Is That A Wisp?

Far from where the fight was happening, one could see a group of 10 people, all of them injured. Their injuries were at varying degrees of severity. Some only had surface wounds, while some had severe ones. But what was the same for all of them was that none of them were in a near-death state.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? It seems we've come across a group of fat and juicy pigs from the Spirit Awakener Guild." Standing before them was a handsome man with a majestic bearing, each of his actions containing the regal grace of a king. In contrast, the words he uttered were anything but such. 

He wore a crown on his head that emanated a suffocating feeling. He arrived before a kneeling man, picking up his storage ring as he began to go through the things inside it. The defensive formation inside the ring was instantly broken by the man. Even the same went for the equipment spirit that was ordered to erase all sensitive data and items when worse came to worst.

Unfortunately, before it could do so, the man paralyzed it and did something that made it swear loyalty to him immediately. He then smirked at the ten injured people that stared at him with expressions of shock. Their expressions were as if they were struck by lightning. 

Seeing their gazes, the man laughed. "The Spirit Awakeners of the Zamuria Continent are pretty backward. You've left your equipment spirits so defenseless."

"Master, they are indeed pretty stupid." The storage ring's equipment spirit fawned over the man with the crown, saying not long after, "Let me tell you everything they were up to, Master."

"You…" The storage ring's previous owner stared at it in anger. Though, he was unable to do anything since he was tied up. The rope that was binding him was a piece of Nine Stars God Foundation equipment. So, it wasn't something people at their current cultivation level could damage easily. 

As they were bound, their methods were restricted to a certain extent. On top of that, they were also constantly watched by more than twenty beings? Adding on to that, the chances of them pulling one over their enemies in an injured state was pretty much next to nothing since they hadn't even accomplished anything when they were at their peak condition.

"Who…are you people?" The leader of the ten people spoke through gritted teeth, finally accepting what had just happened.

The man with a crown didn't say anything, silently looking at the ring spirit, smiling when it talked. "Master, these people are guards of the Spirit Awakener Guild. They're currently tasked with the protection of a certain individual the guild has placed considerable attention on."

"Hoh?" The man with a crown smiled in interest. He looked at the ring spirit before saying, "Continue."

"So, Master," the ring spirit fawned. "He's someone who has a one percent success rate at awakening the equipment spirits. Other than that, after being indoors for a long time, he decided to venture out to gain some experience. The Spirit Awakener Guild has dispatched them to tail after him and protect him in secret."

"How interesting," the man with a crown said before picking up another storage ring. This time, he picked up the ring from the leader of the group. The moment he picked it up, formless energy entered it, shattering its formation while modifying something within in a mystical fashion. In the next moment, its ring spirit had also appeared and bowed in front of the man, saying, "Please allow me to continue the rest, Master."

"Oh, sure." The man nodded in response, amused by the entire situation.

"His name is Krune. As for his demon beast identity, it's unknown. All we know is the fact that he uses a strange law called the Calamity Laws to awaken Artifact Spirits. Not to mention, among those in the Spirit Awakener Guild in Zamuria Continent, his speed is the fastest for his cultivation base."

"Alright, you may return now," the man with the crown said as he waved his hand, watching the two ring spirits retreat into their storage rings. The storage rings then flew into his pouch before dropping with a clinking sound. With that, it was apparent he had hundreds of them in it.

The man with the golden crown then smiled before taking away all the equipment the team had. He stored the ones with equipment spirits while discarding the rest. "The cultivators from the Spirit Awakener Guild are always loaded. I knew this trip to Zamuria Continent would be rewarding."

For a moment, he behaved like a kid that got his favorite toy from a store for free. He then gazed at the team in front of him as he asked them, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"You'll definitely regret going against the Spirit Awakener Guild," the leader spat out, only for his mouth to be gagged. 

"Alright, I've heard enough," the man with a crown said in response with a smile, giving a gentle push to the leader before watching him fall over the rock pillar's edge and fall to the bottom. He then kicked the remaining nine members down the rock pillars as well, turning around after hearing a faint plop from each of them.

The man with the crown held a device in his hand, sensing something through it before letting out a light chuckle. "So, they had one more person guarding him from up close. What's his name?"

"Yulian, Master."

"Right, we'll deal with him next." He laughed. "Krune, such an interesting person. He'll be a nice…companion. Right, fellas?"

"Yes!" The collective voice of hundreds resounded from his pouch as the man descended the rock pillar.

Seated within the carriage was Yulian, present in a battle-ready position as he gazed at Krune, ready to reinforce him. Though, he didn't get a chance to do because of Krune's acting. He and the Silver-Winged Mouse couple made a compatible trio to the point that their actions made the bandits avoid them altogether for some time. 

'Not only is he strong, but he's also able to act accordingly to the situation. His survival strategies are impressive,' Yulian thought to himself, keeping an eye on Krune, only for him to sense something amiss.

He quickly picked up the device used to contact the people tailing them from the Spirit Awakener Guild, failing to get any response. He then switched over to a second device, obtaining the same result once again.

He repeated it with the third and the final device, noticing how all of them failed to connect to the other party. Even though they didn't display it openly, the Spirit Awakener Guild placed great importance on Krune. 

If it wasn't for that, they wouldn't have agreed to his terms in the first place and give him loose, rewarding conditions. It was all for Krune to reach a higher cultivation base and awaken the spirits of stronger equipment for the guild with his one percent success rate.

After they started to invest resources into nurturing him, if Krune went and died in some random ditch, all their efforts would be wasted. It went without saying that they weren't reassured by just sending a single mercenary to protect him.

After all, despite Yulian being an E Rank mercenary who had achieved it all by himself, he was only at the peak of the God Core Realm. In the grand scheme of things, his strength wasn't enough for them to feel at ease.

That's why they sent four powerful teams to secretly tail Krune and arrive at his rescue when necessary. The leaders of the first three teams were at the peak of the God Core Realm. As for the final team, their team leader was at the First Stage of the Nascent God Realm.

The strength they packed was more than enough to face any situation that Krune might come to face. As someone in the Nascent God Realm himself, Trivar had long sensed their group. But upon realizing that they were meant to protect Krune from harm, he decided to pit them against the group that was pursuing his daughter.

It was a sound plan, though plans couldn't keep up with changes. The appearance of the man with the crown messed it all up. 

"Something happened to them." Yulian shuddered as he muttered, sprinting out of the carriage as he made a beeline towards Krune. 

He then transmitted a message through Divine Sense, "Krune, something's weird is going on. I advise we retreat immediately."

"But I don't know the path," Krune replied, immediately putting a solemn face the moment he saw Yulian rush out. He clearly remembered Yulian's condition. Unless Krune's life was in danger, he wouldn't take action. 

"I know the routes of this region," Yulian responded back. He lived in the Zamuria Empire as well and even reached his level here. Naturally, he had passed by this region before. He didn't know as much as the merchants who ventured here before, but he could at least lead them to the exit.

"Alright, then." Krune nodded as he looked at Vardin and Diana before saying, "It's time to make our escape."

Krune then glanced towards the battlefield, noticing a jawed beast emerge from the swamp eat exactly 10 cultivators at regular intervals. He then noticed the battle between Yuric and Whack, dazed as he noticed that…both were tied.

In fact, Yuric was gradually being pushed back as Whack was gaining the upper hand. Whack's attacks barely did any damage to Yuric. And in the cases where it did damage him, he recovered back to normal like it was nothing.

Though, every time he did that, it seemed like it took a toll on him. On the other hand, Whack seemed like he could continue doing it for a long time, brimming with energy. 

Krune then heard Whack's boastful shout that resounded throughout the battlefield.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't have any cards up my sleeve? I've killed a God Trial Realm cultivator once. You think he didn't possess numerous life-saving treasures or hadn't made enough preparations before entering the Immortal Severance Zone? Do you think I hadn't come across dangerous cultivators that lived just to battle and slaughter bandits?"

"Also..." he roared. "Did you seriously think I did nothing after looting them dry? I've been in the Immortal Severance Zone for 78 years. I've hunted, killed, and looted a nigh uncountable number of cultivators, both strong and weak. On top of that, the number of techniques, abilities, resources, and other things they've carried with them, what do you think I did with those?"

He then struck Yuric with his greatsword, slashing him in half. But this time, Yuric's face was filled with shock, not because Whack damaged him. Up till now, Yuric hadn't sustained any real damage. Unless the laws making up his Land Incarnation were erased and he was slashed into numerous pieces, he wouldn't die.

In fact, he could easily recondense his body using the laws he had terraformed the land with. Such was the might of the Spiritual Incarnation. In actuality, the reason he was shocked because he felt Whack becoming stronger and stronger by the second. It didn't make sense to him. Not only that, but his cultivation also rose slowly. Eventually, it broke through and reached...

Second Stage Godly Fusion!

Whack smiled at Yuric as he said, "You can be arrogant because you possess a Spiritual Incarnation. Had this been in the outside world, I wouldn't have been able to fight you. But, you seem to have forgotten something…."

"The Immortal Severance Zone is an incomplete Spiritual Incarnation of a Primal God. Your laws aren't absolute here."

One thing must be mentioned. Spiritual Incarnations below the Semi-God Realm were called 'Land Incarnations' since they were capable of altering the land itself. Once they went above the Semi-God Realm, they became 'Heavenly Incarnations.' At that level, they would become capable of condensing the laws themselves like... the Immortal Severance Zone!