Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 489 It Was Him (Part One)

An unnatural chill crept through their skins like goose bumps, and a stench smell of something rotting lingered through their senses. Inside the dungeon, where the air was damp, and the light was dim, Darren, together with the grand-elders, sifted through the blood-drained, withered body. After being repeatedly attacked, that body did not show any deformities nor injuries—still a stiff, dead-like body. Yet, what bothered them was, all of them, including Darren, could hear clearly and vividly the snoring sound that revealed from the body, and even the loud beating of the body's heart.

Everyone went cautious and vigilant, preparing themselves for anything unpredictable. On one end, Darren patiently waited for a short moment. Then, finding nothing dangerous, he took a deep breath and was about to go and free his sister.

However, after he took a series of steps, an odd, whistling sound was heard.

Out of nowhere, a dark green attack was abruptly launched in the air, making them gasped in surprise. The runes were whirling and tumbling in the air creating a towering mist and soon rushed into Louis's head, right between his eyes.

"Ahhhhrggghhh!" immediately after the potent attack hit him, Louis moaned painfully.

With the impact of the colossal force, the elder fell on the ground as aftermath. His head was drenched in blood as the veins on his forehead twitched horribly. After a few seconds, he struggled on the ground bearing the agonizing pain. He had his hands covering his eyes for the blinding pain made him see nothing at all. In a split second, he lay still and motionless on the ground—he was definitely dead.

"Louis!"

Shocked and dazed at what happened all of a sudden, the other two grand-elders bellowed in the pain of losing their fellow.

Both of them went over to revive Louis back to life, hopefully. However, the moment they sensed that his soul had gone and turned into nothing but part of the endless void in the afterlife, the two grand-elders gave their hopes up.

Louis had a powerful soul, yet now he was killed in a blink of an eye. Darren and the other two grand-elders, who were just behind Louis, weren't able to see who killed him nor, where the attack was coming. “Whoever it is must be really powerful. Who can the killer be?" the cultivators had the same thoughts in mind.

Witnessing such a horrible death was like an insult for Horace. Thus, he made up his mind and thought that he did not have the leisure of the time to mourn for his brother. Instead, Horace secured Louis's body in his spatial treasure and looked around cautiously with tears in his eyes. "Horace, Louis was killed just like that! He was killed as if he was just like a mosquito—one slap and then gone! He's dead! Our enemy is too powerful!" as he drew near to Horace, Rocky fearfully exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

"We don't have time to be sad right now. Master, hurry, and free your sister now. I will open a space passage for you so that you may escape from here!"

Looking at Darren this time, Horace urged him to waste no time and be quick in saving his sister. Then, Horace concentrated on cutting with his rule power, the thread condensed by rule power that bound Belle to captivity.

"Roar!"

As they were about to free Belle, at that very instant, the blood-colored body suddenly opened his eyes, showing the golden lights in his eyes.

"Master, hurry!" Horace shouted at Darren while he opened a crack for them to escape.

Seeing the escape route, Darren rushed up quickly and opened the Ancient Void Battlefield. In an instant, Belle was sucked into the Ancient Void Battlefield.

As Darren looked back, his eyes rested upon the blood-colored body. To his puzzlement, Darren could not sense the level of his cultivation base at all. As a consequence, doubt started to form in Darren's mind. He dared not rush to drag along the blood-colored body in the Ancient Void Battlefield. The reason was, he was worried that even Finley could not defeat him. If that happened, it would mean trouble for him.

Seeing that Darren freed Belle, Horace held up to his strength to maintain the small space passage, which was connected to the outside of the dungeon. He had chosen a destination away from the dungeon as far as he could.

"Master, please go now!"

Hearing Horace's encouragement, Darren didn't hesitate anymore. He rushed towards the space passage as fast as he could.

Under any circumstances, if that powerful invisible opponent started to attack again, or the blood- colored body began to fight against them, all the cultivators that would be left inside the dungeon would undoubtedly die, including the two grand-elders. Thus, at that crucial moment, he could not hesitate to escape. Most importantly, Darren thought that if he died, the Ancient Void Battlefield would collapse, and everyone inside it would die as well—his sister, the Water Kylin, Holy Lord Diana, Finley, and Denise.

"After having interrupted me, now you want to run away?" Inside the forbidden area, a voice was heard all of a sudden. Then, with a thunderous growl, the invisible enemy that they had, shouted, "Seal up!"

Boom!

A rune flashed and appeared without warning, shutting up directly the space passage that Horace conjured. As Darren was just a few inches away from the passage, the crack was sealed all of a sudden, giving him no time to escape.

"Oh, we are trapped! We are in big trouble now! Our enemy is too strong!" Horace proclaimed with a sad expression. His hopes were almost shattered at the sealing of the escape crack. Yet, he had to be resilient for himself and everyone else.

With no chances of escape now, Darren landed on the ground. Keeping still for a short moment, he also sensed that the enemy hidden in the dark was too powerful, and he did not stand a chance once he launched an unexpected attack on him.

"Sir, thank you for everything,” Darren said to Horace while he bowed to him with utmost adoration. He disregarded the enemy lurking in the shadows right now. He took a moment to express his gratitude towards Horace for his unselfish efforts on helping him out.

"Master, what are you doing?" asked Horace in a confused tone.

"We did not know each other for long. At the start, I let you submit to me by force, but you do not hate me in return. On the contrary, you helped me a lot and even risked your life for my sake. Please accept my respect,” with reverence to Horace, Darren said while he bent his knee and bowed to Horace again.

What Horace had done a moment ago had deeply touched Darren. Admittedly, it would take a loyal disciple to do that for his master. Darren was confident that Horace was sincere in offering his services, and the young martial artist appreciated such acts in return.

Though the fact remained that Darren could control their lives, no one would be benevolent enough to let someone escape from such a dangerous place, and such a perilous situation and put their own lives on the line. Yet, Horace did—indeed, a magnanimous act. At the same time, the three grand-elders did not know Darren for long too. However, they had learned to trust him as he had proved himself worthy along the way.