Ryland only agreed to lead Ricky to the Short Devil tribe's strongholds because the other man promised he would set him and his companions free right after. However, Ricky's favor was another story. He figured that he shouldn't think about it, at least, for the time being.
"Thank you, man! I'll remember this,"
Ricky responded gratefully as soon as Ryland agreed.
Ryland then led the three of them to one of the Short Devil tribe's strongholds, and they arrived at their destination after about half a day's travel. Unfortunately, Ricky couldn't detect Claire's aura in this stronghold, which meant that she and her companions must be in a different stronghold.
"It looks like they aren't here,"
Ricky muttered with blatant disappointment. He had hoped to find them here, but they came to the wrong place.
And since they went to a dud, all they could do was wait for news from Ryland's companions, hoping that one of them would have better news.
Thankfully, Ricky finally received good news from one of his Shadowy Replications after an hour. It reported that they had detected Claire's aura in another stronghold.
"Thank you for bringing us here, Ryland. Now, just as I promised, the five of you are free from now on," Ricky declared with a smile. "But you must make a Martial Arts Oath before you leave, as the others must not find out we are here. You five need to promise to keep this a secret."
"I understand,"
Ryland agreed, nodding.
Under their agreement, Ricky let them go once Ryland made the Martial Arts Oath.
With that taken care of, Ricky took Mordechai and Ella to the Massacring Zone, and they headed to where the Shadowy Replication found Claire. Once they arrived, he deactivated the Shadowy Replication that was waiting for him there.
Ricky's space and the Shadowy Replication's space were linked to each other.
In that way, the Shadowy Replication's space served as Ricky's safety net. It could take him away from dangerous situations, and it could also serve as his hiding spot.
'Perhaps, in the future, I should hide some Shadowy Replications in concealed places. When my Shadowy Replications reach maturity and could produce Flesh Replications, I can use them to hide and even escape in times of trouble, ' Ricky thought with much foresight.
The Short Devil tribe's stronghold was a black castle located in a deep valley. Black figures appeared one after another around the castle. These were devils.
However, these devils weren't from the Short Devil tribe. They belonged to other devil tribes that served as protectors of the Short Devil tribe. Since the creatures from the Short Devil tribe specialized in casting weapons, they couldn't fight well, and they had to rely on other tribes to protect them.
Seeing this, Ricky and the other two cautiously hid in his space first.
"Do you sense them inside, Ricky? Can you tell where they are?"
Mordechai eagerly asked the other man.
"Yes. I can sense their auras inside the castle,"
answered Ricky affirmatively.
The next moment, he drove the space into the castle.
They slowly moved inside, following Claire's aura, until they arrived deep into the castle.
There, the three of them found what they were looking for.
A golden halo surrounded Claire, Peter, and the other four, while the halo itself was enveloped in a profound illusory space.
Unfortunately, Ricky had very limited knowledge about this golden halo. He only knew that it came from the Sacred Illusory Kingdom's sacred weapon—the Illusory Ring.
He heard that this particular sacred weapon could release powerful and profound illusory space.
Of course, the illusory space's strength depended on the user's realm and strength.
As Ricky gazed into the Illusory Ring, he saw that Claire and her companions stood inside, joined by an old and stout black devil.
"What the hell is happening?"
shouted the other tribes' leaders as they started to panic.
They hastily activated their power, intending to confront the giant seal.
Several powerful devils worked together to resist the attack, and they successfully blocked Ricky's Time Seal.
In the next moment, Ricky's figure appeared in the middle of the Time Seal. He had a wicked smile on his face as he said, "You devil bastards, don't blame me for being cruel to you because you deserve it."
His grin widened, and in between one breath and the next, a ray of light shot out from between his eyebrows. It grew brighter and brighter until it engulfed the entire castle.
"How is that possible?" All eyes could only watch the scene with disbelief in their eyes.
Claire, Peter, and their companions, as well as Mordechai and Ella who were still in the Massacring Zone, all recognized it in one glance. "The ancient arena!"
Ricky had indeed summoned the ancient arena.
Boom! Boom! Under his control, it hovered over the black castle and then dropped onto it with a deafening blow, crushing the entire castle beneath it into dust.
The ancient arena was made of Rocks of Heaven and Earth, which made it as tough and sturdy as any supreme weapon. A small black castle stood no chance against it.
Pained and dying screams erupted from the dust and debris that had remained of the devils' abode.
Undoubtedly, the power of Ricky, a middle spiritual emperor, filled the ancient arena to the brim. And it had struck the castle with a crushing blow. How could any devil who hadn't become a middle spiritual emperor survive?
That was how Ricky dealt with the weaker devils, and only a few living devils remained. He then put away the ancient arena and the Time Seal. To his satisfaction, he noticed that only several middle spiritual emperors and lower spiritual emperors at peak state had survived.
Of course, those devils who witnessed this fell silent, unable to utter a word out of shock.
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