"No... No... No..."
Erratic Delirium's voice grows increasingly heart-wrenching as he digs with his own hands into the damp earth. A level 416 wouldn't take long to dig a deep hole, deep enough to find what he seeks.
"Mom... Ilhan..."
But finding what he was looking for, wasn't what he wanted to find.
"No! Noooo!"
Life, not corpses, that's what he was looking for, but he couldn't find it here.
For some, this might be a terrifying scene, watching a man embrace decomposing corpses, but Lawrence and his companions have seen so much in this life that this is nothing in comparison. At least he is crying for the death of a loved one.
He takes tens of minutes to calm down, and after doing so, he turns and looks into Lawrence's eyes. "Grant me revenge and I promise you won't need chains, I will be your slave until my feet and hands can no longer hold my body."
Lawrence doesn't smile this time, as joyful as he might be internally, because he knows what the man in front of him needs is compassion, hope, and of course, revenge.
"Your revenge might be closer than you imagine."
Erratic Delirium frowns, "What do you mean?"
"You have a tracking magic on you, did you think that lizard woman wouldn't know you'd be here? If they really wanted to hide the truth, they wouldn't have buried them."
Before he could respond, Coldness Divine opens her fan. "Get ready."
This might be the outer world of Sphinx City, a city of mortals, but that doesn't mean there aren't problems... nor that they fear them.
The next moment, a minor earthquake occurs, and all the trees, bushes, animals, and demonic beasts are destroyed in a blink. Clearing the ground for the battle to come.
Those causing this phenomenon are 5 people, all of them above level 700.
Erratic Delirium is not intimidated by their terrifying pressure and looks resentfully towards the sky, where the hunters are.
"Was it you?!"
His words echo in this deadly silent place.
"Was it you who killed my mother and my brother?!"
A woman clicks her tongue and responds, because she has a small remorse for what happened. "...It was us."
Erratic Delirium no longer bothers talking to them and looks at Lawrence, the latter nods.
"You will get your revenge, but remember your promise."
Almost instantly, three phenomena occur. A division happens in the sky, time around the enemies temporarily stops, and vines covered with a dew of water that exudes an aura of death approach them.
All of them are rankers of level 700, as surprising as the attack might be, time is more than enough to respond.
The problem is that the other party controls time.
"Forgotten Memories."
"Heaven's Division."
"Death Torrent."
Each of their attacks hits the hunters, causing mortal wounds in all of them.
"AAAAGH!"
Besides the lamentable screams of the enemy, there's a deadly silence in Lawrence's group, because...
"That was... easy."
They have been fighting against so many enemies who greatly surpass them in level, that when facing their peers, they simply have no match. Not to mention that their Ways are compatible with each other and do not hinder one another, because of this the plot imposed by that lizard woman was not able to get the best of them.
Before the 5 hunters fell from the sky, the vines hold them and slowly snatch their lives, but at some point, they stop. Because the one who will deliver the final blow is the man from whom they stole his life in life. Erratic Delirium.
With Lawrence's sword in his hand, he moves toward the 5 rankers and stabs his sword into their hearts over and over.
It is at these moments where the immense vitality of a ranker is no different from a curse, because a level 416 hunter like Erratic Delirium took several minutes to be able to kill rankers who surpass him by almost 300 levels.
"Cough!"
The achievement of being part of the hunt of 5 immortals of level 700 allows him to progressively level up, so much so that he coughs blood and feels weak once his level increases 50 levels in just seconds, but even this could not take away his happiness.
The luck among misfortune is that, because Serene Will, Coldness Divine, and Sky Petal did all the work, he only obtained a small part of the gains, otherwise, this level increase could well have killed him.
The heavens are fair, they would not allow anyone to take advantage of the rules.
"...They are not the mastermind." Erratic Delirium comes back to his senses after seeing blood on his hands, "Someone ordered them to do it, I want their life!"
"Don't be greedy."
"You promised me, Emperor Lawrence!"
"And I kept my promise, there are those who killed your family."
"You...!"
"Don't misunderstand me, but the other party is too powerful. Your revenge will depend on their intention and my performance the next time we meet. But don't be optimistic, you know what that lizard woman is capable of."
He slowly regains his composure and returns to his servile behavior.
"Yes... sect master."
Lawrence calmly looks at Sky Petal, and the latter approaches Erratic Delirium, gently hitting his back. "You will be my disciple. Depending on your achievements, you can obtain freedom. Call me tower master from now on."
"...It will be an honor to be your disciple, tower master."
Sky Petal feels renewed, at last, she will be able to talk to someone and have them understand her. Although today he is affected by the death of his family, she has no doubt that the thirst for knowledge and the thirst for revenge will allow him to ascend to new heights.
"I have reached a critical point in my relationship with that lizard woman. Allies or enemies, next time everything will be decided." As he creates a Dimensional Rift, he voices his thoughts out loud. "I don't plan to leave this to luck, because I know she will be willing to cut heads to obtain my forgiveness, but only if the threat is capable of shaking her..."
He is sure of this, because he would do the same if he were in her place.
"Turning misfortune into a blessing... Tsk, that lion man... only he could..."
+++
Heavenly Firmament Mountain, Path to Heaven Sect. Inferior Plane.
"What is the status of the inner disciples?"
"Responding to the sect master, the average level of the inner disciples is level 110 and the outer disciples is level 84, while the number one disciple is at level 129."
Lawrence taps his seat with his finger repeatedly. In front of him sits a woman with red hair, Sweet Passion, the head of the teachers.
"That's too slow."
Sweet Passion almost coughs blood after hearing the sect master.
In a few months, they have more than doubled the level of their disciples, since information about their sect is still scarce to the outside world, there hasn't been an uproar, but once the pot is uncovered, they will be on everyone's lips!
But now the sect master says this progress is still slow? Just what the hell are the disciples in his mind?
"If I may mention, this progress is unheard of. Thanks to the top-notch techniques the sect master gave them, our disciples are like tigers with wings! Our outer disciples are like the inner disciples of other sects!"
Normally, top-notch techniques passively improve a hunter's strength significantly, without delivering any other benefit than this, but the techniques possessed by the Path to Heaven Sect are also capable of awakening the true potential of the disciples, and there are different top-notch techniques to choose the most suitable for each one! This is the sacred land to undertake the path to immortality!
Sweet Passion continues saying: "No other sect would employ rankers of level 200 to protect the disciples from eventualities, because of this the mortality is negligible despite the great risks."
For other sects, level-200 rankers are esteemed individuals to be treated with utmost care and respect, but in the Path to Heaven Sect, they are no different from guardians. It is truly a luxury to go out and fight against demonic beasts and level up.
"I know, but it's still not enough."
Before Sweet Passion could respond, he says: " They won’t grow in an environment of controlled, unchanging danger. I need them to reach level 200 as soon as possible. Time is pressing."
Only then does she think of something, but this thought terrifies her, because she has lived through a similar situation before. The destruction of her academy is a memory that will never leave her head.
"Is our sect in danger?"
"More than you can imagine."
Her expression changes immediately and she no longer dares to try to change his opinion.
"I'll make preparations to increase the rigor of their training, but..." She swallows before saying: "Level 200 is impossible, from level 180 it is extremely difficult to level up in the Inferior Plane."
"Let it be level 180 then."
"As you command, sect master."
Sweet Passion leaves the office of the sect master, leaving Lawrence alone in the place.
He remains silent for several seconds before sighing.
"If I die, everyone will die with me."
The sect exists with the sole purpose of becoming cannon fodder for the battle against the Unquenchable Fire Brothel. If he fails, everyone will fall with him.
There is no greater threat than this.
There must always be an escape route and the Path to Heaven Sect is no exception. He has laid the foundations for a future beyond that battle, but it is still too early to invest too much in such an idea. Level 999 has been and will always be his true purpose, the Unquenchable Fire Brothel is just a trial by fire they must overcome.
He looks out the windows and remembers something, "Since that rock was upgraded, they have a lot of fun using it."
The rock he refers to is none other than the magic artifact Stele of the Past. Which, after being upgraded, allows many people to use it at the same time, decrease the level of the illusion, and a myriad of other interesting features.
"Maybe I should use it too, but before that... The disciples will be the most benefited."
Since the mortality of his disciples will soon increase, giving them that rock can mitigate the havoc caused by the increase in the rigor of their training. If his women wish to use it, spaces for them will always be reserved, there will be no problems in that regard.
"Level 180 eh... How many will survive?"