Chapter 326: Too Late

Claude reached into his storage ring and pulled out a space stone, its surface shimmering with condensed spatial energy. He handed it to Isabella along with a handful of mid-grade mana stones. The soulless woman accepted them without reaction, her mechanical hands closing around the items automatically.

The Clown knelt on the ground—CLOMP—his fingers carving intricate runes into the dirt with blinding speed—SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE. The formation took shape—a circular array of interconnected glyphs, each one pulsing with faint green light as his soul power infused them.

"Channel the space stone and your portal powers into the formation," the Clown instructed, his painted grin never faltering.

Isabella stepped forward, her void-filled eyes staring blankly at the runes. She pressed the space stone against the formation’s center—HUMMM—and her portal powers activated. Spatial energy flooded the array, the runes igniting in violet light, spinning, expanding, tearing a hole in the fabric of the Void Realm.

A portal opened—RIP—a shimmering disc of violet energy large enough for three people to walk through side by side. The other side was obscured by a haze of dark mist.

Claude went first, floating through with labored breath, his burns worse than he let on. The Clown skipped through, giggling. Draxos followed, his massive diminished form ducking through the opening, Kael still slung over Sebastian’s shoulder.

Sebastian crossed the threshold. Claudia limped through last.

The portal closed behind them, the spatial tear sealing itself as if it had never existed.

Silence returned to the battlefield. Craters, shattered earth, scorched stone, and pools of dried blood were the only evidence that a catastrophic battle had occurred.

A few seconds later, two figures appeared above the battlefield.

One had long white hair that caught the wind—SWISH—flowing behind him like a banner. The other was a female with white hair, her ice-blue eyes scanning the ground below.

Cassian Vale and Yenna Frostveil descended—WHOOSH—landing on the fractured earth. Cassian’s silver-white hair fell across his face as his feet touched the ground.

He looked down.

Rue lay unconscious on the ground, her face pale as snow. Sage knelt beside her, her body hunched over her sister’s form, her nine tails limp and dirty behind her. Tears streamed down Sage’s face, falling onto Rue’s motionless hands.

Cassian murmured, "Seems I was late."

Sage looked up. Recognition flickered through the exhaustion and grief.

"Cassian?" Sage’s voice was hoarse, cracked, barely above a whisper.

Cassian smiled gently, kneeling beside them. "Hey, Sage. You look like hell." His tone was light, but his eyes were sharp—already scanning Rue’s condition.

"Let me see her," he said.

He walked to Rue’s side and placed his hand over her wound. Time power glowed from his palm—HUMMM—a soft, green radiance that spread across Rue’s body like a blanket. The temporal field enveloped her and Cassian’s brow furrowed in concentration.

Seconds passed. The wound in Rue’s abdomen began to close—SQUISH—flesh knitting together, blood vessels reconnecting, skin reforming over the injury. The dark discoloration faded—DIM—the malevolent energy receding under the temporal reversal’s influence.

But Cassian frowned.

His temporal field couldn’t repair what the dark spear had devoured. Portions of Rue’s spiritual foundation were simply gone—eaten away by the Devouring Spirit Clan’s malevolent energy. The gaps in her spiritual foundation were like holes in a tapestry. At his current level, even as a Spirit Soul Rank 3, time alone couldn’t weave what wasn’t there.

"The wound is closed," Cassian said, withdrawing his hand. "Her physical injuries are stabilized. But her spirit foundation was damaged by the mysterious dark energy. Time healing can’t restore what was devoured. She’ll need to go somewhere with a lot of spiritual herbs to slowly rebuild her spiritual foundation."

Sage’s grip on Rue tightened. "I should take Rue back to the clan."

Then Sage looked up at Cassian. "What about Kael? He was taken."

"We’ll figure that out," Cassian said firmly. "But first, we need to leave this realm. The gates in the Void Realm will close soon."

The group moved, Sage carrying Rue in her arms. They arrived at the gate—HUMMM—the massive crystalline portal still standing, but Draxos’s demonic seal was still active on its surface, the purple-black runes pulsing with residual energy.

Cassian held out his pocket watch—CLICK. The artifact Grade treasure pulsed and temporal energy flowed from its surface, wrapping around the demonic seal. Time reversal. The runes on the gate began to reverse unraveling as if being written backward. The formation’s layers peeled away one by one, each layer dissolving into nothing.

Blood dripped from Cassian’s nose, his face paling. He staggered with his vision blurring. Yenna caught him, her hands gripping his arm.

"I’m okay," Cassian said, wiping the blood. "We need to leave quickly."

They entered the gate—FWOOSH—the crystalline surface swallowing them whole.

They reappeared at the IGF Central Base on Planet Verenthos. The staging area was chaos. Cultivators reuniting with their academies, their families, their clans. Medical teams rushed between groups treating the injured, carrying stretchers, administering pills. Officials recorded results and token returns.

Out of the ninety-six cultivators who had entered from the western sector, only fifty-four came out.

Forty-two cultivators had been lost to the Void Realm. Killed by beasts, traps, by other cultivators or by the catastrophic collapse of the Forge Twins’ sub-realm. Forty-two lives erased, their tokens dark.

People started meeting up with their guardians.

Rue and Sage’s guardians arrived—two imposing fox-kin elders, both at Peak Spirit Soul, their nine tails bristling with barely contained fury. The male elder was tall, his golden hair cropped short, his amber eyes blazing. The female elder was elegant, her silver-white hair flowing to her waist, her violet eyes cold as winter.

They saw their little mistress hurt, pale, and unconscious in Sage’s arms.

Their auras flared, twin pillars of golden-white fox fire erupting skyward. The pressure sent nearby cultivators stumbling. The elders’ eyes were murderously cold.

"WHO DID THIS?!" the male elder demanded—ROAR—his fox features manifesting partially, his golden ears pressing flat against his skull, his fangs extending. His Peak Spirit Soul aura pressed down on the staging area like a collapsing ceiling.

Two IGF officers immediately appeared sensing the commotion.

Cassian stepped forward immediately. "She’ll be okay as long as you feed her powerful spiritual herbs. High-grade ones. Her physical wounds are healed, but her spiritual foundation was damaged by a devoured weapon."

The female elder moved to take Rue from Sage’s arms, cradling the unconscious fox-kin with surprising gentleness. Her violet eyes softened as she looked down at Rue’s pale face.

Sage sighed, her body sagging with exhaustion and emotional weight. "What about Kael?" Her voice was desperate. "We have to find those guys who took him."

The male elder’s expression darkened. "We have to immediately take Rue back to the clan. The mistress’s safety comes first. We can search for your friend after—"

"There’s no need to look for Kael because there’s a high probability we are not going to find him if he was taken by them," Cassian said.