All of a sudden thick clouds blocked the rays of the sun, turning the entire slums dark. Lightning and roaring thunder echoed all around the area but there were no signs of it raining.
Krak! Krak! Kaaa-boom!
"What…what is….going on?" Blake muffled as he fell on his knees and began gasping for air. Similar events happened to everyone in the vicinity except Mason and Taliesin, but from the looks of things, Blake's case was worse.
Everyone below the peak stage of the hero realm was forced to their knees and couldn't move an inch, but unlike Blake who was desperately gasping for air, they only found it hard to breathe.
'What the f*ck is going on?!' Not having enough oxygen to utter a single word, Blake asked the system using their mind link.
After a split second of scanning and analyzing the environment, the system replied. [You are being suppressed by someone very powerful!]
"Taliesin be at ease…" A voice that sounded like that of God quaked in everyone's ears. They instinctively tried to search for the voice, but they couldn't move even an inch.
A hole appeared in the thick clouds and out of it came magnificent golden rays with a blonde man enveloped in golden flames descending at its center. When zoomed out, it looked like the scene of believers praying and an angel descending from above to deal with the problem.
It was the charming muscular blonde-haired demigod, Reeves.
"Look who we have here…" A smirk was on his face as he descended from the sky. "I am surprised that old man isn't here to babysit you. Time to… huh?" Reeves paused his speech when he noticed something wrong and quickly turned in Blake's direction. At this point, Blake who was now blue in complexion was lying lifeless on the ground and was just a moment away from losing consciousness.
"If not for your squeal I wouldn't have noticed you." Seeing Blake's condition, the blonde-haired demigod withdrew his presence causing everyone on the battlefield to regain their freedom.
*Gasp!*
Blake took in a sharp breath, filling his lungs with oxygen and after a few more rapid intake of oxygen, Blake regained his color.
'MotherF*cker!' Immediately Blake was able to form meaningful thoughts he cursed at the blonde-haired demigod who decided to indiscriminately kill both Ally and foe.
[That is the suppression of a higher cultivator in the same pathways, but you must confess his entrance was magnificent…] The system said in an excited tone that made Blake wish it had a physical body so he could strangle it to death.
'I am too weak…' Blake instinctively placed his hand on his neck as his near-death experience flashed through his mind.
He was sad and angry because he felt helpless and useless in that situation, but he also knew it wasn't his fault. The level of suppression one felt was dependent on the number of pathways they had in common and the opponent's power level.
Demigod Reeves had similar elements with Blake, meaning the suppression on him was more than twice that of everyone present. Blake was quite impressive to have lasted 'that long' under such conditions.
"No one moves!" Reeves's voice thundered throughout the area, halting the mercenaries that tried to escape. They tried their best but their bodies weren't responding to their commands.
"That includes you…" Reeves turned to an empty spot close to the carriage and after a few seconds, Castiel appeared panting.
The stealth skill wasn't absolute and with his current strength Castiel could move undetected when facing anyone below the early stage of the hero realm, but in this case, his stealth skill was more of a beacon in the eyes of the blonde-haired demigod.
According to their plans, Incase something was to happen, Castiel was the one to escape using his stealth skill to either seek help or report the case to the adventurer's association, but they had never expected that demigods would be involved in a D rank mission rendering all their preparations null and void.
"Back to you…" Demigod Reeves brought his attention back to the trembling Mason.
'Did he breakthrough into the Angelic realm?! I highly doubt, but even if he didn't him lifting a finger would be enough to decimate me… Uncle where are you?' Series of thoughts ran through Mason's head as he tried to think of a way to get out of this sticky situation.
"Please have mercy on me..." With a shaky voice and trembling feet, Mason went down on his knees and pleaded for mercy. He had thought it through and he knew that there was no trick he could pull on a suspected Angel.
"You must think I am dumb? Even a retard will know you are trying to buy time for back up to arrive." Reeves said with a sneer.
"I will spare you only because I am also waiting for your uncle, but till then let's have some fun…" Reeves said with a smile so creepy that Mason began screaming in pain.
He felt every inch of his body being crushed by an overwhelming force. Even the equipment and artifacts in his possession proved to be ineffective.
Ahhh!
Crack! Crack!
Mason's scream and wails made many present feel pity for him. More than 60% of his bones had been crushed to bits and his body had gone limp, but a force prevented him from falling.
Because of the outstanding vitality of a demigod, Mason was still far from losing consciousness even as blood mixed with both sweat and tears gushed out through his eyes and nostrils.
'Damn! Not sure if I should be happy that a member of my team is a sadist that has little to no regard for his teammates?'
'Also why am I so unlucky to be stuck in this position?' Just like everyone else apart from the demigods, Blake was stuck in the same position. His hand was on his neck and he was facing Mason's direction forcing him to watch the entire torture session.