"What took you so long?"
The lamp posts embedded in the walls of the tunnel shone a light on the two figures.
The first figure was a black-haired middle-aged man dressed in heavy armor. He wore a gauntlet that, despite looking insanely big, perfectly covered his arms.
The second figure looked just like the first figure, except a bit older. Different from the first figure, the second one was not overly dressed in protective armor, he wore just enough! Plus, he wielded a black spear that was delicately made, with carvings of a black howling wolf on each end of the spear.
The two figures were easily recognizable.
They were King Caspian and Royal Duke Conan respectively!
Also, judging by the way they were dressed, it was obvious that they didn't just stumble upon the tunnel.
Being the two main figures in Aztec, they had detected something strange.
They were responsible for protecting the rift, something they had sworn with their life. So, it wasn't unusual that they would notice if the tunnel paths had been invaded.
The moment they noticed that their soldiers didn't come back for reports, they pieced everything together and knew it was the work of the mysterious organization.
The two brothers sniffed the air and frowned.
Due to their bloodline, their sense of smell was far above any cultivator of the same realm.
If concentrated to its peak, they could smell even emotions!
However, they didn't need to do that to sense that the air was foul.
They linked it up with the only thing that could cause such a foul air and instantly revealed looks of shock that gradually turned to fear.
Not wanting to jump to a conclusion, they sniffed at the air again and this time they found something else.
"Grif was here....." Caspian's brows gradually raised into a curve, before he said his first words to the man in front of him, "Speak, where is he?!"
He instantly unleashed his full domineering aura and every object seemed to defy the laws of physics.
The walls started shaking, with the ceiling threatening to fall. Even the grass got slammed to the ground by the aura of Caspian.
However, the pressure of the aura seemed to have no effect on the man in front of him.
The man with a bandaged arm, still displaying no signs of stress on his body voiced out, "Who is Griff?"
He replied to his words, "Oh...you mean that man. He is over there."
Second Evil pointed his hands behind him at the wall, but Caspian and Conan knew he was not pointing at the wall, but what was behind it!
They didn't need the ability to see through things to notice that the nether rift was hidden behind the erected walls.
Due to their familiarity with this open space, called Eden's Garden by their ancestors, they knew that the wall Second Evil pointed at was just erected.
Therefore, they understood that what the man was pointing at was actually was what behind it, the rift.
Focusing their senses, they could hear messy footsteps heading out of the rift and into a channel path that was covered by the wall.
Without hesitation, Caspian shot his energy at the wall to understand what was going on behind the wall better, but it was deflected by Second Evil, who used his bandaged arm to punch it away.
However, Caspian wasn't annoyed.
His attack had two purposes; to understand what was behind and to ascertain the strength of the man before him.
Observing his surrounding, Conan posed another question to the man, "Where are my soldiers?!"
He was replied by the man's hand, which pointed, again, to the thing behind the wall.
An aura exuded from Conan rampantly.
It stacked on Caspian's aura, but the two didn't make any other movement.
Instead, Conan showed his excellent control over his emotions and posed another question, a rather important one, "So, you have opened it?"
Second Evil maintained his calm expression, under the combined pressure of both aura, not even his sweat betrayed him.
He cooly replied, "Yes."
Conan squinted his eyes, already getting a feel of the man, "Who are you."
"The Second Evil, Talon!"
This was the first time Second Evil, or rather Talon, had revealed his name. Even his men didn't know his name, only his title.
"Okay, Talon. What is your goal here?" probed Conan.
Talon replied, "Isn't it obvious? Knowing the strength and the fearsome reputation of Aztec, I came here personally to complete my given mission."
His words were confusing and their meaning, abstruse.
It only gave the two brothers more questions, which they directed back at Talon, "You killed Grif, my sub-ordinate. You murdered our soldier. I think I deserve to know what your mission is!"
Still unfazed, Talon explained, "It is as it looks like. My mission is to open the Nether rift!"
He stood up from his original position, signifying that their conversation was already reaching its limit.
However, he heard a loud shout from Caspian, "Why?!"
Why?....
Why?....
Why? Indeed.
This one-word question occupied the most part of the two brother's heads.
They failed to understand why any intelligent being would possess the notion to open the rift after centuries of peace.
The peace that had been kept by the blood of their ancestors!
Not just that, each generation would come here frequently to battle the zombies that leak out from the rift.
This was the same place that his wife died. Her goal was to successfully push back an emerging Netheran.
Yet, someone wanted to open it back!
Caspian could not help but overflow with intense emotions. His aura became unstable, so much that the surrounding started to shake forcefully. Stones and earth dust began to fall from the ceiling.
All of this only stopped when Caspian was nudged by his brother, "Stay calm. The enemy is unknown! For all we know, he might be purposely aggravating you."
Conan's word managed to reach Talon's ear, who replied to the two brothers, "Don't worry, it is not my intention."
"Answering your previous question, the reason is simple. It needed to be done!"
Talon continued, "I possess no noble goals, but I do know that I'm acting within the rules."
His words yet again puzzled the two brothers.
This led to Conan's question, "What rules?"
Talon squinted his face as he angrily snarled at the two, "The cultivation law of strength."
Obviously, such a topic was very personal to him, as he became triggered and divulged, "The rule where the weak are just mere sacrifices, and the strong controls the arrow of fate!"
"The same rules that have become twisted over time and now the strong have added to their collections the hammer of justice and the breath of life!"
"The same rules that have changed the interpretations of what is truly strong. Now, anyone can be considered strong if they have a good elemental affinity, and the truly talented ones are discarded as failures!"
The two brothers frowned at Talon's heated words.
They remembered a few decades ago when his words would still ring true, but now...…..
Conan tried to appeal to Talon, "I understand your pain, but you have to know that the system has been globally reformed. The existence of "Spirit Roots" have long lost their value. Please, reconsider your actions."
In a swift change of moods, Talon became calm and responded to Conan, "You do not understand. The reform was only possible due to the emergence of the truly strong who persevered over all stereotypical norms. Still, the reform was not totally successful."
He cracked his fist, "However, I do not care about any reforms. I am just following the way of you people, aren't I? If I destroy Aztec due to my superiority, then I am not wrong to do so."
His calm, yet contemptuous gaze, peered into the heart of the two brothers.
They now understood that the man in front of them was a victim of the old ways.
They weren't born before the global cultivation reform, but they had heard enough to feel pity for the man before them.
In those days, meaningless deaths filled every corner of the streets.
Although the current times weren't exactly peaceful, it was not as stupid and useless as it was before!
He remembered his father saying that those who lived in those dark times had their fate destined the moment they were born.
It was over five decades ago, so it made them realize that the man, who looked in his thirties, was over fifty years old(50).
They were further on alert when Talon replied, "Again, you seem to not understand. I'm not fighting against prejudice. You are all sleeping in my eyes."
He sighed as energy began to coil around him, "The age of meaningless cultivation is long gone. Now, the current era is full of new discoveries and free of stereotypical concepts!"
After saying his words, he jumped at the two brothers, who had already expected it, and a clash ensued onwards.