The dust erupted the moment the wall broke down; it covered the entire area. Kael stood there casually, as his mana wrapped around his eyes.

Because of his mana, he was able to see through the dust. He noticed that the room didn’t have anything in it, but there were some hard stones kept around the corners of the wall.

His gaze lingered on those stones for a while, as a creepy fact appeared inside his mind. "They are not stones."

Mana left through his body, travelled towards the stones as it wrapped around them completely.

But even if he used his mana, they still felt as if it were a stone. "Their property and structure are definitely that of a stone."

"But stones kept around the corner of this place?"

He himself travelled towards one of the corners of the room and leaned next to them. "Let’s see."

He grabbed one of them, lifted it as he let his mana flow through the stone. The moment he did that, the mana flow of his broke instantly.

A slight dissatisfaction hit him as he muttered. "There’s a barrier applied to this which blocks the mana of people, but even mine?"

A small sigh passed through his mouth. "The barrier affinity isn’t that of a normal human; someone of a great calibre had done this."

He then covered his mana alongside his aura, although both affinities are of the same type, he managed to combine them.

Then, he let it pass through the stone, and it easily passed through the barrier. "It only blocks aura and mana if they’re passing through it alone, but both together? That’s a different case."

The moment his energy passed through the stone, the affinity of it changed, and a new shape appeared, which made Kael frown.

It was a skull, not a normal kind, but that of a child. "What?!"

A sort of discomfort appeared on his face as he squinted his eyes a bit. "Skull of a child in a place like this?"

A vein popped through his temple as he clenched his fist. "The moment I saw that fake holy order, I knew that something wasn’t right, but I ignored it."

"Whatever they do, I don’t care about it. But if they touch Sylas, I’ll be taking their heads." He muttered as he crushed the skull resting in his hand with his brute force.

He started walking forward again. At the end of the room, there was a door set in the middle of the wall. He stepped through it and found himself in another room, filled with a group of unconscious children.

His gaze shifted from one kid to another, as he kept looking until there weren’t any of them left. "Sylas isn’t in this room," he muttered.

But before he could think about doing anything else, a loud voice came from his side: THUD. His gaze shifted towards them instantly. A couple of men dressed in complete black entered the room.

Some of them carried a staff, and the others had a sword tucked at their waist. One of them stepped forward and unsheathed the sword. "Who are you, intruder?" His voice carried malice.

Kael’s gaze lingered on him, then the rest. He stayed still and didn’t say anything for a while, but then he finally spoke. "I don’t have to reply to someone who’s about to die soon."

The moment Kael’s words struck them, a surge of mana rippled outward. The shockwave born from that power crashed through the air, making the men shiver abruptly.

The man gulped; he lifted his gaze lightly. "I-I don’t know much..."

"Why did you kidnap the kids?" Kael crossed his arms and looked right into the man’s eyes.

The man took a deep breath, composing himself before continuing. "We captured kids because the high priest said it was the order of god, and he, alongside the kids, is inside the next room." He pointed towards the door from which they came.

Kael squinted his eyes as his gaze lingered on the door. There was a mere amount of energy coming out through that door. "Something’s taking place in there which is consuming mana."

He didn’t say anything as he walked past everyone present in there, and made his way towards the door.

When he entered, his steps remained static. He noticed that there were multiple mana circles made out of ashes on the floor, and unconscious kids were kept inside each circle.

He shifted his gaze towards the front. A man was standing next to a slab on which multiple lit candles were kept.

That man had a long white beard, dressed in an all-black robe with golden embroidery. He was mumbling something as he kept making his hands produce mana circles next to the slab.

Kael frowned as a thought lingered inside his mind. "That man is trying to summon something."

He walked towards the man, but before he could even keep a step forward, a sword stopped right next to his throat. His gaze shifted towards the person to whom that sword belonged.

"Halt, and explain yourself why you’re here." A man dressed in armour from top to bottom said out loud. His armour carried an emblem of a staff surrounded by holy power embroidered across the front.

Kael studied him for a while, and then he let his mana escape through his body. His mana wrapped around the man’s sword completely, making it difficult for him to keep a hold of it.

"I don’t talk to preys."

The man squinted his eyes as he exerted more of his strength to get a hold of his sword back, but he failed.

Veins popped through his neck, face started to turn red because of the strength he was putting in.

"Let go, you lowlife." The man said.

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A/N

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