But his body suddenly stopped abruptly, suspended in mid-air.

What? He was shocked.

Invisible hands! This kid practices Spiritual Cultivation as well!

He could feel two massive hands gripping his body tightly. Based on the strength of the grip, he could tell that Leyvi's Spiritual Cultivation was quite impressive. He tried to destroy Leyvi's invisible hands by attacking with his own spiritual touch, but failed. He realized that Leyvi's spiritual touch was far stronger than his.

Prince Ozan looked at Leyvi with amazement. During the fight, he had already determined that Leyvi practiced both Qi and Body Cultivation. The body path seemed rough, lacking proper refinement, and therefore noticeably weaker.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that Leyvi was actually a triple cultivation system practitioner, just like him. He had been hiding it since the beginning so that he could use it at the right moment. And that caught him completely off guard.

When he was younger, he had done the exact same thing. Concealing his spiritual cultivation until the decisive strike.

Falling victim to the same tactic now stirred a strange nostalgia within him.

Because of that alone, a faint soft spot formed in his heart.

"Ozazaza! You are Leyvi, right?" A wide grin spread across his face. "Why don't you join my Royal Guard?"

He stopped trying to escape from the invisible grip. He was already almost out of stamina. And it was not just Leyvi's grip he had to deal with. Dastan had also formed thick Qi ropes and started binding him tightly.

Leyvi was stunned by the sudden invitation.

"Prince Ozan. I prefer my freedom. So I can only reject." Leyvi replied.

"Hah. I thought so. Oi, crown prince, did you get rejected by them too?" He asked, pointing at Leyvi and Bodo.

Dastan's mouth twitched. "None of your business."

"Ozazaza! I knew it! Now I feel a lot better!" Prince Ozan laughed heartily.

"Prince Ozan, please don't make any more ruckus. After we all pass through the portal, we will let you go. There is still enough energy for one person because someone died previously, so you can return too." Leyvi persuaded.

Prince Ozan obviously had a high status, so there was no way he could kill him with so many people watching.

"Sigh. Only one spot, huh. Looks like I can only say goodbye to my Royal Guards." Although he said that, he did not seem truly bothered by it.

Meanwhile, the crowd was happy and relieved that the wild Prince Ozan had been restrained. Also, thanks to Crown Prince Dastan, the destruction that could have devastated the entire city was kept to a minimum because he disabled Prince Ozan's giant avatar.

Everyone's impression of him had started to change. He was not actually the useless crown prince like the rumor claimed him to be.

"Next!" Barcas called out, maintaining order.

One by one, people crossed the portal.

Over thirty had already passed through without issue. The portal remained stable, its spatial currents flowing steadily.

Barcas allowed himself a small breath of relief.

However, just as he thought everything would go smoothly from now on, something extremely bizarre happened.

The portal suddenly vanished.

Silence.

Complete, utter silence.

Everyone stared at the empty space where the portal had stood moments ago. Everyone was trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

Whether those who were waiting for their turn to cross, or those still raging and angry outside the barriers, they were all completely dumbfounded.

Where was the portal? What was going on?

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The most shaken were naturally Barcas and Barbara. Among everyone present, they understood the portal's mechanics the best.

This was impossible.

A portal of this stability could not collapse without a sign. Without fluctuation. Without warning.

Only lingering spatial energy remained.

A few moments later, the crowd erupted.

Questions. Anger. Frustration.

After all, they had been so close to finally going home. How could they not be emotional? But who should they blame?

These questions and emotions were directed at none other than Barcas and Barbara, the ones responsible for the portal.

Originally, they had been praising the twins for their contribution. Now that this had happened, they immediately tried to blame them.

"What happened?"

"Did you do something wrong?"

"You were the ones in charge of the portal!"

Obviously, the twins couldn't answer any of their questions. They were similarly baffled.

Emotion clouded reason. A few cultivators, unable to contain their anger, stepped forward aggressively.

Then they attacked.

Livana, Valenia, and Ava reacted immediately, intercepting several strikes. Techniques collided, sending bursts of energy across the plaza.

Still, in the chaos, a few attacks slipped through.

They were aimed directly at Barcas and Barbara.

At that moment, two vertical tusks appeared out of nowhere.

The incoming attacks slammed into them and shattered.

Barcas and Barbara stood within the tusk barriers, bloodline gems already activated in their hands.

They had prepared for this possibility.

This time, they would not be caught off guard.

After the attack failed, the temperature around the area began to rise at an astonishing rate. At first, it felt like residual heat from the earlier battle, but within seconds, the air grew heavy and suffocating. Sweat formed instantly, armor heated against skin, and the crowd started panicking again, wondering what calamity had appeared this time.

Then the screams came.

Multiple cries of agony erupted at once, sharp and horrifying enough to send chills down everyone's spine despite the rising heat. People turned and saw that those who had attacked the twins were suddenly engulfed in raging flames that had appeared out of nowhere. The fire wrapped around their bodies and clung to them like something alive, following them no matter where they ran.

A few water elemental cultivators reacted immediately, surrounding themselves with layers of flowing water in an attempt to extinguish the flames. But the fire did not go out. It continued burning within the water itself. Steam exploded outward, and instead of being burned to ashes, they were boiled alive inside their own defenses. Their struggles lasted only moments before their bodies collapsed.

More than a dozen people died in the span of several breaths.

The crowd became terrified. With the temperature still rising, they thought they would be killed like them too.

"Who else wants to die? Come out and try attacking my family again. I will make sure you suffer the same fate."

A woman in black and white outfit spoke as she walked toward Barbara. Her tone seemed calm, but it was obvious it carried intense fury.

"It is Madam Anda! She is the one who caused this intense heat! She can use Fire Concept! Unbelievable! Those guys were killed by her terrifying fire!" The crowd realized what had happened.

"What? Isn't she an alchemist?"

"How can she be this strong?"

"What they did just now seemed to have angered her. This is bad!"

"Madam Anda, please stop. We are not like them. They deserved death for attacking your people. Ahh... It is too hot!" They begged.

Even though they could have fled farther away, no one dared to run. If she interpreted it as hostility, they might end up like the others. Anda was clearly furious, and no one knew how far she would go.

Princess Waniwani, Pink Enchantress Rose, and a few other ladies tried to calm Anda, but it did not seem to work. The temperature kept rising.

"Oh shit. Anda is angry. I need to calm her." Leyvi let go of Prince Ozan and burst toward Anda as fast as possible.

The portal was gone. There was no need to restrain Prince Ozan anymore. He was worried Anda might not be able to calm herself and ended up suffocating everyone in extreme heat.

"Another powerful individual." Prince Ozan muttered as his focus shifted to Anda.

The next moment, Prince Ozan turned toward Dastan.

"Oi, Dastan Fin Howler. Can you let me go now? The portal is already gone."

"Tch. You don't have to keep using this prince's full name. It's annoying," Dastan replied, irritation clear in his voice as he dispelled the thick Qi ropes binding Prince Ozan.

The restraints dissolved into scattered light.

Dastan looked toward the empty space where the portal had once stood, disbelief still lingering in his eyes.

"Just what the hell is going on here? How did the portal disappear?" he muttered. The portal had been stable moments ago. There were no warning signs. No fluctuations. What were they supposed to do now?

No one had an answer.

---

Meanwhile.

Prince Charles' camp.

"Hehehe. Everyone, didn't I tell you we're going home? I always mean my words, you know."

Prince Charles giggled, hands clasped behind his back as he rocked slightly on his heels.

In front of him, his royal guards stood in complete silence.

A portal shimmered in the distance. It had appeared out of nowhere.

From their perspective, all they saw was their prince activating that strange eye spirit artifact, quietly observing what was happening inside the city. He had extended both hands forward for quite some time, fingers moving slightly as if grasping something invisible.

Then, when he finally pulled his hands back—

Space folded.

And the portal came into existence before them.

"Your… Your Highness…" Captain Logan swallowed and pointed toward the direction of the city. "Is this portal…?"

"Hihi. That's right!" Prince Charles clapped happily. "I stole it from them. They were lining up so obediently, waiting for their turn, and then poof! It vanished. You should've seen their faces. So shocked. So confused. Hahaha!"

His laughter echoed lightly across the camp, bright and carefree.

The royal guards exchanged glances.

What kind of ability could relocate a stabilized portal across such a distance without destroying it?

Who exactly was the person they were serving?

Prince Charles turned toward the portal with sparkling eyes.

"Well then," he said cheerfully, "shall we go home first?"