. There were only two choices.
And before he could move ahead, his eyes caught sight of a large flyboard that almost blended with the color of the walls.
At first glance, it didn't even look like a flyboard—it seemed like a continuation of the wall itself. But at one corner, it was slightly misplaced, revealing an open space behind it, a hidden tunnel.
His curiosity grew.
He walked toward it and pushed it aside. There, an open passage led downward into the dark, the air was cold and heavy. His mind clicked instantly, and without hesitation, he stepped inside and began moving through it.
…
As Ibaan descended through the hidden tunnel of the mansion, he felt it—the place where the ritual might be held. And he sensed a faint, living presence from somewhere ahead, and his curiosity grew stronger with every step. He couldn't resist it, couldn't stop himself. Like always, he became a slave to his own need to know.
*
In the hall of the mansion, where before a few days ago it was filled with laughter, cheers, joy, and life—but now nothing was okay here.
Now from a moment ago, the hall was filled with gas, as if explosives of the military had gone off to create a rift between two neighboring enemy nations.
And through his knowledge, Bain had guessed it was Nitrox Lid Gas, which was misfortune to anyone who became a victim of it.
Yes you heard it right—not even the strongest of the strong were able to resist its effect—but of course, the effect wouldn't be as strong as for those who were ordinary. Though ordinary humans and those below the Apprentice Branch would die directly and those who were awakened would be affected only to a certain extent—like unconsciousness for hours or even days.
And seeing that through the vision of Chikara pathway system, he noticed there was no Chikara he could sense.
And it didn't even make sense that the Chikara of his other body and his wife had disappeared, and even some of the stronger Upper Knuckles and Iron Knuckles' Chikara had vanished into nowhere at the exact same moment when, an hour ago, the protection barrier of the ritual had been triggered—except for the Lower Knuckles, though now even they were losing it slowly.
Which probably meant someone had invaded the Iron Knuckles.
He wondered what possibly could have happened there—what was happening.
And just then he sensed a strange Chikara energy flooding through the stairs of the ritual base.
"Damn it," he cursed as he stood from the meditation position.
And in that large secret base, a few meters away, there were small stairs leading down a bit, and there was a well-decorated ritual place. In the center, there was an altar with lifeless candles, stone tables and a strange symbol drawn on it, and around it, the altar was also placed in the middle of the symbol designed on the floor. There, at the boundaries of the symbol, were small pits made of crimson, blood soaked in them.
*
Just as he reached down into a large chamber and stepped lastly, his face darkened. A chill crawled down his spine because of what he had just seen.
The bird eye, the long hair—it was the same man, the leader of the Iron Knuckles, the one who he has killed just a moment ago.
How was he alive? And on top of that, how possibly could he be here?
Shouldn't he be in the stomach of Crepy, dead? But how come he was there, alive?
It didn't make any sense. Nothing did.
But instead of wasting more time on thinking and panicking, he decided to accept whatever it was and think about it later, because he couldn't risk diverting his focus elsewhere rather than on the current situation—it was a matter of life and death. And just then without wasting any more time, he knew what he had to do—engage.
He thought of the tentacles.
And suddenly at the same moment, a few tentacles emerged from his back, from the base of the tail.
The leader, who stood a few meters away, stared at him for a moment, but just then, as he did, he moved his left hands forward , stepped back, his eyes darkened, and he asked coldly, "Who are you?"
Ibaan stared, but suddenly, to his surprise, his mouth automatically opened up. "Shut your bitch-ass mouth up."
"..."
Ibaan was left dazed because he would never abuse. It was the creature inside him that said that—even that surprised him.
But at the same moment the words left his mouth, the tentacles charged at the enemy without his will, together.
And it seemed as if he was going to have to face the fight with the entities inside him, choosing who was going to control his body despite being the owner of it.
Ibaan studied the chamber—the altar, the candles, the small pits, and the strange symbols carved into the floor. His heart trembled as realization struck him. It was a ritual chamber—a place meant for sacrifice to a Deity.
And with that, Ibaan raised his hand toward the enemy as the enemy dodged the sharp strike of the tentacles, he can't let this happen again. Just as he did, suddenly, the chamber shook violently—but then nothing happened.
Nothing emerged from above.
Confused, he pushed his hand toward the leader. Suddenly, the energy flooded from his chest toward his hand, and an eye appeared in his hand. But just then, the leader's face darkened—and then he burst out laughing.
"Are you dumbass?"