Chapter 234: Unexpected

Aniela and Masami stayed rooted to their spots as their minds went through rapid situations on what to do. With each passing second that slips by of them thinking, it only makes targets for potential danger.

A half-step Heavenly Sage aura is for sure to capture any squadron group interest and for them to come over and check this area out. 

Moreover, there was also the unknown danger of just what was causing this half-step Heavenly Sage aura.

Masami wasn't all too keen on immediately running. There was the potential of gaining something tremendous here that will boost them for the short term. Plus, she was sure they also had other trump cards to rely on if it got seriously bad.

Aniela was split on whether to run or stay and go back into the cave. 

Her more rational side truly believes running will let them keep their lives. But there's also the dangling fruit of a tremendous treasure not even she wanted to pass upon.

Darcel wasn't split at all on the decision they should make. He had already decided in his mind to run off too. 

No matter what other abilities or trump cards they had, it wouldn't compare to genuine half-step Heavenly Sage power. Fighting that Heavenly Sage phantom Golden Crow Spirit open Darcel's eyes to the dividers of strength between cultivation realms. 

The only reason they even manage to get somewhere in hurting that golden beast was because of their Chaotic Energy. 

And carelessly using that kind of powerful energy wouldn't be all that smart going by what this independent realm is throwing at them. 

With his mind made up, Darcel was about to the girls that they all should leave.

Even if they had some desires to stay, Darcel knew they would ultimately follow his choice. But, right when Darcel opened his mouth to speak, he had abruptly frozen up. 

He, Aniela, and Masami all went utterly rigid as a considerable pressure washed down on their bodies.

In just the mere seconds they took to think, three powerful auras had suddenly blared out in their whole area! 

This powerful aura crushing down on the trio didn't even surprise them as much as the fact they couldn't even sense when they had appeared!

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami all have their Spirit Senses expanded for several miles, and they could pick up on even the tiniest of lifeforce. 

But these three auras were like they were ghosts! 

They simply appeared right over them from seemingly thin air. Some nerves began to tense Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's bodies as they immediately identified who these auras belonged to.

They felt a mix of rage and trepidation, at the same time wanting to fight but also wanting to run far away. In the instance these three powerful auras appeared, Darcel, Aniela, and Masmai's vision heavily darkened.

The Darkness had mixed in with the blue glow from the blue pillar of light, creating a slight chilling scene. 

Dread kept on filling Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's veins. Simultaneously they all shot their eyes up to the skies, and their pupils promptly became tiny needle sizes.

A pure sea of Darkness was hovering a couple of miles above their heads, and within the center of the darkness sea were three black robe figures.

"Shit! How the hell I couldn't sense them? And how did they get over here so quickly?!" Darcel unleashed a barrage of curses that was rather unlike him. 

Aniela and Masami couldn't blame him as they had the exact same surge of frustration. 

High up in the skies, those three damn Arch Raven Mages were imposingly floating above them.

Just like how they first appeared during the time they fought with the Crow Leaders, each of them was spouting undisguised arrogant expressions as they quite literally looked down on Darcel's group.

In their gazes, it was like staring at three stray dogs.

Before the trio could make any movement, they heard one of the Arch Raven Mages talk down to them. 

"So that's where that scent was coming from. How unfortunate for you three. Whatever you use to mask your presence may have helped you escape, but it couldn't make you invisible to our Darkness dome."

Arch Raven Noah spoke in a condescending tone as if he was explaining basic fundamentals to a bunch of fools. As he jeered, he, Arch Raven Kai, and Lydia slowly descended towards the trio.

All Darcel, Anilea, and Masami could do now was prepare themselves for another grueling battle. Even if they wanted to escape now, it wouldn't work since the Arch Raven Mages have their sights locked right on them.

Moreover, because of whatever they did to stay invisible from their Spirit Senses, these Mages manage to get the drop on them. 

Although, as the Arch Raven Mages were slowly lowering themselves to the trio, several thoughts were running through their minds in direct contrast to their arrogant expressions.

Their eyes only briefly looked at the blue pillar of light before entirely focusing on Darcel's group. 

They would never say it out loud, but they did feel profound shock and slight trepidation over everything Darcel, Aniela, and Masami managed to achieve.

Somehow these cultivation dogs could actually call forth an item of some sort that allows them to escape from their Magical Senses! And the Arch Raven Mages pride themselves on having far better senses than cultivator's Spirit Senses.

Furthermore, there was also their whole battle with the Crow Leaders and that phantom Golden Crow Spirit. 

All three of them legitimately had the prowess to contend with and even slightly overpower peak level Heavenly Kings!

And sensing the trio's state now, the Arch Raven Mages consider them a genuine threat. They didn't want to imagine if they had actually found Darcel's group with no injuries and right back at full power.

"This time, there won't be any more lucky chances. The three of you will die today." Arch Raven Kai spoke as if he wasn't the judgment of death. 

Not only did all three Arch Raven Mages simply hold tremendous prejudices towards all cultivators, which borders on heavy killing intent.

They also won't let genuine threats like Darcel's group ever go, so no unforeseen accidents happen in the future.

'Chi!' 

The darkness glow in the skies had darkened even more as the Arch Raven Mages blared their full power right on to Darcel, Aniela and Masami.

"Tch." 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami only clicked their teeth as the pressure on their bodies turned significant, causing a suppression that made all three of them sweat a bit. 

The trio clenched their hands and had no choice but to activate their bloodline transformation states.

Bloodline powers ran through their entire bodies, allowing the trio to resist most of the Arch Raven Mages auras. But there still was a considerable sum of pressure weighing down their whole beings.

Darcel, Aniela wasn't entirely assured what would happen during the course of the battle. Their injuries may be mostly healed, but their energy reserves are running low. 

Only Darcel could safely say he has sixty percent of his energy back.

But even then, neither he, Aniela, nor Masami could draw out the full power of their bloodline transformation state. 

The only saving grace they had was the fact that the Arch Raven Mages seems to be intending to purposely drag this out.

They were taking several seconds to lower themselves to the ground, knowing full well that Darcel, Aniela, and Masami couldn't run away this time. 

The Arch Raven Mages consider them as genuine threats, but they also wanted to take the time to enjoy putting cultivating dogs down.

Suddenly then, a great idea burst into Darcel and Aniela's minds. 

They snapped their heads over to Masami, and both simultaneously said, "Your Chaotic Energy!" 

Both of their expressions seemed more hopeful now.

Currently, Darcel and Aniela need to wait for their minuscule amount of Chaotic Energy in their dantian space to regenerate. 

But Masami, though she has lower energy reserves, could still fire off Chaotic Energy independently from it!

Masami's eyes gained a vicious twinkle as a battle-hungry smirk quickly plastered on her face. She nodded and began gathering Chaotic Energy right towards her palm.

From up above, the Arch Raven Mages who was treating this a bit causally suddenly went rigid. Their eyes shoot towards Masami and sense tremendous danger bubbling up inside her.

"Kill them now!" 

Arch Raven Kai's whole demeanor shifted as he began surging his Magical Power, causing the black Magic Crystal orb on his staff to violently pulsate. 

Arch Raven Noah and Lydia promptly followed in Kai's step and began erupting with their Magical Powers.

But before they could form any attacks, a blinding white light burst from below them, piercing into their eyes. 

"Flash!!" 

Aniela unleashed a mighty shriek as she discharged her soul stunning flashbang!

The Arch Raven Mages' soul's scape space was entirely covered in a radiant white glow, causing them all to completely freeze up. 

Immediately after, Darcel blasted several Darkness tendrils from his palm and quickly wrapped the frozen Arch Raven Mages in chaotic Darkness lustful energy.

The Arch Raven Mages' bloodstreams naturally couldn't resist the Darkness lustful energy in their frozen state, causing their bodies to rapidly weaken. 

And without wasting a single breath, Masami had already finished gathering her Chaotic Energy.

A gray-like substance wrapped around her palm as slight tears in spatial space began appearing around her palm. With her killing intent rising, Masami struts her arm up and immediately fires off a small stream of Chaotic Energy!

The small gray-like substance stream soared with swift speeds towards the Arch Raven Mages while also causing several small tears in spatial space to open up wherever it traveled.

The Arch Raven Mages were seemingly entirely helpless. 

But, at the split second before Masami's small Chaotic Energy stream tore through the Arch Raven Mages, each of their black Magic Crystal suddenly burst!

'Bang!'

Powerful Magical Darkness Energy only covered Arch Raven Kai and Lydia's bodies, slowing down everything in their general area. Just narrowly, they flashed twenty feet away from Masami's Chaotic Energy.

Arch Raven Noah, however, was entirely locked by Masam's Chaotic Energy. Even when his black Magic Crystal burst, it couldn't resist the power of Chaotic Energy!

'Chi!'

Masami's tiny stream of Chaotic Energy tore through Arch Raven Noah's bodies and immediately vaporized his entire existence! His whole body and soul simply couldn't withstand the overwhelming might of Chaotic Energy.

"Fuuu…." Masami nearly fell to her knees as Chaotic Energy disappeared from her palm. 

She had to make the split-second decision to only focus on Arch Raven Noah since she didn't have the control to split off her Chaotic Energy. 

"Ah!! Noah! Bleh!!" 

Arch Raven Kai and Lydia vomited blotches of dark blood as their black Magic crystals shattering wreaked immense havoc in their bodies and souls.

Despite the havoc running in their bodies and souls, Arch Raven Kai and Lydia snapped their sights on Darcel and Aniela as their Killing Intent began to overflow. 

With the Darkness energy wrapping around their bodies, Arch Raven and Lydia pushed their palms forwards. They had then blasted out two vast black Raven birds straight towards Darcel and Aniela.

An immense pressure crushed onto Darcel and Aniela. 

Even though they appeared significantly injured, those Arch Raven Mages was exploding with an unfathomable aura that was slightly more powerful than the three Crow Leaders!

Not wanting to be outdone, Darcel and Aniela surged all of the energy they could possibly muster from their bloodline state. Tremendous power flowed through their veins, causing their arms to erupt in brilliant black flames! 

"Fiery Slice!!" They both roared at the same time and shot forth two small streams of black flames towards the vast black Raven birds. 

Wide-open tears in spatial space open, as powers slightly above peak level Heavenly Kings destroyed the wind currents.

'BANG~!!'

Numerous large snowy trees toppled over, the ground shook and cracked open for miles as Darcel, Aniela, and the Arch Raven Mages attacks clashed and wildly spread all over the area.

"Nng!!" 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were sent tumbling on the ground from the aftershocks of the explosion. Their recovering injuries only worsen, and their energy reserves rapidly drained.

While Arch Raven Kai and Lydia shot up several more feet in the air as blood continually spurted from their bodies like a fountain.

And going unnoticed by both sides, the blue pillar of light was now violently quivering over their mighty clash of power.