Chapter 148 - Nathan's Discovery

"Such courage you have. Don't you know us? We are the Pattern Bloom! You must have seen it in the sky too. We erased the rank one!"

Lucas suddenly widened his eyes. It wasn't a surprise, but it piqued his interest because two thoughts had arisen after hearing those words.

'He must be faking it. No strong person would try to use a name just to boast. However, some cases happen, but only if they were stupid. But in this case, it seems they weren't stupid since the captain was a reasonable person.'

'But, I can't deny the fact that they might be the Pattern Bloom. However, one case appears here: they might be using their name to intimidate me... Their sect might be the ones who erased Southern Edge, but it was not them who did it.'

The captain glared at the person who shouted, whereas Lucas was grinning as he started stepping forward again.

"Don't joke with me. All of you are just weak."

Then, to prove one of his speculations, he should do something about this.

"I think it is better not to waste time and energy here." The captain calmly said, trying to soothe the situation. It might be that the captain doesn't want a fight and was trying to conserve their energy, or it might be that they were trying to maximize the time they have.

"Yeah, I think it is better not to waste time here," Lucas said with a grin, and then just a few fragments of seconds later, a sword appeared in his grasp.

"Let's finish this in an instant."

[Revenger!]

Green streaks of light appeared as Lucas raised the sword above. And then, star-like lights appeared again, flickering with green streaks of light. Just as Lucas was performing it, everyone around him was silently looking at him. But as soon as they realized what was happening, they immediately ran to the side.

However, it was too late for them as they didn't expect the range of the technique. Just as Lucas swung the sword downward, a sudden beam of sound and energy flew in a straight line. 

In this swamp map, a line appeared, a scar of Lucas's strong attack. Then, as the light effects of the technique dissipated, he looked at the sky.

"Hmm... Nothing like notification? Then, the one who killed Southern Edge out of the round wasn't one of them. It might be that he or she wasn't there, or at least it came from another sect, unlike what they claim they were, Pattern Bloom." Lucas assessed.

Then, as he finally finished cleaning them, he felt something in the tracking magic that he had left with the coatings of his teammates.

"Huh? One already been out?"

Lucas looked at the map and located where his teammates were. It was in the forests, and so, as he thought that a sect would be there, he started flying again and went straight to that location.

***

Meanwhile, Nathan continued searching for another target. But as he searched for one, he wasn't blessed by luck. However, he wasn't giving up. He still continued searching until he felt two strong presences.

"Just as I wanted to find..." he mumbled, then stealthily went to the direction where the presence was. But just as he peeked, he was surprised to see an injured person.

'They were holding someone from another sect... Were they helping her or were they holding her captive? But the lady does not appear hostile, and the lights in her palm appear to be healing the injured lady.'

There were three people in total, with only two strong presences. The first one that he saw was a young man, and the other one was a young lady that was holding an injured young lady with a different disciple robe.

Just with it, he felt complacent. There is nothing to gain if he attacks two people since, nearby, there wasn't a group of presences. So, it means that even if he tries to push them down, he won't get any score since he needs to wipe out a sect to score.

"Sister Ellisa, do you remember that when I went to that sect we were investigating, I put some corrupted blood. Apparently, I can feel some of it nearby." The young man suddenly said, making Nathan retract a little bit in case he gets found out.

The young lady raised her eyebrows and asked, "Well, I can feel some presence as well." Then, she darted her eyes where Nathan was positioned, and that sudden movement of her eyes surprised him, making him flinch.

The young lady suddenly grinned, and in the next moment, she disappeared.

Nathan panicked and immediately left to search for a way to get away from there, but just before he could move away from the tree he was hiding in, the young lady was already in front of him.

He was almost drowned by the aura she was emitting. Surprisingly, he thinks that this young lady is at least equivalent to Lucas on some level. And he really knew that there wouldn't be any way that he would be able to fight her.

Even so, he won't let his emotions take over him. Even in despair, clearly, coming from a prestigious sect, he must live up to it. So, Nathan decided to fight without starting a conversation. He knew for sure that she would ask about her sect.

Nathan raised his body and jumped high. Along the way, he drew some array formations. The array formations created a fog-like effect, covering his tracks as he set his foot on top of a branch of the tree where he was hiding.

Then, as he was there, he started moving, escaping. But just like another tree, he was immobilized.

"Eh?" Nathan was dumbfounded as the next second, he saw a red particle holding his legs. It stopped him in midair, instantly falling to the ground helplessly.

He reinforced himself with his spiritual energy, but he didn't expect that the bind that was holding his legs would smash him into the ground.

He was too surprised. He couldn't even react to it and just saw himself lying on the ground with two people standing above him, looking at him with some disdain.

"Tsk." Nathan clicked his tongue just when he noticed that he had become a captive.

"So... what's with her?" Nathan asked, pointing to the lady beside him who was out of consciousness.

The young lady looked at him and said, "Not your business."

The young lady then swayed her hands, creating some mysterious symbols in midair. Nathan was mesmerized by it as a disciple of a sect that specialized in array formations. And just as he was about to ask about it, the young lady suddenly became soundless, so that even her speech wasn't audible.

How come? In his eyes, the young woman and young man were talking.

"So, noise cancellation effects, huh?"

***

"So, what should we do with him? It is not like we would know about the special competitor." Ellisa muttered.

Ureff just gave her dead eyes and retorted, "We don't need to worry about that anymore. We have clues of Master's whereabouts, so let us at least just leave this kid be." Then he looked at Nathan with no particular expression.

Ellisa let out a sigh and said, "I also see it that way. But let's talk about this young lady here. What do you think of her relationship with Master? Looking at her body, I think they have a good relationship since he reconstructed her body to have magic veins and circuits. Also, strikingly, it affected her cultivation talents." 

Ureff raised an eyebrow and turned to face the young lady. He let out a sigh as well and said his assessment.

"I don't think they have such a good relationship with him. At least, from what I could see, only the essence was present, not any other blessing. If it is Master, he would share some of his blessings since the blessings also work here."

Ellisa nodded. It was a good deduction, and as Ellisa thinks about it, she slowly agrees with that idea.

"So, after she wakes up, what should we do with him? I think of asking her, or at least, using your blood arts to see some of her memories." Ellisa said.

"It is slightly harder as her mental defense was quite complex. I am still learning to fight their mental defense. It is quite problematic."

"But isn't she sleeping? Won't it be better to do it now?" Ellisa suggested.

"Eh? Do you mean what you just said, Sister Ellisa? She is sleeping, and I don't have a Memory Reading Mind Ability. At least, I can do a small number of feats, but not to the point that they can rival the exact Mind Ability."

"Hmmm... I understand. Then... let's just wait till she wakes up and let's just finish the tasks with this one."

Ureff looked at Nathan and nodded.

"Let's kill him," Ureff said, and just after it, a spear made of blood appeared pointed at Nathan. 

Just as Nathan saw it, his eyes dilated.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Nathan hysterically exclaimed.. However, Ureff just swayed his hands, and at the moment after it, the spear flew straight to Nathan, making him disappear from his position.