Chapter 514: It’s empty
Nevertheless, in the end, Glacia was a transcendent rank individual. That's why even amidst the fear that clouded her vision, she reached out towards the steel ring on her middle finger.
The ring contained a life-saving artifact gifted to her by the current Queen of the elven race a few years ago.
She never imagined a day would come when she would need to use it because it was incredibly precious to her. The artifact possessed the ability to transport the user to a distant planet or land in mere seconds, but due to the pure energy within, it couldn't be stored in the mind space.
Kyle paused in his actions as his eyes traveled downward toward the woman's fingers as she fiddled with the plain steel ring on her middle finger. He narrowed his eyes at the ring but blinked in confusion when Glacia spoke up in a tone filled with shock and disbelief.
"How...? Where did the artifact go-!"
Her words were cut short because Kyle closed his eyes and forcefully directed his spiritual energy into her body. He shut down all his senses to concentrate solely on her mind and, without any concern for the pain it would cause the woman, he started erasing her memories and consciousness.
Elli and Iva both turned their heads away from the harrowing scene as the woman screamed out in agony. Glacia's eyes started to lose life and blood seeped out from them to paint her face red.
After she endured a long and torturous minute, Kyle finally wiped everything from her mind. He then proceeded to separate her soul from her body. It was a delicate procedure, and if he injured her soul during the process, she would not be able to live a normal life once she entered the cycle of reincarnation because her impaired soul would impact her future existence. That's why he ensured his spiritual energy was as harmless as possible before enveloping her soul to separate it from her body so he wouldn't accidentally harm her soul.
'Just try to lead a better life next time...'
He watched as a faint light, pure yet slightly tainted with darkness, left Glacia's body and disappeared into the air before the woman's lifeless body gently fell back to the ground with a soft thud.
Kyle did not notice, but when he was about to touch Glacia's soul, the Tree of Fate got ready to intervene. It loved the silver-haired man's presence... yet the tree couldn't bear to watch from the sidelines when someone from the race it had protected for thousands of years was about to lose their entire existence, even though that very person wasn't a good individual.
However, when Kyle let her soul go without any harm, the tree branches that were just an inch away from breaking the round icy barrier surrounding the space retraced back with a pleasant hum, as if saying that even though the human heart had turned a lot colder, his soul remained untainted.
Kyle crouched down on his heels beside Glacia's body and removed the steel ring from her middle finger. He noticed a barrier around the ring and effortlessly shattered it with his divine energy, only to find the ring completely empty.
"Huh? It's empty..."
His words halted as he spotted a folded page floating within the ring's storage space. He took out the white page from the storage ring and unfolded it to reveal a few lines inscribed on its pristine surface. Kyle ran his thumb over the words and read them with a puzzled expression.
[Haha, it's Nine, your one and only best friend... I am taking what you asked me to. You lucky bastard, never forget this; you must inform me timely that I needed to steal it to save my life.]
He rubbed his chin when he read the familiar name he had heard from the two elven women a while ago. Instantly, blue flames spread out from his body to envelop Glacia's body before her body turned into ice that transformed into bright particles. He stood up and gazed back at the two elven women standing in the distance. Elli and Iva both flinched when they met his gaze, and they started to move back. Kyle clicked his tongue and realized the duo wouldn't be much useful anymore.
He folded the paper and tossed it inside his mind space. Anyway, he would investigate about Nine and the meaning behind the lines written on the paper later.
Kyle glanced around and murmured a few spells under his breath that he had learned to manipulate the natural elements around him like mages. Instantly, the broken land filled with pits and craters began to tremble before the earth gathered together to revert it back to its previous state.
He gazed at the damaged wooden house but, unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it since he had no idea how to control wood like water, air, fire, and earth.
Kyle glanced up at the icy layer that surrounded the space, and it started to crack under his gaze. He watched as the countless bright symbols covering the layer vanished, and the ice began to dissipate. Just within a few moments, the icy layer completely disappeared into thin air as if it had never existed in the first place, allowing the sunlight to filter through the leaves of the huge tree above him.
He cast one final glance at the two elven women and pulled his hoodie over his head. Elli and Iva were not even able to watch his fading figure because he just simply vanished into thin air.
Kyle appeared in the distance where he had sensed an old elven man lurking around. He didn't recognize the man, but he had a faint inkling that this man was the one who told Glacia about his presence. So, he beat up the old man enough to make the old town's head appearance unrecognizable.
After getting done with the old man, he decided to leave the planet since the person he had put the mark on had already left for the Sacred Divine Land.
However, before he could leave, the huge tree above him let out a loud noise and started to tremble violently.