Ignoring Nathan's shouts, Clifford continued on his way back to the academy. He didn't care about what happened to the convoy going forward, as he had gotten what he came for. Gliding in the air, Clifford recalled the memories of the victims he had consumed earlier.
'Just enoughβ¦' Once done with these memories, Clifford discarded what he didn't need, keeping only the useful information. The ones who attacked Nathan's convoy were part of an organization hired by another noble family to steal Evergreen's goods. However, this information was useless to Clifford, as he didn't care about their business. On the other hand, the organization was a tempting target given their numbers and how they operated.
From harming innocents to capturing talents and using them as puppets to accepting shady missions from nobles, the organization members were kill-on-sight. Besides the fact they were good enough to push his devil transformation forward, he could keep some of the bodies as food and hand over the rest to get rewarded.
Having made up his mind, Clifford entered the dark forest, heading for the organization's hideout, which he knew from the memories. He understood very well that his actions might be risky, given he didn't know how strong the rest were compared to the ones he killed. But as far as his confidence reached, he could easily overpower a fourth-stage cultivator without having to enter a predation state. And if he couldn't, he didn't doubt that his dark force would heal him back to peak.
Nearly an hour later, Clifford made it to his destination. As expected, he couldn't see anything on the surface because of the formation covering the place. To a normal eye, there was nothing different about this place from the rest of the forest. However, if one was wearing the organization mask, they would see the entrance hidden on the ground.
Retrieving the corpses of the ones he killed, Clifford took their cloaks and masks before putting them on and moving toward the entrance, which led underground. Following his memories, Clifford managed to open doors leading to the underground base. Once inside, Clifford removed his mask before going down the stairs.
"Who are you?! Put on your goddamn mask." Upon reaching the base, Clifford was greeted by a couple of members. Seeing his skinned head, one screamed at him, displeased by the display. Shifting his arm into a blade, Clifford sliced the guy's head off before wiping out everyone else near him.
Leaving the base room, Clifford found three different paths. Unwilling to waste time going down each path one by one, Clifford came up with a strategy to end things as quickly as possible. Standing in front of the paths, Clifford assumed his wyvern form. Taking his stance, Clifford breathed in as much as he could, preparing to drown the entire place in flames. Stomping the ground with his massive leg, Clifford ignited the central path in flames, using his Qi and dark force to increase its intensity.
Following Clifford's actions, screams of terror echoed through the place as the flames devoured everything in their path. The screams alerted the members stationed on the side paths, making them hurry to see what was going on. Reverting to his human form, Clifford followed the flames, collecting the roasted bodies. By the time he was done, he was surrounded by at least two hundred masked figures.
"Just in time," Clifford said, turning around and approaching the horde with a grin slowly developing on his face. "Would you please die quietly? You see, I need your corpses intact." Throwing his cloak away, he revealed his muscular figure.
"Intruder! Kill him at all costs!" shouted the horde's leader, causing everyone to charge at him. Witnessing the sight, Clifford entered predation, bringing his body to its peak potential. Disappearing from his spot, he reappeared in front of the front line, aiming for their hearts and fisting one after another, ending their lives. Although effective, some were able to inflict wounds on Clifford. An hour later, their numbers had dwindled to just fifty.
Knowing that he had enough corpses and was unable to hold himself back, Clifford proceeded to go all out on the remaining ones. Shortly, screams echoed through the place as severed limbs and organs were thrown toward one location, forming a small mountain of gore. An hour later, Clifford returned to his normal state while abusing one of the remaining corpses.
As his transformation came to an end, Clifford made his way to the mountain of bodies before beginning his feast. Shortly, over fifty bodies were consumed, bringing Clifford's dark force reserves to the top. Making up his mind, Clifford decided to meditate to recharge his Qi, and once he was done, he slept for a while to heal his wounded body.
A couple of hours passed, and Clifford got up from his place, feeling something new in his body. Wondering what it was, Clifford thought intently until he gave up and decided to question his core directly.
It is the roots that will transform your body, congrats on entering the fourth stage.
Hearing the answer, Clifford felt relieved knowing it wasn't anything dangerous. He got up, collected the corpses, and prepared to leave. One more thing he learned was the locations of more hideouts spread across the empire, which were tempting targets as they were larger than this place. Leaving that for later, Clifford exited the hideout, took on his eagle form, and flew back to the academy.
Once he arrived at the academy, Clifford returned to his human form and took out the mission paper as he made his way to the hall. Although he didn't escort the convoy to the city, Nathan had signed it. Thus, its status was automatically changed to complete, and now he could hand it in and get the rewards.
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Status: Complete
Employee's Soul Signature: [πΏππ’ππ§π π―ππ πͺππ π§πΏππ ±πππΏ]
Mission Type: Service
Mission Objective: Guard the merchant group while returning to Elmar City.
Strength Requirement: 5500 and above
Reward: 300 Contribution Points
Employer's Soul Signature: [ππΏπππΏπ π π―π ππΌππ π π]
Employer's Confirmation: [ππΏπππΏπ π π―π ππΌππ π π]
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