Death... and me

Naturally, Kentucky and Celis knew a little about Rean and Roan's other objective in this place. The World Beast Formation was a name that only they knew about other than the red-eyed being. Obviously, that was because of the Soul Gem System.

"Let's fly around a bit," Celis said. "Try to stay within the limits of this illusion formation since we don't know if it has any other abilities."

Kentucky nodded as the two checked the place out after that. The Blood Pond was really huge, way bigger than the description given by Phex back then. That was another proof that the blood pond Phex's group knew back then was fake. In fact, calling it a pond was a huge understatement. It was definitely better to call it a huge blood lake.

Kentucky carefully avoided the flying demon beasts, which were the only ones capable of watching over the lake since, in this place, cultivation couldn't be used to fly. Of course, their numbers were also much smaller due to the intervention of Rean's group. Eventually, Kentucky saw something different in there, muttering in surprise, "Is that an island?"

Kentucky then pointed down for Celis to see once they got close enough for Celis to look at it. "That's definitely an island. But...what are all those floating things landing on it?"

There were many ethereal orbs, flames, and other forms entering that island. To be more specific, they were entering an aperture in the center of the island. "I have no idea. I can't use Spiritual Sense, so it's hard to guess. Could those be the souls Roan talked about?"

Celis nodded, responding, "It's possible. What we know is that the World Beast Formation absorbs the blood and souls of the demon beasts that die on the world. The blood is right below us, so those might really be the souls."

Kentucky and Celis looked at each other for a moment before they came to a conclusion. "That must be the place. Let's get out of here."

Somewhere else, Rean's group had reached another crimson sphere. However, they were being a lot more careful this time around. That being said, their group was divided in two.

One had Roan and Duran. They were the duo responsible for getting close to the crimson spheres without getting noticed. Of course, Roan could also use Rean's Light bending skill, so with his experience in moving stealthily, it wasn't hard at all. He was also the one with Dark Element Affinity, so he could fight the influence of the crimson sphere while Duran had his green pendant.

The other duo was obviously Rean and Frin. Rean used his Light bending skill and stayed far away from the Silver Fenrir, observing the surroundings. Their objective was to warn Roan and Duran way before another encirclement could close in on them.

Sure enough, the crimson spheres had demon beasts protecting them instead of not having any demon beasts in the vicinity. That was the only thing the red-eyed being could do to try and prevent the attack of Rean's group.

However, Duran sighed when he arrived near the crimson sphere. "As I thought, they were caught up by it." On the ground, close to the sphere, Duran could see two human bodies. One of them was Kumo, and the other one was Vance. Both of them were Transition Realm Zasfins. Just as Roan mentioned, these spheres only cared about the souls of demon beasts. Any other race would just be killed by its power.

Roan didn't seem too surprised at all. "Ignore that and destroy the crimson sphere. We don't know if the enemy has a way to find our presence once we get close to the sphere itself. Also, you better be prepared since we'll probably find more of your Zasfin forces as we destroy more spheres."

Duran then showed an expression of resolve as Wind and Lightning Element gathered with the help of his Spiritual Energy and Soul Power. Soon after, he released his skill as he grabbed Roan and rushed out of there as quickly as possible. He made it so that he would be out of there before the attack arrived.

*Boom!*

All the demon beasts in the vicinity noticed the huge explosion and rushed to where the sphere was. Unfortunately, the crimson sphere was already gone. As for Roan and Duran, they were nowhere to be seen. The good thing was that Duran didn't need to care about the sound of his movements. After all, the explosion of the crimson sphere and everything else around covered it. Roan still had the Light bending skill active, so their escape was even easier.

From a distance, Roan noticed that only a few of the high-level demon beasts disappeared after the crimson sphere was dealt with. "It seems like a lot of the demon beasts weren't connected to this specific sphere."

Duran nodded as he continued to make his way to where Rean and Frin were. "Indeed. However, that also means some demon beasts disappeared in other places as well. The enemy is probably randomly assigning the demon beasts to different spheres so that they could still deal with us on the off chance they fail to protect the sphere. Otherwise, as soon as we destroy the sphere, all the enemies around us would disappear like the others."

Roan agreed with Duran on that. "That's not bad either. It also means that many high-level demon beasts have now disappeared in other locations as well. I guess we can assume that the spheres with most of the protection are the ones that captured the souls of Darian and the others. After all, they have their real bodies and are Divine Demon Beasts. They pose the greatest chance of stopping us, so they must not let the spheres they're connected to be destroyed. They would lose its support and die straight away if that happens."

Not too long after, Roan and Duran arrived at Rean and Frin's location. "Alright, we still have a lot of work to do. Let's head to the next crimson sphere."

Everyone nodded as Duran, Roan, and Rean hopped on Frin's back. The Silver Fenrir then immediately dashed away, completely ignoring the commotion made by the demon beasts in the place where they destroyed the last sphere.