336 From the Land of Anguish, Comes Anguish

Just when Baldy Kris thought that he would soon be reunited with his deceased friends of old, a large hand suddenly appeared behind the robed man's head. The robed man did not notice it until it grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground. The hand slid down to the robed man's neck, and before he could let out a scream, the hand twisted; and the robed man's neck was broken.

Baldy Kris felt a chill run down his spine. 'Hell no; there's someone even more ruthless?!'

The hand tossed the corpse aside, and Baldy Kris found himself looking at Baiyi. The soul armature gazed at Baldy Kris with an indifferent expression, then he raised a finger and pointed it at Baldy. Before the Great Sage could react, a jet of water shot out of Baiyi's finger and sprayed his face.

"First, wipe that face," Baiyi advised.

Baldy Kris's breaths came in short bursts after that, but he grabbed the edge of his sleeve and wiped his face with it; after that, he began to calm down and said, "Thank you for coming to my rescue, Master Hope…"

"Oh please, look at you! You're at least a Legendary-level fighter, aren't you? How were you forced into that state by a Master-level lowlife?" Baiyi demanded. 'This guy really isn't here for the treasure, is he? He does not seem to have any gears, potions, or a basic weapon! What is he doing here? Sightseeing?'

Baldy Kris chuckled awkwardly and explained himself. "I… I, er, was actually on my way to an academic conference in the city when I heard the news about this place; that was why I came over. I never expected this to happen, honestly! I thought his Majesty's rules would be in effect, which would make this treasure hunt very safe, you know?"

"Oh please. No treasure hunt ends without casualties. Forget about those foolish 'rules'. Places like these are jungles where you're either the hunter or the hunted," Baiyi replied.

In Baiyi's mind, however, he had long since thrown his hands into the air because of the Great Sage's idiotic behavior; he had actually ventured into the secret dimension without any preparations whatsoever! What had given him the courage to embark on this venture unequipped? Fish Leong?

"I know, I know." Baldy sighed after a brief reflection. Contrary to what Baiyi thought earlier, Baldy Kris produced a few magical gears from his storage pouch and equipped them. He never thought he would have to use them because he had originally intended to attend an academic conference. 

After equipping his gears, Baldy Kris looked like someone who was ready to kill in order to find the secret treasure. It was plain to see that he had little interest in the mysterious treasure; he was more interested in exploring the secret dimension. He took out some test tubes and filled them up with a few debris he picked up from the ground. He intended to carefully conduct tests on them when he returned to the Doors of Conundrum.

With a brooding tone of voice, he said, "According to a rough estimation, this unique space that attached to Isythre has, at least, a few thousand years worth of history! There is so much here to study and analyze. This dimension, for what purpose was it created? How was it created? So many mysteries… To academics, this space itself is the biggest treasure! But…"

He eyed the two corpses on the ground and sighed. He was sad that the time he had to explore this dimension was very limited. "Now that the mysterious treasure in this dimension is being fought over for, leading to environmental damage from mana and battles, I can't even be sure that this dimension will remain standing after all this is over. What if the damage exceeds the limit of what the dimension can take, causing it to collapse? We… We should get going. Try to rescue as many of our friends as we can, then we get out of here."

"First, we need to think of how to get out," Baiyi replied, with a somber tone. "I am yet to find a way to go back to Isythre, but maybe…"

He pointed at the black castle standing in the distance. "Maybe we can find a way out over there. I saw a lot of people headed there, but I'm afraid this may cause another round of bloody massacres."

"Sigh. We should at least find our companions from the Doors of Conundrum, right? They are from the Executive Branch, but they ventured into the dimension as well. Nevertheless, they can fight better than I can," Baldy Kris said.

After that, they both began to look for the other sages from the Doors of Conundrum.

Bloody murders were being committed all across the wasteland of the secret dimension. Many had been reluctant to kill at first, but as time went on, they found themselves slaying the competition because they realized that the reverse would be the case if they sat still. Furthermore, there were some factions who seemed hellbent only on killing others, as though that was the reason why they had entered the dimension. As there were no rules in this secret dimension, many were unable to stifle their bloodlust.

The casualty toll increased every second. Morality and compassion had long since being abandoned, and the secret dimension had become similar to a primal jungle filled with predators and prey.

Baiyi saved many and silently executed others. His goal was to garner a better image for himself in the eyes of others — an image of chivalry and bravery. This was the reason why he chose to leave the castle and join the fray for a while.

He admitted that his goal was technically a self-serving, self-designed one; it was also very despicable and unethical, and it was a complete drag to carry out. However, for the sake of his plan to escape the Void with the other Voidwalkers, this was one of the things he had to do.

"This… This whole thing is a sham. In words from earth, you're just a bi*ch in sheep clothing; a manipulative bastard!" The Shadow Walker taunted from the Void, without hiding her disgust.

"Hey now, that hurts a little. Plus, I'm only doing this for the sake of our future. It is only a step that leads us closer to our ultimate goal," Baiyi retorted. "Plus, I'm far from being the only one who does this sort of schtick."

"Oh, of course! If you could pick up some beautiful girls along the way, you would, wouldn't you?" The Shadow Walker snapped. 

"That? Naw. I already find my current task a drag," Baiyi muttered quietly. "Besides, I don't think there are girls like that this time."

Before Baiyi ventured back into the wasteland, he spent some time pondering the best course of action he could take. In the end, he decided that when he found the book, he would not just leave the secret dimension while the others were still trapped inside. He decided to go out and rescue people from the factions he had no quarrel with, however, purely because this genocide would serve nothing substantive for Baiyi's future goal.

After a while, Baiyi and Blady Kris rescued a high-level sorcerer from the Sorcerers' Association. The sorcerer thanked them profusely and chose to tag along with them.

However, the speed at which they rescued could not match the speed with which killings occurred. Many survivors had begun to band together for safety, but all this did was make it easier to kill more of them off in a shorter period of time.

"Master Abbot must have been detained by the enemies. Prithee, leave. None of you will be able to guard your life against this one. I shall remain to engage with him," said the maudlin-faced northerner to his companions hiding behind him.

The man was already in a sorry state. His body was riddled with lacerations of varying degrees, and a frighteningly long cut — from his forehead to the left eye, and right down to his chin — was visible on his face. His right arm hung limply at his side; it had been broken.

Standing in front of the maudlin-faced northerner was a paladin clad in silver armor. This paladin was the leader of the Church's forces — Paladin Grand Cross Roland. Behind him laid dozens of bodies, some were people from the Church, while others were northerners.

It turned out that some paladins and crusaders had rendezvoused at that location earlier. They planned to head towards the Demigod Priest together, but they were ambushed by some northerners. The paladins and crusaders fought with everything they had, but the northerners held the advantage because they had the help of the Northern Scholar. Soon, the paladins and crusaders were all slain, and the northerners began to plunder the items dropped by the deceased. Paladin Grand Cross Roland rushed over, and by the time he got there, he met the northerners beheading the corpses.

One of those corpses was the Paladin Grand Cross's beloved student.

He had no hope that the deceased could be summoned back as soul armatures someday, and this was because the secret dimension would not hold out for long and would eventually collapse.

"None of you… are getting away with this." The Paladin Grand Cross muttered with a cold tone, his eyes bloodshot.

He and his broadsword moved as fast as lightning, and the northerners tried to escape. A blade made of combat chi pierced the neck of an escaping northerner, and his head flew into the air, leaving behind a fountain of blood gushing out of his neck.

"Swinging your blade at a man who already has his back turned? What a righteous paladin you are, aye?" The mauldin-faced northerner finally forced a smile. He knew he would be unable to escape, so he sought respite by taunting his assailant. 

"Cleansing the realm of heretics such as yourself has always been the tenet of our faith, knave. I rue… I rue the day you stepped foot on the Southern Land because I failed to immediately obliterate you…" The Paladin Grand Cross said in a hoarse voice.

He raised his broadsword and slashed the air three times, and three human heads soared into the air; they belonged to remaining northerners, who had attempted to escape.

"This… is how it feels to lose your loved ones. Remember this, and repent in hell!"

A silver arc flashed, and the maudlin-faced northerner breathed no more.

Blood splattered all over the Paladin Grand Cross's silver armor, but he paid it no mind. He did not wipe the blood off his face and walked towards the head of his student in a daze. He dropped to a knee and hug the head in his arms, and his body trembled.

This was the struggle of a man trying not to cry out from overwhelming agony.

Roland held a simple burial rite for the deceased paladins and crusaders. When he was done, he pulled the Scripture pendant off his neck and placed it on the grave of his beloved student; after that, he stood up and headed off in the direction of the Demigod Priest.

Killings occurred throughout the realm. The death toll increased because more people gathered together for survival, and they ended up slain together.

When the Demigod Priest, who was still emitting intense waves of mana into the sky, caught wind of the news from those who managed to reach him, he sighed dejectedly and muttered "We really shouldn't have come here. Our actions have betrayed the teaching of our god! And I, who allowed this to happen… must now be denied access to the gates of Ascension by our god, right?"

"O' Saint Joel! Even though my power has surpassed yours, I am still unworthy to venture onto the path your tread! In the end… I'm nothing but a self-proclaimed saint, after all," the Demigod Priest, whose name was Saint Jonah, murmured sadly.

All around him were the surviving Church members, but they were only few in number. Too many had lost their lives on the way to the rendezvous point…Fish Leong— yes, her name is, um, Fish— is a famous Cpop singer from Malaysia. This is a reference to her album, 'Courage' (2000).Ooh, savage!Good. I'd hate to see Kris die. He's just a curious scholar-scientist guy. He might even be a great addition to your version of the Big Bang Theory (show, not the theory). Don't kill the nerd!