The chains connecting all the Payircis in the world continued to supply spiritual energy into the two-kilometre wide barrier. There were efforts from the Spirit Saints to strike down some of those chains, but it was to no avail. At times, it was corporeal, and whenever someone attempted to slice it into pieces, it would turn intangible. It was as if the chains had a conscious mind of their own. Even Saint Geom, with his Immortal-Grade sword, gave it a shot. However, no matter how hard he tried to break those dastardly chains, they still remained connected.

“Damn it! Thor! What’s going on?!” Flames left Saint Firebird’s fingers as he roared to the only craftsman among them. “How are they able to resist material attacks?”

The husky man stroked his rough beard with amusement, “They’re not from the material realm… In fact, it looks more like the forbidden healing ability, the Chains of Anguish.”

“The one that transfers pain and suffering from one person to the other?” Saint Firebird asked. The knowledge he had about healing was far inferior to that of Raphael or Lady Seph, but even he had heard of the Chains of Anguish. “But that ability requires two living beings to cast, no?”

“That’s why this is such a fascinating subject...” Saint Thor mused. “Not only are the chains unbreakable, but they’re also connected to every single Payirci in the world.” His eyes shifted towards the Samingeom in Saint Geom’s hands. The Spirit Saint’s swordsmanship, paired with that legend of a weapon, could be considered to be the most powerful combination that a living Spirit Saint could unleash. Yet, no matter what he did, the new base that the Allfather created still stood tall. “With them constantly supplying spiritual energy to the barrier, there’s nothing that we can do to destroy it.”

“How troublesome...” Saint Longyu Tian frowned. She was in the midst of an intense argument against the High Council on how to deal with Shin. So, it really was the worst time for her. The Saint of Time didn’t want to waste too much effort in dealing with the Black Masks.

“...” An invisible pressure descended upon the land, and the image of the Golden Sovereign Koi circled around the lean woman. Time-elements were colourless. No matter how much mana Longyu Tian supplied, there was never going to be a visual spectacle. However, that didn’t mean that her attack was going to be weak.

“Bone to ash… Ash to dust…” Longyu Tian murmured. Her eyes were emitting a grey aura, and the Golden Sovereign Koi rapidly expanded. Mana flowed out in droves from her pores, distorting the air around her. Her right hand was raised at one of the chains, and she bent her index and fourth fingers.

The grass and trees that were in her line of sight all browned as they died off one by one. The Umbras that attempted to stop her returned back to the abyss as well. If any poor bird dared to fly in her path, the Spirit Saint’s mana would do the same to it. That’s right… Longyu Tian’s spiritual ability was altering the age of anything that stood in her path.

The Saint of Time was perhaps the most feared Spirit Saint among all entities in the Lantis Republic, and it wasn’t due to her raw power. Her cultivation level was at Rank 94, second only to Jingyu Han’s Rank 95. However, not even Jingyu Han wanted to pick a fight against that monster. Why? Because of her Time-Element.

One of her abilities could speed up the age of the cells of anything she came into contact with. Essentially, it had given her the power to kill anyone in the world just by sending her mana to them. It was a dreadful ability that couldn’t be stopped unless the Spirit User had a strong enough tolerance for the Time-Element or they possessed a higher cultivation level than the woman. And those above Rank 94 could be counted with the fingers of one hand.

KKKKRRRRTTTTTT…

The earth continued to die out with each passing second. Longyu Tian’s ability to advance the age of her targets weren’t just limited to lifeforms. Rock that would typically take a thousand years to grind into dust was now breaking apart with just a single touch. The grey wave lacked the splendour of Saint Geom’s epic slash, but it was just as deadly.

Alas…

“Immune to that as well?” Longyu Tian raised her eyebrow and dropped her shaking hands. The black chains remained, even after she had sped up their age for thousands of years. “Are they truly eternal?”

Saint Thor overheard the Lantis Republic’s Saint question. He spun his hammer around once before turning it into lightning dust. Dropped in posture, Saint Thor explained, “No… They’re just made of pure spiritual energy. You can’t age something like that.” His head turned to the far distance, carefully peering at the other end of the chain. “The only way to destroy the chains… Is to defeat the Paradise Heart...”

“That’s right...”

“!!!”

A foreign voice echoed in the Spirit Saints’ consciousness. All four of them jerked violently, picking up their battle stances once more. Saint Thor’s Lightning Hammer sparked violently with mighty thunderbolts, ones that had a million times more voltage than Suji’s. Saint Firebird summoned out his Phoenix Spirit Avatar and orange sparks that burned as brightly as the distant sun, warmed this cold autumn night. Saint Geom’s Immortal-Grade weapon was no dull looker either. His mana spiked and a gorgeous starlight glow twinkled upon the cold area. His aura sliced the falling ash that was a nanometre thick, leaving nothing in his field.

Longyu Tian didn’t have intimidating visuals like the others, but her domain was already in full effect. If need be, she could slow time around her and speed up her own movements. Any attack that would hit her mortal flesh would be evaded with ease.

“Four Spirit Saints ganging up on one person… Haha, this must be a first...” The shadowy figure laughed, unfazed by the intense presence that the Spirit Saints were emitting. Dark mist obscured every pore of his body, so no one could visually confirm the enigmatic leader’s identity.

Thus, Saint Thor asked, “Hey! Who the hell are you?!”

A direct approach by a direct man. At this point, beating around the bush wasn’t going to matter anymore. The Alliance was out for the Allfather’s head, so they’d might as well be forefront about it.

“The Allfather… Leader of the Black Masks... Enemy of mankind… Public enemy number one… You call me by many names...” Surprisingly enough, the hooded figure replied with a chirpy voice. “But does it really matter who I am? Given the chance, you’ll take my head right this instant.”

“Of course we would!” Saint Geom stepped out with his trusted blade in hand. “You killed so many! My Sect’s Wangu… Aldrich’s Keep… The Land of Dreams… Now, Mythpoint Reach! How many lives have you so violently ripped away! You’re the vilest being that the world has ever seen! And now… It is time to bring you to justice!!!”

As if on cue, the Alliance members sent by Raphael had promptly arrived. Hundreds of White Knights, mainly those that were in the Spirit King and Emperor realm, dropped right behind the four Spirit Saints. Their weapons were drawn, and Spirits unleashed, the Alliance was now looking for blood. Specifically, the blackened, dirty blood of the Allfather.

“That’s the Allfather?!” One White Knight roared, his sabre raised up high. His eyes turned bloodshot as steam rushed out from each one of his pores. “You fucker! Give me back my family!!!”

“Allfather?! The guy responsible for the Black Masks?!” Another White Knight raised her voice. Just like the Spirit Emperor beside her, the woman had someone she loved brutally killed by the Black Masks. Her daughter to be specific. One could only imagine the despair the Spirit Emperor felt when she saw her flesh and blood being wheelbarrowed back from a town that the Black Masks had pillaged. “I’m going to kill him!!!”

“Get in line, sister!” Another White Knight screamed.

Slowly, the whole crowd screamed out their intention to murder the leader of the most dreaded organisation in modern history. All of them had loved ones killed or have seen their comrades die in the battle to defeat the Black Masks. However, to kill the snake, one had to aim for the head. Up till this point, no one had ever personally met the Allfather. Today, this all changed.

There were at least a hundred Rank 60 Spirit Kings and Rank 70 Spirit Emperors gathered here in Mythpoint Reach. They also had the assistance of four Spirit Saints, the most powerful beings in the world. So, the victory was all but assured... Right?

The shadowy figure curiously tilted his head for a few seconds. Dark baleful mist billowed out from his obscured face. And then…

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

A thunderous chortle dominated the still air of the vast fields. No one could see the Allfather’s face, but they could sure as hell witness the trembling shoulders of the cloaked man. Many had preconceived assumptions of the dastardly syndicate leader. Some imagined him as a cold-blooded murderer that enjoyed listening to the cries of those he tormented. Others thought that he wasn’t even a human at all, but a Spirit Beast that only saw humans as food. Yet, at this very moment, as the man continued to laugh uncontrollably... The Allfather seemed so… mortal.

“What are you laughing at?!” Saint Firebird roared.

“Hahahaha! You must excuse my behaviour! It's been some time since I’ve met someone who didn’t grovel at my feet the moment they’d seen me.” The Allfather offered no explanation about how long it has been since he’d revealed himself to the outside world. However, his manner of speech was oddly outdated for the times, hinting that his origins lay further back in human history.

Lost in his delight, the Allfather didn’t notice the faces of intrigue on the level-headed cultivators’ faces. Instead, he targeted those that had verbally called him out.“Come! The target that you’ve longed for! The man that's responsible for killing your loved ones! He’s standing right in front of your eyes! Come! Show me what you’ve got!”

“You fucking! Underestimating us, huh?!” That taunt was all the Allfather needed. Half of the Alliance members were victims to their own vengeful minds and accepted the challenge with open arms.

Their bodies whizzed passed the Spirit Saints and slammed all of the Umbras in their way. The darkness-imbued Spirit Beasts were powerful, but not strong enough to curb the will of grieving men and women. Especially when they were Spirit Kings and Emperors.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

Umbras were slashed down in droves, and a path to the Allfather was quickly created. The most powerful White Knights of the bunch led the charge as the four Spirit Saints sat back and watched. Elements went wild, and the spiritual energy of the area spiked at rapid rates. The White Knights were determined. Either they were going to kill the Allfather, or die trying.

So… The Allfather obliged…

“Hah… Idiots exist in all eras...”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

There wasn’t an explosion, but every single one of the cultivators present, even the four Spirit Saints, covered their ears. A spiritual pressure, one of the likes that Longyu Tian had never felt, descended upon Mythpoint Reach. Everyone under the Spirit Saint realm universally fell flat onto the ground. The pressure was so immense that bones cracking became the prevalent sound, and Spirit Kings being squashed into mush became a regular sight.

Those further back didn’t experience the full brunt of the Allfather’s spiritual pressure, but it was still intense enough that they were forced to bow down to the syndicate leader’s grandeur. No one under the Allfather’s influence could string thoughts together. All they could do was desperately attempt to survive the crazy pressure that was weighing them down.

However… This was just the beginning…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

A second wave of pushed every single soul down and cracks formed all over the floor. Not only were the Alliance members pushed down, but the very earth that held up Mythpoint Reach also had fell victim to the Allfather. One crack turned into a crevice, the crevice morphed into a fissure. And soon…

The earth became an abyss...