(A/N: GUYS, THIS IS Chapter 42! READ THIS AFTER 41)

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The next day, bidding an already terrified and anxious Dresh goodbye. The trio set out on their journey to the west.

Crossing the borders wasn’t easy; it was incredibly difficult due to racial confrontations and strong beasts.

The territorial borders of the south went smoothly on Emperal’s side due to the sole existence of the Elves and Dragons. But the eastern borders were not such a peaceful place.

Walking through the forests, Emperal’s eyes shone as he looked ahead.

"So you are saying, the Monarch of the great Empire we are going to...is accompanying some random girl?"

Emperal spoke inwardly, although his expression was flat. He was sweating bullets inwardly, looking at the smiling woman walking beside him...

"Ah, aren’t I royally fucked?"

"You are, Kekeke. Also, I suggest you do not talk about intimate topics in front of this woman. She seems to have, uh, something loose in her head."

"Thanks for the heads-up, Infernal Dragon. I will try not to get raped."

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Calder smiling ear to ear beside him, occasionally gesturing through his eyes at him. Which further made Emperal’s face ugly.

"Great, just the company of my dreams."

They walked further, and gradually the changes became visible. When they were in the southern border regions, due to the influence of the Aelvorn, the climate had become cooler.

But as they travelled further and further away, Draventhar’s heat gradually resurfaced.

The trio walked on the forest floor, covered by trees and rich soil. They encountered many beasts, but were swiftly dealt with thanks to Emperal and Vara.

But just as they were walking, Emperal and Vara suddenly halted, surprising Calder. Even Vara looked at Emperal in surprise.

"There is a group of cultivators ahead."

Vara smiled when she heard this, and couldn’t help but think about his sensitivity to Verth.

The cultivation group, of course, came from the east. They had a certain heat around them that marked them as flame cultivators.

"Oh?"

Emperal raised his brows when he saw that two of the five had Leopard-blood in them, the spot patterns on their forearms shone when they walked forward.

The other three had Firebird blood running through them, a sub-class of the Royal Phoenix bloodline. They had layered copper hair with overlapping sections.

They suddenly slowed down when they saw Emperal’s group.

Their leader, a Firebird blood, pushed his copper hair back from his face, his eyes landed on Emperal with amusement flickering inside them.

"Oh? What do we have here?"

He spoke, his words bringing the attention of the rest of the men. But the moment they looked at Vara, their eyes gleamed brightly with lust.

"Hehe, Leader, their cultivation is trash, and by the looks of it, even his bloodline doesn’t seem all that great. Shall we have a taste of that woman before we pass her to you?"

One of the Leopard-bloods spoke, his voice laced with blatant lust.

Hearing his words, all of them started laughing. Which was nasty and unserious.

Calder frowned when he heard those words; his expression turned serious when he saw that each of them was a Stage Three Wielder. Their cultivation was significantly higher, much higher than theirs.

Emperal’s face drained of colour when he heard this. No, he was not worried about their strength or numbers. What he was worried about was...their words.

"These fuckers, I should handle them before these fuckers say anything else weird."

Just as he prepared to move, he froze. Looking beside him, he saw a smiling Vara raise her finger slightly.

Whoooooshsh!!

In an instant, their laughing stopped abruptly. The Leopard-blood who had spoken earlier felt a chill down his spine.

Before he could think of anything else, unimaginable pain ripped through his body. His eyes bulged.

"ARGHHHHH!!!!!"

He screamed in horror as his body was elevated into the air; the rest watched this with wide eyes.

The Verth around him simply refused to acknowledge his existence.

His arms and other limbs slowly began to turn and twist...slowly.

"T-This!! Argh!! It hurts!!!!"

He screamed in agony as tears started to appear in his eyes and limbs; they were being twisted violently without mercy.

Seeing this, Emperal didn’t waste a single second. Gathering Verth in his leg, he dashed towards their leader, who was still surprised.

But his expression changed when he saw the incoming man, "How dare a trash dare confront me with a fist!?"

He shouted, gathering immense Verth in his arms. Alongside the fire running through his veins. He raised his hand at the incoming Emperal, who tightened his fist.

"This man is strong, I have to use Kra—!!!!?"

Before he could complete his sentence, he saw a stunning scene,

The Firebird-blooded, instead of striking towards him, struck the ground below!!

BOOOM!!!!

An immense explosion burst, its monstrous shockwave pushed even Emperal back.

"What the heck is he doing?"

Emperal frowned when he saw the man’s actions. Looking behind, he saw even Vara had a surprised face and an amused expression.

"LEADER!?"

Even his men were surprised when they saw the sudden explosion from their leader, but the shockwave wasn’t too much, so they hurriedly backed away.

When the smoke cleared, the mighty Firebird-blooded who had caused such a massive explosion was nowhere to be seen.

"HUH? T-That bastard ran away?"

Calder spoke in an incredulous tone. He couldn’t believe what just happened. The bastard who was so smug earlier had escaped.

Emperal sighed in relief when he saw this, although he was sure Vara would handle it, because the man was way too strong for him, but still. He didn’t expect him to run away so cowardly.

"Damn, since when did the thugs become so smart?"

He muttered, looking above at the man who had spoken, who was still being twisted painfully slowly. His voice was gone; what remained were just some incorrigible gurgles.

"Vara"

Emperal spoke, his voice hard.

His voice snapped her back; she tilted her head.

"End this, we still have a long way to go."

Emperal said, his voice wasn’t meek or weak. It was just enough to hold back a raging and twisted woman.