63 Dropping The Mask

'Negative Karma?'

Darkscale didn't understand completely what Devassa was saying, but from what he had gathered she has found out something wrong with Carelia.

His gaze remained fixed on the violet snake, while his silver energy gathered into a small energy probe that helped him surveil the flying MAID. He never trusted her after the strange behavior that she had during the battle of the Blood Woods and definitely, he wouldn't start trusting her right now.

The violet serpent, seeing that her move didn't push Darkscale to attack, was a little confused. She thought that the Forest Will Tribe people were trying to put her and her companion out of the people that would share the benefits of opening the tomb. Now that she had called their bluff they should react with violence. Why weren't they doing just that?

"If you are thinking of other ways to try to sell your lie, just stop it." she said, looking at the green haired girl. It was true, the flying figure was really similar to a simple energy avatar. If it wasn't for the secret technique that she cultivated that allowed her to sense Karma, she wouldn't even have realized that this Carelia was truly a living being. She was someone with a conscience and a past, a past full of evil deeds, judging by the quantity of Dark Karma that Devassa saw in her body.

Star Leaf, crossing her arms before her chest looked at the two other female cultivators with a severe expression. The smile and happy look on her face had been completely washed away by the violent reaction of the violet snake. "I don't understand what are you saying friend Devassa."

While she was using friendly words, her tone was harsh and was more akin to that of a teacher scolding a pupil than a friend talking with a close companion.

She moved next to Darkscale, pointing at the small snake with her open right hand and to the MAID with the other. "I don't understand anything about this Karma thing of yours, but Carelia is nothing more than a treasure in this couple's possession"

The violet snake was more surprised that the two creature before her was still trying to talk and didn't return to violence. They were three versus one, and the one that was flying seemed to be quite powerful. How else was she able to manipulate energy to take human form? "Treasure? Maybe. But that's not an Artificial-"

Devassa was interrupted another time, this time however from the flying woman. The hovering figure didn't lose her gentle and calm expression while she looked at the violet serpent on the surface of the little boat. "Interesting. You can see Karma? That's not some common technique... you should be from some powerful sect, aren't you?"

Her perlaceous hand moved under her chin, as her fingers gently tapped on her red lips. "Let me think... Jiva Clan? No, too far... Earth Demons Principate? No, you don't look like an Elemental, and you are definitely not a demon..."

The figure flashed from her position, appearing right in front of the violet snake with astounding speed. She seemed lost in her thoughts, trying to determine the origin of Devassa.

The violet snake tried to move but an incredible amount of energy pressed down on her, blocking her every move. This wasn't the first time Devassa felt this sensation of impotence, she was truly from a big sect and she had come in contact with countless powerful cultivators. However, when in precedence she felt incapable of moving it was before powerful seniors, not in front of someone that looked so fragile.

Not even her defensive technique, a very powerful mantra that used negative energy to protect a location, seemed able to stop that woman.

If before Devassa was thinking that she was hiding to find the perfect moment to attack, now she clearly understood that there was something else going on here. This woman wasn't someone that needed to hide to subdue the likes of her. A boot didn't need to surprise attack an ant to kill it.

After a few seconds of standing there with a vacant look in her face, Carelia gave a large sniff to the immobile serpent next to her. A single whisp of the grey fog that surrounded the area entred inside her nostrils, vanishing inside her.

Her expression changed, she smiled and then laughed. She seemed very amused by whatever she had discovered. "Oh, look at that... Buddhist Way, that's why you're such a sanctimonious little prick... no way... hahahah, you have the same aura of that blue creep from before."

Devassa's body shook when she heard the words spoken by the strange flying individual. She tried to use her energy to push away the pressure that was crushing down on her, but she couldn't manage to do anything. Her own energy didn't respond to her callings, refusing to move from inside her body.

"Who are you?"

The question that echoed around the silent and foggy Yellow Lake, didn't come from Devassa. Even if she was thinking it, she wasn't in the condition to speak. No, the question came from a calm and poised black snake, sitting without revealing any emotion next to an incredibly beautiful young human.

"Young Master Darkscale... did you hit your head? I'm Carelia, obviously" answered the woman, leaving the side of the violet snake and starting to float again in the sky.

The snake seemed to suddenly understand, nodding with conviction his little triangular face. Inside his mouth, the white fog had already become a concentrated little white marble. "Oh, right... then.."

His tone changed abruptly, becoming harsh and cold. "what". After a moment of pause, he continued, more gently. "...are you?"

A strange silence formed between the people in the little boat. Winter Leaf and Devassa were starting to understand that maybe things were a little more complex than what they had thought they would be.

Finally, the woman smiled and answered while giving a big thumb up to Darkscale. "Oh, that's more like it. You are growing so fast..."

"Are you a MAID?" insisted Darkscale, his silver energy starting to move around his body with a wild fury that didn't go well with his calm demeanor.

"Why? I wasn't a good helper?" laughed the flying woman, sidestepping the question. "Here, let me help you again" She then made large moves with her right hand and the red screen behind her started to open. The red energy rushed towards her figure, like bees coming back to their hive. Her body trembled in pleasure, while the red wave penetrated inside of her.

Darkscale calm expression couldn't be maintained before such absurd image: the incredibly difficult array not only was being open, it was being absorbed! He could also feel that there was some kind of resonance between Carelia and the energy of the screen.

The strange thing was that this resonance was way stronger than the one that he himself felt with the screen and bones! What was the meaning of all that?

Once the red screen had completely disappeared inside Carelia, in front of the people in the blue boat appeared a large entrance with a single door. It didn't look like a tomb. It looked like a temple of some kind built with large white pieces of stone.

The face of the building was decored with countless pillars that looked like statues: they all depicted a tall masqued figure, wearing a long mantle that made it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman. In his right hand he had a scythe and in the left a strange symbol.

Inside that structure, Darkscale started to feel the calling of something that made his cultivation base throb. It was like if he could see concentrated energy, hidden deep inside the tomb. Moreover, there was also this strong feeling of resonance, of familiarity that made him want to stop caring about this situation with Carelia and immediately start moving towards the depth of the temple.

This lasted only for a few seconds, before the strong self-control of the serpent emerged and stopped him from doing so. He still felt the attraction, but he was in control of his own body.

"No way. The Seventh?" this time it was Carelia's time to be completely dumbfounded. Her eyes were glued to the symbol on the left hand of the statues. Her face, showed an incredible amount of surprise, that then became excitement. Suddenly, her body shined with silver light, darting away towards a certain direction.

"AAAHHHHH"