The Burning Fiend

It took a few months for Reynolds and his family to leave the forest while being careful to avoid the unwanted eyes of the hunters that were still sweeping the forest. They had often stopped for camping and training as they were not really worried about being found out, and they seemed to have returned to their leisurely ways as if they had never being disturbed.

They were slightly disappointed at not being able to find a jade floating boulder, but decided to leave the forest and continue with their travel. This time they used a sword shaped metallic life form and Reynolds's four wives activated their 'Fake God' bracelets allowing them to travel without much problem as most of the bandits they would find were Demigods with only a few Gods.

These bandits probed the metallic life form and found no one inside and, realizing there must be at least a Highgod sitting within the metallic life form, they fled as fast as they could. Reynolds decided they would continue like this for a while and then deactivate the bracelets to allow Rosarie, Koral and Talia to fight bandits and gain battle experience.

Soon 50 years had passed and the hunters, along with the Lord Prefect people, were still watching the forest as no new sighting of the Burning Fiend and his group had been reported. Reynolds went back to study the array he found inside the 'Pearl of Life' and continued to make progress, he joked with Rosarie that she might end up becoming a Demigod through the Edicts of Life while studying the array before he would manage to become a God. This seemed to motivate her and joined in the study of the array, she was aware of Talia's intention of having 7 elemental avatars and thought that having another life would not be a bad idea.

A few days later, Talia, Rosarie and Koral were battling a group of bandits that had found to their despair that they had attacked the metallic life form of a 7-star Fiend. They were cursing him for not using the usual winged serpent shape and making them fall into a desperate situation. Reynolds knew that the fact that they were no longer on the forest below the Jade Floating Mountains was soon to be known by the Yura Clan and the unknown third party. But he did not care much for it, finding them would not be that easy, and he had confidence in his strength.

Reynolds noticed that Rosarie and Talia remembered his advice and were using divine power to defend themselves without depending only on their divine artifacts, he nodded satisfied and made a mental note to mention that they seemed to have no mental attacks.

Koral was using the 'Mirage' mystery, that even if she had not mastered it yet, with her God level divine power was enough to create serious damage to these bandits, and she seemed to be improving the longer they battle. He noticed that someone was tugging his coat and found that Jenne was looking at him with bright eyes looking like a cute pet begging for attention.

He chuckled and hold her in his arms while asking. "What is it Jenne?" She seemed embarrassed as if she were stealing food from her sisters but ended saying. "Master, I need a few test subjects for my new poisons... a God and three Demigods would do fine". Reynolds smiled thinking that a few centuries ago she would have refused to even hurt a bug, but somehow she had become a terrifying woman who loved to test her poisons on their enemies.

He kissed her forehead and smiled. "Don't worry, we would save a few of these bandits for you". She seemed like a spoiled little girl with a bright smile while Windsor chuckled and moved close to pet her head while saying. "Good Jenne". Making her blush and hide her face on Reynolds's c.h.e.s.t.

Catherine looked at them frowning slightly, she considered them a happy family but their hobbies were to sadistic for her taste. The Life Realm had its ugly side as well, but while living with her clan she had enjoyed a peaceful and calm life making her reluctant to consider the barbarities she had witnessed in the Infernal Realm as normal or even acceptable.

Catherine sighed wondering when would she be able to meet someone from her own race while looking at the battle as, she had fused with a lightning divine spark and her saint body had become a God lightning avatar, she was already be able to fight on a similar way. Catherine wanted to learn all she could to avoid becoming a burden later on, and she had started sparring with Talia whenever they stopped, but the difference in power was too much. She sighed while thinking that paying her debts would be too difficult with her current power and mentality.

Reynolds kept his attention glued to the battle at all times in order to avoid an accident, but it proved unnecessary as the three women had already fused laws making them superior to most Gods. The battle ended, and as soon Jenne got her test subjects she started with her experiments while the other women started their hunt for treasures on their new interspatial rings.

After chuckling at their happy faces, Reynolds urged them to continue their activities within the metallic life form, and they soon resumed their travel. He knew that it would take them another 60 years before reaching the Crystal Cave City, and they would have to make a stop in a suitable place for him to upgrade his Life and Death avatars to the God level before reaching the city as he could feel that he was only a step away from reaching that level. He didn't know how strong he will become after that, but he expected to at least touch the realm of Asura.

By that time, the Yura clan would no longer require his attention. Unknown to him, a God was looking in the distance and used a recording orb while watching the battle. He did not recognize Reynolds, but he thought that if those three powerful Gods were his servants then he must be even more powerful and hoped to gain some inkstones by selling the recording orb.

He flew towards the nearest city as soon as Reynolds took his family away, it would take 10 years for the God to reach the city and was happy at his good luck.

---

Another twenty years had passed and the red haired Patriarch of the Yura clan was growing restless, he feared that someone might have already captured the elf woman or that she no longer had a saint body. His mood was so bad that the servants did not dare breathing near him, it was mostly for this that he was surprised when a God wearing a coat with the ensign of his family approached and bowed respectfully, he frowned and looked at him.

After a few moments of feeling the pressure generated by the Patriarch's aura, the God was already trembling and starting to regret coming to report. "Speak". That word seemed like a life saving grace, and he rushed to speak. "Lord Patriarch, we received news that the group you are looking from is no longer within the forest below. They were spotted 10 years away, by metallic life form flying speed, of the Silver Cloud City. We do not have the recording orb, but the person who reported assured us that the Burning Fiend and 6 women killed a group of bandits... but..."

The God hesitated fearing to speak the last part of the report and started trembling as the Patriarch lost his patience. "But what? Speak!" The God resigned himself and said. "The elf woman did not seem to be with them anymore, in her place was a woman with blue electric long hair... but the person who witnessed the battle was only a God and did not dare to use his divine sense to probe... so we do not know if she was the elf woman or not".

The anger caused by this news made the Patriarch to lose his control and the floor broke from the pressure creating several cracks and pieces of expensive marble to float and disintegrate causing the God to kneel and start mumbling while begging for his life.

---

The Lord of the Silver Prefecture rested on his chair while hearing the report with an amused expression, but managed to keep his face serious as he noticed that his granddaughter was frowning at it was mentioned that the elf woman had disappeared, he could not control himself any longer and started laughing at her.

She rewarded him with a stern glare and started mumbling things like 'irresponsible old man' and 'useless Lord Prefect'. Her reaction made him frown and turned to look at her and explain. "They escaped the close-knit divine sense probe of several Highgods and appeared millions of kilometers away. That means that he had ways of shielding his group from divine sense probes and perhaps even hide the bloodline of the elf woman making her change her appearance".

The blue haired girl seemed to be a little less angry but frowned by his next comment. "Still, we have no certainty and for what my people found out... she was only a traveling companion and not a family member. We cannot be sure if they parted ways or not. But don't worry too much, there is not much we can do about it except keep paying attention. If we learned about this, most likely the fool of the Yura Clan is already on his way looking for battle".

The blue haired girl was still frowning but still added. "Then shouldn't you sent a few people to obtain a recording of the battle? Your babysitters were left behind without even realizing their failure... I would not be surprised if they are still sitting on that forest below the Jade Floating Mountains". The gray haired man started nodding and passing his commands while expectation shined on his eyes.