Kairos' group did not stay to look at what they had done, and they did not need to. The moment Vouno had fired Syriong's attack, they escaped immediately, but their soul perception continued observing the scene. The soldiers, without a commander, were torn to what they should do. And even if they wanted to give chase, they had been poisoned with the weakening dust, catching up would only mean their defeat.

After seeing the princess successfully slain, Kairos retracted his vision and scouted ahead. They ran fluidly across the uneven ground, wondering the lack of soldiers tracking them, but they soon stopped in their track when they realise another large group of people at the exit of the forest.

By now, the captain of the Eagle platoon had removed the water sphere that was suffocating him while trying to crush his head. He looked down at the princess' body, and know that their failure in protecting her would come with a great cost.

He knows that there are only two options left for him and his men now, the first is to take the heads of the ones that murdered her and return for their punishments, the second is to run away.

But the result of either choice seemed to lead towards death.

Although he is in the dark about how much Kairos' group is actually struggling, he had seen how powerful their foes are that even their guardian had been defeated.

Most of all, the captain is concerned that their foes have an archer that could snipe any of them from indefensible angles. It would mean that he, who is in command, would be in constant danger. If even the princess could not be protected, he did not think himself less vulnerable though his rank is higher.

Besides the archer, there are two boys who could receive a soldier's blade without getting a scratch, and a single punch from them could send a Peak A ranker flying across the trees. For cultivators like them, their Ki is not limitless, and there would be a time where they are only left with physical strength. Even though they have stronger bodies than non-practitioners, most of them are not external martial artists and those in their group that are, found themselves not even at the same level as their foes.

To top it off, there is someone who could steal their skills and use it against them.

The captain could not imagine any way they could win, and therefore he could not devise a plan against them.

He stood up, kept the body of the princess in a space-time ring that is emptied of all objects. Then for once, the leader of one of the strongest platoon in the empire asked for the opinions of his soldiers for a decision.

......

In the palace at the frontier city, Aurolia, an aged caretaker ever so slowly walked through a large room with countless lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

The lanterns are low enough to walk into if one were careless, and they swing lightly from the wind as he walked pass. The whole room has been sealed with a preservation seal, and there is no need for anyone to come for cleaning off any dust or mold. Even raw iron would not rust when placed in this place. Regardless, the caretaker is not here for cleaning, and he continued walking through the large room watching the eerie fire that stays lit within each lantern while jotting down the colour and size of the flame within.

These flames burn throughout day and night, and some shone merrily while others seemed ready to go off at any time.

When the time come where one flame lost its brightness and extinguished, it would mean that someone had just breathed his last. For these here are soul lanterns.

He watched meekly at a specific few lanterns with weak and flickering lights. All of them belongs to friends that he intimately knows, but by the strength of the flame, he judged that they would not last more than a few more years.

He breathed a sigh. To know and love someone, while seeing their flames of life slowly extinguishing is a heavy thing. In his heart, he had always hoped that maybe one of the flickering candle flames would once again roar back into life. It is a grim hope that can only happen if the practitioner had somehow breakthrough to a higher rank.

And it is made worse because his friends are all ancient like him, and already far beyond the age of growth. Plus, the curse that tightened the cultivation bottleneck on their world means that the deed has become almost impossible.

He wonders what they, the residents of the mortal realm, had done to incur such wrath from the great gods. Or perhaps, this curse even spreads across the uncountable worlds and the high heavens above?

The caretaker discarded these thoughts promptly. He who is a mere mortal, could not fathom what the gods desire, but he couldn't help but give another sigh as he watched those flames dimmed.

After checking through the soul lanterns that are closer to the entrance, he made his way to the back of the room, dragging along a great tome that is larger than his torso.

The soul lanterns at the front belong to the high-ranking officers, crucial to the Empire. The second row, at the middle, belongs to those from the royal family but not the emperor's direct kin. The back row, where he just arrived at, keeps only 10 lanterns, with 3 of them made of pure Goldstone and hung at the very centre.

The largest one belongs to Emperor Axtaius, and it is hung at the highest position above the rest. The second largest one belongs to Prince Axtalius, just slightly lower to indicate his importance in the Empire. The third belongs to Princess Axtalia.

The old caretaker watched the three royal purple flames, noting that each of them is healthy and he began to write their status in his tome.

"Emperor, healthy and no signs of a martial backlash, Prince, same... And of course, our devil princess....", He mumbled under his breath.

As he wrote each person' status, he would take another peek at the lantern before putting his pen on paper. Then suddenly, just as he was about to check off the Princess' status as healthy, her flame roared into a brilliant ball of fire.

"Oh, did our little devil become a higher rank?" he muttered, unworried if anyone would punish him for disrespecting the princess, due to his seniority.

Then, within the brilliant fire, a hole suddenly ripped open in the middle the silhouette of a purple crystal sword. With a blink of his eyes, the weapon disappeared like a shadow, but the hole remained. Then the flame shuddered and extinguished.

"...T..that martial skill...! The Guardian? The guardian killed the princess?!" He exclaimed. Then he turned and ran towards the exit of the room, seeking an audience with the Emperor to inform him this dire news, ignoring the cumbersome tome he had dropped.

.....

Having no one to chase after them, and a group waiting further ahead, Kairos halted the team immediately.

Even escaping from the first party did not turn their situation for the better. They lacked the power to breakthrough either groups that sandwiched them, but for better or worse, at least there is some breathing time at this moment.

"Let's recover whatever energy we could until one of the parties moves towards us," He told them.

"They might be planning some trap for us right now, wouldn't it be dangerous to just wait here?" Alan asked. As the Vice-captain, it is his role to works with Kairos on his strategies. However, because of how brilliant the latter is, there is usually little need for him to input and the real reason behind placing his question is to ease everyone's hearts.

"There could be no traps and still we would be captured from the way we're going. But ideally, we can create a chance for survival if we managed to recover enough strength to charge through the second group before the first one catches up," Kairos said. Then he took out the three treasured plants, the Silverthorn weed, the Goldbristle grass and the Platinum flowers while popping a Heavenly Scent pill into his mouth. The rest followed his lead.

It is a risky bet to say the least but worth an attempt. However, Kairos privately started having his own reserved thoughts.

His mind is of course set on how to get his brothers out of this situation, and if the situation turns sour, he intends to stay behind covering the retreat of the rest. As one of the only two people who learned the new movement techniques, he has the best chance of survival, and his rank is higher than the other person, Jones, at this time.

It was only 5 minutes later, and before they even recovered a tenth of their energy, that their pursuers behind their back started moving towards them. Without any hesitation, the group picked themselves up and headed towards to edge of the forest with swift steps, fully intending to charge past the blockade before being surrounded.

When they came out of the forest, another hundred elite guards awaited them there.

The guys had seen this scene with their soul perception a distance away, so none of them felt any surprise. Like the first group, the majority are elites at Peak A rank, and a familiar face stood right in the front.

Prince Axtalius, one of the two they met outside the treasury, and older brother of the girl they just slain.