"Morina! Are you alright?!" Advisor Alex cried out, withdrawing his sword as he stared across the courtyard in shock.

Nearby, the two transformed dark operatives froze, turning their gazes toward the gathering contingent of municipal guards.

"Curse it all! How is this possible?!"

Before the dark operatives could recover from their shock, Barsha lunged forward with explosive speed. Though the two dark cultivators scrambled to dodge, Barsha's velocity proved overwhelming—her energy-infused strike caught them full-force, blasting them both skidding across the dirt.

Scrambling to their feet, the two dark operatives unleashed a sharp, piercing screech—a specialized distress signal meant to rally any dark forces stationed within the surrounding radius.

Silence met their call. A cold realization washed over them.

"All our forces deployed here have been wiped out," one of the dark operatives whispered, her voice trembling. "Their energy signatures are completely gone."

Realizing that only these two dark operatives remained, Barsha dropped into a offensive stance, preparing to finish the fight. From across the courtyard, Aji glanced at Nora, who stood rooted to the spot, staring in disbelief.

"Hey, Nora!" Aji called out. "Go reinforce the Leader! Show Advisor Alex your true strength—show him you stand ready to fight the dark army!"

Aji's voice snapped Nora back to reality. Reaching down, he scooped up his broadsword from the dirt, channeling a dense stream of internal energy along the heavy steel. Sprinting forward, he rushed to support Barsha in bringing the duel to a swift end.

Ethereal wings of pure energy erupted from Nora's back, multiplying his kinetic power as he brought his broadsword down in a devastating arc.

"Phoenix Impact!"

Within minutes, the combined assault proved decisive. Barsha's high-speed blade work rendered her opponent helpless, while Nora's heavy broadsword crushed the second dark operative into the earth. The two dark impostors collapsed, dead. Watching from a distance, Advisor Alex offered a soft, quiet smile.

Aji had remained motionless throughout the exchange, confident that Barsha and Nora possessed more than enough combat capability to handle the remaining two dark operatives on their own.

Watching the sudden execution of the two dark operatives, Mayor Basel felt a surge of confusion. Stepping forward, he requested an immediate explanation regarding the chaos that had unfolded at Advisor Alex's estate.

Taking a deep breath, Advisor Alex gestured for his wife, daughter, and son-in-law to take a seat, eager to hear how they had managed to escape their captivity.

The group gathered in the central reception pavilion overlooking the scarred battleground. Mayor Basel stood nearby alongside several of his senior officers, listening intently.

Late the previous night, after Aji and Barsha had completed their initial reconnaissance...

Upon returning to their respective guest quarters, Aji waited until the compound fell silent. Donning a dark, form-fitting suit that concealed his face except for his eyes, he slipped out into the night.

He moved completely undetected.

He made his way back toward the isolated residence located on the outskirts of the village—the very estate he and Barsha had scouted earlier. Rather than relying on shadow stealth this time, Aji breached the front entrance directly, moving to neutralize the dark operatives guarding the perimeter.

Though taken by surprise, the guards reacted quickly, lunging at the intruder. Aji swept through them with flawless precision, laying them low before they could raise an alarm. Clearing the outer perimeter, he pressed deeper into the residence, subduing every dark operative in his path.

Reaching the rear chamber, he stepped through the doorway. Inside, a man sat beside the bed where the two unconscious women lay resting.

Startled from his light sleep, the man sprang to his feet, dropping into a defensive stance. Before he could strike, Aji raised a hand, speaking in a calm, steady tone. He explained that he had been dispatched by Advisor Alex to rescue them.

The man introduced himself as Named, the husband of Alex's daughter, Nurma.

Named quickly explained their dire situation, revealing that the dark army had taken Alex's wife and daughter hostage to force the elder advisor into compliance. Voice heavy with grief, Named added that both women had been infected with a insidious poison—a dark affliction that could only be cured by an antidote held by the Demon Lord himself.

Alex had attempted to send help in the past, but rescuing them was meaningless so long as the lethal poison remained inside their bodies. Alex had secretly brought in numerous renowned physicians over the past year, but none had possessed the capability to neutralize the complex dark toxin.

Named fell silent, assuming their situation was hopeless.

However, the masked youth stepped past him, approaching the bed. Kneeling beside the two women, Aji pressed two fingers against their pulse points, examining their skin tone and internal energy channels.

"Auro Blood Poisoning," Aji noted calmly.

Named blinked in confusion, unfamiliar with the term uttered by the masked rescuer.

Aji understood the mechanics of Auro Blood perfectly—it was a synthetic toxin distilled directly from corrupt dark blood. When introduced into the bloodstream of a non-dark cultivator and amplified with dark magic, the poison bound itself to the victim's circulatory system. It was widely considered incurable through conventional medicine, requiring a precise surge of high-density internal aura to forcibly purge the corrupt blood from the body.

"Sit them upright," Aji commanded.

Named dared not object, immediately assisting both women into a sitting position side-by-side.

"Hold them steady from the front," Aji instructed. "Keep your hands firmly on their shoulders."

Named obeyed, though a quiet bewilderment lingered in his mind. Where are all the dark guards who usually monitor this room? Did this masked man single-handedly eliminate them all on his way in?

Before Named could ponder further, a blinding, radiant aura erupted from the masked youth's palms. Channeling a dense, swirling vortex of pure internal energy around his hands, Aji pressed his palms directly against the backs of the two unconscious women.

The radiant energy surged outward like a warm spring gale, filling the entire room with a gentle, soothing pressure. Named felt a wave of comforting heat radiate through his hands as the energy expanded.

Aji steadily increased his energy output, driving a concentrated stream of pure aura deep into their internal pathways, forcing out the corrupt toxin until—

HEAV-E! HEAV-E!

Both women suddenly convulsed, vomiting thick pools of jet-black blood onto the floor. The moment the dark fluid touched the floorboards, it hissed and steamed, emitting a foul, dark smoke as the corrupt magic vaporized.

Aji maintained his grip, driving a second, deeper wave of purifying aura into their spines. The two women convulsed a second time, purging the remaining traces of black blood from their systems. Satisfied, Aji withdrew his palms.

"It is done," Aji said softly. "Their bodies need time to recover. Watch over them. Once they regain full consciousness, escort them directly back to Advisor Alex's estate."

Named stood frozen, thoroughly stunned. Before he could utter a word of thanks, the masked youth vanished into thin air—leaving no trace behind.

"Wait! How did you..."

Named stared at the empty room in awe. Recalling the instruction, he turned his attention back to his wife and mother-in-law. He resolved to protect them until they fully awakened, eager to reunite them with Advisor Alex. For a full year, they had been kept prisoner in this isolated house, fed barely enough to survive while being used as leverage to control the former grandmaster.

Now, their nightmare was finally over.