Standing just a mere ten feet in front of Darcel, Aniela and Masami was a captain from the Snow Angel group. The beautiful yet lazy stature woman Bella, one of the strongest seventh-level Heavenly Kings in their group!

And not only strongest, one of, if not the most talented and could really achieve more than what she already has if not for her causal mindset.

Someone like this was actually protecting Darcel, Aniela, and Masami!

Genuinely, the trio couldn\'t stop their eyes from widening in overwhelming disbelief.

Sure, they all know Bella was the least serious-minded out of their previous Darkness Servants. But Kassidy as well, was a serene woman that appeared like barely anything could majorly affect her.

Yet, Kassidy stood before them with overwhelming hatred and true Killing Intent.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami expected the Killing Intent to come from their once Darkness Servants. After all, even they could understand that if they had their free wills taken away and was able to gain it back, they would want to murder the one previously controlling.

So just why….why was Bella protecting them?

"Could this be some sort of sick trick?" Masami quietly whispered so only Darcel and Aniela could hear it. Though she was protected, her guard didn\'t relax for a moment.

"I….I don\'t know. I could honestly never get a read on this woman…."

Aniela responded back in kind, her gaze never leaving off from Bella\'s back. Like Masami, she prepared herself for any first sign of betrayal.

Only Darcel could feel a bit more in-depth towards Bella\'s emotional state. While Kassidy plainly burst out her intense negative emotion, Bella was actually cleverly hiding hers.

Darcel realized it\'s why Aniela and Masami were confused about her intentions. But within his Darkness Soul link, he could sense from Bella that her mental state was clearer than Kassidy though still a bit jumbled up.

Nevertheless, one emotion Darcel could clearly sense from her was the sensation of relief. There was no negative intention mixed in with her relief as if she was genuinely glad to make it just on time to the trio.

"Girls….let\'s just wait and obverse. Bella is….well things might go a bit differently." Darcel whispered to the girls, feeling more assured in Bella than them.

Aniela and Masami briefly snapped their eyes to him, a little mix of doubt flashed on their faces.

However, no matter the small doubts they held, neither Aniela nor Masami would go against Darcel\'s words. They silently compiled while also gradually gathering more of their bloodline powers.

At the same time the trio discussed among themselves, Bella was staring into Kassidy\'s shocked face with an even expression. Her seventh level Heavenly Aura swirled out of her body, directly clashing against Kassidy\'s own Heavenly Aura.

For a brief moment, the air between Kassidy and Bella turned suffocatingly heavy.

No matter how much Kassidy tried to push her Heavenly Aura forth, it simply couldn\'t overpower Bella at all. Her once shock expression morphed into one of slight frustrations.

Bella matching her Heavenly Aura was no simple feat at all. There was no other seventh-level Heavenly King among her generation that could properly match her in combat.

Even when she faced off against more experienced, peak seventh-level Heavenly King, none of them also could match Kassidy\'s talented prowess.

Within Kassidy\'s arsenal, she has her Nine Tail Bloodline and her extremely high comprehension to give her combat prowess a tremendous edge in all of her fights.

However, despite all of her feats and accomplishments, Bella was plainly equal to Kassidy, whether she wants to believe it or not.

\'What is this….she\'s just from a mere Mercenary group, and yet, she\'s far stronger than any other geniuses on our level.\'

"Tch."

Kassidy audibly clicked her teeth and restrained her Heavenly Aura just a bit. She knows if she were to fight here, she would not be able to quickly get rid of Bella. In fact, she doubted it would even be easy to defeat her.

Still, Kassidy\'s eyes bore a hole into Bella\'s serene face. Seeing flickers of Darkness energy radiate from Bella\'s body only served to ignite Kassidy\'s already surging rage.

Despite having the same damn Darkness energy inside her, why the hell was Bella\'s Heavenly Aura is much less chaotic than her! With her tone utterly mixed with a bundle of emotions, Kassidy spat out to Bella,

"You!....Are you seriously going to protect them? Really? One of the first things you do when you have control is going back to serving them? Do you not feel any humiliation over being made into their little servants?"

Those ice-cold words, that icy tone of voice sent freezing shivers down Fruna\'s squadron and Darcel\'s group spines. They weren\'t even being targeted now, and yet, Kassidy\'s voice was just that impactful.

However, no matter how chilling her voice was, it could not affect Bella at all.

That lazy yet graceful small smile of hers never left Bella\'s face. She calmly matched Kassidy\'s intense gaze, never faltering under those eyes filled with hatred.

In direct contrast to Kassidy\'s haunting tone, Bella began to speak in a slow, soothing manner. "Ah, humiliation, pride. And that\'s the problem with many of us cultivators. Hey, instead of answering that question, let me ask this. Besides calling them Master and Mistress, did we honestly act like servants under them?"

Kassidy wanted to hotly respond right back to Bella. But as she opened her mouth, she completely paused. Despite not wanting to think about it, Bella\'s words had unwillingly caused past memories to surge in her mind.

Memories that had led up to the Mercenary Exchange Event, which made him vividly recall her meeting with Darcel\'s group.

And, barring the time Masami utterly dominated her, she really wasn\'t harmed at all by either Darcel or Aniela.

In fact, that day Darcel invaded her soulscape space, he was rather calm and gentle with her. Furthermore, she would never admit this out loud, but Bella was right.

No matter what memory she recalled, she couldn\'t recount any moment where she was forced to act like a genuine servant. The only things Darcel made her do was hide Zhaun and Cui in her Inn room.

And afterward, Darcel had even opened a door for her to become an expert at masking her presence. Besides how they were addressed, Darcel really didn\'t make them do any ungraceful servant-like behavior.

At that moment, there was that return of the slight warm sensation Kassidy felt when first staring at Darcel. Right then, her mind had nearly started to slowly change how she thought about Darcel specifically.

But almost immediately, Kassidy forcefully relapses her mind.

Her gaze got rid of any confusion and hesitation; in her mind, she already affirmed to never forgive Darcel! With her tone still spilling over with blazing Killing Intent, Kassidy told Bella,

"No matter the actions they wanted us to take. They had still briefly permanently infected our minds, completely taking away our free will. Can you really let go of an action like that?"

Contrary to the provoking reaction Kassidy wanted, Bella didn\'t cooperate at all. She felt a separation frustration bubble inside her as Bella never changed that small lazy smile of hers.

Even with all the facts plainly laid out for her, Bella simply shrugged her shoulders. Her mental state couldn\'t be messed with, she calmly answered Kassidy, telling her,

"Ah….oh well. Seems like I really will be the only one to admit it felt blissful to be under Darcel\'s control. About my free will….well, that\'s a more complicated issue that I\'m willing to talk it over."

"Talk it over?"

Kassidy\'s expression immediately morphed into disgusted disdain. The confidence Bella has made it seem like she could easily deal with her!

"Let\'s see if you can talk it over once I get rid of you, Aniela and Darcel."

Bella\'s eyebrows curled a bit, sensing Kassidy\'s Heavenly Aura increasing back in power. Instead of responding in kind to her, she had ignited her spatial ring and brought out a pearl necklace.

Keeping a smile at Kassidy\'s inquisitive expression, Bella said to her, "Hmmm….you know what? How about we all settle our debts another time?"

"Like I\'ll let you leave!"

In an instant, Kassidy\'s Heavenly Aura quickly soared to its absolute peak!

Flickers of Darkness energy burst out of her body as her pressure turned dominatingly chaotic.

But, before Kassidy could make any move, a tremendous sum of Heavenly Qi instantly exploded out of Bella\'s pearl necklace, causing the Spirit Artifact to lit up in a chilling blue glow.

\'Chi!\'

The blue glow sprayed out of the pearl necklace, encasing everything in a forty feet radius.

Fruna\'s squadron and Kassidy could not move anymore. Under this Spirit Artifact power, it was like they were frozen in time.

Only Bella and Darcel\'s group could move now. Streams of sweat poured down Bella\'s face as she leaked a huge breath. Throughout the entire time they talked, she was continually pouring her Heavenly Qi inside that Spirit Artifact.

Kassidy, however, didn\'t notice it because Bella used her residual Darkness Soul link energy to mascarade her power.

Still, despite unleashing a potent Spirit Artifact like this, Bella had very little energy to actually form an attack to cleanly harm Kassidy.

Not only she needed a colossal sum of her Heavenly Qi energy reserve to even activate the Spirit Artifact, but she also needed to split her energy to protect Darcel\'s group.

Under a regular fight, Bella was assured she would not lose to Kassidy. But because she was so hell-bent on killing Darcel\'s group, Bella knew it was better to simply get them out of here.

Right then, Bella fished out a talisman from her spatial ring and flashed in between Darcel, Aniela, and Masami.

"You!"

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami all instinctively tensed their bodies, letting out exclamations of shock.

But before they could try anything, Bella gave them a simple smile and told them, "Let\'s get out of here, hm?"

Without waiting for their reaction, Bella crushed the talisman, causing a gray Sword Qi aura to cover all four of them.

No matter how shocked Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were, they simply couldn\'t resist at this point. All in a second, the gray aura wrapped the four of them up and shot them towards the skies, soaring far away from Kassidy.

After two seconds, the Spirit Artifact power vanished, and the blue glow disappeared.

Kassidy could finally move again, but she wasn\'t happy at all. Her eyes narrowed to the skies, trying to pinpoint the exact location Bella escaped to.

However, after only two seconds, Bella and Darcel\'s group were far out of her Heavenly Spirit Sense range.

Kassidy\'s gaze never left the skies. She didn\'t take even one passing glance back at Fruna\'s squadron as she had then flew straight into the skies.

"....The hell was that about?"

The Silver Bloody Hammer group and the other Nobe\'s Fang group members were still bewildered by everything that happened. Everything had just occurred in an instant, allowing no time to process anything.

Fruna, though, kept her gaze locked on to the skies. Disappointment bubbled throughout her chest, unsatisfied that her reunion with Darcel\'s group was cut so short.

Moreover, with the state they were in, it seemed their help was crucial.

Right then, determination rose inside Fruna as she became dead set on seeking out Darcel\'s group again.