Instantly dashing backwards, I couldn't be bothered with scouting this place for potential treasures. What I thought to take at least several minutes to take, with the burst of energy released by the dying protector, turned into mere seconds.

With my body slamming against the backdoor that I used to enter, I finally managed to escape from the palace, placing myself right back into this bloody garden. Thinking about this right now, it was no wonder this man managed to hide the real extend of his power. 

Initially, I assumed that this place was set up by the invaders from the continent, possessing strength far greater than anything that the Vivaci tribe could ever achieve. Yet as I was running through the slowly decomposing area, I could see how the illusion that made everyone think that this place was beautiful and filled with flowers, was collapsing alongside the space itself.

One by one, sets of bones of those unlucky enough to be used as the nourishment for this place were revealed, showcasing to the real world what kind of place this really was. 

Yet I couldn't pay any attention to those awful details, as I pushed a thick mass of entropy right in front of me, relying on it to simply consume everything that would otherwise obstruct my path. 

Only thanks to my quick thinking did I manage to escape this place before the collapse turned imminent. Standing back at the main hall of the sect's leader palace, I could still peer into the under dimension, observing the changes of the collapsing space with curiosity.

I already lived through this kind of thing once, while in the middle of the collapsing space. If that experience alone was enough to provide me with quite a lot of material to think about it, then observing the process from outside could be as enlightening as the time when I destroyed the ancestral grounds of the heavenly city!

Yet as the fabric of the space beyond the portal started to fragment, I realised that this might not be the best idea. Even if this could be a nice learning experience, I couldn't help but recall Bonger's words about gazing into the abyss. What if being in the middle of this catastrophic event was actually safer than daring to stare as it would happen?

After all, while I was inside this apocalypse, both my soul and my body were still in the same place, even if the rules of the universe were different than the ones I was used to. But if I were to keep my body outside of the realm of abyss while peering into it with my soul, only God would know what would happen to me!

While filled with regret, I still sucked all the energy that remained in the gate, instantly turning it back into the entrance to this small, pitiful shed in the middle of the entire place. With a sigh, I turned back and stared at the pile of robbed resources.

"I know I promised to leave it… But he attempted to kill me. I guess that voids my earlier promises."

There was only a single shred of hesitation before I decided to keep all the vials and other treasures. After all, if not for the protector's fault, I would have absolutely no need for them in the first place, so it was only given that I would have all the rights to the items that would allow me to fix the results of said mistake!

Approaching the pile, I made sure to separate the vials from everything else, feeding it just enough entropy to kill whatever parasitic soul was residing there. While I had the capability of enriching all of them right away to the state in which the very first vial was currently, I decided against it. 

After all, I had no idea if this damned elder didn't manage to call for reinforcements in the last moments before his soul was absorbed by the abyss. With the possibility of the sudden retaliation of the forces that I had no realistic way of protecting myself against, there was no point in wasting my energy on something that I could do after ensuring my own safety!

With that mindset in my head, I ran out of the mansion, instantly startling all the people that awaited my return. From the astonished look on Monica's face that I managed to catch before setting off in the air, I could tell that she didn't actually expect me to come out of this place at all!

Unable to be bothered by this tiny inconvenience, I raced with the winds towards a particular place beyond the city walls. With my status as the saviour of this city, I didn't even bother hiding my presence as I flew over the walls, landing several kilometres deep into the forest, where the ultimate price of mine awaited.

"It's been a while. I hope it's not broken already…"

Speaking to myself, I picked the portal seed from the ground. Just a single look at the area revealed that in the perfect circle around where it was hidden, a line of beast shit could be found!

*Bro, do you have any idea what the heck happened here?*

As puzzled as amused, I picked the orb and set back to the skies while waiting for Bonger's response.

"Well, I didn't bother adding any illusions to it, so I guess the beasts that were unlucky enough to be born curious enough to approach it, had to shit their pants when they felt the presence of the void from the seed."

While I couldn't claim that I was completely satisfied with the answer, there wasn't really that much that I could do about it. Just like people back on earth said, if something is broken and it works, it's not broken!

In just a few moments, I was back at the top of the Goose sect's mountain, bursting back into the former sect's leader mansion. With how I treated the doors, I actually had to set up an additional barrier reinforced with the illusion to keep others from peeking into any business that I would have inside!

"Okay then, it's time to bring booty back home!"