"I'm asking for the last time!"

Seeing that I wasn't willing to back down, the elder infused his own energy into the voice he spoke with, instantly forcing me to brace myself against the ground. As if his words carried some kind of strange force, I felt as if all my barriers simply failed to provide any protection against it as my flesh and my bones were forced against the ground.

"I don't know what caused you to feel such hatred towards protectors, but if you refuse to calm your ass down, I won't have any other choice than to put you back in your place!"

At least this longer sentence of his was spoken normally, without the oppressive intent that almost made me pass out. Seeing how this elder still didn't force me to fight him but instead was trying to reason with, I realised that there were only two options.

First, he really had the power to defeat me, just that he didn't bother manifesting it so far. This guess would be in line with the fact that he apparently was a grand stage, a cultivator entire two big realms higher than me!

Yet on the other side, if his current showcase of strength was nothing more than a bluff, then I could have a nice shot at destroying one of the men… No. If his power was a bluff, then he wouldn't belong to the ranks of the protectors in the first place!

"Tell me then, if it's protectors job to keep stronger cultivators from the areas filled with weaker ones, how could they fail at their job!"

Just as I was about to give up on my anger, the events of that day resurfaced in my mind.

The moment when that bastard attacked. The moment when Eve's body was pierced. The moment when my world collapsed.

The moment when the sole reason I had for pushing forward with this newly found life of mine, was destroyed.

Crack.

As if something broke, I suddenly could feel the dangerously familiar sensation that I thought I escaped from already. Without even my predator's mindset acting up, I could feel the entropy in my body thickening, quickly causing the ripples of space to appear around me.

Before I could realise, the reaction started with an unknown factor only intensified. From a small ripple to a huge crack all the way to the wound that ran across the entire space of this sub-dimension, I could see how the pattern of the world collapse appeared again.

But with no idea how to replicate the rune that my body previously created, I had no way of creating a safe space that would allow me to escape this place just like I did last time!

"What's with that smirk on your face?"

As the desperate thoughts ran through my head, I couldn't even notice when my lips started acting on their own, reflecting the devious thoughts of mine that I had about turning this place back to how it's supposed to be. Yet what was more important, was how this man in front of me didn't seem to care about the ripples of space that passed right beside him!

"So in short words, you are saying that I should aim for is reaching the breakthrough from the sage realm to become an immortal, travel the entire world to learn all different types of cultivation and then ascend to the divine?"

Seeing how the deterioration of the fabric of this world was growing with every passing second, I decided to play for the time. Recreating every single move that my body made back in the fighting frenzy in the ancestral lands of the Vivaci tribe, I slowly started repeating every single step of that weird dance while pretending to just move around while thinking about the situation.

"That would be for the best."

Seeing how I dropped my guard and finally started to reason with him, the elder visibly relaxed yet still didn't let go of his powers. Just that alone was a testimony that they most likely weren't a bluff! But while it meant that dealing with him would be problematic at the very least, the possible reward for killing him would be insane!

"If that's all, then I have only one last question for you."

With my feet already finished with making the rune, all I had to do was to infuse it with energy to establish the barrier that would protect me from the influence of the void. Yet I wasn't going to just destroy this place for nothing!

"You see, the fact that one of your colleagues' fault cost me the life of my dearest, can't be changed. As such, you owe me at least this one, little satisfaction!"

As the sparks of hate reemerged in my eyes, it didn't take the smartest man to understand the meaning behind my wiggling hand.

"Eh… If that satisfies you…"

Seeing that this was a rather little price for what had happened to me, the elder finally let go of most of his power, keeping just enough of it to make sure he could defend against me were I to go berserk.

With how agreeable and naive this man was, I had to try my utmost to hold myself from laughing out in his face. As only a single meter separated us, I cast a quick glance at the ripples and cracks in space that only I could see, confirming that this entire place was just a few moments away from losing its last bit of integrity and falling apart.

"Here I come!"

Spreading the fingers of my right hand as wide as I could, I took aim…

And slapped the elder's face directly into one of the greatest cracks in space that I could find in his proximity!

"ARGH!"

The moment his skin came into contact with just the minimal amount of void that was seeping into this place, his face almost instantly started dissolving. Before I could even do anything else, his entire body bloated up only to pop and burst like an overfilled balloon!

But while I could rejoice at the increased number of notifications in my mail, the energy released by this dying protector only accelerated the decay of the fabric of this space!