บท 28: Teleportation.

*Gasp!*

Everyone was truly at a loss for words.

It was well known that the daughter of the Sand Goddess had an unhinged temper.

It was better to keep such a monster at bay.

They had all witnessed what her rage could do, and it wasn't as pretty as her face.

She had almost destroyed half the city just to annihilate a poor individual who accidentally stepped on her in a public residence.

She didn't care that people might be harmed by her outburst of energy; she just did it.

The outcome was devastating, with many lives lost.

The most frustrating part was that, since she was the daughter of the Sand Goddess, no one dared to speak out as she roamed freely while others mourned their losses—whether it was parents, children, or entire families.

It was a brutal move, and all Mary could say to the grieving people was:

"Your people shouldn't have been there. I was stepped on. Do you know how painful that is?!"

They were greatly angered by this, but what could they do?.

Her mother was a god; they sought shelter in her domain, and she could easily snuff them out if she wanted to.

"Who am I? Well, I'm Mike, from the wastelands. Nice to meet you," Azrael 'introduced' himself.

"Never heard of you," Mary said, her expression bored.

"Well, I'm a commoner, after all, unlike you. I'm new to this city; that's why I didn't understand what was going on," Azrael said.

His attitude shifted drastically, adopting a calmer demeanor to ease the situation.

Why?

Because he was practically being hunted by all the celestials, and even his name could raise suspicion.

It was best to craft a new identity on the spot.

'I'd like to kill you for your disrespect. Also, I wonder how Sandra would react to find her daughter's corpse,' Azrael thought, his mind as sinister as always.

'Who's this human, who dares to stare a celestial like myself, a direct descendant, in the eye without an ounce of fear? He's certainly courting death,' Mary thought.

"You know, a gutsy little chicken always gets cooked first," she said with a smirk.

"Is that a threat? Kek," Azrael replied bluntly.

"Man, this guy is cooked, talking to a direct descendant of a celestial like that?"

"Yeah, man, bro's gonna be that chicken."

"He should have been begging for forgiveness. No one's gonna save him."

"Bro's a goner..."

Whispers flew from side to side, as people shared their own opinions about the unfolding situation.

Meanwhile, Azrael remained unfazed, his silent gaze locked with Mary's.

No words were exchanged, but the intense killing intent soaking the atmosphere spoke louder than anything else.

However, like a fragile glass shattering against the earth, the tension was abruptly broken by an unexpected intruder.

"Oh, oh, oh! It looks like the princess of the city graces us with her presence this fine day," a gentle voice rang out, sending a sense of calm through everyone's ears.

At first, the voice seemed to come from nowhere.

But in the next moment, a figure materialized in the room, solidifying as golden particles sparkled around him.

The shimmering fragments flowed with the air before fading like ash.

Each step he took was as light as a feather's touch.

His attire, though simple, radiated wealth and class.

"Oh, Professor Erath, it's a pleasure to gaze upon you once again," Mary greeted him, her tone shifting dramatically.

She was practically gloating like a fat pig.

Erath, a demi-god from the primordial race, was an assistant in her mother's castle because all celestials had that historic vibe to them, no matter what era it was.

He tutored her with classes and advised her enough to make good decisions for when she was ready to take her mother's place as the next sand goddess.

Since Mary was the only child, all attention was put on her, and she had been pampered greatly ever since she was a child.

This much treatment wouldn't have been given to her if she had been a male child because that would end the lineage the sand goddesses had built for thousands of years.

Only the females inherited what their mothers left behind within the sand gods.

Now that the professor had arrived, everyone mainly focused on him, putting their dispute aside for now.

"Welcome, everyone!" Professor Erath paused for a moment and inhaled the soothing silence before he continued.

That was the main problem for celestials—it was like any ounce of control they slightly received drove them crazy.

'Power is really a bitch.'

"I can already see the fierce determination on most of your faces. I like that."

"So, I will have to explain the rules first once again for those who recently joined today."

"The rules are quite simple. You are sent out there to explore more areas in the desert district, and the elimination of strogois is just a bonus."

"For each place a party discovers or for the amount of strogoi cores you retrieve, you get paid."

"Discovery of an unknown place earns a prize of 100,000 gold coins, while those who acquire a strogoi core receive 50,000 gold coins each."

"It also depends on how strong the strogoi is. In simple terms, the stronger the beast, the higher your pay," the professor concluded.

Beast cores were like the lifeline to strogois; they were their heart, their soul, and where their energy was stored.

Once a strogoi's heart was destroyed, they die. Unlike celestials, who joined the reincarnation cycle, strogois didn't.

"Now that that's done, let's start the hunting, shall we?" With anticipation in his heart to see talents of survival on display, Professor Erath flicked his hand in a circular motion, and a golden whirlpool appeared from nowhere, soaking the air in.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Get in, and you'll be transported to the place you're required to hunt. I hope you all come back alive," Professor Erath chuckled.

He hoped, unlike last time when only eleven out of forty people came back alive. Though he cared little, he just wanted to watch the fun and see how they would do anything for survival—all because of money. It was quite interesting to watch and laugh in the shadows.

As for Princess Mary, she was the one he mainly worried about. However, she was a strong individual. Although at the champion level, her strength rivaled that of a first-stage demi-god.

And if, unfortunately, she ended up in trouble, she had a bodyguard and him to intervene.

If she were to die, the sand goddess would have their heads—but not before making them suffer until choosing death was the only option.

Everyone quietly entered. Those who had experienced this situation before flew in like they had an appointment with death.

'This is going to be fun,' Azrael smirked.