Gavin was just told of the escape of the trio into the passageway and the guards who were making the reports and had not neglected to mention the bloody deaths of the ones who had attempted to intercept the trio were a tad bit surprised to see Gavin taking the news so well.

In fact, be was grinning as though they had just given him good news.

"Oh, Wade, you chose that spot to go? You must really think me a fool." he mumbled to himself and then turned to the guards with him,

"There is no time to lose. You need to get men to the temple for an ambush immediately. I would have loved to bestow you with the mutation but the time it will take me to brand you first will be more than enough for them to secure their safety.

So, I order you to go there and use whatever means at your disposal to at the very least hold them off which means you must destroy the arrays. Including the teleportation Array. Without it, they will be defenseless."

The guards turned around and dashed off but a few of them could not help but feel there was something about what Gavin said that did not exactly sit right.

Yeah, they could possibly get to the temple first and damage the formation hence leaving the trio defenseless... against Gavin and those he eventually would bestow with mutation.

Against them, the guards, they would not be defenseless and would most likely see to it that they suffered what those that attempted to stop their entry into the passage suffered.

This was looking more and more like a suicide mission.

"Leader?" One of them spoke up.

"Yes?" answered the leader of that particular squad.

"I don't want to die" the guard whined.

The leader went silent.

Normally, he would reprimand them or at the very least insult them for their cowardice.

However, today he could not bring himself to do so... Because, well... he did not want to die either!

"Let me just say this upfront" began another guard,

"I decided to work under Gavin, not because of some blind loyalty but because I believed he would make me stronger. But here I am about to face the Shiek who is known to be in the Cosmic Aurora realm and Lady Lucile who I heard is even stronger than that.

I swear it to you all that if there comes a moment when it seems I might just die if I continue, I will run.

I won't try to surrender cause I have a strong feeling they won't be interested in taking me as a Prisoner.

I will flat out leave you all out to dry. I will save myself"

The leader sneered,

"Thanks for your honesty" he sneered.

The guard bowed as well as he could while they ran,

"You're welcome" he said.

He knew that despite the leader's hostility, he was thinking of doing the very same thing.

Meanwhile,

Once the guards were out of his sight, Gavin sighed and smiled lightly just as he was joined by Trey who was still holding the scroll which contained the mutating technique.

"I saw them run out. They are going to die, aren't they?" Trey asked.

Gavin nodded with his smile still present,

"Undoubtedly, but it is a necessary sacrifice. As long as they are able to damage the formation, it will all be worth it." He said and stretched his hand to receive the scroll which Trey placed in his hands.

Gavin caressed the scroll with a look of ecstasy on his face and followed the instructions he and the Sheik had received from Beldar when he had given them a demonstration.

Trey was not confused by what he did next since the instructions had been with the technique when he had gone to pay and receive it.

Once the steps were complete, Gavin activated it and watched as the scroll lifted from his hand to remain suspended in midair before a grey fog seeped out of it and merged with him.

Then his hand transformed to twice its original size and encrusted in a hard grey crust. His fingers were now even tipped with deadly-looking claws.

He raised his right hand to eye length and observed it in all its glory and his smile was incredibly wide.

He then looked at Trey who was also eyeing the arm with awe.

"So, should I gather the guards to be branded and mutated?" Trey asked.

Gavin raised his left and still-normal hand,

"All in due time. First I need to tie up a loose end of sorts" he said.

"What loose end?" Trey asked.

"You"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Trey, I really overestimated you. I was so cautious because I really expected you to have tampered with the technique so you could use it for yourself." Gavin said.

"Why would I do that?" Trey looked confused.

Gavin shook his head,

"Trey, Trey, Trey, how dumb do you think I am? Of course, it's so you can become Sheik." He said.

Trey shook his head hurriedly, now seeming to realize where this conversation was headed,

"No, that is your seat. Not mine. I am satisfied with just being your right-hand man" he said.

Gavin sighed and then chuckled,

"That's exactly what I said to Wade when I helped him become Sheik and I don't want the circle to continue. This is bigger than us Trey. This is to save the future generations and break the circle of violence." He said.

Trey's eyes widened,

"What the hell are you saying?"

"I am saying that we are mere pawns in the grand scheme of things. This is bigger than us" Gavin said.

"Repeating that does not make what you say have any meaning. It just shows you are really crazy." Trey said and took a step back.

Gavin sighed heavily,

"Maybe I am crazy. But I'm still going to do it. You know what's coming don't you?" He asked.

For an answer, Trey turned and ran off while pushing the speed of his cultivation base to the limit.

He needed to get away from this crazy bastard, but Alas, being at the late stage of the cosmic pearl realm, even without the mutating technique, Gavin could easily crush him as he was at the Late stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm.

With the technique activated, it was not even a contest.

*Bam!*

He caught up to Trey in a flash and one punch with the monstrous hand and the young man's head burst and littered the ground with brain matter.

Gavin surveyed his handy work and nodded with satisfaction before calling for the guards so he could brand them and finally put an end to what he considered as Wade's pointless attempt at escape.

Also, he called for servants to clear the remains.

...

The trio walked the passageway with Wade leading the way and Hal and Lucile side by side. They all needed no light and could see in the dark quite well.

"So do we need to talk about it?" Hal asked with a smile on his beyond handsome face.

"Talk about what?" Lucile asked while making a point to look straight ahead and away from him.

"About how you put your life on the line for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, it's just that I always felt that stage in our relationship was still far away in the future." He said.

"You're delusional. We have no relationship. As for putting my life on the line for you, I admit it's because I am feeling a tad bit attached to... your hands.

Besides, I could take Gavin any day."

Before Hal could reply, Wade turned to them and his eyes flashed as he looked at Hal and sneered,

"Before you two go acting like I'm not here, Hal, I just want you to know that I will kick your ass once this is over."