The old man was also searching for Shui, but though his perception was wider than any of the elders, it wasn't enough to cover the entire dome so Shui could remain hidden outside of it. Now that the hostages were saved, Shui could either focus on the elders or attack the old man, but the old man's next command made his decision easy.
"Keep your guards up and spread out to find him. He has to be in here."
Just like before, the elders followed his command and began moving apart. The dome was fairly big, but not big enough that the elders couldn't cover its space with their intersecting perceptions. The fog spell would slowly lose its effectiveness over time, so if Shui waited for them to spread apart, it was guaranteed that he would be found. However, this strategy was only viable if he wasn't able to pick them off while they were separated.
"Gah!"
"Ah!"
"Stay away!"
"No!"
"Damn you!!!"
One by one, screams of agony rose from the fog, some fake, others authentic, but they all had the effect of unnerving the isolated elders. The old man didn't want to believe that Shui could dispatch them so easily if they were alone, but he couldn't afford to lose any more of their forces in the case that he was.
"Gather up! Follow the sound of my voice and remember my position!"
Both sight and sound were unreliable within the fog, but Shui was only able to kill a few more elders before the rest met up with the old man. He wouldn't be able to kill them as easily any more, but the fog could still be useful, so he was about to reapply it when the old man made his move. He moved to the front of the elders and raised his right arm. The image of a giant red demonic arm grew from his right shoulder and unleashed a terrifying pressure.
Shui immediately guessed his intentions, so he quickly leapt to the top of the dome. Right after Shui jumped, the old man swept the giant arm across the space, easily clearing the fog with brute force. Shui could cast it again, but with the elders together, there would be nothing to stop the old man from clearing it once more.
With the fog clearing, the elders could now see the corpses of their comrades lying on the ground. There were fewer bodies than the number of screams, and more elders from the Wailings clan were killed compared to those from the Gus clan. However, only the old man, in his cold fury, noticed this.
"As expected of the grand elder, If you hadn't ordered them to gather so soon, I would have been able to cut your numbers down further."
While using the wind to hover in place, Shui spoke from above the elders. The elders immediately prepared to attack him, but the old man used the pressure from his aura to stop them.
"Open the dome."
"But, Grand Elder,"
"Do not make me repeat myself!"
After giving the order, the old man slowly ascended to the same height as Shui. When they were at the same elevation, the dome opened from the top and disappeared, so Shui could finally see the outside scenery again.
"What's your reason for opening the dome? Are you planning on making the rest of your group flee?"
"Silence, child! I had believed that you had a helper, so the dome was to block any interference, but now I see that you truly have the ability to have killed Trin by yourself."
"Isn't it too late for that realization? I'm sure those poor elders you brought would have wanted to know that before they died."
In the middle of Shui's response, the old man swung his giant red arm at him. Now that they were out of the dome, it was much easier for the old man to use his strength. Shui knew that his barrier wouldn't be able to stop it, so he evaded the attack with the help of the wind. The old man continued to attack with the giant red arm, but like a sheet of paper in the breeze, Shui managed to avoid him every time. However, as Shui evaded the red arm once again, a second red arm suddenly appeared and whacked him to the ground.
The elders cheered, but at the moment of impact, the old man sensed something strange, so he investigated the place where Shui should have landed, but all he found was a bundle of clothes and a torn talisman.
"Find him!!!"
When the real Shui heard the old man's shout, he was almost outside of Malirin Forest with his three unconscious teammates. After jumping to escape the old man sweeping away the fog, Shui created an illusion and hid at the top of the dome until he heard the old man order to have it taken down. Although he couldn't sense any peeking gazes, he thought it best to assume that he would be watched once the dome went down. While he wasn't afraid of killing the elders with someone watching, he didn't want Kate's enemies to learn of his true abilities since they might change their approach. As he had promised not to interfere in her battles, he didn't want to shift her enemies' focus from her to him.
To solve this dilemma, Shui chose to hide on the ground next to his hidden teammates. While the illusion attracted everyone's attention, he made his escape. He didn't plan on coming back and killing the elders, but depending on what he learned from his teammates, he was willing to take the life of Gilse.
Once Shui had made it out of the forest, he manipulated the earth to create a small cave. He then entered it with his luggage and closed the entrance behind him. After using his spiritual sense to double-check the surroundings, Shui looked at his teammates and decided to use Lute as his information source.
Shui would be in trouble if the manor found out that he was searching his memory, as such techniques generally resulted in irreparable damage to the soul. However, Shui didn't intend to be so sloppy, and in the worst-case scenario, he planned on blaming the elders.
Shui's initial objective was to find out what Lute knew about this trap, but then he recalled that he had only met a few members of the three clans at Storm Sky Manor. He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but while it made sense for members of the Clite clan to be missing, it was odd that he hadn't found anyone except three members of the Heaven clan. Even if they were avoiding him, since Mater's group was able to find Lute, it was strange that they didn't put more familiar faces in his team.
This was something he could have asked Kate or Reinhart, but it hadn't been a concern at the time.
"I guess I'll take a look for myself."