Time seemed to still as Ozul’s mind raced to find ways to escape this situation.

He wasn’t even confident in escaping from a Sage alone much less with a peak Transcendent in addition to him.

’If the three of them can keep him busy, can I take on the Sage?’ Ozul silently questioned himself.

Yet, both situations seemed as hopeless as they could be.

Neither was he strong enough to kill a Sage nor were the three of them strong enough to fight a peak Transcendent yet.

To add to his confusion, the Sage had asked if they remembered him. But his face just didn’t ring a bell in his mind.

"Compared to before, you lot seem much more tame right now," the Sage gave them all a cold glance.

After those in the Immortal Sect had heard the news of their achievements, they still regretted letting them go. Later, when the war began, the coalition of the Sect and Wilderness witnessed their capabilities firsthand.

Compared to these four, the other Dragon Hatchlings they had brought from the Broken Worlds were barely at the Origin Realm!

Among them, the black-haired aloof kid was still a unique genius. The Sage eyed Ozul with interest, trying to uncover his secrets but to no avail.

Even now, if someone else were standing here, they might have ignored the boy, but the Sage had seen him in action multiple times now. There was no denying that this boy had secrets beyond the common understanding of the Realm of Abezan.

The trio and Ozul still watched him silently, waiting for what he had to say.

He flared his aura trying to intimidate them, "Tell you what. The Sect values all of your talents. If you kneel here right now and pledge allegiance to us, I will make sure no one harms you."

’Breaking their limbs temporarily will do...’ He thought without any pity. After all, the crimes these 4 Dragon Hatchlings had committed against the Sect were too many to forgive so easily.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes and it might have been missed by all if not for Ozul’s ability to understand others emotions and thus make out their surface thoughts.

The trio waited for Ozul’s instructions.

’Was this the bad feeling?’ He thought, but denied that thought immediately. The feeling was still there. This wasn’t it.

Having thought things through, he could come only to a single conclusion; they had to fight with everything they had until help arrived.

"There will be no consequences for helping Ember until now?" Ozul asked, trying to buy time as the Purity slowly crept up to the peak Transcendent.

The Sage would have noticed something was off had they been standing together. But the two of them were on opposite sides while Ozul’s group stood in the middle.

"I will personally make sure whatever punishment you receive is as low as it could get." Sensing some hope in recruiting this group, the Sage decided to be a little truthful.

It hadn’t been long since he had become a Sage himself and had little achievements to his name. If he was successful in bringing them to the Sect, it would immediately alleviate his status among the other Elders.

Still, he was also aware that Ozul’s ability was undetectable, and so he was on guard the entire time.

"The Sect Leader places ability above all else. If you join the Sect and prove your loyalty, you will be rewarded accordingly," enticed the Sage.

Ozul stared into empty air, his thoughts blank as he waited for the right moment. However, the Sage mistook it for contemplation and serious consideration.

He believed that no one in their right mind would refuse such an offer. The Coalition had little information about Phoenix City, but almost everyone believed that the atmosphere inside the dome would surely be depressing.

To escape the impending fate of death, it made sense to grasp onto such an olive branch offered by him.

Spreading his hands, the Sage added further, "You made this mistake once and you’re still regretting it. Why make it again?"

Meanwhile, Ozul had brought enough of the Purity behind the Transcendent to form a sharp needle.

’Now!’

Ozul sped toward the Sage, forming a barrier in front of him as several dark blades flew from it.

Raven, Blaze, and Zier were ready and quickly sprung up in action as well. They all aimed to target the peak Transcendent.

Surprised by the sudden attack, the Sage glared at the incoming Ozul.

"Do you think this will end well for you?!" He shouted, confident that they weren’t a threat to him.

Glancing at the other three aiming to hold off his subordinate, the Sage smirked in contempt.

Still, luck was not on his side.

Despite being careful, he had underestimated Ozul.

While speeding toward him, he had created a distraction to hide the trajectory of the hidden needle aiming for that peak Transcendent’s head!

It all happened quickly.

Before Ozul and the Sage’s attack collided, a sharp sound was heard as the needle pierced through the air!

Blaze had his hands near that man’s neck when he witnessed the chilling scene in great detail. The needle entered that man’s head and seemed to disappear within.

In that short moment, the peak Transcendent had lost his life!

The Sage failed to notice anything amiss as he was focused on teaching Ozul a lesson. He had taken out a saber from his Spatial Ring and a sharpness unlike any other was immediately felt by all.

"They call me Sword Sage for a reason!" He proclaimed proudly as his saber collided with Ozul’s shield and a booming sound followed!

*Dzm!*

The force behind that saber was overbearing.

As Ozul felt the saber chipping into the Purity, he let go of resistance and was sent crashing into the warehouse behind them!

"Ozul!" cried Raven, her eyes darting to the warehouse before she glared at the Sage.

Immediately, the trio forgot about the dead peak Transcendent and materialized their soul.

"I gave you a choice! Do not regret it now!" The Sage’s voice boomed in rage after he noticed the corpse of one of his most trusted subordinates.

’What a waste. Tch...’ He thought in his heart after seeing two Elemental and a unique Soul Manifestation in front of him.

Now more than ever, he was determined to capture them alive. After all, he couldn’t go back empty-handed after a peak Transcendent was killed in his presence.

Under the warehouse debris, Ozul groaned in pain.

"That hurts..." he muttered, looking around in the dark.

There was a deep wound on his chest which was healing visibly as he was absorbing the corpse of that peak Transcendent he had just killed.

For a moment, he didn’t want to remove the rubble aside as it meant dealing with the monster outside.

’Ha...’ he sighed, forcing such thoughts to the back of his mind.

As he came out of the debris, Ozul saw a scene that would have felt comical to anyone other than him.

There were three Transcendents not even at the peak of their Realm, going all out against a Sage with the intent to kill!

"Those idiots..." He muttered, but with no anger.

Ozul had not yet surpassed the strength of a Sage, but he was way above the peak Transcendents. Only he had a faint chance of defeating him.

He quickly sprung into action, taking the place of Zier in the battle.

His actions were enough for the latter to realize what he needed to do as he slowly retreated to a safe distance and began his preparations.

Zier’s poisons were already potent enough to start affecting those above his Realm albeit very slightly.

Still, such a disadvantage could give Ozul an edge over the Sage.

Raven sighed in relief after she saw him. She and Blaze saw an opportunity to create distance as well. They were better off supporting Ozul.

"And here I thought I would have at least torn off a limb or two!" The Sage said, his saber dropping down on Ozul with full force this time.

As long as they were half alive by the time he was done, he would be satisfied!

Ozul did not make the same mistake twice. Without sparing even an ounce of the Purity, he put all his efforts into defending this time.

Still, the force behind the Sage’s saber was too sharp. With Ozul’s appearance, he had also manifested his soul which was clearly a sword.

Once again, Ozul fell to the ground, but this time the blade hadn’t reached his chest.

Fed up with their annoying deadlock, the Sage quickly targeted Raven and Blaze, hoping to put them down for good.

He slashed in their direction as a Spiritual arc was released from his saber.

Unfortunately for him, a black wall formed in front of Blaze, dissipating the energy behind that attack!

Raven, on the other hand, didn’t need help as her figure seemed to blur and appear in another place!

Following that, Ozul again appeared in his field of vision, not wasting a moment before attacking him again.

It was at this point that Zier had picked out his worst poisons and jumped in the fray as well.

A bubble of airborne poison spread in the air, affecting the Sage alone as both Raven and Blaze were given antidotes.

Following attacks by the Sage were still as deadly as before, but Ozul felt it easier to defend after that.

As time passed, anger bubbled in the Sage’s heart.

He was pulling enough strength not to kill them, but it was humiliating that these Transcendents were able to keep up with him!

At that point, he was already too fed up to hold back any longer.

But Ozul’s group knew that they could not continue this for long. Each attack that he defended against left his entire body in tremors.

A single mistake and the trio could also lose their lives!

’Is this really hopeless...’