Chapter 34: Blood Red Department

On the table in the meeting room, ten different screens were turned on. The senior Shadow Priests and the red-haired man were intently watching the screens. They could be watching their future master right now. That's why everyone was so attentive.

Everyone was now looking at the first screen, Noah's arm had been cut off and he had been beaten by Alexander. Everyone, especially Viper, closed their eyes and sighed sadly.

"I didn't think Noah would lose to Alexander. I heard that Noah's Inner Qi has been increasing lately. He had the potential to become a cardinal."

"Alexander is a genius at fighting, even if he lags behind in cultivation. He is also said to have a strange instinct for killing. He has a high combat intelligence... but he is still less valuable than Noah."

"Unbelievable. According to the latest reports, Noah's Inner Qi has doubled. What a pity, what a pity! Master, was it the right decision to give up such a genius?"

Everyone was questioning the cardinal's decision. The children here had been abandoned by their parents, so they could do what they wanted. But to waste hard-to-find geniuses like this... well, they couldn't do that.

That was throwing away your blessings.

Noah was not only a genius in terms of Inner Qi. He also had a terrifying growth rate. His capacity to learn was enough to make him one of the most dangerous beings of the future. When trained by a good master, he could be as terrifying as the cardinals.

But now he had been killed.

And by the one closest to him.

The red-haired man picked up the sword at his waist and gently unsheathed it. He said nothing as he gently caressed his weapon.

The others ignored this and continued to evaluate.

"Killing your best friend... Since nothing is tying him to this world, he might rebel against us. What should we do?"

"The goal of level four is simple. To destroy their existing self by giving them mental trauma. So that we can give them a new purpose in life."

"You are taking this matter too lightly. There is no human being who can forgive such a thing. When the time comes, or when he is strong enough, he will want revenge on us. He may even try to attack us now!"

"It was the cardinal himself who created this test. Since when do subordinates question the judgment of their masters? Know your place!"

"..."

Bang!

Everyone in the room paused and looked at the red-haired man with a startled expression. The terrifying aura filled the whole room, the old men felt they could not breathe.

"Master, what does it mean?!"

As the chameleon looked at the red-haired man, it released its aura and defended itself. Normally he would not have done this, but he sensed killing intent from the red-haired man. As the weakest person in the room, he felt the need to protect himself.

It was a survival instinct.

"Master!"

Before anyone in the room knew what had happened, the table was stained red, and the red blood splattered across the ceiling, freezing everyone's blood.

What was going on?

How did the Chameleon, one of Elysium's best masters of disguise, die instantly? He was a level nine expert! He was one of the few masters in Elysium. Even a Shadow Cardinal should not have been able to kill him instantly.

But the red-haired man had not moved.

"Heart Sword!"

The viper followed its instincts and threw itself backward, but without success. The red-haired man's sword severed his head from his body and killed him instantly. Even the Compound Eye with the highest vision could not see the sword.

What could the others do?

The red-haired man instantly slaughtered everyone except Shadow. In a matter of seconds, ten or so old masters were sent to the other world.

"Why?"

The red-haired man drew his sword expressionlessly and in one stroke severed Shadow's head from his body. The Shadow breathed in and out in terror until the last moment, unable to move for fear.

"I don't talk to the dead."

The red-haired man sheathed his sword and glanced at the screen. Then he gave a flick and everything in the room shattered into pieces.

Bang!

The door burst open and Jade Dragon and the other trainers burst in. At first, they were shocked by sight, but they quickly came to their senses and began to flee in terror.

The red-haired man did not move.

Yeşim Ejder and the others collapsed before they could move ten meters away.

"How long has it been since you used the Death Stare?"

The red-haired man tilted his straw hat and continued the slaughter. He killed every instructor in his path. Within half an hour the Black Dragon Company of the Shadow Cathedral was reduced to ashes. Even part of the Black Dragon Camp was accidentally destroyed.

"I have fulfilled my part of the deal, the rest is up to him..."

---

Rumble! Rumble!

Rumbling walls, trembling floor.

Alexander seemed to have lost his soul as he stared blankly at the hole in the wall. His long, bloody black hair obscured his face. Gravity seemed to increase several times as he struggled to his feet. The ground was like cold tar, gripping and pulling at his feet as he moved forward with Noah's body.

He went through the door and up the stone stairs.

Smoke, fire, debris, and human bodies were everywhere. Alexander looked at the bodies of familiar people on the ground and turned his head. The headless body of Vinmoore, one of the trainers he most respected, was covered in blood.

His head was a few feet away from his body. His eyes were wide open, an infinite terror still presents even though he was dead.

But Alexander didn't care.

It hurt.

He didn't know his heart could hurt so much. She couldn't bear the pain, her tear glands had dried up. There was no energy left in his body from crying. If not for the tyranny of the Sah Chakra, the energies in her body would have caused her to collapse.

He took a step.

Everyone was dead, but he didn't care why.

He took a deep breath, his mind, trained for years, commanding him to think rationally.

He walked, and he kept walking until he reached the main hall, which he visited very often. When he reached the main hall, he paused. He felt the many powerful auras surrounding Mount Heaven. What was happening? On top of all this, had the location of the cathedral been revealed?

"Alexan..."

He heard a low voice. Among the dozens of corpses in the main hall stood one who looked as pure as a lotus. Her blood-red eyes gave her voluptuous body a special charm. Her black hair was matted with blood, there were scars all over her body.

When Natasha saw Alexander, she couldn't hold back her tears. She wanted to go and hug him, but the reality was harsh. In Alexander's eyes, she was just a 'walking piece of meat'. She was nothing more than that.

"I'm glad you're alive. Thank you."

Wiping her tears with her bloody hands, she took a breath and controlled her emotions. Alexander hadn't said anything yet. He stood there silently, looking around at the familiar bodies. Most of them were instructors and special staff of the cathedral.

Some were good, and some were bad.

But he had known them for years.

"The mountain is surrounded. We need to escape from here. Follow me, there's a secret exit here somewhere. If we escape from there, we have a chance to survive."

Natasha pulled Alexander by the arm, but he didn't move. After staring blankly at the ground, he looked into Natasha's eyes.

"Don't bother me!"

Natasha pulled her hand away trembling.

Alexander passed him and went to the operating room. Of all the instructors, there was one to whom he was indebted. He had taught him so much and helped him out of many life-and-death situations.

The situation in the operating theater was much worse than in other areas. There were doctors from levels five to six, which made them weaker than the others. Forty decapitated corpses were a disgusting sight on the floor.

It would have been difficult to find what you were looking for among them.

"Here... I'm here..."

He heard a faint voice.

He walked over to the bodies to where the sound came from.

This was the Cloud Demon's private office. Having seen dozens of corpses on his way here, Alexander frowned at the sight inside.

The image of the middle-aged man nailed to the wall of the office was deplorable. The scene in the operating room and the living room was pleasant in comparison.

The middle-aged man's right arm and legs were severed. The holes where these limbs should have been were mercilessly cauterized. His eyes were gouged out, and blood from the grooves soaked his cheeks. The skin on the man's chest was completely scraped off and cauterized there too.

"You... Who?"

This masked man he recognized was the Cloud Demon himself.

Who hated him enough to make him like this?

"I'm sorry to appear in front of you like this, son... as for how I'm alive, I'm alive because someone else wants me to be..." The Cloud Demon sounded tired.

"Someone else?"

"Who else can make the whole department like this?"

"Cardinal... but why?"

"I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that I'm going to die soon. Anyway, I need you to do something for me."

Alexander was attentive. He owed the Cloud Demon a lot.

"Under my desk, you will see two energy spheres."

Alexander saw two white orbs of energy hidden in a compartment under his desk. From the lessons he had learned, this was a trigger. As long as he transferred enough energy to these energy spheres, a mechanism would be activated somewhere else.

"Transfer Shadow Energy to the one on the right and then to the one on the left. The one on the right goes to the Black Dragon's Lair and the one on the left to the Archives and Armory. I think the Shadow Dragon has made a deal with someone. Whatever happens, this information must not fall into their hands."

"I see."

The orders were clear.

Alexander obeyed the Cloud Demon and poured all the Shadow Energy in his body into the energy spheres. A few seconds later an explosion shook the whole mountain. Two more explosions followed.

"Thank you. Pfft."

"It doesn't matter."

Cloud Demon burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! I knew I'd end up like this, but I didn't expect it to be this amazing. Alexander, can you do me one more favor?"

Alexander looked at him silently.

His life force was declining very fast.

"I have a family out there. My daughter and my wife, are fragile people who think they are strong. Please don't let them get hurt!"

After saying this, the last of his life force left his body. With a crazy smile on his face, his life was over.

It was a fitting death for him.

"I see... and I'm sorry."

---