Death... and me

Rean's group was spending their time cultivating when, out of nowhere, they heard a sound before many cultivators appeared from the surroundings. "Th-this..."

Langara and Fatax's expressions immediately turned ugly when they looked at those cultivators. "Impossible! You people shouldn't be here!"

The cultivators that appeared didn't act straight away, though. Instead, they waited for their leader to come out. "Matriarch, you should know that the clan wouldn't let you go that easily, right?"

Langara looked at the man before exclaiming, "I remember you. Volrie, wasn't it? Why are you here? What are those hunters doing here? Immediately head back to the clan. This is an order!"

Volrie shook his head as he kept his guard up, telling her, "Can't do, matriarch. The Clan Head delivered specific orders to bring you back."

"Hmph!" Langara snorted in response. "The Clan Head? I'm the matriarch of the clan. His position is beneath mine, so my orders are rules. Retreat immediately."

Another cultivator couldn't help but laugh after hearing her words. "Hehe! Matriarch Langara, you should know that you have no power on the Clan Head's side. The image of an all-encompassing matriarch is nothing more than a joke nowadays. It only serves to inhibit the enemies from outside."

"Enough," Volrie said. He then looked back at Langara before continuing, "Matriarch Langara, don't make things difficult. You will suffer less if you simply follow the Clan Head's lead. Help the talents of the Clan Head's side to grow. The clan will eventually fall completely in his hands anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the Clan Head to start with. Isn't that good? He's your husband, after all."

"Husband? Hahaha!" Langara couldn't help but laugh out loud from Volrie's words. "He wants nothing more than to imprison me and use my abilities to help build talents forever. On your side of the clan, I would be nothing more than a tool! Do you think a proud person like me would ever accept such a thing?"

"You have no other choice, Matriarch Langara." Volrei shook his head. "Besides, if you contribute to this cause, the Clan Head is willing to set you free once the clan grows big enough. He would even help you find other members of your race again."

"Bullshit!" Langara immediately exclaimed. "Why can't you see how wrong you all are? If we grow too much too quickly, it will attract a lot of attention. Sooner or later, others would find out about my race. Do you have any idea what calamity our clan would have to go through once that happens?"

Volrei shook his head, replying, "The Clan Head is an intelligent man. If he intends to do so, that's because he has a plan."

Volrei then looked at the other hunters, who nodded back at him. They didn't attack straight away as they were waiting to see if something would happen. Surprisingly, they didn't see anything out of the norm. "Anyways, there's no point continuing this conversation. In the future, once we grow strong enough to oppose the Royal Family, Matriarch Langara will see how wise Clan Head is."

Volrei was about to give the order to attack and kill everyone except Langara when suddenly Langara asked one last question. "How did you find my location? It should be almost impossible to track me down after I went this deep into the demon beasts' territory. We aren't even following a straight path to our destination either."

Volrei asked back, "Will you surrender if I tell you?"

Langara shook her head. "Forget it then. However, be aware that I'll fight with everything I have, even if I'm at such a disadvantage." Right after, Rean, Roan, and Fatax positioned themselves in front of Langara, obviously trying to protect her. Surprisingly, all three of them seemed extremely nervous. It was obvious they considered this a desperate situation.

It was then that Volrei remembered to ask. "What about the three dead hunters? How did you kill them?"

Rean, Roan, Fatax, and Langara showed a slightly puzzled expression at that question. "What hunters?"

Volrei tried to read their body language, but all he could see was a determined matriarch and three scared guards. "Forget it. I'll investigate further once I get rid of these guys." Volrei then finally gave the signal. "Attack! Make sure you don't hurt the matriarch too much. As for the rest, no need to leave anyone alive as they heard more than they should."

All the hunters then moved together, ready to overwhelm Rean's group. Unfortunately for them, it was at this moment that Langara asked Rean, "Was this enough time?"

Rean's scared expression immediately disappeared as a playful smile took its place. "Very well done, Senior Langara. In fact, you gave me way more time than I needed. Hahaha!" Soon after, Rean stomped his feet on the ground.

*Bang!*

*Bzzzzzzzzzzz!*

The entire area around them and the hunters lit up as arcs of lightning began to dance.

Seeing that, Volrei understood they had fallen into a trap. "Retreat!"

Surprisingly, all the hunters acted in unison and retreated without even thinking twice. Volrei was a cautious man, a lot different from Sutil. He gave an order that everyone should give up the attack and take distance at the slightest unexpected change.

Well, that was of no use, though. In the end, Volrei couldn't possibly expect that Rean would have time to build a Slaughtering Formation, much less be able to completely conceal it from their eyes. The formation spanned a hundred meters in radius, far beyond what the hunters could run in a short time.

Following that, two barriers were raised. One barrier spanned three meters in radius, covering only Rean's group. The next barrier was located at the border of the Slaughtering Formation, making it impossible for anyone to escape unless they broke it.

That wasn't all, though. Rean and Roan lifted their hands as Dark Element gathered in their hands.

'Death World!'

The Slaughtering Formation activated at the same time as Death World turned everything dark for Voirei's group. They truly fell into the worst possible situation, or one could say they selected the worst possible enemies to fight against.