Chapter 36

“Nice to see you again, Yassen.” The gold masked man raised his voice in an amused tone. He nodded his head leisurely, as if reminiscing. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Ten whole years…”

He paused for a moment to look up, as if remembering something, and then glanced back down. “I’m amazed. You hid yourself here as the governor of this obscure village and even had a kid. No wonder we couldn’t find you.”

He took a meaningful glance toward Finn, who was still lying dazed on the floor.

“On the other hand, you’re still an unhinged murderer, I see, Storan,” the governor furrowed his brows. “Working for this useless group that doesn’t care about you.”

“Look at you, Yassen, still running your mouth,” Storan retorted with what could only be a smug smile under his mask. “Really? I’m an unhinged murderer? What are you, then, Mr. Righteous?”

“I’m not a part of the Dark Mask anymore,” replied the governor. “And I’m better off because of it.”

“Yes, you’re a deserter,” Storan scoffed, locking his gaze into the governor’s eyes. “You think you’re better than us because you ran away? Because you were a coward?”

“No,” the governor replied blandly. “I just feel sorry for those who feel the need to kill to find any sort of meaning in their lives.”

“You-!” Storan clenched his fists. “You feel.. sorry?!”

Realizing that he was getting riled up, he took a breath. A moment later, he began to speak coldly again. “Is that so?” He raised his eyebrow. “Well, I hope you’re happy, because you know… those words will be your last.”

“You’re not going to let me go?” The governor remarked, half-jokingly.

“Haha, good one,” Storan snorted and clapped his hands. “Don’t worry about that. Just so you know...” His tone turned cheery, and he paused for dramatic effect. “Deserters are treated really nicely in the torture chambers.”

Seeing no reaction from the governor, Storan glanced toward Finn. “And you know what? Your son… I think he would do well as my slave.”

“...” This time, the governor couldn’t help but clench his fists. “You wouldn’t…”

“And that girl-” Storan glanced at Alivia, who was still disoriented on the floor as well. “With her build… she would do well as a maid.”

The governor turned silent.

“Unfortunately, however...” Storan continued, gesturing toward Grandpa Dinran. “That old grandpa won’t be of much use. He’d be better off executed.”

“You’re just as terrible as ever, Storan.” The governor grit his teeth, slightly shaking his head. “However…” He stared back at the gold-masked man. “Why are you talking like it’s a done deal? You do know that you’ll have to get through me first, right? You think it’ll be easy?”

“Of course!” Storan chuckled. “You may have been Mr. conceited genius in the past... but now, it’s been ten years! You wouldn’t believe what heights I’ve reached since you’ve been gone.” He slightly shook his head. “Meanwhile, what have you been doing? Fooling around playing ruler in this little village? Even one measly spirit bullet almost finished you!”

He glanced towards the foliage behind him. “Not to mention, there’s no pressure for me to even dominate you. It’s not like if I don’t crush you, you’re free to get away. Yet for you… the clock is ticking, Yassen! Your chances aren’t looking good!” He sneered coldly.

“Yes, it seems that way,” the governor responded solemnly. He slowly bent forward and cocked his fist, creating an intimidating aura. “But - what did you say? That all this time, I was lazing around?”

“Hm?” Storan furrowed his brows. He sensed that something was off.

“I know why you would think that, but there’s where you’re wrong,” the governor remarked.

BOOM!!! The governor blasted off his feet forward at almost indistinguishable speeds, creating the illusion that he had disappeared from his spot.

“Wha-?!!” Storan could only let out a small exclamation before a rocketing fist crashed straight into his waist. GUK! The fist sank into Storan’s body mercilessly, pressing straight into his sensitive kidneys.

“AHHHHhhh!” Storan’s screamed as he was blasted backward. His body disappeared behind some trees and brushes, and then - BOOM - he hit some object and crashed to the ground.

After that, there was silence.

The governor wiped his forehead anxiously. Was that enough? Thankfully Storan was overconfident and unwary enough for him to be hit by a surprise attack like that.

He waited a few moments, hearing nothing. ‘Looks like he’s been knocked unconscious.’

This was the same move he had used against Zairen - charging up spirit energy into his legs, and then discharging all in one instant, causing him to launch forward at incredibly high speeds! In order to deal with Storan quickly, he had decided to use this decisive move.

‘...Huh?’ Just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly felt a large spirit energy fluctuation.

‘He’s conscious?’ He quickly turned around and saw no one visible. However, he could tell that someone was definitely there from the powerful fluctuations.

“I underestimated you, Yassen…” Storan’s voice sounded out from afar, now a little hoarse. “That hurt… Looks like you’ve learned some new skills.”

‘He’s still alright!’ The governor’s eyes widened. He knew the power of that punch better than anyone. How could Storan still be fine after taking a direct hit like that?

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Zairen opened his eyes.

Pain! Excruciating pain! His whole body felt like it was on fire! He coughed out a mouthful of blood, creating a small black puddle on the floor.

Shocked, he tried to sit up. Yet, his body would not listen to him, and he could only twitch.

‘What the…’ Zairen was stunned. ‘What happened to me?’

Unable to move, Zairen laid there for a few minutes helplessly, trying to regain his strength.

After about ten minutes, Zairen was finally starting to regain control of his body, and he managed to curl his body a bit and adopt a fetal position. Once he achieved this, he closed his eyes again and started to try to channel his spirit energy throughout his body.

However, it was much too little and didn't do much to ease the pain.

About another ten minutes of intense pain, Zairen finally started to feel slightly better, like he was regaining his strength.

Finally, after a final ten minutes of rest with gradually lessened pain, he finally felt that he had gathered enough strength to try to sit up again, and obtain and more optimal meditative position.

‘1… 2… 3!’ Ignoring his screaming body, Zairen forcibly pushed himself off of the ground and managed to seat himself in a meditative position, legs crossed, although teetering unstably.

“Ugh…” Having successfully completed this task, he quickly first took out the most intense painkillers he possessed out of his pocket and swallowed them, before immediately channeling spirit energy through his body at full force.

As he dizzily meditated, he attempted to sort out his dazed mind, asking himself a set of questions.

Where was he? That’s right, he was in the interdimensional space. What had he been doing? He had been massaging the mysterious women to cure her poison. What went wrong? He had been massaging when he had suddenly felt an intense sense of danger, and then had instantly lost consciousness.

He didn't stop to wonder why that even though he was in the interdimensional space, there was currently no pressure bearing down on him.

“Phew…” A few minutes later, the painkillers had finally started to kick in, so he was starting to feel much better. He slowly felt his strength come back.

“Ready to talk?” At that moment, an angry, domineering voice rang out.

“Huh?!” Zairen jolted in shock, and his eyes bolted open.

Looking to the side, his eyes widened in shock.

Sitting about twenty feet across from him was a familiar kimono-clad beautiful black-haired woman. Sitting with her arms and legs crossed in a chair that she had seemingly pulled out of nowhere, her vicious eyes narrowed suspiciously.

With her devastating beauty and aura, it almost seemed like she was sitting on a divine throne.