Unexpected Encounter

Sheila arrived at the palace, seeking permission from the Queen to take a brief break outside in search of fresh air to clear her mind. She hurried to the backyard where the man was already waiting, a stranger who promised to rescue her younger sibling from Vulture.

There he was, sitting relaxed on a garden bench, observing the flying ships temporarily heading in their direction. "Took you long enough. I told you I could get you here quickly," he remarked.

"Stop the small talk. Where is my brother?" Sheila demanded.

The black-haired man stood up, took a few steps forward, and then turned to face Sheila. "Alright, alright. You women are never patient," he said, snapping his fingers to create a purple-colored portal beside him.

He reached into it with his right hand and pulled out a figure of a teenager with bright brown hair. He tossed the young man forward, a grin adorning his face.

"Cleo!" Sheila called out, rushing forward to check on her younger sibling's condition.

"What's the need to throw him like that?!"

"Did I ever say I'd handle him gently? You should be grateful I didn't break any of his limbs or take his soul," replied the man in front, seemingly enjoying the current situation.

Sheila sighed in frustration, knowing she couldn't do anything in the presence of someone like him. Instead of making him submit, she might end up losing her own limbs.

"It's done, right? Now you and your two siblings can leave this place safely," he said, turning his back, ready to leave.

"So, you're the one who always tortures Zent."

He stopped in his tracks.

He fell silent for a moment, then turned back to face Sheila. His eyes were no longer cheerful but piercing and intense, "How did you know that?" he growled, clenching both hands.

Now it was Sheila's turn to smile, "Why? Are you afraid of me?"

Suddenly, he appeared before Sheila, intending to grab her neck, but his right hand was immobilized by a brown-golden aura that seemed to hold it in place.

"Do you think I'm doing this just because you can exploit me?" She laughed. "What if it turns out that I'm the one luring you out of hiding? Because you're someone like that, aren't you? You can only stay behind, watching everything from there without being able to do anything."

Sheila approached and whispered, "Because you're someone like that, Ezreal."

The restraint on his hand was released, causing the man to stagger backward with a furious expression. It was something Sheila was sure he didn't expect to experience again. In this fresh beginning for him.

"Who are you?" Ezreal asked.

A dark aura started to swirl behind him.

However, Sheila's smile grew wider as she saw it. "Why? Aren't you only interested in Zent?"

"Stop messing with me!"

"You think I'm messing with you?"

Ezreal charged forward, enveloping both hands with a dark aura, intending to kill the figure in front of him. However, the figure effortlessly pushed him back with a swing of their hand. Ezreal gritted his teeth, not expecting to encounter someone nearly as strong. After all, he was capable of destroying this world if he wanted to.

"Can you do anything other than constantly retreating? Are you that afraid of me?"

But then, Ezreal sighed, returning to his original posture with a smile adorning his face. It was a smile that felt so cold, so piercing. "You're quite impressive. I never thought I'd encounter an Immortal here. Are your fellow Immortals also watching?"

His grin widened.

Suddenly, the backyard was covered by a black barrier with a purple aura, forming a box that trapped them inside. His hands extended as his body slowly floated in the air.

Purple auras started entering his body, granting him the power to create a large and intricately patterned circle.

"How about we give them a little show?" he suggested.

Ezreal pulled his right hand back, shouting,

"Die!"

He thrust his hand forward, pushing the powerful large circle towards Sheila.

Sheila looked at her unconscious sibling, gently laying them down after creating a pillow from a transparent brown-golden aura. She then approached the large circle in front of her.

She could feel how frightening Ezreal's power was, and it was only a small fraction of his original strength. Now, Sheila understood why the other Immortals kept warning her to be careful of the figure before her.

Because Ezreal had already reached Prime Immortal.

But there was one thing they didn't know.

Sheila was one too.

She brought her palms together, slowly separating them with her fingers forming a triangular pattern, creating a small, transparent pyramid in bright orange color.

She gazed at the circle that had come so close and blew towards the pyramid.

As they met, a powerful collision occurred, shaking the area in the northern part of the continent. Many believed there was a massive earthquake and feared a terrible disaster due to the frightening vibrations generated.

Their auras pushed against each other, both wanting to destroy the other, proving who was the strongest.

Eventually, cracks started appearing in Ezreal's circle.

Ezreal's eyes widened, not expecting to see himself defeated. He looked at the approaching pyramid, getting faster and faster until it finally struck his body.

At first, Ezreal felt nothing, but as the pyramid expanded and trapped him inside, he realized what the woman in front of him had done.

Laughter escaped him. He never expected to encounter someone as insane as him.

"Do you know you've put your life in danger?" he said while observing the prison he was trapped in.

Blood came out as Sheila coughed. She wiped the corner of her mouth with a victorious grin. "Do I look like I care? As long as I can keep you away, Zent will be safe. He can gather his strength and do what he wants without your presence interfering."

Ezreal nodded in understanding, rolled up his sleeves, and gazed at Sheila. "But he hates you now. You've betrayed him. He won't forgive you."

"I didn't do this to be forgiven. I did it for everyone in this world and the next. You are a pest that disrupts our peace."

"Let's see how long you can survive without me. Don't regret it once 'they' start moving," Ezreal replied.

The pyramid vanished, taking Ezreal with it.

As the barrier also disappeared, Sheila finally let out a relieved breath.

But a few seconds later, blood came out again as she coughed.

She looked at her right palm, observing the thick red liquid, and then glanced at the night sky. "I hope I did the right thing. Now, it all depends on you, Zent. Only you can save us. Don't let yourself be consumed by darkness, for you will only suffer within it."

Sheila turned around, lifting her younger brother's body, whom she would take back to the mansion, far from the Queen's reach, as the Queen knew her brother was kidnapped by Vulture.

It need some time before Cleo could show himself. Besides, he would be much safer inside than in the palace, which was about to descend into chaos.

She continued to walk without hesitation, even when her feet no longer touched the ground, but the air. Sheila kept moving as if walking in the air was a normal thing.

If she hadn't used so much power to send Ezreal to another world, she would have created a portal to reach her destination faster. Who would have thought that he was already at the peak of Prime Immortal. A level Sheila could never achieve even with a lifetime of training.

So far, she only knew of two people who came close to reaching that level, just one step away from attaining it themselves.

She wondered where they had gone, as they hadn't shown themselves in the Immortal world for a long time. Everyone assumed they had burnt their soul out by trying too hard.

However, Sheila believed they were still here. They couldn't have died so easily. They were too powerful to perish foolishly.

.

.

Ezreal arrived in the middle of a desert with the pyramid still trapping him inside.

After surveying the surroundings, he chose to sit silently in the middle, aware that he could never remove the pyramid unless someone came to kill Sheila. This pyramid was created using her soul, which was the most potent power of a living being.

Of course, it came with a hefty price.

If she died, the pyramid would vanish. Or if the pyramid was destroyed, she would die.

There were only two paths for Ezreal if he wanted to be free.

The first way was to self-destruct and forcefully merging soul fragments.

The second, to wait silently until the woman died.

He sighed, choosing to lie down and rest. It had been a long time since he last enjoyed a relaxing moment like this. Sometimes, he needed relaxation too.

"Just you wait, it won't take long until I manage to get out of here even without intervening," he declared confidently.