The Invincible Hero 81 The Calm Before The Storm

"I'm finished," BS42 said in Lorne's mind.

Right before entering the secret realm, BS42 entered Lorne's Samsara Pod. They agreed it would be better for him to be aboard in case anything happened. He became Lorne's trump card to help keep him safe but to also help him save his allies and friends.

"You located all of the surveillance devices?" Lorne asked.

"Of course, I can give you five minutes. The people monitoring the events will think you're just having a standoff. I can also intercept communications," replied BS42.

"Great, let's give it a try," Lorne said as he took in a deep breath.

Looking at the nervous Fiends, Lorne began a new approach.

"I can offer all of you something better than daying," Lorne began.

"Better? Are you going to let us kill you?" asked the leader of this group with a scornful face.

"What's your name?" Lorne asked.

"Alix," the Fiend responded.

"Alix, I'm not going to let you kill me. If you force me to kill you to get through that door, I will. However, I have a different option for you, and opportunity," Lorne continued.

"Stop beating around the bush, just say what you want to say," Alix was letting Lorne talk hoping it would give the people in the monitoring room enough time to send backup.

"I'm sure most of you have experienced the Fiend Fate. I can make it so you never have to experience that again!" Lorne said.

The Fiends were surprised by Lorne's offer, but they all knew his offer was impossible. Once you become a Fiend you can never be anything else.

"Impossible," Alex yelled.

"Impossible, why should it be impossible? I've already freed a Fiend, the Great Fiend I mentioned before. He told me he used to be a cultivator and when I freed him, he became a cultivator once more," Lorne explained.

"You're lying," Alix said as hatred and anger increased in his heart. Every Fiend knew it was impossible to escape the Fiend Fate.

"You think it's impossible to escape the Fiend Fate while I claim it is possible. I can prove I'm telling the truth. Just listen," the Fiends quietly looked at Lorne unsure of what to think. Maybe he's just lying to them so he can get by, but he didn't need to do such a thing. They couldn't stop him anyway.

"After a Fiend dies, they enter the Karmic Dimension just like cultivators. Unlike cultivators, the karmic strings and ropes do not attach to them. Instead, a red-head with jagged teeth, burning mad eyes and an aura of insanity and death pursue you. If it consumes you then you are turned into a Fiend Stone," Lorne finished his explanation and all of the Fiends stared in shock. This person really knew about the Fiend Fate!

"I also know that due to the nature of Fiends you retain your memories and can remember being consumed by the Fiend Fate. I also know when you become Fiend Stones your awareness is never shut off. You sit in the dark, sometimes for eons, waiting to be discovered. Both hoping to be found but scared to be found and consumed by other Fiends. I know everything. Since I know everything I have been able to find a way to return Fiends to cultivators. If you want to escape the Fiend Fate, this is your only chance," Lorne stopped talking waiting for the Fiends to make their decision.

In the command center, Rigol was pa.s.sing by the monitors and saw Lorne and the Fiends staring at each other. He only glanced at the screen when suddenly, everyone on the screen was gone. Rigol did a double take and it was completely empty. There weren't any bodies everyone who was on screen just a moment ago was suddenly gone.

"Did everyone on the screen just disappear?" Rigol asked no one in particular.

"Sir, I don't know, that cultivator and those Fiends were staring at each other for almost five minutes and then the screen blinked and no one was there!" The Fiend watching the monitor replied to Rigol's comment.

"Check the maze and see if anyone has entered," he commanded.

"Sir, one person entered the maze, it's the cultivator who was staring at the Fiends," the monitor flashed to an image of Lorne hovering in the maze tunnel. Suddenly, he started flying and occasionally a flash of light was emitted from his eyes. He was dismantling the traps as he flew down the correct corridors and quickly emerged from the maze.

"That doesn't seem right," the monitor Fiend said.

"Send some men down to investigate, I want to know what happened to that group of Fiends. If they were disintegrated, there should be some residue," Rigol commanded.

"Yes, sir!" he responded.

"Trouble?" General Maek asked as he slowly opened his eyes. Rigol took an audible gulp before responding.

"I'm not sure, General. The cultivator wearing the unusual armor was confronting some Fiends and they suddenly disappeared. Next, he flew through the maze without even slowing down. Even if he's skilled in formations, he shouldn't be able to complete the maze so quickly," Rigol responded.

"He might have an eye technique capable of seeing through the traps. He's at a high enough level to have such a technique. I'm more puzzled about the missing Fiends. Find out what happened," General Maek commanded.

"Yes, General!" he responded.

In another maze, Tower and B'riri had slaughtered their way through the Fiends guarding the entrance to the maze. Tower was in the middle of setting up a strange tube device.

"What is this thing called again?" asked B'riri.

"I call it my pathfinder cannon. These secret realms always employ things like mazes and formations to keep people from getting to the treasures to easily. I created this device to save some time," he explained to B'riri.

Rigol noticed the strange artifact Tower was set up.

"I wonder what he's planning on doing with that," he said.

"Put it on the main screen," General Maek commanded.

Immediately, Tower was put on the main monitor screen.

"It's some kind of tube device," Rigol commented.

As they watched the screen, Tower stepped back and sent some energy to the device. A sudden burst and a cloud of spheres shot up and then moved through the maze. As they moved through the maze, some of them were destroyed by the traps, while some of the spheres attacked and destroyed traps and mapped the maze. After a few moments, a map with the correct route was sent to a disc device Tower was holding. He quickly packed up the Pathfinder and followed his map. He and B'riri soon completed the maze.

General Maek's eyes widened and his fingers gripped his chair. The pressure from his fingers was so great, parts of the chair began to crack. Rigol was afraid the General was about to explode in rage! Rage wasn't the General's reaction.

"I want him! He's mine! What a Fiend he would make. Can you imagine having a creative genius like that as a Fiend? Track him and when our reinforcements arrive, dispatch them to capture him. They can kill the woman or she can become a Fiend, I don't care," the General said with a wild smile.

General Maek knew Fiends who were gifted in creating devices were rare. Fiends after power and wealth were a dime a dozen and therefore disposable. A walking treasure like Tower was worth a thousand General Maeks. Given, General Maek didn't place a slave seal on Tower as soon as he could. If he did then he would be the only person Tower could obey. Then everyone, even Fiends beyond his power level would be forced to value General Maek as much as Tower. No more worrying about the Fiend Fate. He could crush all of his enemies. General Maek had to have Tower.

"Wow, look at this guy!" One of the monitor Fiends commented.

Rigol immediately went to the monitor and saw Paneneko smoothly walking through the maze. He didn't use amazing techniques like Lorne, or strange devices like Tower, he seemed to just stroll through the maze. Every now and then he would throw something out and continue walking as if he were in a park enjoying the world around him.

"These cultivators are strange, the strangest I've ever seen in my life. These three groups in particular," Rigol commented to himself. He wasn't lying when he said they were strange. He long noticed the other members of the two sects were making their way through the mazes, but they were forced to spend more time and seemed wary of their environment. These four cultivators seemed extraordinary.

A light lit up at Rigol's station. Seeing the light, he walked over to receive a message.

"General Maek, our reinforcements have arrived," Rigol said.

"Good, let's see if everyone still has things so easy now that we have eight hundred lesser Fiends. Rigol, let's head to the gate room!" General Maek ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

"Haha, these cultivators are dead now," Rigol thought to himself. Even these extraordinary cultivators won't last long. In Rigol's estimation, it was time to spring the true trap.