Red looked over in the voice’s direction. There he saw him, walking out of the tree line, looking none the worse for wear - their great elder Hector.

The old man was looking up at the floating beast master, surrounded by the flying river. His opponent tried to struggle and free himself, but all his movements seemed to be in slow motion and he couldn’t muster any Spiritual Energy to resist. There was an expression of terror on his face.

Hector snorted and looked over at the female cultivator. “Do you need him alive?”

The woman shook her head. “There’s no need.”

This was all Hector needed to hear. He lifted his hand before bringing it down in a swift motion. The Deep Sea Sword, which was suspended above the beast master’s head, suddenly pointed down and began to spin.

The flying river followed the same motion and started to revolve around itself, extending towards the ground. The floating beast master was helplessly dragged by the current and was pushed down bit by bit.

Then, all of a sudden, the downward force reached a crescendo, and the flying river became a waterfall. The man was sent crashing to the ground as the overwhelming power squished him against the forest floor.

The surrounding trees were all toppled by the overwhelming waterfall’s force, and Red felt sprinkles of water reach him even from the other side of the river. This lasted for almost ten seconds before the conjured water seemed to dissipate into nothingness again.

When his vision was cleared up, all that Red saw was a large crater where the waterfall had crashed down. There were no signs of the beast master’s body other than what seemed to be the remains of his clothing and other items he carried on himself.

Just like that, a Greater Ring Realm cultivator was killed.

The purple sword floated down, falling right into Hector’s grip. The whole battlefield stopped fighting, looking towards the other side of the river in shock and awe.

One of the surviving Lesser Ring Realm wolves let out a howl. It was filled with grief and fear. Their leader was dead, and no longer was the beast master compelling them to fight, either.

Their enemy was too strong, and their battle was lost.

One by one, the wolves turned tail and ran in fear.

“Don’t let them get away!” Orvin called out over the battlefield.

His soldiers did as much, letting out roars of victory as they stabbed and chased after the surviving monster. Red, however, didn’t bother joining the chase, still looking at Hector and the female cultivator on the other side of the river.

The elder was looking at her with an unfriendly gaze. Red was barely able to hear their conversation with his improved hearing.

“I need his belongings.” The woman said in a neutral tone. “… The core too.”

Hector snorted. “After all of this, you suppose I should just give everything to you?”

She sighed. “These are my superior’s orders.”

The elder waved his hand dismissively. “Take it, but I’ll expect compensation.”

Hector walked away towards the river, ice forming under his feet as he crossed the water surface. Red watched the man approaching with some trepidation, when from behind him he heard the sound of footsteps.

“Hector!”

Allen wandered over to Red’s side and waved his hand at the elder with an anxious expression. The young master didn’t get wounded from his confrontation with the wolves thanks to his defensive talisman, but it was clear the battle had taken its toll on his psyche.

Red looked back and saw Rimold approaching them, too. Eiwin and Rog, however, seemed busy attending to a wounded Narcha who was sitting on the ground with her wound frozen over. Now that the wolves had left the battlefield and the soldiers were giving chase, the boy could also see the bodies littering the river ground.

The confrontation hadn’t lasted more than ten minutes, and yet there were dozens of human and monster bodies piled up every way he looked. The smell of blood rose to his nostrils, something he was used to, but Allen still had a hard time adapting to it, judging by his trembling figure.

A few seconds later, Hector reached the other side of the river.

“Hector, I need to speak to you about something.” Rimold said with an anxious expression.

The elder waved him away. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”

“But-”

“I said my part. We can speak once we are done here.” Hector cut him off. He then looked towards Allen. “You’re not wounded. Good.”

“Ah, yes…” Allen seemed at a loss for words.

Hector looked over at Red. “You also did a good job helping that woman.”

“You were watching?” Red frowned.

“I arrived around the time you crossed the river.” the old man nodded. “I was waiting for my time to strike, too. We can have this conversation later, though.”

The elder walked past them towards Narcha and the others.

Rimold stared at Red with a frown. “Is that why you suddenly disappeared?”

The boy nodded. “She asked for help and I needed to provide it if we wanted to live.”

The rogue seemed conflicted when he heard that, but he let the matter go. They followed behind Hector, who was looking over Narcha while Eiwin and Rog were doing their best to dress her wounds.

Eiwin looked towards the elder with a troubled glance. “I gave her a healing pill, but the ice covering her wounds is stopping it from closing up.”

Indeed, Red saw the large gash from her right shoulder down to her chest was covered in a thick sheet of ice. Any normal human would have already died from such a wound, and even Narcha seemed to be struggling to maintain her consciousness, as much as she tried putting on a brave expression.

“Let me see it.” Hector said.

Eiwin and Rog stepped away from the woman, letting the elder approach. The old man put a hand on her shoulder, and the ice covering her wounds started to melt away and disappear. As the obstacle to her flesh closing faded, the effects of the healing pill started to act on her body and began to repair her ripped muscles.

Narcha gritted her teeth in pain but made no noises to betray her suffering.

Once this process was done, Hector didn’t spare the woman a second glance before getting up and turning around. His coldness and indifference didn’t go unnoticed by the other sect members, whom all frowned at the elder’s actions.

Eiwin crouched down and examined Narcha. “Miss Valt, are you alright now?”

“I’m fine.” Narcha waved her off. “I just need… Some rest.”

Right around this time, the female cultivator from the other side of the river was also walking over to them. Her steps seemed to find solid ground over the river’s surface as she approached them, carrying herself with an air of elegance and a neutral expression.

Hector frowned at this, giving the woman an unfriendly gaze. “What is it now?”

The woman put her hands together and bowed slightly towards the elder. “I wanted to apologize to this senior.”

The old man sneered. “For which offense? For using me as bait, or for going behind my back to coerce one of my sect members to help you?”

The woman didn’t seem affected by his words. “For both of them. I was given orders to avoid interacting with this senior as much as possible during this mission, so I couldn’t reveal my presence to you at first.”

Hector seemed surprised. “Why do the people of your sect want you to avoid me?”

She seemed hesitant to reply. “… My elders have decided to cut relations with the survivors of the Ocean Bearers Sect.”

“These bastards!” Hector gritted his teeth in anger. “Do they have no shame?! No pride as cultivators?!”

The woman frowned. “It is not my place to question their decisions, senior. Still, given the circumstances and the peculiarities of our enemy, I had no choice but to solicit the help of one of your sect members. If I hadn’t done it, then I imagine things might have turned out much worse.”

She gave Red a meaningful gaze.

The elder’s anger seemed to abate at these words, but he still stared at the woman with some suspicion. “What is your name and the name of your master?”

“My name is Keira. I’m an inner disciple of the Crystal Sky Sect under the tutelage of Master Xandyr.” She bowed slightly to Hector.

“Xandyr?” Hector frowned. “Isn’t he sympathetic to our cause?”

The woman had a troubled expression. “He is not the one behind these decisions, I’m afraid. He has no choice but to respect them.”

Hector snorted in contempt. “What about compensation? Will that be denied to us, too?”

She shook her head. “Our sect will never leave contributions unrewarded. I will report how you and your sect helped me slay this beast master, and I’m certain they will be willing to reward your efforts.”

“Good.” the old man nodded. “There is one more thing we need to speak about, though.”

The woman hesitated. “… Indeed, it is best we speak about the peculiarities of this child.”

Red’s heart skipped a beat.

Hector frowned with a cautious expression. “Do you mean to report to your superiors about it?”

The woman shook her head. “I made him a promise, and in exchange for his help, I even revealed compromising information about myself. However, this is not what worries me.”

The elder shook his head. “As long as you keep your word, you need not worry about anything else. I assure we have his issues quite handled ourselves.”

“So you say, senior, but the truth is that he got lucky. Had it been someone else from my sect here, then I’m not sure his… secret techniques would have remained a secret.”

“There are a lot of things we can’t control in this world. Even if someone else was intent on revealing this matter, I have my own ways to keep that from happening.” Hector stared at the woman with an intense gaze. “After all, the connections I’ve made in my life will eventually need to serve for something.”

She sighed. “Regardless of what this senior might like to believe, many people in our sect have not given up on helping you or your companions.”

Hector snorted. “Do not bother with empty words, girl. The time when we most needed your help was long ago, and any support you offer us now is nothing more than an insult. I only pray that you and your sect do not find yourselves in our position, for the sake of the whole cultivation world.”

The woman frowned and didn’t reply.

“Is there anything else?” Hector asked in an unfriendly tone.

The woman shook her head and bowed slightly to the elder. “That will be all, senior.”

She turned around and walked away, approaching the Baron, who was waiting farther away to speak to her.

Hector turned around and looked at Red. “You don’t need to worry, kid. Whatever happens, I have more than a few plans to deal with it.”

These words offered scant comfort to Red.