Chapter 2706: Chapter 2706: Absorption

The others were shocked at Cailen's orders, but they knew they had no other options.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

They didn't even have the time to think. If they stopped even for a second, death would come swiftly.

Obeying Cailen's orders, each warrior immediately summoned all their strength to flee in all directions.

Click!

Elizabeth caught the bottle eagerly.

She squeezed it with her bare hand, her fingernails digging into the glass until it shattered. It was only then that she realized the bottle was empty!

Immediately, she looked up, her brows creasing in fury. Yet, there was a strange beauty to her rage. “How dare you fool me,” she said under her breath. Turning to look at the figures darting all over the land trying to escape, she cried, “You are all courting death!”

Phew!

She stretched out her massive wings, launching herself into the sky. With every flap, she seemed to shatter her surroundings, with cracks snaking their way around her.

The whole province was caught inside the Cage of Heaven and Earth which immobilized the Grand Teleportation. However, Elizabeth was no ordinary person; she could easily break the cage if she wanted to.

Since she was already using the Illusory Projection, she couldn't use the Grand Teleportation. However, she still had the Truth of Void Destruction, which granted her inhuman speed.

Crack!

As Elizabeth flew forward, cracks seemed to shatter the sky, resembling a spider's web. It was as though she were dancing on a fragile mirror, leaving hairline cracks wherever she touched.

“She's quick!”

Hearing the cracking noise, Cailen whipped his head around to see where it was coming from. His face turned pale.

Even though he had done his best, maximizing the power of his Other Shore Token in an attempt to flee, Elizabeth was gaining on him quickly. He knew she'd catch up to him in the blink of an eye.

His expression darkened as he glanced around him, desperate for a solution.

To his left, one of his younger brothers, Ruben Su, was speeding alongside him. To the right was Zen.

Without hesitating, he conjured two more bottles. “Catch these!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Using his remaining strength, he flung the bottles out towards the two.

Meanwhile, Zen was focused on flying as fast as he could. He barely made out what Cailen yelled, but his eyes widened once he saw one of the bottles flying towards him. “Dang it!”

This was what Elizabeth was after, so whoever had the bottle was bound to die.

Zen was no fool. Although he had been curious about the Shade Stone, he was well-aware that his life was more important in this moment. Consequently, he had no intention whatsoever to catch the bottle.

As Zen was busy contemplating, Elizabeth had caught up to Cailen. Sneering at his pitiful, fleeing figure, she snapped her fingers; three strands of golden light shot out, dainty and fluid like a silk thread. One of these silky golden strands flew towards Cailen.

Puff!

The instant the golden light touched Cailen, his body flashed a bright light momentarily, eventually disintegrating into black ash.

The other two strands split up, chasing after the bottles in mid-air.

One golden strand darted towards a bottle in lightning speed, piercing through the glass. The bottle exploded, and nothing came out. It was but a decoy. The strand didn't hesitate, instantly flying towards Ruben. ṝ𝘼ΝՕβĘs

Like his brother, the second he was touched by the golden light, his body was lit aflame until he was a pile of ashes.

Meanwhile, the third and last ray of golden light was flying towards the other bottle, the one near Zen. In an instant, the light connected the glass bottle, shattering it completely.

Clap!

The moment the bottle exploded, a black mass oozed out of it.

The Shade Stone had its own soul. Having been trapped in the bottle, it had been struggling, always looking for a way out.

Now that the bottle was broken, it finally had a chance!

As he was flying as fast as he could, Zen spread out his spiritual sense to find out what was happening around him. It wasn't long before he sensed the Shade Stone making its escape not too far away from him.

He cursed in his heart, 'Cailen, why did you throw the right bottle to me? You should have thrown it to your brother! If the demon woman gets the Shade Stone, she will stop chasing after me! You set me up on purpose!'

Of course, Zen hadn't known that Cailen had been in a state of panic just then. Not having the time to identify which between the two bottles held the Shade Stone, he just threw them blindly in the hopes of confusing Elizabeth.

Whoosh!

“Dang it!” Zen sensed the black mass was making its way towards him, confused.

When the Shade Stone caught up to him, it condensed on his back.

“What the heck?”

Zen cursed angrily.

The Shade Stone was supposed to be intelligent. Why did it choose to condense on his back instead of running away from him?

Just as Zen was about to summon a spell to shake the Shade Stone off, the silky golden strand shot towards him.

Zen's eyes widened as he realized he would not have the time to counter. These rays of golden light were the same as the golden balls that Bella condensed. The divine flames from Elizabeth were much more powerful than the flames that Bella and Mary used.

Whoosh!

Zen tried to somersault to dodge the ray of golden light, but he was a split second too late. The silky golden strand enveloped his body.

Puff!

A fierce divine flame burned all over Zen's body.

At this moment, despite being scorched alive, Zen's only thought was to keep running forward.

“What the--?”

Shock was written all over Elizabeth's face.

No one had survived her divine flames before. She thought she'd easily retrieve the Shade Stone upon turning Zen into ashes.

But to her surprise, Zen was still very much alive, running away from her as fast as he could.

'He must have some sort of fireproof treasure, ' she thought.

However, given his cultivation level, no matter how special his theurgy was, she knew he wouldn't be able to resist the divine flames for long.

Elizabeth flew towards Zen, observing him carefully.

Zen might have been aflame, but that didn't seem to slow him down.

In fact, it seemed he was picking up speed!

Elizabeth was dumbfounded. Not only was Zen unharmed by her divine flames, it was as though they were empowering him. In fact, when Bella found out about such an ability of his, she had been planning to capture him and take him to the Divine Lair for investigation.

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile faintly. This person had officially piqued her interest.

Even without using the divine flames, she could still easily kill Zen. Her cultivation had greatly weakened the second time she used the Illusory Projection, but she could still release thousands of divine megatons of force and easily tear Zen into pieces.

However, she wanted to see how Zen escaped. She knew he would definitely fail, but still she was curious.

While she followed him, another strange thing happened.

Zen's determination to shake off the Shade Stone seemed to manifest as whirlpools emerged from his body, sucking in the divine flames like a vacuum.

Because the Shade Stone had been burned by the Nine Edges Weapon Refining Array, it had become a sticky black mass. And now, under the influence of the divine flames, it melted into liquid on Zen's back, eventually sucked into the whirlpools.

When Zen collected his wits, he realized that the Shade Stone was nowhere to be found.