The beasts left peacefully after retrieving their young. There is no animosity between the forest creatures if not for the Black Wind holding their family hostage.

Thanks to the boys, the Greys is now the forest’s new rulers. Although many of their own had perished, these wise creatures did not want revenge. Already too many had died. The woods need to recover, and given time; it will be teeming with life once again.

In this enormous cavern, the boys and the Greys are still waiting patiently. After a disturbingly long time, a boy covered in beast blood walked out from the sliced-open stomach of a great fallen beast. In his hands, he held a jewel that shone beautifully in all shades of blue.

“Take a look at this,” Tommy said with a wide grin, and he took large steps forward while holding the Thunder God’s Ring in an outstretched arm.

“Ew, stay away! You’re covered in blood and slime,” Jim backed off while making a face. Tommy turned to his other friends, but none would come close except Kairos.

The moment the artefact fell into the young captain’s hands, Kairos’ eyes widened and quickly stepped away from everyone.

As everyone stared at him, Kairos urgently explained, “This ring is covered in multiple layers of the death curse. Its divine power has been suppressed, and the curse seeks to invade the bodies of those who touch it.”

“WHAT? Then are we both cursed now?” Tommy danced in front of Kairos in a panic. He may be rather fearless for most things, but supernatural things like spells and curses always made him queasy.

A frown appeared on Kairos’ brows, and he said, “Show me your hand.”

After taking a moment to check and think, Kairos finally looked up at his brother and smiled, “It looks like the devil wolf’s blood protected you from the curse. Otherwise, your arm would be dead by now.”

What Kairos did not say was that he had accidentally touched the curse when he wiped off the blood from the Thunder God’s Ring because the dark magic latched on to him but immediately dissipated into smoke.

Kairos had never heard of anyone immune to curses, but if he had to guess, it must be why he is chosen to extinguish the devils.

He turned his attention back to the artefact then he said, “The devil had a curse meant to taint the ring and its power, how did you escape spirit?”

“Great One, the matters of the astral realm is difficult to put in words. While we are one, we are also separate. The curse was meant for the sentient ring, but I was ignored despite part of the ring. A silver of my spirit remained unscathed to warn you, yet more of me remained within the ring. Now, that this artefact belongs to you, you can restore it to its former glory if you allow the eminent one to purify it.”

“Aisa, can you do it?”

Sure, ~ Gimme!

The small dragon hopped over and took the ring off his palm with a gentle nibble. The same sanctifying light that defeated the devil wolf now coated the ring, and after a little while the treasure is returned to Kairos’ hands.

“Thank you! I can finally return. As promised, I will serve as your guardian of the ring, and should you need our power at least I will give my half freely. I’m sure the Great One will find its effects to be most useful,” the large spirit wolf gently touched Kairos with its snout and imparted the artefact’s information and its uses.

After saying so, the spirit disappeared into the ring like a puff of smoke. Following the information that appeared in his mind, Kairos pricked his finger and squeezed a drop of blood onto the Thunder God’s ring. It greedily absorbed it, and then Kairos felt a link forming.

Kairos played with the ring in his hands. It may look like a piece of simple jewellery, but Kairos have a feeling that this new artefact is an incredible treasure stronger than anything from the mortal realms.

“Perhaps, it truly is from the divine realms like the spirit said?”

Kairos sent out a strand of his consciousness into the ring and unlocked its initial function: A powerful Time-Space compartment that could freeze the time of its contents. It ensured that the items’ condition would remain exactly as it was before being kept away, superior to the usual Time-Space compartments that only slow downtime.

The compartment size within is also impressively immense, large enough to fit an entire castle.

The value of a Time-Space compartment even for just a tiny space would be more expensive than the entire Rutea Village put together, but this huge space the Thunder God’s Ring held can continue to expand if Kairos finds a way to restore its power.

At the least, storage space is no longer a problem for him; however, as the owner, he also knows that this isn’t all it could do. The Time-Space compartment can only be considered the ring’s secondary function made for the convenience.

The artefact’s true purpose is to act as a powerful seal that could cast a web of lightning to become both a prison and a barrier. Although most of its power had been drained, it is still a powerful divine treasure that for countless aeons suppressed a devil whose fragment alone was enough to destroy the entire Saint Empire.

When Kairos wore it on his finger, the magical artefact immediately adjusted it his size. Shortly after putting it away, he scanned the place for more clues.

Other than removing the Black Wind threat in the forest, the boys did not forget their task is to find clues of Jones’ whereabouts, but the large carven had so many nooks and crannies that it left them feeling like they are searching for a pin in the haystack. Their Soul Perceptions swept across the area in active search; they even paused and tried to seep into the ground. It takes much more effort to sift through the soil, just like how the nose could smell better on a clear day and gets confused when there are too many other scents.

After a while, Edward suddenly called Kairos over to some human remains among the many bones in the area. In a large pile of half-digested animals, broken bone pieces and inedible leftovers of a hunt, some human corpses seemed recent. It is unknown exactly how long they were here, since the place is deep and cool underground, acting similarly to a cellar and keeping the bodies rather well preserved.

“This one looks like it’s clutching something in its hand… Want to open it?”

“Why are you asking me? Let’s get Tommy to do it!”

The two called their friend over, who rolled his eyes at them, “Why me?”

Kairos laughed, “You’re already covered in dried blood.”

A mischievous smile appeared on Tommy’s face, but before he could launch forward and recolour Edward and Kairos’ clothes, the two speedily backed away.

“Only Alan will fall for that,” Edward said.

Kairos nodded, “Exactly.”

“Really?” Alan asked with disbelief

Jim bobbed his head quickly, “I can attest to that.”

With everyone staying a safe distance away, Tommy had no choice but to go through the piles of corpses and retrieve their prize.

After some efforts prying open the tightly clutched fist of the dead, Tommy managed to recover a cloth that looked familiar to their eyes.

“Hey, doesn’t this cloth look like the blue silk robe that Jones was wearing?” He flipped the fabric over, “And, conveniently, there’s a torn emblem of the Solitary Blades.”

“That’s a little too coincidental, but we should be on the right track. I recognise the clothes this corpse is wearing; it’s a material that’s popular in the Silent Lambs Empire. We probably should check it out next, shall we head there first?”

While most students are enjoying their break, those from the Snowdrifts had been working even harder than when they were in school. If they are not training, they are hitting the books.

There are tons to cover, the knowledge that they had missed out because the teachers thought it was a waste of time to guide students who could not even afford the textbooks.

Now that they finally have gained the chance to use resources that their richer classmates had, these children craved for a good future and cherished every moment they could invest in themselves.

This spirit of improvement had paid off sooner than expected. With just a few clues, they managed to trace their targets all the way to the Silent Lambs Empire.

Unfortunately, the place they must go to is a fully hostile state. If the kidnappers are in any way linked to the government, it will be difficult to presume how dangerous their quest will become. At the least, they have to be thoroughly prepared.

“Let’s not be hasty. We have to go through the marsh first before we head across the border. It’s a small detour, but we might find something in return.”

“Then, shall we go back to the city now?”

“Looks to me that there isn’t much left for us to search. I did find several time-space rings on the bodies though, and they have higher capacity than the ones we currently have. Let’s switch them.”

The storage rings provided by the academy to the second year students is the most basic model. The internal space varies according to the student’s vocation, but most of them can only hold two days’ worth of provisions.

Although Saboteurs like Jim have extra storage space for traps and poisons, and Combat Engineers like Edward have even more space for larger contraptions, none of those rings can compare with the ones lying in this place. After all, these storage rings once belonged to true adventurers, travelling merchants, and cultivators.

Taking the rings from the bodies that had accumulated in this place over the years, the boys excitedly looked within, but they were immediately disappointed to find that most of the cultivation pills have long expired. Even the powerful enchantment in the time-space rings that could slow down time could not weather the years.

“Judging from the condition of these things, the wolves have been preying on people for quite a while now, and they don’t seem to have a preference to their prey. It’s strange how their bodies are still intact, though. Are they not hunted for food?”

It was indeed curious that the corpses of those killed by wolves would be left untouched in this pit.

Just as everyone was stumped, Kairos’ aura suddenly fluctuated wildly, giving off an air of antiquity. They looked at him with a natural reverence that suddenly blossomed in their hearts as Kairos explained, “These people were made into sacrifices, and so they cannot be eaten. Humans hold powerful potential for both good and evil, so the devil must have been using them to taint the ring with an ancient and dark ritual. Notice how even their bones are twisted from the torture inflicted on them?”

“How horrendous!”

To see these with their own eyes is a wakeup call for many of them. They had to see for themselves the cruel reality of the cultivation world: Those without strength do not have control over their own fate.

After a while, they finally tore their eyes away from the gruesome remains of the victims and one of them said, “Look, his eyes are glowing golden again…”

They looked at him in alarm, studying the divine light coming from his eyes but Kairos himself did not seem to notice.

“The devils must be vanquished and I am the Devil Slayer.”