The only other person still alive was Mo, and even he was struggling to not get burnt to ashes.

"How..." Cartel muttered in a daze, unable to believe his eyes.

Even Seraph was surprised. The technique was actually this potent!

It was powerful enough to burn several people to ashes, and even people like Mo and Cartel were struggling.

That didn’t matter, though. His smile disappeared, and his eyes turned frighteningly cold.

He stepped forward, exuding the presence of a predator. His soul pressure flushed out, forcing the two core disciples to their kness.

Seraph conveniently cancelled the Fire Domain technique since it consumed a lot of spiritual energy to maintain.

Approaching Cartel, he crouched before him and asked.

"The kidnapped disciples from Winter Peak. What do you know about them?"

Cartel groaned, his body quivering as he struggled against the pressure that threatened to crush him to the ground.

Still stubborn, he gritted his teeth and spat. "I won’t... tell you."

His reply was completely expected, so Seraph wasn’t even surprised. He simply moved on to the next step.

Producing a small knife from his storage ring, he pulled the guy’s ear and sliced it off.

"Khack!"

Cartel choked in pain, his eyes wide as he felt blood flow down the side of his face.

The pain was so intense that his head throbbed. His vision blurred, and it felt like he would collapse under Seraph’s soul pressure.

"Ready to talk?" Seraph’s voice came like a devil’s whisper, but he didn’t budge. He remained silent, hoping that Elder Han would notice the anomaly and come over to rescue him.

Unknown to him, the man had just stumbled upon Mila, who was weeping profusely, and had carried her back to his tent to ’comfort’ her.

"Alright." Seeing that he didn’t answer, Seraph moved on to the young man’s fingers.

The pinky finger fell first. Cartel tried to scream, but the pressure mounting on him didn’t allow that.

His eyes blurred with tears, and he started to regret being an Inferno Sect disciple. What exactly had he done wrong?

Without asking any question, Seraph moved onto the next finger and cut it off. Cartel chocked again, and desperately spoke.

"I... I will tell you. Everything I... keuk, know."

Only then did Seraph paused with his cutting. He didn’t release the soul pressure, still letting him struggle as he answered.

"Those disciples... that were kidnapped. Ugh, they’re ta...ken to the lower dungeon. Elder Han... didn’t touch them because... ack!"

He collapsed to the ground, unable to best the pressure any longer.

Seraph released his soul pressure slightly, letting him gasp and exhale. He wasn’t afraid of him suddenly attacking. After all, Cartel had already used up his spiritual energy to resist the flames of the Fire Domain.

"Because...?"

Pressing the knife to the guy’s middle finger, Seraph asked in a low voice.

Cartel immediately snapped back to his senses and answered.

"T-that... he said some special people are coming to interrogate them. I don’t know about who they are... but they’re not from our sect."

Seraph nodded, then cut the middle finger. Cartel immediately erupted with a scream.

Unfazed, Seraph smiled at him. "Thank you for cooperating. Now, I will end your suffering."

In one swift motion, he grabbed Cartel’s head and snapped his neck—killing him.

Then, his rainbow eyes shifted to Mo, who was just regaining consciousness.

Picking up his knife, Seraph stood up and approached him. The disciple’s face immediately warped into horror, realizing he was about to get tortured.

"No, wait, no! I’ll tell you everything you want to know!"

Seraph was a bit surprised by the bald guy’s easiness, but didn’t mind. It only made things easier for him.

"Good. The kidnapped Winter Peak disciples. Where are they?"

Mo answered carefully. "In the dungeon at the core court. No one has done any harm to them, but they have been restricted and are unable to use spiritual energy."

Seraph hummed, realizing his answer matched what Cartel had said.

"Is that so...?" He smiled, then stood up. "I should clear the evidences away."

Before Mo’s eyes could widen, the Fire Domain appeared again. Without spiritual energy to fend off the flames, he was immediately burnt and started rolling in pain.

Cartel’s corpse also caught fire and was soon burnt to crisp. After a few minutes, Mo had also been burnt to ashes.

Cancelling the technique, Seraph exhaled, dusted himself, then stepped away from the area. His business here has been completed, and there was no reason to linger around unnecessarily.

............

Back at the camp, Elder Han had just finished comforting the crying beauty—Mila, leaving her breathless and full.

"What the hell is that boy still doing? Where is my ring?"

Fuming inwardly, he gritted his teeth and decided to fondle with Mila’s assets to calm himself.

The girl squirmed and moaned, but he didn’t care. After a while, he stood up, wore his robes, and stormed out of the tent.

With a sweep of his spiritual senses, he found the location of the battle and descended there.

However, he was shocked when he saw what was left behind.

"Dead...? They’re dead?"

He almost couldn’t believe it. Also, the nature of their deaths left him feeling wary.

’Burnt to ashes.’

He walked up to Cartel’s corpse, seeing nothing but a pile of black bones. Then, his heart exploded with rage and fury.

"Arrghhhhh!!!"

The thief who had stolen the diamond spirit crystals was gone, and the crystals were gone also.

His eyes widened as he thought of how he’d even relay this information to the Sect Master.

"Damnit... I’m screwed."

He gritted his teeth and stomped on the ground, unleasing hellish flames that burned just as hot as Seraph’s Fire Domain.

"Whoever did this... Do not let me find you. Or I will destroy you."

Stomping on the ground once again, he turned around and returned to the camp.

The expedition was over, and there was no reason to linger behind. He needed to return and find a way to report his failure to the Sect Master, without ending up being killed.