Death... and me

Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy landed near the group without a single scratch on their bodies. Obviously, they didn't enter any fight at all... or so they thought, at least.

Kinglei's killing intent immediately surrounded Rean's group before he pulled his spear from his Pocket Dimensional Realm. "Good! Good! At least you saved me the trouble of hunting you down later. Don't think you are going to escape this place. I'll make sure to play with your bodies and souls to my heart's content before eliminating you."

All the other cultivators and demon beasts didn't seem to care at all. If anything, they were also angry after seeing Rean's group completely fine. That only reinforced their thought that Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy deserted from the mission.

Rean, who could see the killing intent, looked at Kinglei with a confused expression. "Did something happen, senior Kinglei? You seem quite angry with us for some reason. Is it the injuries on your body? If that's the case, there is no need to worry. I'm very good with healing skills."

Seeing Rean's complete lack of respect only fuelled Kinglei's anger even more. "Courting Death!" Immediately, he charged at Rean and the others, ready to take their lives. Yet...

*Clang!*

Kanglia appeared in between them, stopping Kinglei's attack at the last moment. Of course, she was only in the Middle Stage of the Space-Time Realm. She wasn't Kinglei's match. Because of that, she was forced several meters back even though she used all her strength to stop Kinglei just now.

Kinglei's dark expression turned in Kanglia's direction. "Are you looking to die, too? I can fulfill your wish."

Kanglia straight up again and shook her head. "That's not it. If they deserted the mission, this outcome is just right for them. However, I've seen their abilities before, so I don't think they did it on purpose. I wish to at least hear their reason. After that, you can kill them as you see fit."

She then pointed at Rean and the others. "Or could it be you aren't at least curious about why they returned here? Would you have come back to this gathering point if you were they? Especially since you know you would be here?"

Kinglei narrowed his eyes and looked at Rean and the others, who didn't seem very concerned about him. Finally, he calmed down a little and put his spear away. "Fine. However, it is better to be an extremely amazing reason."

Kanglia nodded before turning in Rean's direction. "Goku, Kenny, Essefy... You didn't appear during the attack on the fortress. Truth be told, with the number of Devils there, I don't think it would have made much of a difference. However, it did end up making our mission a lot more difficult. Perhaps a chance to rescue the target would have appeared, too. Instead, a few of us even died there while you three seemed to be completely fine."

Kanglia continued. "The way things stand, all the blame for the mission failure will be placed on you. There is nothing I can do for you unless you give me a reason for your disappearance. Care to explain where you went during that time and what were you doing?"

"Failure?" The confusion on Rean, Essefy, and Kentucky's faces became even more apparent. "What are you talking about? Wasn't the mission a huge success?"

"S-Success?" Let alone Kanglia. Everyone else was dumbfounded by their words.

Right after, Kinglei got even angrier. "I see, I see... You seem to enjoy making fun of me. You can leave your lives here." Immediately, he pulled his spear out again and immediately moved to attack.

However, before he could even move, Rean weaved his hand, and two figures appeared in front of everyone. One was alive and had its head covered by a black cloth. The other was a devil, but this devil was dead.

"What is this?" Even Kinglei had to stop in his tracks. Not that he cared about the two figures, but because he could still feel the lingering energy of the devil's body. 

Initial Stage Space-Time Realm!

Kanglia seemed to have understood and immediately looked at Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy in shock. "Could these two be...?"

Rean nodded. "Yes. This devil was the one who tried to flee while you all were fighting. As for this person with the face covered... this is our target. Well, I haven't removed the black cloth from his head, nor have I broken the seal in his cultivation. That said, I still don't know who he is. In any case, the mission was a success. Not only did we all manage to rescue the target, we even managed to kill a Space-Time Realm Devil."

Rean smiled after that. "This is all thanks to everyone's efforts. Without our coordinated attack, rescuing the target and getting this bonus would have been really difficult. Especially you, senior Kinglei! You held out the other Peak Stage Space-Time Realm Devil. That was of paramount importance! Now, we all have 2000 Merit Points to receive and perhaps even a bonus for the devil's death. Hahaha!"

Everyone was speechless. How, just how, did they do it? Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy haven't appeared during the attack at all. Thanks to their effort? How come they didn't know it?

Kinglei saw himself forced to put his spear away once again, although the anger on his face completely disappeared. He came here for the merit points, simple as that. If they truly managed to rescue the target, then he couldn't care less how it was done as long as it didn't cause him any losses. As for the cultivators who died, why would an evil cultivator like him care?

Finally, Kinglei took a deep breath and approached. "Normally, I would say you were spilling bullshit. However, I still remember the energy of the devil that escaped inside the fortress through some hidden passage, so I know this is the real devil. Still, you were quite bold to use me like that."

Kanglai also approached and couldn't help but ask. "But... how did you do it?"

Indeed. That was the question in everyone's minds.