To say that Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were surprised to sense hostile intentions in the five black coat men would be a lie.

Essentially, if you're not a part of a squadron group, you might as well be a Spirit Monster to these Mercenaries.

A fight was nearing, and neither Darcel, Aniela, or Masami knew if they could even face this battle. Even if they all were at one hundred percent of their capacities, they knew their bloodline powers could not match up to numerous fifth level Heavenly Kings and one powerful sixth level.

Although, before these men even landed before them, a flash of information streaked into Darcel's mind. He blinked his eyes a few times as he suddenly recalled just who this squadron group belongs to.

'Their...the Shadow Rouge group!' Recognizing this group didn't put any ease on Darcel's mind.

Before the event started, Aniela and Masami did take a bit of time to go through the Mercenaries groups competing.

At that time, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami admittedly didn't have a considerable interest in learning in-depth detail about them. They only gazed over the surface-level facts as they didn't feel threatened by any of what they saw.

Even though Darcel couldn't predict the yellow-eyed woman affecting their prowess, he still felt regret over not learning more about these groups.

All he knows about the Shadow Rogue group is that they're not a particularly strong one. But they are proficient in the mysterious art of Shadow energy which looked similar to Darkness energy but holds completely different properties.

No matter what arts they used, anything they have is largely threatening to Darcel, Aniela, and Masami.

"Be ready..." Darcel quietly uttered to the girls without taking his gaze off from the skies. Aniela and Masami gave only a slight nod, their eyes also never leaving the Shadow Rouge group.

Up in the skies, each Shadow Rouge member felt a bit creased as the trio didn't answer them back. Their squadron leader lightly snorted and dived towards the ground, prompting the others to follow in his lead.

In a second, the five of them crossed a mile towards the ground and landed just a mere fifteen feet away from the trio.

Even when they had landed, the Shadow Rouge members still didn't hear any peep from Darcel's group.

Each of them gave the trio a thorough look over. Admittedly they were mildly surprised at their appearances.

Each Shadow Rogue member all had seen numerous handsome and beautiful youths in their long time of living.

But, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami held a distinct charm that already set them apart from most people they had encountered. Moreover, despite their pitifully low realms, none of these youths appeared to be worried that their facing powerful Heavenly Kings.

The Captain of the squadron group couldn't stop his curiosity from growing over this strange, chance encounter. With no hurried tone in his voice, he began speaking to the trio.

"How suspicious...two True Soul core brats and one Innate Core brat. None of you even look like you hail from any particular group. So I'll ask again, what brings you three in this dangerous domain."

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt horrid goosebumps just from this man's voice. It was unbearably condescending as if he was in complete control over this situation.

What made the trio garner even more bitterness was the fact that the Shadow Rouge squadron indeed did have the advantage over them.

But, even at seemingly impossible odds, Darcel, Aniela and Masami weren't willing to submit. They all appeared calm while frantically thinking of ways to escape.

And Darcel believed he may have on solid yet risk plan.

Facing against several Heavenly Kings, Darcel kept his face indifferent as he finally spoke up to them. "We're simply looking for treasure just like everyone else in here. And I'm amusing...you all must've sensed a recent treasure of ours and must want it, right?"

As he finished talking, Darcel spotted the Captain of their squadron turns his body stance even more casual. He began treating the situation as if it was simply an amusing game.

But nonetheless, he nodded towards Darcel. "That indeed is true. Thankfully for you all sake, you understood your position immediately. So, just give us your Spatial Ring, and we'll be on our way."

The Captain's tone somehow turned even more grossly condescending.

The only reason the Shadow Rouge squadron didn't simply just forcefully take what they wanted was that they were genuinely curious about the trio.

From the countless years they participated in these Mercenary Exchange Event, never had they encountered anyone below the Heavenly Transformation realm.

The only possibility roaming around the Shadow Rogue squadron member's minds was that these youths must've sneaked in one of the teleportation portals.

They guessed these youths were either incredibly daring or foolishly naive. Either way, the Shadow Rouge squadron members firmly believed they wouldn't be able to get away.

Darcel only kept his indifferent face while his mind sorted out his plan. He shoved his hand into his pocket, taking out his spatial Ring, and began walking up to the Shadow Rouge squadron.

As Darcel walked, Aniela and Masami remained rooted to their spots, but their palms were silently clenching.

Right as they were about to stress over how to stop Darcel from going up, his calming voice had suddenly popped into their mind. Their calm expressions nearly broke as they heard,

'Be prepared. Aniela, your flashbang. Masami the escaping talisman.'

Aniela and Masami started to blink their eyes multiple times in an attempt to cover their surprise. Deep within their souls, they both felt their Darkness Soul link violently pulsate, shooting out warming sensations in the girl's Martial Veins.

Aniela and Masami had no idea that Darcel could do this!

They always had a feeling he could more easily read their emotions, but this was essentially a telepathic connection!

Aniela had never read anything about cultivators having telepathic connections, nor did Masami even learn of someone using this ability.

However, despite how shocking this was, the girls quickly pushed down their surprise.

Doing as Darcel instructed them, Aniela began clutching on her bloodline arm. At the same time, Masami shoved her hand into her pocket, clutching down on something.

While the girls prepared, Darcel already made it within six feet from the Shadow Rouge squadron.

Understandably, none of the Shadow Rouge members were worried about Darcel attempting to do anything suspicious. And if he did try to, the Shadow Rouge members were actually a bit curious to see what tricks a mere True Soul Core youth has.

No matter what he tries, though, it would never be able to match up to the unfathomable power of the Heavenly Transformation realm.

Darcel simply raised his arm and was about to hand over his Spatial Ring.

Right then, with Darcel's sleeve raised, a talisman had actually fallen out of his sleeve.

The Shadow Rouge squadron noticed the talisman, but in that split second, the talisman had suddenly activated on its own!

A colossal sum of Heavenly Power abruptly surged out the talisman as it twinkled in a bright blue glow.

At the same time, Darcel's body was covered in the same blue glow, and he was immediately sent fifteen feet back as if he just got teleported.

Simultaneously when Darcel had escaped, the Shadow Rogue squadron were all caught off guard! The talisman only needed less than a nanosecond to activate, and before it did surge with power, none of them even sensed any energy coming from it.

In addition to being caught off guard, they also felt largely pressured by the talisman Heavenly Qi power!

'Chi!'

Before the Shadow Rouge members could react, a tremendous sum of Ice Qi wrapped around their bodies.

Their protective Heavenly Auras got instantly suppressed, effectively bypassing any natural defenses they had. And in just a mere second, the Shadow Rouge members were all frozen in a solid block of ice.

The temperature snapped down to sub-zero level in just a manner of seconds, freezing everything in a six-foot radius.

"Fuuu..." Darcel leaked a huge breath as sweat poured down his brows.

If there's one thing he was immensely thankful for, it was that none of those Heavenly Kings could sense his soul energy. While he had walked up, he poured a stream of his Darkness essence energy in the talisman that would release on his command.

In order for the plan to work, the Heavenly Kings had to be absolutely unaware of any spek of soul energy. If they were, they would've immediately put a stop to Darcel's plan.

But even then, Darcel wasn't even sure if the talisman would have enough energy to be active. It was a tremendous risk to take; but, Darcel felt some assurance because of his Chaotic Shard deep within his Soul's core.

Previously, it did help with clearing away even peak Heavenly King power easily, so activating a talisman should've been equally as easy.

Because it was attached to his Soul, Darcel assumed the Chaotic energy would naturally flow with his Darkness essence energy.

And thankfully, his huge gamble had paid off.

After taking only a split second to catch his breath, Darcel immediately whipped his head around to see Aniela and Masami state.

Aniela was clenching her teeth, tightly clutching her bloodline arm, desperately gathering a massive sum of her bloodline powers. Her face was drenched as she needed to have far more focus when charging her bloodline attacks now.

No longer can Aniela release attacks on a snap of a dime which severely limited her fighting potential even more.

Masami was also intently focused. She was clutching down on a green talisman, pouring a tremendous sum of bloodline power into it.

Green lightning arcs spewed out of the talisman as it got close to finishing its charge. This talisman was explicitly crafted to need an enormous sum of power to activate and took a bit of time to charge. And with Masami's weakened prowess, it only added to the time required to finish.

But the results would be worth it as it would allow the trio to escape this desperate situation.

The talisman Darcel used wasn't that strong but, it had a decently powerful effect in freezing anybody. Darcel thought it would provide them with enough time for a course of action.

But right then, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt a frightening chill run through their entire body, causing them to shiver. Their pupils began to dilate to mere dots size as they sensed the immense power of a sixth level Heavenly King burst throughout the area!

Aniela was in disbelief as she exclaimed, "Ah?? That talisman is supposed to hold on! I-I'm not done yet!"

There was only a faint white glow flickering around Anieal's bloodline arm, indicating her soul flashbang was on the verge of finishing its charge.

Masami gritted her teeth; frustration covered her voice as she said, "Damn it! The talisman isn't done yet!"

Masami's firefox cloak had wrapped around her arm as she explosively increased her power output. Yet, the talisman wasn't finished charging.

'Bang!'

The sound of ice shattering boomed into the trio's ears. Darcel whipped his head back up front, and his eyes widened in looming dread.