*Bam*
Mane's fist went right through the wielder who had tried to get in his way, killing the poor man immediately. After they stole the Tool of Blessings, they were quickly tracked down by the wielders in the palace who seemed to have been informed that something precious had been stolen. However without the Tool of Blessing, the Eastern Empire's wielders had their strength returned to the mortal realm. So they weren't a threat. Yet Mane's facial expression suggested that he was anxious.
*Bam*
Frederick easily sidestepped the ambush of a 4th stage mortal realmer and sent the man flying with a kick. The snap that was heard after that heavy blow suggested that the kick had snapped the man's neck and killed him. But Frederick didn't have the time to feel repulsed by another kill. He had already done this at least 7 times since they exited the throne room.
"We need to move faster!" Mane informed his friends while trying his hardest to maintain a much slower pace so that they weren't left behind.
"He's coming, isn't he?" Abe took longer strides to get close to Mane and asked his captain. He slapped a wielder who tried to get in his way and reduced the formerly healthy man to a mess of flesh and bones.
"No doubt" Mane answered solemnly. The only way the Eastern wielders could have mobilized so quickly and accurately predicted that the intruders were in the true throne room, was if they had been informed. The device they used to identify intruders had been destroyed by Abe and the twins, so it should have been difficult to get their location right. Yet although they had been severely weakened, they had rushed to the throne room to stop the Silver Wolves. This could only mean that the Master was still around, and he had ordered for the intruders to be caught after sensing that his connection to the Tool of Blessings had been severed.
"But it seems he's occupied. So we have to get out while he still is" Mane fastened his hood on his head and readjusted his cloth mask. Every member of the Silver Wolves was wearing a cloak that covered their entire visage and a black cloth mask to hide their faces. They didn't don these on when they were getting into the palace because wearing black in the middle of the day and trying to blend into a well-lit palace was stupid. But now that they were escaping, they didn't want to leave their faces behind. After all, they couldn't kill everyone who saw them.
"True. He would have been here in person otherwise" Abe agreed with Mane. The current Eastern wielders were empty husks without the Tool of Blessings providing them with strength. They were all mortal realmers, with only a few at the high stage of the mortal realm (7th to 9th stage). So currently even Frederick and Selina were dealing with them effortlessly. But the Master was different. It wasn't possible that the Master would be connected to the Tool of Blessings. After all, it was his strength the Eastern wielders were leeching off.
The Tool of Blessing was banned because it was based on the relationship between gods and their servants. The relationship between a god and his/her servant was much more special than many thought. It wasn't a simple relationship between master and subordinate; it was a relationship between a powerful being who could command and wield power beyond comprehension, and a person whose power was tied to this supreme being. Servants were connected to their gods via a soul link. It is a bond established when the servant agrees to put his/her life in the hands of a god in return for power. So the servant shares the power of the god, but the god has the luxury of killing the servant whenever he wants by activating the soul link. And if the god dies – which is almost impossible – the servant dies. But even though there was such a huge disadvantage by being the servant of a god (having your life in the hands of another), the advantages were immense.
As already stated, servants get a power upgrade by inheriting a portion of their god's strength. And the higher the servant is ranked, the more power is available to him/her. There are three servant ranks: lower ranked servant, middle ranked servant, and higher ranked servants. Lower ranked servants inherit about 10% of their god's strength. So they were mostly in the early or middle stages of the profound realm. Middle ranked servants inherited up to 20% of their god's strength and were usually in the peak of the earth realm or the heaven realm. But higher ranked servants were unique. The strength they inherited from their god wasn't a simple percentage. What they had was a percentage cap. So they could inherit at least 25% of their god's strength, and at most 50%! That was immense considering that 50% of a god's strength would push someone into the nobility realm! The only requirement was the talent of the servant. If the higher ranked servant was highly talented, then they could inherit about 40% of their master's power. A less talented one would inherit about only 30%. So even among higher ranked servants, there was a hierarchy. But it was almost impossible to find a servant who was capable of handling 50% of their god's power and not die, because the talent required to meet the cap limit was equivalent of the talent of a Supreme.
The second reason many wanted to be servants to the gods was because of the most sought after item in the entire universe – immortality. Gods are immortal beings who don't die unless their godheads are discovered and destroyed. So as long as a god was careful enough, they could live forever. Servants could be killed because they didn't have godheads, but it was difficult to kill them. Because their strengths were linked to their master's, they inherited the immortality that came with godhood. So theoretically, they could live forever if they avoided conflict. But servants were usually in the centre of conflicts between gods so that immortality was only a theory. Nevertheless because they were still linked to their god's godhead, they couldn't be killed easily. Lower ranked servants had two lives. Even if they were killed once, they would be reborn alongside their master. Only by killing them again would they truly die. Middle ranked servants had three lives and higher ranked servants had at least 5 lives! The most powerful higher ranked servants could have up to 9 lives! Tools of Blessings didn't grant the recipients immortality, but they allowed them to gain strength from their master.
Millions of years ago, when the realms were divided and ruled by chaos, a talented artificer's family was murdered by a god. He was furious when he found out and vowed to get his revenge. He wasn't strong enough to go against the gods for he was only a peak Nobility Realm wielder. So he broke into the False Ascension Realm and began researching on a way to share his strength with others like gods did with their servants. He knew that to get his revenge he would have to find a way to share his strength and go beyond the 50% cap that higher level servants were privy to. After decades and centuries of research, he succeeded. He created a device that was able to link his strength to others. It was a device that could lend a person up to 90% of their master's strength as long as they were very talented. But it had a drawback. Anyone who used this device suffered a painful fate of having their vitality halved. They would basically lead half-lives. Apart from this crushing drawback, their strength would be below the normal levels and they wouldn't be on par with people on their wielding level. Realizing these drawbacks, the artificer searched for people with vendetta against the gods and recruited them. For centuries he recruited, and then when they were ready, they struck. They slaughtered the arms and legs of the gods – their servants – since they couldn't truly kill the gods. Eventually, the god society came to a consensus and rid the universe of this group they saw as a pest.
This artificer was called Dawn; and the group's name was the Revenant. Many had forgotten about them and why would they remember them; for they had been wiped out long ago. However, the device Dawn created – the Tool of Blessing – was ceased by the gods and hidden. Dawn had made only ten of these devices and no matter how hard the gods tried to understand them, they always failed. After taking apart a few and failing miserably, they didn't attempt to study them again but banned them throughout all the realms to prevent the appearance of another Revenant.
Mane didn't know what rank the Master was, but it was likely he was in the middle rank because the most talented of the Eastern Wielders were only in the early stage of heaven realm. So it was likely that the Master was at the peak of the early heaven realm, or in the mid-stages. Either way, they wouldn't be able to handle him when he comes so they have to get away before that.
"The teleportation circle is in the forest right outside the palace" Mane thought to himself when they finally got out of the palace. He was a little relieved as they drew closer and closer to the teleportation circle.
"What an interesting and sophisticated writing" a cold voice sent a chill down Mane's spine. He and his friends slowly approached the circle and saw a cloaked man walking around it as he admired the runes he didn't understand. This was the teleportation circle Mane had utilized to bring his friends here after he infiltrated the capital. But now the barrier supposed to keep it hidden had been broken, and the person they didn't want to meet was here waiting for them. But he wasn't alone.
"Didn't we kill that thing?!" Abe exclaimed when he saw the grotesque creature standing right beside the master. This creature held a rod over its shoulder and watched Mane and his group with a bloodthirsty look. The aura of a heaven realmer was fully unveiled from its deformed frame. This was the Possessed Mane and Abe fought some time back! The two boys were shocked that it was still alive.
"Ahh. So you are the ones who hurt him so" the master sighed. But the Silver Wolves didn't feel any sympathy from that sigh. It was as cold as the Master. The Master took his eyes off the teleportation circle and turned to face the group.
"Forgive my terrible manners. I don't think we have been properly introduced. My name is Dominic. But I think you know me by an alias – Master.