"You..." Shin glared at the blonde woman, completely unable to hide the wrath that was bubbling within for the longest time. "You're going to use us as livestock to fuel the Immortal Gate?!"
"Not you! The many cultivators that benefited from the Black Masks' actions!" Kin quickly corrected Shin. "We've been giving them free training for all these years. How many of them could only remain in the Spirit Practitioner realm? How many of them ever felt fear and danger in their lives? It's only because of the Black Masks that they're able to grow into Spirit Apostles and gain the battle instincts of a seasoned soldier! It's only natural that they pay some of it back to us!"
The Golden Fox ranted. She truly believed in her heart that the human race owed the Black Masks a huge favour. Once the bindings of the Terre Continent had been unshackled, the spiritual energies in the world had greatly benefited the regular human cultivators who had no chance of crossing their bottlenecks. Not to mention, after plunging the world into chaos, humans had to revert back to their primitive roots. Plumbers become warriors and housewives became porters. Yes, the number of deceased increased with every passing year, but the number of great cultivators skyrocketed.
As for talents such as Shin, Kanari and the rest of the shining Luminaries… Their cultivation speed significantly increased as well. So, one could say that the Allfather and the Black Masks' existence had proved somewhat helpful for the human race… If you discount the billions of lives that were affected by their atrocities, that is.
"So you're killing the sentries of the Abyss because you want to further spread chaos?" Unable to control his anger anymore, Shin growled like a beast in his death throes.
"Oh, don't be a pussy." Kin snapped. "Humans have been trying to kill us Spirit Beasts from the beginning of time. If you have the opportunity, you would unquestionably kill all of the Black Masks. Be it the ones that defected to our side or the Spirit Beasts that serve faithfully under the Allfather. Don't act like all noble!"
"You still don't understand what you've done, huh?" Shin was tempted to throw some of his Dragon Glacial Needles at the Golden Fox's skull but ultimately forced himself to stay his hand. "There were countless of innocent lives lost because of the Black Masks' evil! Children that will grow up without their parents! Elderly that have to move out of their ancestral homes! How many more lives will you destroy until you are all satisfied?"
"You're taking this way too personal, kid." Kin snorted, her face contorting after every word. "What the Black Masks want… Is eternal life. Isn't that what humans want as well? Isn't that what you want as well? With your constant chase for Yggdrasil? Our methods just differ, that's all."
It was true. The Black Masks had been formed by the Allfather for one purpose and one purpose only. To reach the Immortal Realm.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. And what greater unknown was there, than what happens after death? If one was human, one would fear death. Humans were known to struggle, to overcome their weaknesses and to ascend to the top of the food chain, and death... was ultimately one struggle that they have yet to overcome.
However, many beacons had shown them the way. Twenty-one to be exact. The twenty-one Spirit Immortals of human history had paved the way towards true eternal life, and every single cultivator dreamed of following in their footsteps. And the Allfather had given them what they wanted.
Every passing minute, there would be a new cultivator passing through their bottleneck, a threshold that they could never hope to transcend if not for the constant strife that surrounded them. Each conflict tempered the general population and made them universally stronger. Before, an average ten-year-old would be completely helpless against any sort of Spirit Beast, even if it lacked the capabilities of a hunter. However, in the current day, it wasn't surprising to see ten-year-olds actively hunt Spirit Beasts, just to keep their village safe.
"It's only natural that we're going to collect some dividends. Just taking a few thousand cultivator's lives to power the Immortal Gate, isn't that a bargain?" Kin said without remorse.
"..." At this point, Shin was unable to hold back anymore. With a slice of his left hand, an ice needle flew like an unbound arrow, finding its place within the Golden Fox's bosom.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Kin shrieked. Icy chills crept up her cranium, bringing her mind into a state that she'd never experienced before. Her entire face turned numb as the central point of her forehead filled up with intense cold mana. Even her screams turned weird due to the constant bombardment of subzero temperatures. It was only after twenty gruelling seconds, did Shin stop his sudden torture.
"A-AHHH… AHHHH!!! AHHHHH!!!" Convulsing in shock, the Golden Fox quickly tried to regain her bearings, only to glare right at the black-haired man who caused her pain.
"W-What… What's that for?!" Kin screamed in protest.
"Don't push me," Shin's low voice boomed into Kin's ears. "Don't make me kill you prematurely."
"Kill me? For the lives of some random fodder that don't even matter?" The Golden Fox was utterly oblivious to Shin's attachment to the common folk. "We are beings that transcend the masses! Those randoms are fated to die in a hundred years anyway! Even if we didn't use them as sacrifices, they would all die out eventually! It should be their honour to die for the Allfather's cause!"
"..." Shin gritted his teeth. Resisting the urge to snap Kin's neck right here, right now took everything that the Prince of Water had. He'd seen the destruction that the Black Masks had unleashed upon the masses. Families would never see peace ever again, and communities had been ripped apart from the inside out. Yet, the perpetrators of the violence felt no remorse for what they'd done. In fact, it was the contrary. Kin thought that the lives of those she killed were necessary, much like how one would view the souls of livestock.
"Shin, endure…" Before the Prince of Water completely lost it, a soothing voice echoed in from the side. Longyu Tian placed her left hand over his right, slowly calming down his agitated state. "We have many more things to ask her… Once we're done with the questions, it's never too late to avenge those that perished."
"Aunt Tian..." Shin tilted his head to the side. He blinked twice and bit down on his lip so hard that it started to bleed. But ultimately, the Prince of Water knew that Longyu Tian was right. It did him no justice to vent out his frustrations right now. What he needed was a calm and collected heart.
Heaving in a deep sigh, Shin composed himself before shooting yet another question: "Let's try this again… What's the Black Masks' next plan? Which region are you going to target next once you've escaped from the Abyss?"
"That..." Kin shifted her eyes, not willing to stare the Prince right at his face. She had just divulged one major detail about the Black Masks. Was it truly safe to give out another? After all, she hadn't said anything of substance yet. Perhaps she could regain the Allfather's favour and make him pardon her for the crimes that she'd committed.
Alas, how could Shin simply let her be? Pushing in the floating needles into Gin's body, Shin forced the Silver Monkey into the peak of pain once more.
"ARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Are you going to answer, or not?"
"Fine, fine! You've got me!" Kin instantly shouted, prompting Shin to stop his torturous ways. Shifting her eyes back and forth, the Golden Fox meekly said: "We're going to attack the elderly Spirit Saints, the ones that lack any hope of advancing past the Spirit Saint realm. Kuro said that we need to spur new talent to advance, so killing off the relics of the past is the best start."
"So that's why you killed Saint Suhavis?" Saint Thor's angry voice bellowed out.
"Why are you stating the obvious?" Kin scoffed. "Also… We needed to weaken the Alliance. You guys became united far too fast. We'd thought that there would be enough time to rebuild our powers, but everything moved too quickly."
"Killing Spirit Saints to make new Spirit Saints? What kind of logic is that?" Saint Atossa, who had been silent thus far, interjected with her own rapid thoughts.
"Let me ask you this… How many of the elderly Spirit Saints have any chance of becoming the next Spirit Immortal? Haven't they all given up and decided to become statues whose life force would eventually fade away?" Kin continued her retort. "We don't have much time left, so why waste our resources investing in old relics? It's much better to spur more vigorous, younger talents so that they could pose somewhat of a challenge to the Allfather."
"You bastards..." All four of the Spirit Saints growled. They were brethren to Saint Suhavis and many of those from the elder generation. Many of them looked up to the Spirit Saints, emulated their cultivation techniques to further their own advancements. To a certain degree, there was an invisible reverence between the Spirit Saints from the different generations.
That's why hearing the Black Masks' plan to eradicate them all really placed a wrench into all of their stomachs. However, Shin wasn't as disgusted. His mind was repeating the statement that Kin had just given.
"Wait a second… What do you mean that you don't have much time left?"
"!!!" Like a deer caught in the lights, Kin froze completely. The Allfather lifespan being numbered was the most valuable secret that the Black Masks had. If that knowledge fell to the Alliance's hands… Even if Kin and Gin managed to escape from this prison, the Black Masks would make certain that their lives would be forfeited.
"Not enough time… Tell me, how many resources you have left? How many cultivators? How many Immortal-Grade Spirit Armaments? How many..." Shin's mouth continued spewing out questions, ready to grind the Golden Fox like a seasoned cop. However, before he could finish, a low rumbling sound shook the cell as if an earthquake had struck.
Rumble… Rumble… Rumble...
"What the hell?" Shin spat, turning his face up to the ceiling.
And that's when… he saw it.
The completely sealed ceiling, which should have been enhanced by multiple layers of protection, was now opened via a narrow crack. Light raced into the dark cell, like an angel's light descending from heaven. And in the midst of it all…
There was a white-haired boy... holding a mirror.