Kailen appeared somewhere far away from where he previously was in the southern mountain range. He had arrived at the new location where he had earlier spotted several Rank 2 novice-stage chaotic beasts with the principle of space.

"I need to be more careful and study my environment well before I make a move on these creatures. If those guys encountered Rank 3 novice-stage chaotic beasts, it means I may encounter some."

Quickly, Kailen activated his principle of space again. He scanned the surrounding vicinity. He spotted a very large tree which peered into the clouds. Its branches were numerous. It also had a lot of leaves. The tree was empty; it was safe to use it as a surveillance spot.

Kailen shot towards the tree. He appeared on one of the branches in the clouds and sat on it. With his principle of space activated, Kailen kept monitoring the place. The Rank 2 novice-stage chaotic beasts with the principle of space he had discovered were still roaming the place.

For a few days, no Rank 3 creature had appeared in the vicinity. However, Kailen felt something was off. Kailen felt like something was watching over the Rank 2 novice-stage chaotic beasts he wanted to kill. He extended his scope of surveillance. Soon, two came into view. They were on some sort of mountain not too far away from where the chaotic beasts were.

Kailen recognized one of them.

"Silence?" Kailen thought.

He remembered this lady. She was from one of the mercenary organisations in the Castelan District. She had made a name for herself during the chaotic beast tide, so Kailen naturally remembered her. Why was she stalking a chaotic beast with the principle of space? Did she not have the principle of wind?

Kailen looked at the other individual with her. He decided to pay attention to their conversations.

"Silence, how long are we supposed to wait? We had a deal. I helped you to kill all those chaotic beasts," one of the people with her, a buff human male with an intimidating build, said. "You are now one of the strongest Rank 2 novice-stage transcendents in the organisation. It’s your turn to help me hunt for some chaotic beasts. But, it seems you are hesitant to keep up your end of the deal."

Silence sighed. "Horton, let’s be patient. Naturally, I will keep my end of the deal. I don’t intend to back out. We need to be extremely certain that these chaotic beasts are not being guarded by their older kin or something. After all, they look a bit young."

A glint of realization flickered through Horton’s eyes. She was right. It seemed they had to wait a little while.

"So this is why they are here." Kailen scratched his chin. "This Silence seems very formidable. With that other guy with her, it will be difficult to handle them. An altercation is most likely to break out between me and them if I rush in first. They want the principle fragment I want, after all. But they can’t discover me from the location I am. I should use that to my advantage."

Kailen thought, "How about I wait for them to kill the chaotic beasts and I rush in to secure the space principle fragment? Plus, if they rush in to attack this many chaotic beasts, they will definitely sustain some injuries, and they will be weak. I can use that window of opportunity to eliminate them and secure the principle fragments. Also, if they rush in and the chaotic beasts are really being guarded by a stronger kin of theirs from the shadows I am unable to detect, their presence will draw them out. That way, I will know I can’t kill these chaotic beasts, and I can leave."

This was the best course of action. There was no reason to rush in blindly and get himself killed when others could test the waters for him. From his perspective, waiting was a win-win situation, while rushing ahead was stupid.

Kailen stayed in his location, silently waiting. He didn’t budge. He monitored the chaotic beasts, Silence, and Horton at the same time.

"I don’t think there’s any creature monitoring them. We should make a move," Silence muttered.

The moment she spoke, her figure was like a gale of wind—swift and silent. She moved towards the leopard-looking chaotic beasts. A short sword conjured from the principle of wind manifested in her hands as she moved, intending to end one of the creatures in one swift strike.

Horton also moved. He leaped into the air. As he was descending, the void rippled as the space around him twisted into an ethereal hammer. The spatial hammer overlapped with his large hand, plummeting towards one of the chaotic beasts.

The leopard-looking chaotic beasts slashed their paws towards the attacks, launching spatial arcs towards the approaching threats. The spatial attacks of the leopard-looking chaotic beasts and the attacks of Silence and Horton disintegrated. Soon, a brutal battle began as Silence and Horton engaged seriously with the chaotic beasts.

"These guys are very strong. It was the right call to wait," Kailen thought. From the way Silence and Horton were fighting with the chaotic beasts, the duo could have killed him if they worked together. He was relieved he didn’t overestimate himself and assessed the situation well.

Very soon, Horton and Silence managed to launch their final attacks towards the ten Rank 2 novice-stage leopard-line chaotic beasts with the principle of space. The moment they launched the attacks, they sighed in relief as the corpses of the beasts lay on the destroyed forest ground.

"I will guard the place. You can focus on using the principle fragments," Silence said, her breathing heavy. It was clear she was injured.

"Mmm." A trace of blood fell from his mouth. He was injured too. The principle attacks of the beasts had really done a number on him. It seemed they had to find light transcendents to heal them when they got back.

At this moment, a glint flashed through Kailen’s eyes. It seems there was no creature guarding the beasts they had just killed. Also, the two were injured after killing the chaotic beast . Now was the perfect time to strike.

His figure melded with the void.

Horton’s eyes widened. He felt some spatial fluctuations in the environs as he was about to make a connection with the space principle fragment. Another creature with the principle of space was in the vicinity? Shit... was a creature guarding the beasts they had just killed, just as Silence had thought?

"Silence, we..."

He didn’t even finish speaking when an ethereal katana hollowed out his head from his neck. He had an expression of shock on his dead face as his head rolled on the ground.

Silence didn’t even get the chance to turn when she felt dizzy. Suddenly, she felt her head had been hollowed out from the rest of her body. It was not a cut. It was as if it had been surgically separated from her body. Her head somersaulted as she saw someone in her line of vision with a calm, casual expression on his face.

"Kailen Darkhaven... how..."

This was the last thought she had before her vision went black and her head rolled on the ground.

"That was a bit stressful," Kailen muttered.