Soul Essence was quite literally the energy of the soul. Usage of Soul Essence was quite dangerous as it was crucial for living and would regenerate incredibly slowly. Unlike Aether, the energy filling the entirety of the world, which could be naturally and consciously restored relatively quickly.
He began injecting his Soul Essence into the Gem behind his back and that was when it seemed to come alive.
The Gem began to greedily consume all the Soul Essence given to it and more. It was directly tapping into his Nexus, the organ responsible for containing Aether, and continued consuming it all. A sense of weakness and fatigue washed over him. When his Aether ran out the Gem directly tapped into his life force and began consuming his body's vitality.
Emir winced in pain as his vitality was being forcefully consumed. His peripheral vision was beginning to darken; he was losing consciousness and his life. While all of this was happening, the Gem was glowing madly and so was he, they were both exuding a bright green light.
Rex while holding the spear of light was looking at the scene happening before him, and his eyes widened. He could feel the pure energy and power emanating from the Gem, it was mesmerizing and enticing. However, Rex's sense of unease only grew until he finally realized that the unspeakable was about to happen... Emir was about to get away.
"No! I will not let that happen!" Rex hurled the spear of light with all his strength, it streaked through the sky brilliantly and with absolute might while letting off a sharp sound as it pierced through the air. It reached Emir in less than an instant and pierced through his body with the tip emerging from his back. Emir's body shook uncontrollably as he coughed up copious amounts of blood, he attempted to contain and fix the damage, but his body was not responding.
The combination of the spear and the Gem consuming his life force already made him reach his limits, he did not even have the energy to dodge the attack despite seeing it coming. He could no longer keep himself afloat and his body plummeted to the ground with a loud boom.
His fall left a big crater in the earth with his body lodged in the center. The spear of light planted into his chest was slowly breaking down and disappearing into streaks of light, the gaping spear wound on his chest was not bleeding at all. His flesh inside and around the wound was burnt and cauterized.
Emir was no longer breathing, his skin looked pale and lifeless, his eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open. Despite the hole in his chest and ghastly complexion, he looked quite peaceful and rested. But the worry on Rex's face did not disappear, because Emir's body and especially the green Gem held in his hand were still glowing. And it seemed like the intensity of the light was increasing.
"Is he not dead? Why is the light becoming more intense?" Rex thought as he dashed towards Emir with his hand stretched in front of him.
The worried look on his face was becoming more and more pronounced, and his speed was increasing as he flew. His main objective was to seize the green Gem that Emir's corpse was still tightly holding on to before the unthinkable could happen. Despite his worry, his heart was also filled with excitement and greed.
Higher-ranked clans generally had better access to knowledge and resources, Rex himself was a member of a high-ranked clan. Thus, he knew that this green Gem was nothing ordinary. Since no record of it existed, even with all the extensive research material he read regarding godly items published by clan scholars and third party experts. And the energy exuded from it was unlike anything he had ever felt before, he felt deep within his heart that this item was beyond extraordinary.
He was buzzing with excitement since he already concluded that that treasure belonged to him, it was his spoil from battle, he did not think to share it or let anyone have it. He would report to the higher-ups that the item was destroyed along with Emir's death. He might get punished but not too severely since they would not know the Gem's true value and more importantly it would not be used against them.
However, he was worried because the green light was not dispersing despite Emir being dead. Speaking obviously, A dead person cannot use items or do anything for that matter. But despite that, Rex threw his worry to the back of his head and was already making plans on how to get rid of the "evidence" and the "witnesses", no way was he going to let anyone who saw the green light and felt the unparalleled presence live.
It was essential that no one knew of its existence. Otherwise, there would be heavy conflict between much stronger forces and individuals. Then he would definitely not get even the crumbs.
A large grin was plastered on his face as he arrived before Emir's corpse, and he already came up with the plan he would perform after seizing the Gem. He reached out his hands but just as he got close, the Gem shone even brighter as if sensing his presence and the green light wrapped around Emir's body like a bubble.
That was when all signs of glee were wiped off Rex's face, now that he was close, he scanned Emir's body with his soul sense and he could sense that while indeed his physical body was already dead, his soul was still present and had not dissipated. It was because of this that the Gem did not stop working.
It seems like Rex was a tad too late in arriving and that allowed the Gem to fully complete its preparations. There was a blinding green flash of light and the Gem disappeared from the palm of Emir's corpse.
Panic began to set in Rex as he hurriedly expanded his soul sense and scanned through Emir's body and all around it thoroughly, not missing a single nook or cranny. It was gone. The green Gem had completely disappeared. However, what also seemed to have disappeared was Emir's soul.
The only thought on his mind right then was how he just lost the opportunity of several lifetimes. Anger as hot as the sun was boiling within him.
"It's all that bastard's fault... Emir you damned bug!" He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles became white due to restricted blood flow. His eyes widened as he remembered something very important, he slowly turned his head around and looked at the allies who came with him.
All the five present here including Rex were reputable members of high-ranking clans. Thus, they had higher knowledge compared to others, it dawned on them what just happened, and they also understood the significance of the Gem. A great sense of urgency befell them, they knew that they had to rush back to their clans to report their findings to their higher-ups. The fact that the godly item was used and especially by an enemy that could threaten them was no light matter.
If the higher-ups found out that Rex as the group leader possibly let Emir escape, there was no way he would make it out alive. Some of his "allies" present knew that and were planning to capitalize on that fact to get rid of him. No matter whether weak or strong, jealousy and envy were still emotions felt when an individual subconsciously felt inferior to someone else.
"Why was it he that was chosen to lead us? Why not me? It is not like I'm lacking in any way compared to him." These were the thoughts running through their minds earlier, but they did not dare say anything so as not to offend the higher-ups.
"These bastards are planning to betray me... to fall from grace just because of a single bug that got away. And the godly item will be revealed to everyone... I can't leave any witnesses!" Rex failed in his mission to seize the godly item, and worse still it was used by the enemy he was supposed to eliminate. He would have to answer for his incompetence, at best he would be crippled, at worse executed, cutting off his entire future.
He thought that the best way to save himself was to eradicate all the witnesses and say that Emir detonated the godly item killing himself and all his group members. He would definitely be severely punished for losing everyone and the item, but it would not be as bad as the truth being revealed.
Rex slowly rose and clenched every muscle in his body as he prepared to battle, he turned around slowly and scanned his eyes over his soon-to-be victims. He knew most of the people gathered here, but too bad they were all going to die by his hands. His gaze carried killing intent as sharp as knives, and all those present felt the coming battle approaching.