The mouse slashed towards Kailen’s direction. Several figures died as the spatial attack cleaved through them. Because the mouse was tiny, it was easy for it to evade the eye of many transcendents. By the time they realized it was a threat, they would already be dead. It was the perfect assassin in this environment. It was also melding with the void, disappearing and reappearing at several places at the same time.

Kailen disappeared as the spatial attack was headed in his direction. He reappeared a couple of moments from the mouse. The survival instincts of the mouse kicked in. It melded with the void and disappeared, reappearing a few moments away. The moment Kailen would appear before it, it would meld with the void and disappear. The two had turned into two streaks, disappearing and reappearing at different spots on the battlefield.

Kailen was studying the creature carefully. If this creature gained more sentience in the future, it would become very difficult to deal with. Kailen was quite amazed at the creature’s ability to play hide and seek. There was a reason why Kailen had not used any attack on the creature yet. When the creature had launched that spatial slash towards Kailen, Kailen felt the creature was equally matched with him. If he engaged with it in a direct confrontation, it would yield no results. Both would be at a stalemate.

If someone had paid attention to Kailen all this while, they would have noticed an almost non-perceived smirk at the corner of his lips. The creature kept disappearing. Kailen would reappear at where it would reappear next. But Kailen wouldn’t be able to attack; at least, Kailen pretended to be unable to attack. The creature would disappear again and reappear at a different location. Kailen would follow.

"Almost there." A glint flashed through Kailen’s mind.

Several noticed the weird battle between the 20th-ranked on the Dawnseer Guild ranking list for the beast tide and the comical-looking dangerous mouse—the two melding with the void and reappearing at different spots. What was Darkhaven up to?

A very ginormous serpent with thick scales and marble-like eyes slithered across the air. What made the serpent stand out was the blue gaseous substance that came out of its mouth. Wherever the blue gaseous substance passed, several transcendents and beasts alike showed discomfort. Their skin would turn blue all of a sudden and they would plop down dead on the ground. It was ghastly. The creature did not distinguish between friends and foe. It was a Rank 2 novice-stage chaotic beast with the Law of Darkness.

At this moment, Julian, the first on the rankings, was launching large cyclones of darkness towards the serpent from a distance. He didn’t want to get in the range of the creature’s deadly gaseous attacks. It was obvious Julian wanted the principle fragment the creature would leave behind, and that was why he was attempting to kill it.

Julian suddenly saw Kailen Darkhaven appear before him.

"A mouse?" His gaze lingered on the creature Kailen Darkhaven was dealing with for a moment. Then, Julian saw the mouse meld with the void. The mouse reappeared in the range of the gaseous attacks of the serpent.

However, Julian, and several others who had followed the battle between Kailen Darkhaven—some of whom were watching the stream—realized Kailen Darkhaven had not disappeared alongside the creature this time.

Julian realized. "He was baiting the creature here all along. From the start, the outcome was already decided. This guy is terrifying," Julian muttered as he stared in Kailen’s direction for a moment.

His gaze returned to where the mouse was. For a moment, the mouse squealed, anticipating the appearance of the creature that had been trying to attack it. However, the creature didn’t appear. Just when the mouse was about to choose a new target because it knew instinctively that there was no point having a battle with that creature—as they were equally matched in strength and the outcome of the fight would never be decided—a blue gas washed over the mouse. It squealed in agony, dropped from the sky, and died.

It released a principle fragment of space into the atmosphere after it died. Several realized what had happened after Julian muttered it out. Kailen Darkhaven had planned everything the moment the battle between him and the creature began. He had lured the troublesome mouse here because he realized they were equally matched and he could not deal with the creature. Therefore, he baited the chaotic beast into an environment of the attack of a Rank 2 novice-stage chaotic beast and let the creature’s attack kill the mouse.

Several also watching the stream came to the same understanding. When he was disappearing and reappearing at different places with the creature, he had been tactically positioning and luring the creature here. It looked like he was at a disadvantage initially, as the mouse seemed to disappear before he could even launch an attack. But that was not the case. Everything was an act. It was all to lure the creature into its own death. He had made the mouse the architect of its own demise.

This fellow was very dangerous and unpredictable. Julian stared in Kailen’s direction. A subtle glint of acknowledgment flashed through his eyes for a moment and disappeared. Kailen naturally didn’t notice it, nor would he have cared even if he had.

Julian returned to what he was doing, attempting to take out the serpent from a distance. The rankings of the Dawnseer Guild glitched at the moment. Kailen Darkhaven’s name shifted from the 21st place to the 14th place.

Kailen finally stared at the rankings. "14th place, not bad. If this is to be added to my contribution points in the guild, getting into the top 20 on the premium ranking list won’t be a problem. This will do for now. I should prioritize this space principle fragment over the other ones. Also, some sort of battle will definitely break out concerning principle fragments after the beast tide is quelled."

A glint flashed through his eyes. "Those higher-ups most likely won’t interfere because they wouldn’t want to cause conflicts in the district. This means I will have to fight with other space principle transcendents over space principle fragments. I should secure this one and leave the others for them. All I need to do is to form a connection to the principle fragment," he mused. "The moment that happens, no one will attack me. Once the connection to the principle fragment is made, the fragment recognizes only the one who made the connection to it. If the person is to stop during the comprehension process for any reason, the fragment will become dormant until that same person resumes the comprehension process.

No one can make a connection to it again apart from the person who made the initial connection to it. It’s how it naturally works."

Kailen waited. The moment Julian dealt with the snake, or the beast tide was quelled and the beasts retreated, he would make a connection to the principle fragment of the mouse hovering above ground as soon as possible.