Chapter 32: The End (And a New Beginning)

In an unknown corridor in the Pool of Damnation

"Haha, Evil cur, let us see where you will run off to now," Ashin laughed heartily as he slapped the face of a man.

Currently, Number One tied down with radiant cuffs to a pillar in the corridor as the other three humans stood around him. His hood had been taken off and he looked just like a middle-aged man of around forty years of age.

"Puh, once my Master is done, even the entire plane won't be enough for you to run away from our Lord," sneered Number One as he spat on Ashin's face.

"Why you!"

*Slap* *Slap*

Number One's face had turned red due to the continuous slapping, but he still kept his sneer as he stared into the eyes of Ashin.

In reality, the party of humans could only find Number One. Once Reed had entered the Pool of Damnation, Asin could no longer find him. Due to this, they could only try to question Number One for the whereabouts of his master.

"Why don't you tell us where that other monk ran off to? This way, we can promise you that you can leave this place alive as long as you shatter your cultivation. Otherwise, the only way out for you is death," Finally, Ashin gave him a way out as he was tired of this bullshit.

"Ah, will you really let me go if I reveal the location of my Master?" Number One said in a skeptical.

"Of course, now lead the way..."

*Slash* *Thud*

Suddenly Asin's sword struck Number One, beheading him instantly. The body, having lost its head, crumbled down as blood kept spraying out like a fountain.

"What are you doing! He was about to show us the way to his Master!!! How the hell are you going to find him now?" Ashin was initially dumbfounded but roared out an instant later.

"Do you really think that he would have led him to his Master? And what if he would have led us into a trap?" Asin asked calmly as he placed his sword back.

"This... He may have!! How do you know? But anyway, I will let this one slide." Ashin suddenly realized his folly, but his ego kept him from admitting it.

Asin rolled his eyes as he could not bother about this little kid in an old man's body.

"What should we do now, Uncle Asin? We still need to find Jane. Oh yeah, what about Jane's Life Crystal, Uncle Ashin?" Janet asked.

"Ah, let me see... Look! It has somewhat regained its luster!!" Ashin replied joyfully.

"Wow, let me see." Janet immediately took the crystal into her hands. The Crystal did seem to have regained some of its luster back.

"Yay, it looks like we can still save her.... wait... what is happening?!"

Suddenly, the Crystal started losing luster rapidly. The faint glow kept growing dimmer and dimmer until it completely snuffed out.

"Look Uncle!!, The glow has completely gone away... ah!!"

*Crack*

Suddenly, the Life Crystal shattered into an infinite number of pieces, scattering itself all over the floor.

"Noooooo" Janet let out a heartbreaking cry as she saw the Life Crystal shatter right in her hands.

"Uncle, Jane is...*hick* Jane is... waaaaa"

Words failed Janet as she started to cry loudly as she saw all the fallen pieces of the Life Crystal. After all, her only sister, whom she had sworn to take care of forever once she got stronger, was no more...

"Sigh, Collect all the pieces that you can and put them inside this box," Asin replied dejectedly. After all, he too had a close connection with both Jane and Janet. What a pity...

Janet did as she was told, and once the pieces were put inside the box, the outer surface started glowing. Soon, some words appeared on top of the box.

"Look, these are the coordinates where Jane died. We just need to enter this on the Scouting Scroll and we can find the direction to the location where Jane died," Asin said as he took out a scroll from his storage pouch and wrote those words.

"Look, uncle, it is showing an arrow. Let's go immediately!!"

"Janet, I will be heading over to investigate what happened. You and Ashin are not coming. Ashin will be taking you back to the empire."

"What?!! How can I not come? Jane way my sister..." Janet tried to protest but was immediately cut off.

"Silence. Do you even realize the situation? We have no idea about what that other monk might be doing right now. What if Nyler is unable to stop the Evil Lord? We need to get the Empire to prepare themselves for what could come."

"Further, there is no way that I can allow anything to happen to you. I gave my word as a saint to the emperor that I would do whatever I can to keep you safe."

"Also, do you think I don't feel sad for Jane? She, just like you, was my own daughter."

"I will definitely make that vile mongrel experience the cruelest death. But now, you need to leave,"

"But Uncle..."

Before she could protest again, Asin snapped his fingers and slowly started dissolving into thin air.

"I will leave the rest to you, Ashin. Do what you should do..." Asin told Ashin as he disappeared.

Ashin, feeling the conviction in Asin's words, could only shake his head regretfully.

"Let's go, Janet..."

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An Unknown Place...

*Sob Sob*

'A girl crying?'

*Sob Sob*

"Who is there? Why are you crying?"

Suddenly, the back of a girl who was standing at a small distance became visible. She seemed to be crying inconsolably.

*Sob Sob*

"Ahh, it really hurts me when I hear you cry. Why don't you tell me what happened? I promise that I will do anything that can make things right; but please don't cry..."

Slowly, the girl turned around. She seemed to have stopped crying the moment turned around, as if she had found something very precious to her. Soon, a very small smile started to bloom on her face.

"See, you look so beautiful when you don't cry. Come on, don't be shy, smile some more."

But then, something inexplicable happened. As the smile on the face kept growing wider, the atmosphere kept getting heavier and heavier.

And why did this smile feel like it was anything but a smile?

"What is wrong with you? Why do I feel even sadder when I see your smile. You know what, forget it. Here, take my hand. Come with me. You can tell me anything later.."

Upon hearing these words, the girl raises her hand, but somehow freezes mid-air at the last second.

"What happ... eh?!"

Slowly, the hand of the girl starts to turn into millions of spirit particles, as if she were disintegrating from the world.

"What is going on? Where are you disappearing?"

The girl seemed to be mumbling something, but it cannot be heard. Slowly, the entire body of the girl gets disintegrated... as if her entire existence was something that was never supposed to be.

"Ahhhh, why does my heart hurt so much? Stop... Please stop... Don't disappear..."

'Noooo... She... She is... GONE?'

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

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The Pool of Damnation

'Pesky bitch, not knowing her place. Who did she think she was?'

'Ah, forget it, I have more important things to worry about' Reed thought as he turned his attention towards Jason.

But just as he reached Jason's body, he felt a very peculiar feeling.

'Huh, What is happening?'

Suddenly, he realized that it was Jason's body that was glowing with a very faint light, which seemed to be growing brighter with every passing second.

'What is this now?' Reed thought, but just as he was about to touch Jason's body, his hands stopped abruptly.

'Eh... Ahhhh'

Reed was dumbfounded for a second, but in an instant that feeling turned to horror.

Pressure.

Unimaginable pressure started to suppress Reed from all directions. The pressure was so intense that Reed was unable to move any part of his body.

He could literally feel his bones starting to creak under this oppressive force that came crushing down him.

The only part of his body which he could somewhat use were his eyes, and the next thing which he saw made him even more horrified.

Jason slowly got up from the ground. Currently, he was completely covered with a layer of white glow which seemed to be intensifying every second.

Suddenly, Jason sharply opened his eyes. Unlike a human, he no longer had and an eyeball or sclera. Instead, it seemed as if they had been replaced with two glowing balls of energy.

Jason slowly walked over to Jane's corpse and bent down over it. He caressed her face as he kept on looking at the last smile that was still present on her face.

The very smile which he had seen a moment ago...

He slowly stood up after a minute of caressing Jane's beautiful face, as he turned towards the still frozen Reed; his eyes glowing ever more fiercely with hatred.

"What... what are you?!" Reed, who had somehow gotten accustomed to the pressure a little bit, slowly stammered.

But unfortunately, the only thing he could do was move his mouth. The rest of his body still wouldn't listen to him.

"Your Worst Nightmare..." Jason said in a low ethereal voice as he instantly disappeared from his location.

*Bang*

Reed received a punch straight to his stomach that sent him flying out into the sky instantly

*Bone Reinforcement*

Reed's guts cried out in intense pain, but he still tried to cast a technique mid-air to minimize the damage.

But just as he was about to release his technique, suddenly Jason appeared right next to him.

*Wham*

An elbow hit Reed in the chest, causing him to instantly crash onto the ground.

Reed could feel extreme pain throughout his body. At this point, all the bones in his upper body were broken, and he could only lie on the floor trying to endure the pain.

But not for much longer...

Soon, Reed felt a hand tighten itself onto his neck as he slowly got lifted into the air.

"You... Even if you have somehow channeled all the Soul Energy from your Middle Dantian into your body, you do know that you will still die soon due to all your energy channels exploding?"

Reed was barely able to speak, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to harm Jason in any way regardless of what he does. So, for the lack of anything better to say, he tried to intimidate Jason by reminding him of his own impending doom.

"Haha, with you releasing this soul energy, I am sure that the Skull Lord would have absorbed quite a lot as well. This way, even when you die, he would be able to survive. This plane is bound to fall in his hands."

"And also, there is no way that you can truly kill me. I shall always be back no matter what you do. So in the end, everything that you do will be all for naught. Hahaha." Reed started laughing manically even though he was in extreme pain.

"Oh, about that skull clown, just wait for a second..."

Hearing Reed's words, Jason immediately released Reed as he vanished from the room.

Reed was puzzled. But within a fraction of a second, Jason's voice rang in his ears once again.

"I am back. Look here, this is your Skull Lord's heart..." Jason said as he tossed out a plum-colored twitching organ onto Reed's face.

"What, how can this be..."

"And also, about killing you, maybe you will realize the situation you are in after you see this..." Jason said as he slowly took out the tanto knife.

The moment Reed saw the knife, his eyes completely widened in shock.

"How... How do you have that? Ah..."

Suddenly, Reed realized.

"Why... Number One..."

"It is a pity that due to time limitations, I would not be able to take care of the other one. Sigh, guess someone will just have to deal with him later. But as far as you are concerned, this is it for you..."

"No.. don't come closer..."

*Blurg*

The tanto knife swiftly penetrated into Reed's heart, causing blood to gush out like a fountain. As Jason withdrew the knife, Reed's body slumped onto the ground, his eyes still unable to process the sudden turn of events.

Soon, a tiny insect came crawling out of the heart, trying its best to walk away.

But after walking for about ten centimeters, it fell down on its back, struggling to move.

Eventually, the insect stopped its struggle, never to move again.

If that particular tanto knife wouldn't have been used, the insect would have been completely undetectable and invulnerable, allowing Reed to escape easily. But unfortunately, that was not meant to be.

As Reed finally died forever, Jason could feel his own body boiling and sense his impending death. He slowly removed the ring on Reed's hand as he spoke to himself,

"I am almost out of time. I just wish that my Jane can live on... I don't think the people here will be able to save her based on what is left of her... I have to gamble..."

Jason immediately started extending his Soul Energy towards the ring.

But immediately after, Jason's body started becoming brighter and brighter as his energy channels were finally unable to contain his Soul Energy and started crumbling.

"Nooo, I need more time..."

"Come on... come on..."

"Please.."

But reality was cruel. Soon, intense Soul Energy started to burst out from every single energy channel in his body.

*Boom*

Finally, Jason's body, not being able to take more, exploded to smithereens.