Unsealing Emptiness

The person in question was right behind him.

When the king mentioned their title of ‘Hatchlings’, both Kumaou and Rose showed visible confusion. What remained hidden was the fact that only the former showed precisely what he felt, while the latter simply feigned that emotion.

The king might have also noticed if he paid any attention to her, but he was fully focused on him and Kumaou. No one else caught his eyes.

This almost insignificant detail of hers actually revealed a lot about her.

Except for Ember, the only other party who knew about their origins was now the Steel Mountain kingdom. The Imperial Prince had made sure that the lady knew about them.

‘The ones who summoned us also know, but I doubt they would need to send spies to a small kingdom such as this.’

Taking into account the emotions that were evoked in her when in front of the Imperial Prince and the fact that she knew their origin and acted otherwise; all of that pointed to her being a spy of that neighboring kingdom.

The knowledge of other realms wasn’t as hidden as it was in their previous realm and the same with their title of Dragon Hatchlings. So, he wouldn’t have suspected anything if Rose hadn’t gone out of her way to feign ignorance.

.....

‘Next thing, I just need to keep an eye on her and confirm that she really is a spy. Hopefully, I am not too off. It will be easy to push all the blame to a neighboring kingdom using her.’

Ozul thought about the possibilities. Rose being a spy from the Steel Mountain Kingdom just had the highest probability, but it could also be possible that he was wrong. He could only wait and see. His priority right now was to observe her.

Unfortunately for him, only Rose feigned ignorance. Kumaou really didn’t understand what the king had mentioned.

The moment they entered their room, he started bombarding them with questions,

“Hey! hey! What is Dragon Hatchling? You all Beastkin spawned from some Dragon? Is that why you are so strange? But they are normal...”

Ozul shot a helpless look toward Raven who understood the assignment. She nodded her head and came in between Kumaou and Ozul’s bed.

His towering and wild figure didn’t faze her as she answered him, “Let him rest. I will answer your questions.”

That scene felt like a mother admonishing other children from disturbing the sleep of her newborn.

But to Ozul’s luck, Kumaou wasn’t as unreasonable as he looked. He walked away following Raven as she began to explain their origins.

There was no point in hiding that from them now.

Behind them, Rose also walked with a curious look on her face as if it was her first time hearing about this as well.

Meanwhile, Ozul turned on his bed to sleep happily. Indeed he was right; Raven couldn’t be replaced.

They would depart to the borders tomorrow.

. . .

Before the Star rose, a guard came knocking on their door to wake them up. Though only Ozul was sleeping.

The delegates had finished their preparations and were ready to move.

As Ozul and his group walked outside, they noticed two lean men in spectacles surrounded by royal guards. All of them were in the Nascent Soul Realm, and two among them were also at the peak. The lean men were the officials who were experts in political matters, so their weak strength didn’t draw any criticism.

They greeted each other before departing right away.

...

It took them two whole days before they crossed over the entire kingdom to reach the southern borders.

‘This place is barren,’ Ozul saw the state of this region and found little to no life blooming around here. He wondered how people were living in a desert like this.

Soon the presence of life came into his vision. They had reached the soldier’s camp. The strongest person in the camp was also at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm.

What others didn’t notice was that half a mile away, there was another camp of soldiers facing them. That one belonged to the neighboring kingdom.

Ozul noticed there was no clear boundary or any distinction between the two lands. There weren’t even soldiers patrolling the entire borderline. It was just an arbitrary area on the map, and the kingdoms had placed camps at some crucial spots.

On the journey, he made sure to keep an eye on Rose who didn’t act out of the ordinary during all that time.

‘That was boring...’ he sighed knowing he would have to keep at this boring task for quite a while.

Getting back to the task at hand, they met up with the soldiers at the camp and were briefed about the whole situation. Before long, a meeting was set up between the two sides.

As the Star shone directly above their heads, both sides walked and met up in the middle of the two camps.

“How long will this take?” Ozul asked in an annoyed tone. Kumaou also shared his sentiments.

One of the two lean men laughed nervously before replying in an unsure tone, “It... uh, it depends on them really.”

The black conical hat hid his expressions, but Raven and Blaze could guess the level of his unhappiness.

There were also officials from the other side.

What impressed Kumaou was the fact that their side also had a cultivator of the Origin Realm.

The delegates shared fake pleasantries before discussing the main subject,

“...Your soldier was found wandering on our side. This calls for compensation!” one of the soldiers on their side suddenly couldn’t hold himself back.

“Yes, but your side also killed him without confirming if it had been a simple mistake. If anything, we should be compensated for the loss on our side!” one of the lean men replied in an unhurried manner.

“That was only right for us to...”

‘What is the point in all of this...’ Ozul wondered as an audible sigh escaped his mellow lips.

Noticing his attitude, the Origin Realm cultivator on the other side grew angry.

Currently, they only felt a single Origin Realm cultivator on their side, so they felt equal in strength. But how dare someone who had no presence such as him act so haughty? That’s what he thought.

“You find it funny, little guy!?” the man shouted, cracking his knuckles.

The hat shifted up, revealing Ozul’s unimpressed gaze. Even in such bright lighting, that man wasn’t able to notice when the Purity had formed more than a couple of sharp needles all pointed at his vital organs.

‘Well, this might end this early,’ he thought before all those hidden needles shot straight at that man, their strongest.

Gasps resounded in the empty desert as they all saw plenty of black needles pressed against that Origin cultivator! If he hadn’t stopped those needles, then that man was as good as dead!

Blood trickled down that man’s skin, as his eyes, now filled with fear, threatened to pop out from his expressions.

“Wh-what is the meaning of this!?” The officials from their side couldn’t keep calm. Unlike before, they weren’t so sure of their strength anymore. They didn’t think there would be two Origin Realm experts sent by their side!

“The meaning is clear. You have two choices. Let the matter go, or we can fight it out,” Ozul answered before one of the officials from his side could reply.

He now understood the situation perfectly. One of the soldiers acted on his own and started making his way toward the other territory for whatever reason. Even though the other side killed him, they wanted an explanation for the matter. While the Blue Lion Kingdom was at fault here, they didn’t want to give in to their demands as it hurt their ego.

“Y-you!!” the official from their side pointed angrily at him, but he couldn’t say a word considering their Origin Realm cultivator was still in shock at the fact that tens of needles were pointing at his vital organs, ready to puncture him to death if he moved even an inch.

Meanwhile, seeing that his threat had worked wonders in shaking up their side, the two lean men agreed in silence to let it happen.

The opposite side’s officials fumed in anger as they saw them averting their eyes.

Raven and Blaze readied their weapons, ready to finish off their remaining soldiers the moment Ozul killed that man. Only they knew that Ozul wasn’t just threatening them, he would really go through it.

Meanwhile, Kumaou smirked in confidence. He had sensed that dark matter oozing out of him, but that man hadn’t even when it was targeting him; a clear distinction between their abilities.

Seeing the unmoving gaze of Ozul, the officials from the opposite side could only clench their teeth in frustration.

“Fine! We will call this even! But the next time one of your men wanders to our side, it won’t end in just his death!” the official barked loudly, shamelessly throwing an empty threat even in such a situation.

Ozul called back his needles as they merged with his conical hat, though he kept a few hidden behind that man in case he wanted revenge on the spot.

Fortunately, the man understood he couldn’t even against two Origin Realm cultivators at the same time. All of them withdrew slowly, their expressions as dark as they could get.

Everyone knew that the Blue Lion Kingdom had superior military strength compared to its neighboring kingdoms.

The delegates that came with Ozul smiled in satisfaction before they also withdrew. He had made their job a lot easier. They could have very well stood there until night fell without making any progress!

...

It was another two-day journey back to the capital of the Blue Lion kingdom.

The delegates went directly to the king to report everything, while Ozul and his company made their way back to their rooms.

The only job they had in this mission was to seem intimidating, and Ozul had done enough of it.

‘There go four days wasted...’ he thought while looking at the ceiling as he lay comfortably on his bed.

But just then, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.

That woman named Rose quietly walked out of the room.

‘Finally...’