"Goddamn idiot! He had to take the Human Invoker Crystal with him, useless retard!" Standing at the edge of the cliff was the man that had attacked Pilkan, growling in anger as he stared at the men behind him, commanding them, "Go down to investigate!"

"But sir, no one ever managed to return once they pass through that mist layer." One of his subordinates said, shivering from fear upon staring at the cliff.

"Then, you'll be the first to return alive" The man said as he kicked the subordinate, watching him scream in fright as he fell through the steep place, "You have an Eagle-type Invoked Spirit. Don't forget to use it."

Only then did the fearful screams of the subordinate cease as he condensed his Invoked Spirit, slowing down his descent to a controllable extent before cautiously passing through the misty layer.

One second, two seconds, ten seconds, one minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes, the subordinate never returned, causing the man to frown in response before looking at a second subordinate, "You go and check what happened."

"M-My lord" The subordinate pleaded to be spared but had no other choice but to grit his teeth and take the plunge. After all, if the man's mood turned foul, the subordinate's entire family would be used to create a Human Invoker Crystal.

That was pretty much how the Lan Clan had been creating Human Invoker Crystals in secret, by using those charged with insubordination for the sheer fact that they hesitated in carrying out the orders of their superiors.

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The second subordinate too failed to return, even after an hour had passed, causing the man's expression to turn beet red in anger, cursing in response, "Imbeciles! The lot of you!"

The reason he was angry stemmed from the fact that guarding the Superior Human Invoker Crystal was his task. Therefore, the fact that it was stolen meant a stain on his record. If he failed to return with it, he would have to pay for the production costs.

And that was something he couldn't afford, despite being part of the main family. It just proved to show just how expensive producing a Superior Human Invoker Crystal was.

After all, even among Invoker Crystals, it was the most expensive to create, for humans were the most complex among all living entities. Therefore, there were just too many Mental Fragments deemed a waste in the production process, requiring a steep necessity of manpower, time, Mental Strength, and 'human resources.'

Not just any human made the cut. They had to be carefully selected and at times, reared for the sole sake of being made into a Human Invoker Crystal. Otherwise, the quantity of Mental Fragment wastage would only pile up, spiking the production costs even further.

Therefore, by tooth or nail, he had to return with the Human Invoker Crystal. Otherwise, he would have to make preparations to flee with all his possessions.

Upon seeing that hope to obtain the Human Invoker Crystal was nil, the man had already switched to Plan B, and that was to get rid of the men under him. This way, he could save the time and effort needed to deal with them, gaining enough leeway to execute a plan of escape with his family.

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After all, only those with him were aware that a Human Invoker Crystal had been stolen. It would take at least another day before news regarding it reaches the others in the Clan. That was enough time for him to escape.

"I understand the problem now." He spoke all of a sudden, staring at the men under him to say, "It was because only one of them went at a time. They must be stuck in the misty layer."

He then looked at the people, pointing at four among them, "Link your hands and descend slowly. Two must pass through while the others remain above the layer. Pull the chain a second later. This way, it's possible to recall the other two to safety too."

Even if they wished to protest, the men had no other choice but to follow. At least, if they died, the Lan Clan would protect their families, for they indeed died in the line of duty. The Lan Clan at least had that much honour in them, even if it was displayed for namesake, just to prevent the branch families from using it as an excuse to conduct an uprising.

As he had commanded, four people descended on their Eagle Invoked Spirits, linking their hands as two of them passed through the misty layer while the other two remained outside.

But, the moment the body of the first man's Invoked Spirit touched the misty layer, a mysterious force sucked it inside. And since all four had linked their hands, they were all pulled into it in an instant before no sound of them leaked out.

"They died!" An underling screamed in shock before noticing that he had been pushed off the cliff too. He wasn't alone as a metallic Eagle had slammed the rest of the underlings over the cliff, intending to kill them all.

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They hurriedly summoned their respective Eagles when the metallic Eagle swept past, critically injuring the wings of each, causing them to gradually fall towards the misty layer.

They were all at the Inferior Invoker Stage while the man at the top of the cliff was at peak of the Common Invoker Stage. Moreover, his metallic Eagle was vastly developed using a lot of resources, sourced from the best of eagles reared by the Lan Clan.

In contrast, all the underlings obtained were either sick, injured, or old eagles, those with limited or no value. Therefore, the sharp contrast in resources resulted in their Eagles failing to even put up a fight against the metallic Eagle.

"Screw you, bastard!" The last of the underlings cursed in response, indignant at his death as he fell into the misty layer.

"Heh," The man only snorted in response before turning around to walk away.

Thud!

Pilkan stared at the body of yet another man splattering upon impact on the ground, sighing as he counted, "That's the last of them. He literally sent them all to their deaths."

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Muttering in response, he stared at the misty layer, noticing the Invoked Spirits trapped there, gradually devoured by the misty layer itself. This was what resulted in the Invokers falling to their deaths.

Unfortunately, as they splattered upon impact, Pilkan was unable to obtain any Mental Fragments from them. One of the required conditions was for at least the head to be intact.

He placed the topic to the back of his head, climbing up the cliff using his Invoked Spirit, soon approaching the misty layer as he muttered, "So, this is a place that traps Invoked Spirits."