Death... and me

Of course, things didn't end there. Seeing how the Zasfins began to retreat, Huo's group had to stay behind to cover their escape. With that, Frin and Linton joined hands to go all out. They weren't able to kill any of the Transition Realm Zasfins. However, they were able to severely injure Deny and Kika. Those two definitely wouldn't be able to fight anytime soon.

In exchange, Frin and Linton also suffered some damage. After all, they really tried to kill at least one of them, so they had to pay the price. Well, Linton didn't want to go that far. It's just that Frin insisted that he should give it his all and ignore any injury he might receive. As long as he didn't die or had his cultivation destroyed, he shouldn't retreat.

"That's enough. Let them go," Frin said as he looked at their injuries. "If we go further than that, we might force them to destroy their Soul Marks in exchange for power. If that happens, even I would be in danger."

Naturally, Frin was talking about the immense power a Zasfin would receive in exchange for losing their Soul Power forever. He wanted to avoid that since they also spent a lot of energy in this battle. Also, unlike the Zasfins, they didn't have a last-ditch move like that.

Frin eventually left Linton to reorganize the army before heading back to find Roan. He was worried that someone might have attacked while he was out. In fact, someone did attack. However, the Stage Eight Demon Beasts fled when they saw that it was a Transition Realm Zasfin. They tried to find Roan to bring him away as well, but Roan had simply disappeared.

However, when Frin finally arrived where he had left Roan, he saw him sitting on a boulder while cultivating. It was as if nothing had happened at all while he was away. "Didn't Orba come after you? How come she found the demon beasts but missed your presence?"

Roan faintly smiled in response, saying, "I hid." That's all he said, which greatly puzzled Frin. However, he was already used to the twins being full of mysteries, so he decided not to ask how. Roan, of course, changed the topic right after, asking, "So, did everything go as planned?"

Frin couldn't help but laugh after hearing that, saying, "Hahaha! No wonder Linton appeared there to help me. You knew Orba wouldn't be present to attack his army, right?"

Roan nodded, saying in response, "The best lure had never been the empty Calau Swamp. Instead, it was me. I'm way more important to them. When they saw you in Javeza Hills, they would definitely send the closest 'You know what Realm' Zasfin after me. Orba was the only one that fit that requirement at that moment. That being said, Linton wouldn't have to worry about his army being attacked by her."

Frin nodded before enveloping Roan with his Spiritual Energy and pulling him together. Sometime later, they arrived at Javeza Hills.

Roan then called Linton to see him, saying, "It seems like you also received some damage from that fight."

Linton, who had returned to his human form, nodded as he replied, "Indeed." He then looked deeply at Roan before saying, "Still, that was quite the trick you used there. To think you used yourself as bait to bring Orba away and give me the chance to leave my army. That was very good. However, I would like to go back to my own army now. It isn't as big as yours, but I still need to take care of them."

Roan then raised his hand, responding, "You can do that. But first, I need a little more of your time."

Linton was puzzled by that. Nevertheless, he nodded as he knew Roan must have a reason.

And so, with most of the Zasfin Army wiped out, Roan quickly organized his other forces to join the army that participated in that battle. With that, they quickly passed through the same Calau Swamp before heading to the next Zasfin defense line, which was very weak after the last fight since most of its power was used up in the previous attack. Roan didn't want to give the Zasfins time to call for reinforcements.

After the first battle was over, Orba had finally returned from her trip and found out what happened. Huo, Kika, and Deny also understood why Linton appeared there. In the end, it was their fault. They asked Orba to go and look for Roan, so Linton didn't need to care about Orba's forces coming for his army.

Orba quickly organized her forces and joined Huo's...or so she wanted to. After all, she was the closest one to them. However, Linton didn't give her a chance as he immediately moved forward with his own. Orba then entered the battlefield and fought against Linton, trying to force him back before reinforcing Huo's army. She at least knew that Linton battled against Kika, so he should be injured and far from his peak.

Unfortunately for her, the next time she saw Linton, he didn't seem the least bit weakened. In fact, it was as if Linton was as strong as he could be.

'Life Style, Second Form, Instant Recovery!'

Sure enough, with Roan there, he could use Rean's skill to heal Linton back to his optimal form. It's just that Rean wasn't nearby at the moment, so he had to use the ability of White Star to gather Light Element for the task. Because of that, instead of taking a few hours like what Rean could do, Roan took almost two entire days to finish the job. When Roan asked Linton that he needed a little bit more of his time, that was the reason.

Nevertheless, a war on the size of the Zasfin and demon beast armies always made moves that took many days. Roan simply told Linton to send someone to move his army in the direction of Orba's forces while Roan healed him. By the time Orba and Linton's armies finally encountered each other, Linton was already back. In the end, Linton couldn't help but mutter inwardly, 'Seriously...how far did he plan all of this? I hope I never have to go to war against him.'