Remia halted in her footsteps, falling into a dilemma on whether to ignore Rael's orders or not. First of all, she doesn't answer Rael or his House Garcia. Her loyalty is toward the throne and Artaigne. But, Rael at the moment, seemed quite determined. She wondered about the implications if she took that step of disobeying the order. What if he writes a letter to the King and sends her away? It is the last thing she wants.
"We will handle this," Rael spoke again, loud and clear. She stood there, her eyes fixed on her charge.
Eon, understanding the gravity of the situation, twisted the hourglass.
"Soul skill: Time Stop".
The world slowed to a halt as Eon's hourglass activated, freezing the time. Rael's eyes narrowed, and his senses heightened. Now, with the world frozen in place, the creature was vulnerable—at least for the next few seconds.
Rael raised the Death Scythe above his head.
"Soul skill: Slice of Death."
He swung it in a graceful arc, cutting through the frozen air toward the beast. The blade cleaved through the stillness, making contact with Pyrahnox's body as time resumed its flow.
Pyrahnox shrieked in agony as the scythe sliced into its fur, the flame and lightning elements it wielded crackling around its body. It staggered backward, but before it could recover, Rael followed up with another strike at its injured part. This time, his scythe cleaved through its chest, death energy invading its system and destroying everything in its path. The creature collapsed to the ground with a thunderous roar, its fiery limbs twitching.
With the beast lying dead at their feet, a spirit core emerged from its body. Rael stepped forward, his senses attuned to the energy surrounding the fallen creature.
As the one who finished off the creature, only he could absorb the spirit core, which would only stay for a few minutes before it started dispersing into specks of light.
Rael reached down, his hand trembling slightly in excitement. With a simple gesture, he began to absorb the core.
But as his hand neared the core, something strange happened.
A voice—a deep, chilling familiar voice—echoed in his mind.
"Wait."
Rael froze, his hand hovering above the core. "Chronos?"
"Do not simply absorb this."
"Why?" Rael asked, confusion mixing with a growing sense of unease.
The voice was calm, almost serene in its warning. "This beast… It is not like the others. It is a platinum-grade beast. To consume its core would be a waste of its potential."
"Uhh… What do you mean?" Rael confused.
The Reaper answered. "Every time you kill, you would create an undead beast in your mindscape. You should have already seen them."
Rael nodded, remembering the scene on the barren land filled with skeletal beasts roaming here and there in restlessness.
The Reaper continued. "But, for platinum and higher grade monsters, you can absorb the spirit core and give it core to its undead counterpart instead of refining it for your own so that when you summon that undead beast again, that one would retain its soul skills. And with the right guidance, you will be able to let it grow stronger over time. Compared to such potential, absorbing such a minute amount of soul energy would be nothing."
"I can summon the undead beasts? How?" Rael became more curious about this power, wondering if he could do it with his ocular powers. But then, he removed the thought away as he didn't have such knowledge.
The Reaper explained. "It was my power, Azrael. And my powers can only be accessed when you fuse with Eon."
"I see…" Rael felt a bit disappointed at first but then he nodded in understanding and placed his attention back to the spirit core.
Following the Reaper's instructions, Rael absorbed the spirit core and let the Reaper feed it to the corresponding undead Pyrahnox that just woke up in his mindscape.
Rael turned his attention back to their surroundings, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Okay, let's not waste more time by staying here. There's much more to discover."
"We should head to the Level-2 region," Eon suggested. "It's only about twenty kilometers away. We have a few hours left before sunset. We can make it there and back by nightfall."
However, Remia immediately voiced her concern. "It will be too late to return by nightfall if we head out now," she argued, her tone both protective and firm. She glanced nervously at Artaigne, who was standing quietly by Rael's side.
At that moment, Kaelith, who had taken a liking to Remia and often found himself agreeing with her, added his voice to the matter. "I agree with Remia, Young Master. It's better to rest and head back tomorrow," he said as he exchanged a glance with Remia. The latter gave a nod of approval as if she was thanking him for sticking up for her.
Unfortunately for them, Rael's decision would usually be final, and Rael's gaze hardened, but his tone remained calm. "We're here to explore this world, not to live by its restrictions. We sleep in the wilderness if we have to. We adapt."
Eon's expression was resolute, not hesitating to support her brother. "The wilderness is part of this world, just like everything else. We can't keep hesitating. It's time to adapt."
Remia seemed unamused. "But the princess isn't accustomed to this life. The cold will—"
Eon cut her off with a sharp retort. "If Artaigne isn't bothered by it, why should you be? We'll adjust just fine. You can take Artaigne back to the city if you're that concerned about the cold, but we're going further."
Artaigne stepped forward hesitantly, her eyes flickering between the two groups. "I'll follow Rael... I can adjust. I've done worse in the past."
Remia, clearly frustrated by the princess's stupid love for the boy and always agreeing with him, turned her gaze to the knights. "Do you have no say in this? Can't you knock some sense into them?"
Kaelith, still in agreement with Remia, was about to speak up when Camilla, the knight who had been helping with household duties, sighed. "Lord Azrael and Lady Eon are stubborn, just like their late mother. When they make up their minds, it's nearly impossible to change them. Even the Duke couldn't do it. What mere knights like us can do? We can only follow their decisions. I'm sorry."
Remia shot Camilla a look, a mixture of exasperation and resignation in her eyes. She knew Camilla was right, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.
"Damn these nobles and their stubbornness," Remia muttered, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine, we'll go."
With that, the group agreed to head toward the Level-2 region, and the journey to the Craglands began.