Months after Jacob's departure,
Dark clouds covered the bright sky, and rain was pouring down in the Rainy Mountain Ranges, a typical day in the rainy mountain ranges.
'Tap… tap… tap…'
At this moment, a slim figure wearing a tight black outfit and cape stepped out of the deep forest and looked at the sizeable raging river a few hundred meters away with its emerald eyes filled with ecstasy and glee.
"I finally made it to the famous border river between uncommon and rare regions, and alone at that." A melodious voice rang behind the cape, filled with elation.
This person was none other than Alice who had finally crossed the rainy mountain ranges and reached the border river!
'How should I cross this river, though? The water flow is too strong for me. Should I wait for the rain to stop, and this water flow might slow down, or there's another way?' Alice mused as she looked at the raging river.
However, before she could investigate further, "Oh, a native. Our luck is not bad." a jeering voice sounded, making Alice's heart palpitate.
But before she could even react, a cloaked person appeared in front of her like a phantom, and she felt an appalling strange pressure on her and couldn't move from her place at all.
Furthermore, when she saw the size of this person, she felt despair. This person was over five-meter-tall, giving the feeling of a mountain.
The pressure coming from this giant was so massive that she couldn't even breathe properly.
Thereafter, more cloaked figures started to appear around her, which made the air suffocate to the extreme as all of them were emitting horrendous pressures.
As a result, Alice fell on her knees while panting heavily for air, as if she was choking.
"Alright No.42 and others, stopped throwing your Mana pressure on him, or we won't even have the chance to ask anything before you killed him." A powerful voice rang, filled with authority.
"Tsk, tsk, and here I thought we caught that troublemaker escaping. It's just an ant." A disdainful voice chuckled.
Alice suddenly felt like all that mountainous pressure vanished, and she could finally breathe while coughing.
'Who are these people?! They're even stronger than him! Am I going to die? Why… why… I have to die before I get the chance to prove myself… to… to take my revenge on… him…' Myriad thoughts started to rage in Alice's head.
"Heh, he's going into a post-traumatic shock. What a week shit." One of them sneered disdainfully before he kicked Alice right into the stomach and sent her flying like a rag doll.
"Now, now, don't break him before we got our answer. No.23, go do your stuff." The same powerful voice commanded again with a hint of contempt.
At this moment, a 5 feet tall cloaked figure moved toward Alice who was laying in mud while blood was dripping from her cape as the rain continued to fall.
The mysterious figure, No.23, didn't tarry and suddenly pointed his gray sharp finger toward Alice's head.
The very next moment, thereafter, the finger shimmered in gray sheen before the nail on the finger expand, turning into a sharp pin, piercing into Alice's head!
The sharp nail shone in gray sheen as a childish voice sounded from No.23, "He's under my hypnosis completely, captain, you can ask anything."
"Good girl." A tall, burly figure walked over as he patted No.23's head.
Then he turned his head toward Alice and coolly asked, "What are your name and species?"
While laying in the mud, Alice's eyes were completely listless as she opened her mouth and reply like a puppet without caring about blood or anything.
"My name is Alice Riley, and I'm a human."
"Human? Aren't they the livestock we are rising?" The captain sounded astonished. He asked, "What were you doing here?"
"Going into Rare Region." She replied.
"Why?"
"Because I want to become strong."
"Why?"
"To prove myself."
"Oh? To whom?"
"Jacob Steve."
"Who is Jacob Steve? Is he also a human and stronger than you?"
"He is Silver Tyrant. Yes, he is human and much stronger than me."
"Hehe, interesting. Her power is at the top tier in this region so this person is stronger than her, then this means he's probably a hidden expert, and by her answer, she didn't know his background at all." The captain stated.
"Do you know who is Faceless Ancient?" He questioned.
"No."
"Then do you know about the Killer Skull Society?"
"No."
At this moment, the giant, No.42, spoke in his deafening voice, "Captain, this native is useless. Can I eat him?"
"Well, it seemed like it. We should found start with this Jacob Steve next. We needed to clear all the variables this time before searching for this faceless ancient.
"But I don't think he's here anymore since the warehouse is empty, so he most probably fled long before our arrival.
"There shouldn't be any problem, even if the problem arrives or this Faceless Ancient is scheming again." The capital's voice turned icy cold as the falling rain above his head turned into steam. "Everything is meaningless against absolute power!"
Just as his voice trailed off, "Hehe, you got that right. Everything is meaningless against absolute power!" A powerful voice reverberated in the vicinity, startling the skulls!
"Who?!" The Captain's voice rang in the vicinity as his aura spiked, and the others went on high alert as well.
"Hehehe, I never thought the Killer Skull Society will send an Extraordinary in this barren place. You must be ranked within the top Ten in A-ranking skulls, right?" The voice mockingly asked.
"Coward, show yourself, and I'll tell you!" The captain roared as a fire burned on his body!
"Hahahaha… I know you… you are Skull No.07 the Fire Fiend, who massacred eight cities and had a 10 billion bounty on your head. Not bad, not bad. You guys are really up to no good here.
"But it's pity I couldn't claim your bounty or any of you as a matter of fact, since I can't leave any proof behind. Don't blink or you won't even know how you died." The voice warned as if it was going to act.
"Hahaha, what an arrogant coward. Let's see how you kill us!" The giant laughed manically, making the surroundings tremble.
However, none of these skulls noticed that Alice's body had already vanished from her spot!
Every skull entered its battle stance while shimmering in a strange light.
"Hahaha, good, very good. Ignorance sure is bliss." The voice guffawed as if he was watching a clown show.
"Let me broaden your horizon before you all died." The voice turned icy at this moment. "??? Spell, Ice Domain!"
Fire Fiend's crimson eyes suddenly widened when he heard the name, and he hollered at the top of his lungs, "Run, you idiots, this person is a…!"
"Too late…" the voice taunted.
Thereafter, strange cold energy flowed in the air before the raindrops suddenly turned into ice drops before everything froze turning into ice at an alarming rate. All those skulls didn't even get the chance to know what happened as they all crystallized into ice sculptures.
Even the fire around Fire Fiend couldn't stop this strange freezing, and he became an ice sculpture like the others.
This strange freezing process not only affect them but the surroundings as well before it spread all the way into the common river, freezing it as well!
Over two miles of the area turned into an ice field before it stopped expanding, and it took only ten seconds!
The rain also started pouring normally at this moment.
At this point, footsteps sounded on the other side of the ice field, and a few figures in long robes and masks appeared as they walked on the frozen surface of the common river.
A person in the front was holding a white sword that looked like it was carved with crystal. This crystal sword was shimmering in a blue sheen at this moment.
They all crossed the border river and approached those ice sculptures of the skulls.
At this time, another figure wearing the same robes as these mysterious newcomers appeared. Still, this person was holding a body over its shoulder, which was none other than the unconscious Alice!
The person holding the crystal sword's voice sounded. "How's the girl?"
The other person replied, "Fine, my lord."
"Good job. Heal her. She's a special one. I never thought we would find someone like her in this barren place. Our trip wasn't a complete waste." He chuckled happily.
"What about those skulls? It seemed they were really up to something here, or a person like Fire Fiend would never show up in this place." The person holding Alice questioned. It was a woman's voice.
The person holding the sword coldly chuckled as he looked at those ice sculptures, "Heh, they would be wonderful evidence to put all the blame on the Killer Skull Society. They could only blame themselves for targeting someone they shouldn't have."
His voice turned stern at this moment. "Heed my orders, start the migration, and be ready for the extermination. I want everything done in a month!"