Expecting the Passues to launch an assault as all of them did throughout the way—the Witch and the Executor were taken aback when, instead of attacking, the Passues stopped dead in their tracks, their movements swaying gently from side to side with an eerie calmness.
It was spooky to look at as they were moving in complete unison.
Due to their steel-like, slithery forms, the sight was akin to snakes hypnotized by a flute.
Or akin to someone had pressed the button to turn them docile.
"What are they doing? Do you know?" the Witch asked, a cold shiver running down her spine.
Upon hearing this, the Executor shook his head as he was as confused as the Witch, "I never went into the Dead Man's Creek as the Executors were forbidden to be here—so I don't know much about the Passues' behavior,"
"Nevertheless, I think they are deactivated. Let's try going through them," he added firmly.
Although the Witch was still hesitant to go through the horde of Passues, reaching as high as two hundred in number, she decided to follow the Executor from behind. Carefully, both were going through the horde.
Even as both were within the Passues' range of attack, they didn't do anything.
Surprisingly, they remained passively swaying.
Just then, the Witch could feel her body stiffened when she suddenly bumped into a Passue.
However, nothing happened, and she could sigh a sigh of relief.
Taking each step with deliberate care, the Executor and the Witch navigated halfway through the throng of Passues with meticulous precision. But in a sudden turn of events, the Passues made a collective motion, prompting the two to halt their steps immediately.
Instead of eerily swaying left and right like earlier, the Passues lowered their heads down.
Similar to earlier, they did it in perfect unison.
Almost instantly, the hundreds of Passues stopped and lowered their heads.
Upon seeing this, a frown crept to the Executor and the Witch's faces.
No matter how much they tried to associate this with sheer luck—the two were thinking that this must mean something, but they didn't know what. In the next second—as both were still in their heads, they jumped when the Passues suddenly exploded with their distinctive eerie sounds.
Buzz...!
Buzz...!
Amidst the cacophony of buzzing monsters, the Executor and the Witch were in discomfort.
Both were forced to cover their ears due to how loud it was.
Even though the two possess capabilities far beyond an ordinary human, the buzzing sound emitted by the Passues was potent enough to cause discomfort in their eardrums. It just to show that any regular human suspected of this would have their eardrums easily ruptured.
However, the Executor made a barrier around his ears to filter out the pain, not the sound.
For once, he had an extremely bad feeling about this.
Amidst the deafening din, he tried to focus and suddenly heard a faint noise that pierced the clamor—a soft, plaintive cry of a woman, like a whisper in the wind. Sharpening his senses—the Executor strained to discern the source of the sound.
It was then that he turned around, facing the direction where the Passues were facing.
With each passing second, the cry grew louder and louder.
Suddenly, coming from the darkness of the tree gaps was a shadowy figure.
Upon seeing this—the Executor's heart clenched tightly as the shadowy figure emerged into the light, casting an ominous silhouette that sent a chill down the Executor's spine. Moreover—the Witch, sensing his unease, pivoted to follow his gaze.
Almost instantly she realized what made the Passues act weirdly.
Before the Executor and the Witch could do anything—a sudden onslaught of pressure came down upon them with bone-crushing force. Both of their bodies recoiled instinctively—and in an instant, it became hard to breathe properly.
Gasping for breath, they felt as though their essence was being squeezed from their beings.
Agony lanced through their bodies as they struggled to remain upright.
In a desperate bid for survival, they fought against the invisible force, their muscles straining against the oppressive weight. But despite their efforts, the pressure persisted, unyielding at all—a pressure unlike anything the new era has ever seen.
He would only gamble his life if he fought against the Passue Matriarch—who was infamous for taking down all rebellious Ancient Humans in the past, and there are some even stronger than him or even the other Executors.
Regardless of his increase in power, going to the Symposium is still the priority.
If the Executor got his hands on the weapon then he could control the Passue Matriarch.
"Come, my child..." a haunting voice suddenly pierced the Executor's ears, giving an absolute chill down his spine—it was as if the voice could induce death instantly. "Death by my hands is mercy and painless, a suitable way compared to the alternative,"
Upon hearing this, the Executor's frown deepens, "The alternative...?"
Just as he was firm in his decision and ready to escape, the ground beneath him broke.
Dozens of pale tentacles pierced out of the ground and latch themselves onto him—and the widened eyes showcased the Executor's surprise clearly. Stunned by the appearance of the Passue Matriarch, he forgot about the Shapeshifters.
Almost the instant that happened, the Passue Matriarch slowly slipped into a dark portal.
In retaliation, the Executor fought the resistance from the tentacles and quickly stretched his chaos energy onto the portal, attempting to mark the dimension within the portal and also—forcefully blocking the portal from being entered.
But despite his attempts, the Passue Matriarch didn't seem to be hindered.
Fighting back the enormous power, the Executor struggled but eventually got overpowered.
He got an immense amount of backlash that hurt him internally.
A mouthful of blood gauged its way out of his mouth as the Passue Matriarch disappeared.
'I can't lock her dimension, her power overruled my chaos energy,' the Executor groaned, the pain from having his cursed energy shot right back at him—struck his pain nerves was quite, overwhelming. 'What did Father use to make this homunculus?'
Swiftly, the Executor swatted the tentacles away and intended to escape.
However, in the next second, a goosebump assaulted him.
Before his very eyes, a portal manifested, and coming out of it was the Passue Matriarch.
Upon seeing this, the Executor wanted to quickly get away but he found that his body wasn't responding to him. Albeit the extreme urge to leap away, his body was rooted in place as the Passue Matriarch stretched her hand towards him.
Additionally, she seemed to be sobbing, looking at the Executor with pity in her eyes.
Levitating before the Executor, she laid her hand on his chest gently.
"You possess the Supremacy of One, yet you are not him" the Passue Matriarch mused—her gaze piercing into the Executor. "You trespassed into a forbidden territory, please—allow me to end you before he does. It's for your own sake,"
After saying that, the Passue Matriarch dug her hand slowly into the Executor's chest.
In that same moment, the Witch blinked her eyes.
She was healed back to normal again and stood up, assessing the situation around her.
But then, she quickly saw the Executor was facing directly against the Passue Matriarch, and he couldn't move from his spot. At the surprising sight—the Witch's eyes flickered with a new light, she quickly stretched her hand forward.
"Executor! Give it to me!" the Witch roared, snapping the Executor out of his daze.
Quickly—the Executor gritted his teeth and fought back the mental pressure that the Passue Matriarch had on him. He reached into his own pocket dimension and pulled out an object, it was a gem, before throwing it at the Witch.
As soon as he did that, the Passue Matriarch's attention was diverted towards the Witch.
Capitalizing on this window of opportunity, the Executor casts a spell.
"Chaos Nova!"
Pointing his hand towards the Passue Matriarch, he fired a torrent of chaos energy.
It hits the Passue Matriarch directly but when the attack receded, the Executor had his eyes opened wide. Though the spell had made contact at point blank—she emerged relatively the same as before receiving the spell.
However, all darkness around her was blown away, unveiling her true visage to the eyes.
Looking at the Executor with a chilling gaze, the Passue Matriarch momentarily paused.
But in the next second, a loud crashing sound resounded as the Executor suffered a strong attack that hurtled him away. In a fraction of a second—he disappeared from his spot—not even aware how he got struck.