ERA OF DESTINY-Chapter 139: DAY 2: EXECUTION–THE COUNTERMOVE – IV

The Spiritual Spring Embryo drifted silently through the dungeon air, its form weightless, its presence unreal.

Below it, Roga Roya lay unconscious, his breath shallow, his aura fractured like glass beneath water.

The Embryo descended and placed a hand upon Roya’s forehead.

There was no resistance.

The moment contact was made, it slipped inward–

not into flesh, but into a violently shattered sea of consciousness, where broken thoughts surged without order and spiritual currents collided in chaos.

The Embryo unfolded.

Spring light spread.

Piece by piece, it reassembled the sea, weaving torn perception back into coherence, calming turbulence without erasing scars. It did not overwrite Roya’s will. It only returned the ground beneath it.

Roya’s consciousness stirred.

At that instant, the Embryo sensed something else–

a familiar resonance hidden inside Roya’s Qiankun pouch.

A Rejuvenation Pill.

The same one once given to the slaves.

The Embryo retrieved it, then ignited a faint emerald flame–

Earth Core Green Fire, secretly transferred the previous day at the fortress entrance.

The pill did not burn.

It condensed.

Essence separated from shell, purity refined into breath.

The rejuvenation flowed into Roya through inhalation alone. No pain. No shock. Just slow, undeniable recovery.

Before leaving, the Embryo engraved a spiritual message directly into Roya’s consciousness–

not words, but intent, sealed to awaken when the time was right.

Then it vanished.

–

Elsewhere inside the ritualist’s chamber, death still lingered.

The formation beneath the floor remained active, humming faintly, as if unaware its master had already fallen. Kiaria, Princess Lainsa, Ru, and Yi stood still–no one rushing, no one stepping blindly.

"Sister Lainsa," Kiaria said calmly,

"try on him."

"I will," she replied.

Her response held neither hesitation nor pride.

Kiaria’s Eyes of Insight scanned the chamber. No energy fluctuation. No lingering soul imprint. No residue–

only the formation below, precise and untouched.

"Ru. Yi."

"Inspect everything. If it feels wrong, it is wrong."

"As you wish, Patron."

They separated.

Ru moved among bone collections and ritual artifacts, fingers hovering, never touching without intent. Yi drifted toward the window, his gaze narrowing.

Ru paused.

"This locket..." he murmured, lifting a small object from the shadows. "I’ve seen this before."

Yi glanced over. "From the mantis cave entrance."

At the same time, Yi knelt.

His Ruyi Arrow manifested, reshaping itself into an Inspection Mirror. He angled it toward the window frame.

A hole.

Not damage.

A vacuum pore–no larger than a needle’s eye.

"Where did this come from...?"

A faint wind slipped inward.

Instantly, the pore devoured it, swallowing the airflow whole.

Yi’s expression sharpened.

He moved–slowly, deliberately–scanning the room.

At every junction of the floor formation, the same pore existed. Perfectly placed. Perfectly silent.

Ru stepped closer to the formation.

"Don’t–!"

Yi lunged and shoved him aside.

A soundless needle shot upward from the floor, so thin it bent light, vanishing the moment it exited. It would have pierced clean through Ru’s leg without pain, without warning.

Yi exhaled once.

"There are traps," he said evenly. "Movement triggers them."

He knelt again, pointing with the mirror.

"Compressed vacuum inside each pore. A suspended needle. Even a breath–less than one percent airflow–destabilizes it. The vacuum collapses inward, firing the needle to create space."

Ru frowned. "But the hole is at thigh level. That wouldn’t kill him."

"Correct," Yi said. "Which means this wasn’t the cause."

While they spoke, Princess Lainsa was already working.

Her forefinger released.

A chrysanthemum stem vine, thinner than thread, entered the ritualist’s body without resistance, slipping through the nervous system, tracing pathways no blade could reach.

Her eyes shifted.

Understanding settled.

"DuPo," she said quietly.

Kiaria’s attention snapped to her. "Explain."

"Du–poison of the body. Po–poison of the soul," Lainsa replied.

"A compound that numbs pain while compressing lethal activation. Death occurs cleanly. No struggle. No fear."

Kiaria’s senses sharpened instantly. His Eyes of Insight expanded, tracing the chamber’s mechanisms deeper.

"Everyone," he said, voice cold and precise,

"withdraw."

They obeyed without question.

Once alone, Kiaria studied the pores again.

There were lids.

Hidden. Perfectly aligned.

The system was reusable.

He stepped back through the portal.

The portal sealed.

Kiaria returned to the throne and sat down, his posture relaxed but unmoving. As he settled, the Evil Spider’s concealment spread quietly through the Ghost Prison, folding layer by layer until the pseudo palace was once again isolated from every external perception.

Silence followed.

Azriel was the first to speak.

"Did you find anything?"

Ru nodded. "Yes. We confirmed how he died."

Kiaria did not respond immediately. His fingers rested on the armrest, still, as though the answer had already been placed where it belonged.

"Sister Lainsa," he said at last, "how long has the ritualist been dead?"

"Less than eight hours," Lainsa replied after a moment. "Not more."

Diala frowned. "Then what’s the next step?"

"We wait," Kiaria answered.

Princess Lainsa looked at him sharply. "Wait... for what?"

"For the mastermind’s next move," Kiaria replied. "He already played his hand. I reversed its effect."

None of them understood.

"You will," Kiaria said calmly. "Later."

He rose slightly and gestured toward Fu Cai.

"Fairy Fu Cai," he said, "this is Azriel, Chief of Hell Tavern. Aizrel, his daughter. These twins are his subordinates. Mu Long leads the Senior Treasure Hunters."

Fu Cai inclined her head faintly. "I will remain with you."

Azriel straightened. "Welcome, Fairy."

Kiaria’s tone shifted.

"Ahem. Since introductions are done," he said, "let’s return to the core matter."

He turned to Ru and Yi.

"Tell me exactly what you found."

Yi stepped forward. "The ritualist died from DuPo. And we found this locket."

Ru raised the object. "It matches the emblem engraved at the mantis cave entrance."

Princess Lainsa’s eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting a connection between the ritualist and the cave formations?"

Kiaria answered instead.

"If the ritualist was the formation master," he said evenly, "then explain this."

He tapped the armrest once.

"Why did the formation beneath his body remain active after death?"

Ru frowned. "Formations don’t need their creator to function. They only need materials."

"In most places," Kiaria replied. "Yes."

He looked around the chamber.

"But this fortress doesn’t run on ordinary formation rules."

"Volcanic ores," Diala said quietly.

"Exactly," Kiaria replied.

He continued without pause.

"These ores are not catalysts. They are stabilizers. Continuous anchors. Without them, the formations should degrade."

Aizrel spoke cautiously. "Then the ores must be stored elsewhere."

"Inside the fortress," Kiaria agreed. "But not where they should be."

He looked at them one by one.

"We clearly saw Roga Roya exchanging high-grade volcanic ores with the ritualist. Yet in his chamber, we found none–except those embedded in the healing formation."

Mu Long frowned. "No secret chambers?"

"None," Kiaria said. "No hidden tunnels. No secondary storage."

Princess Lainsa’s expression darkened. "Then where did the ores go?"

"That," Kiaria replied, "is the question that matters."

He leaned forward.

"After I ordered slavery to stop, no more ores were collected. No one entered. No one left. Yet every formation in this fortress remains perfectly active."

Azriel’s jaw tightened. "So someone else is maintaining them."

"No," Kiaria said quietly. "Someone else is holding them."

Silence thickened.

Princess Lainsa spoke carefully. "Are you implying the mastermind is already inside the fortress?"

"Among us," Kiaria said.

Yi added, "The needle pores had lids."

Kiaria nodded. "Which means the trap system was manually controlled."

Ru inhaled sharply. "Without the ritualist knowing."

"Yes," Kiaria said. "That is what confirms it." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Princess Lainsa looked around slowly–at faces she trusted.

"Then the ritualist was never the core," she said. "Just a visible handler."

Kiaria’s gaze hardened.

"Correct."

Mu Long exhaled. "So the formation master... or the true mastermind... is either within the tribes or the association."

"And closer than we assumed," Kiaria added.

Diala crossed her arms. "Then why wait?"

Kiaria leaned back into the throne.

"Because he expects pursuit," he said. "Investigation. Interrogation. Escalation."

His eyes sharpened.

"So I gave him silence."

Fu Cai smiled faintly.

"When he realizes his move caused no ripple," Kiaria continued, "he will act again. Faster. Less controlled."

Princess Lainsa understood then. "You isolated the board."

"Yes," Kiaria replied. "The fortress no longer feeds him information."

Azriel exhaled slowly. "And when he moves again..."

"He exposes himself," Kiaria finished.

He stood.

"Prepare yourselves," he said calmly. "The next move won’t wait."

No one spoke.

Two hours passed.

Deep within the dungeon, the balance shifted.

The mastermind’s expected response arrived–not as strategy, but as neglect.

The Gluttony Crow had not been fed for hours. Neither had the other beasts.

Roga Rossan, the Bullkin Beast of the Transformation Realm, had gone unfed since noon the previous day.

Starvation did what commands could not.

Chains groaned.

Iron screamed.

One restraint after another tore apart under mounting pressure. The dungeon shook as Roga Rossan thrashed, his rage rolling outward like a living tremor. Even the pseudo palace–spatially isolated within the Ghost Prison–shuddered under the force.

"What’s happening?" Azriel demanded, struggling to keep his footing.

Stone cracked inside the hideouts. Rock fragments fell from ceilings. Tribes hiding in tunnels fled in panic, abandoning secrecy for survival. Fear spilled outward, unchecked.

Kiaria did not move.

He waited.

Inside the dungeon chambers, captives clung to one another as the shaking intensified. Some cried. Others whispered comfort–convincing themselves that death would be kinder than another day inside the cages.

Families pressed together, waiting.

A broken stone dislodged and struck the resting form of Roga Roya.

Pain jolted him awake.

He gasped, eyes snapping open–only to freeze as he saw the spiritual remnant standing before him. Kiaria’s presence did not press down. It simply was.

Roya fell to his knees.

"Lord... please," he sobbed. "I won’t do this anymore. I swear. I don’t want to suffer. I don’t want to die like this."

The remnant did not answer.

Instead, the message engraved earlier unfolded inside Roya’s consciousness.

The crying stopped.

Roya’s breath steadied. He rose slowly, eyes no longer panicked–only resolved.

At the same moment, inside the Miru tribe’s tunnel, a portal tore open without warning.

Geng and Mimi were running.

They had no time to react.

Their momentum carried them straight through.

The portal swallowed them whole to dungeon.

Geng tightened his grip on Mimi’s hand as the heat, stench, and despair hit them at once. He turned to her, voice low but steady.

"Mimi... our time has come. That God’s prophecy–this is it."

She met his eyes and nodded.

"Together," Geng said.

"Together," Mimi answered.

Geng’s gaze snapped forward.

"Roya!"

His roar echoed.

Roga Roya turned.

He dropped to his knees instantly, bowing until his forehead touched stone.

"Boy, I’m sorry," he said. "Forgive me. Please give me a chance to finish what I started. I will atone–for everything."

Then he smiled.

Not desperate. Not fearful.

"I forgive you," Geng said without hesitation.

Roya looked up, stunned.

"Thank you," he replied softly.

Geng did not linger.

He and Mimi moved toward the dungeon chambers as the portal remained open behind them. Geng opened chambers one by one. Mimi stepped inside each cell, speaking calmly, urgently–guiding families toward escape.

One by one, they passed through the portal.

Geng stayed out of sight, hiding his presence so fear would not follow them.

When the last prisoner fled, only Roya remained.

A white spiderling appeared soundlessly beside him, placing two Spore Balls into his hands.

Roya swallowed them without hesitation.

He turned.

Roga Rossan stood waiting–massive, furious, chains still falling from his body.

"You dare show yourself?" Rossan thundered. "You broke your oath. Now you will pay."

Roya did not retreat.

Behind him, Mimi’s voice rang out sharply.

"Geng! The portal is closing!"

She grabbed his hand.

"Don’t forget," she said urgently. "You wished for one more thing. It hasn’t happened yet. Staying here won’t fulfill it. We still have responsibilities."

Geng looked at Roya once more.

Then he turned.

Mimi pulled him through the portal.

It sealed shut.

Roga Roya stood alone before the enraged Rossan.

And above them all–

Kiaria watched.