Chapter 53: Rumors Beyond the Storm

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Rumors Beyond the Storm

The peaceful days Damon spent cultivating with his spirit elementals were a complete contrast to the chaos they had caused outside the Distorted Zone.

The various family camps had become anything but peaceful.

And once again...

The elders exploded.

Because the moment they saw the latest group of Elemental Users returning, everyone’s expressions darkened.

The sight alone told enough.

Some were being carried.

Some could barely walk, while some had long since fainted and had to be dragged back by their companions.

But almost every single one carried the same familiar marks.

Lightning burns.

Burnt clothes.

Bruised bodies.

And same defeated expressions.

The moment the healers rushed over, many of them froze.

"What in the world happened to these people?"

"How many healing herbs are we going to waste this time?"

"Were they fighting a High B Rank beast?"

"No..."

One old healer frowned.

"This looks more like torture."

Those words made several elders grimace.

Especially because they recognized some of the equipment missing.

Protective relics.

Defensive treasures.

Capture nets.

Anti-lightning artifacts.

Resources they had spent days preparing.

Gone.

Gone again.

Inside the Calloway camp, Elder Rowan’s face had already become ugly.

"What do you mean he didn’t come back with it?"

His voice trembled with anger.

"The Thunderheart Fruit was entrusted to him!"

Beside him, another elder looked equally terrible.

"Not only did he lose it..."

"He didn’t even make it back conscious."

The old man’s beard shook.

"Damn fools!"

Meanwhile, the Dawncrest Family camp wasn’t much better.

Tables were overturned.

Several elders looked ready to kill someone.

"The capture relics?"

"Lost!"

"The defensive treasures?"

"Lost!"

"The healing potions?"

"Used up!"

One elder slapped the table.

"Then what exactly did they bring back?!"

An injured Elemental User lying on a bed raised his hand weakly.

"Trauma..."

The entire tent went silent.

Then one of the elders nearly coughed blood.

Even the Graymoon Family suffered the same fate.

No matter which camp one looked at, the atmosphere had turned ugly.

Everyone wanted answers.

And so they waited.

Only after the healers stabilized the injured Elemental Users did the questioning begin.

"What happened inside the floating ruin?"

"Speak!"

"Did another High B Rank beast appear?"

At first, the injured scouts hesitated.

Just remembering the experience made some of their faces turn pale.

Finally, one man swallowed hard.

"It... it was going according to plan."

The elders frowned.

"What plan?"

"The capture plan."

"We almost succeeded."

His voice trembled.

"The fox was trapped."

Everyone became excited.

Then the man’s expression changed.

"But..."

"A Wind Sovereign Roc appeared."

Silence.

Complete silence.

Even Elder Rowan paused.

"A what?"

"A Wind Sovereign Roc."

Several elders stood up immediately.

Shock filled their eyes.

A Wind Sovereign Roc.

One of the rarest wind spirits known.

And still in its early stages.

The greed in their hearts almost burst out.

But they forced themselves to calm down.

"Continue."

The injured man nodded weakly.

"It used one skill..."

"And our entire formation collapsed."

The other survivors shivered.

Even now, they remembered it clearly.

That pressure.

That overwhelming image.

That mysterious giant six-winged figure they had witnessed.

One woman among the survivors muttered softly.

"It looked like a god..."

Nobody laughed.

Because the others nodded.

Then they continued.

"And after that..."

"The fox changed."

Everyone became quiet again.

The Elemental User speaking lowered his head.

"It wasn’t serious before."

"It was playing with us."

Those words made several elders freeze.

Playing?

Then what had happened afterwards?

The man’s eyes trembled.

"When she got serious..."

"It was over."

The survivors all lowered their heads.

Some even subconsciously touched their bodies.

As if recalling that attack still hurt.

"We’ve never seen that Art before."

"The lightning covered everything."

"There was nowhere to run."

"We only survived because..."

"We surrendered."

Nobody laughed or mocked them.

Because looking at their expressions...

Everyone understood.

They had truly believed they were going to die.

Then another elder frowned.

"The Wind Sovereign Roc and the lightning fox fought together?"

"Yes."

"And..."

The scout hesitated.

"They protected each other."

Silence fell again.

Several elders looked at each other.

And then...

Everything clicked.

Their expressions became uglier.

The answer was obvious.

"They belong to the same person."

Those words made everyone’s faces darken.

Impossible.

Completely impossible.

Two spirit elementals.

Different elements.

Yet somehow belonging to one person.

It shouldn’t exist.

But reality stood before them.

And it was even worse.

Because no one knew who that person was.

Every survivor only remembered one thing.

"A silhouette."

"We never saw his face."

"He stayed inside the treasure chamber."

"If he leaves the Distorted Zone..."

"We probably wouldn’t recognize him."

That sentence nearly made Elder Rowan spit blood.

Not only had someone beaten them to the floating ruin.

Not only had he taken its treasures.

He had robbed them.

Twice.

And now they didn’t even know who he was.

Inside the Dawncrest camp, an elder smashed his cup.

"Bastard!"

Inside the Graymoon camp, another elder’s face turned green.

"We’ve become his treasure carriers!"

"We delivered resources to him ourselves!"

The realization hurt even more.

Healing potions.

Relics.

Treasures.

All delivered directly into the hands of an unknown enemy.

Hatred grew.

Anger grew.

And humiliation grew even more.

They couldn’t do anything now.

But that didn’t mean they would forget.

"We’ll find him."

"No matter who he is."

"And when we do..."

"He’ll pay back everything."

"Double."

Meanwhile...

Far away inside the treasure chamber...

"Achoo!"

Damon opened one eye.

"Hm?"

He rubbed his nose.

"Someone talking behind my back?"

He chuckled.

"Probably jealous."

Inside his second core, Freya lazily lifted her head before going back to sleep.

Sylphie chirped softly in agreement.

Damon smiled.

"See?"

"Even they agree."

Then he closed his eyes again.

And continued cultivating.

Completely unaware...

That half the major families outside wanted nothing more than to drag him out and beat him senseless.

And inside his second core...

Freya and Sylphie quietly enjoyed the benefits of his cultivation.

Peacefully.

As if nothing in the world could disturb them.