"They won't hurt me. No matter how loudly you shout, it's useless."
Austin flashed a faint smile at Prince Amit.
Princess Esther, who had been escorted back to the Elf Cosmos along with Austin, now stood next to him, completely dumbfounded.
Back when they had been captured, she had been scared out of her wits, feeling sure that the chances of them surviving were slim to none.
So what was happening in front of her now was all the more of a shock to her. But for the first time since their capture, she felt a trickle of hope blooming in her heart.
'Is this why he dared to come back to the Elf Cosmos?' she wondered.
Although she didn't understand what was happening exactly, she could surmise that Austin had a few tricks up his sleeve that she didn't know about. All she knew was that Prince Amit's men weren't going to hurt them, after all.
The nonchalance on Austin's face seemed to indicate that he wasn't worried in the slightest, and that calmed her down as well.
On the other hand, Prince Amit couldn't help but panic. "You brat, did you do something to them?
Tell me what you did to them!
I'm warning you, you're standing on the land of the Elf Cosmos. You can't afford to be presumptuous!" he shouted.
But of course, only dogs barked; wolves just struck their enemy without warning.
"The land of the Elf Cosmos? Do I look like I care?"
Austin sneered.
The next moment, unbeknownst to everyone, he focused all his attention and energy on using the Puppet Strings.
This time, countless red threads rushed out of his Soul Sea and swiftly shot out in all directions.
Standing in the hall were numerous creatures who worked for Prince Amit, but only half of them were strong and skilled enough to be worth controlling.
The other half were weak and only good for carrying out small orders.
Therefore, Austin didn't bother targeting them. He didn't want to waste his secret skill of the Puppet Strings on them.
Instead, the red threads just rushed towards the former half, the creatures who could really be of use to him.
Soon, all the creatures that had been attacked by the red threads became obedient and docile. They were now Austin's slaves.
Most of them had no power to resist at all, so they had been subdued in an instant.
Only one of them, a genuine medium-grade divine god, resisted to some extent.
He was the most powerful martial arts master in Prince Amit's mansion.
Austin guessed that this divine god acted an adviser to Prince Amit. Of course, in his eyes, all of them were just small fry.
Prince Amit, who had no idea what had just happened right under his nose, began running his mouth again. "How dare you look down on the Elf Cosmos? What an arrogant asshole!
Everyone, attack this human brat. We must kill him right here without delay!
Whoever launches the strike that kills him will be rewarded handsomely!"
he shouted at his men, but there was a trace of fear in his voice. He k
ved the utmost respect and obedience.
They immediately got to work and activated the array in no time.
Once the gates of the array were open, Austin rushed into the array along with the large chunk of space.
He disappeared as fast as he appeared, unnoticed by the guards.
'Shadow Cosmos, I'm coming, '
he sneered in his heart.
The last time he visited the Shadow Cosmos, he had been hunted down by the members of the shadow race. No one had been able to bully Austin before that—or after, for that matter. That unique experience was rooted in his heart so deep that he couldn't swallow the humiliation.
The only way he would be able to move past it was he went back to the Shadow Cosmos and settled his grudge with Donahue, the leader of the shadow race.
When Austin was on his way to the Shadow Cosmos, the Elf Cosmos was not in peace.
Somewhere in a hidden space in the Elf Cosmos, an old elf who had been sitting cross-legged and meditating for a long time suddenly opened his eyes with an unexpected cry, his face full of surprise and confusion.
This old elf was none other than the Elf King, the ruler of the Elf Cosmos!
'It's strange. Why did I suddenly lose contact with my eldest son?
It doesn't make sense.
I have a spiritual avatar in his Soul Sea, so I should be able to sense his existence all the time.
But now... I don't sense him at all.
Is he in danger? What happened to him?
I have to go there and see what's happening right now, '
the Elf King thought worriedly to himself.
He stood up and took a step forward. He then disappeared immediately.
When his foot touched the ground, he had appeared in Prince Amit's mansion.
When he saw the scene in front of him, he couldn't help but let out a horrified scream.
Although the mansion wouldn't look anything out of the ordinary to a commoner's eyes, someone as powerful as the Elf King was able to identify the difference right away. "A patch of space is missing!"