Death... and me
chapter-2023

"Back then, my Lakure Race was in control of one of the Realm of Gods' continents in the center. Since you came to the Underworld, you should know about how important the Center of the Realm of Gods is, right?" Luman started his tale with a question.

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky nodded. They knew that it was separated into four regions and that it wasn't just anyone who could enter them.

Luman continued. "Obviously, we lived in the Humanoid Races' side of the center. To be more specific, we were in the Lafis Continent, one of the best for resources. But above all, Lafis Continent had one of the highest concentrations of Divine Energy in the Realm of Gods, probably the best. Our Race believed that we evolved into our Lakure form because our bodies adapted to that environment."

That made sense in Rean's head. Evolution is pretty much always due to environmental reasons, after all. Even back on Earth, where there was no such thing as Spiritual or Divine Energy, species still evolved due to these reasons.

However, there was one thing Rean got confused about. "Lafis Continent? There was no such thing in the Center of the Realm of Gods."

Rean wasn't lying. He and Roan did travel around the Center of the Realm of Gods, so they did get information about all continents inside. Lafis definitely wasn't a name from any of the continents there. "Could it be that the name was changed?"

Luman shook his head. "No, Lafis Continent simply doesn't exist anymore. No, to be more specific, it does exist, but it is not in the Realm of Gods."

Luman didn't stop there. "Let me continue, and you will understand. With that, we took control of the region around us, using our superior ability to control Divine Energy. Even within the top Humanoid Races, few could challenge our authority. However, our continent was the best there was for Divine Energy. That's what invited calamity later on."

Roan immediately mentioned. "The Vruve Organization wanted your continent, is it?"

Luman nodded. "Exactly. That was a force that no one wanted to go against. Our Lakure Race, obviously, didn't want it either. However, there rarely ever showed themselves, so we were quite confused as to why they suddenly attacked our Race."

"I can only say that the Divine Energy of your continent was the reason," Rean added.

"That was part of the reason," Luman agreed with Rean on that point. "The second part was that our Lakure Race had truly evolved to be too strong. So when they attacked, the Vruve organization had two objectives. First, to eliminate a future enemy that might cause them trouble. Second, to get our continent for themselves."

Roan shook his head in response, though. "The Vruve Organization is way older than your Lakure Race, if I'm not wrong. Even if your Lakure Race got as strong as you said, I doubt it could hold a candle to the Vruve Organization. I think it is better to say that they got rid of your lakure Race because they didn't want you to come back at them later. They needed your ancestral continent. If they just took it and let you go, it would only cause trouble for them later. Since that was the case, getting rid of your Lakure Race was just the obvious choice."

Luman pondered a bit and admitted Roan's words made sense. "That's true. It should go as no surprise, but I wasn't anyone important in the Lakure Race. Since we were one of the strongest races in the Center of the Realm of Gods, we obviously had our share number of Divinity Realm Lakure Cultivators. Unfortunately, they all died trying to defend our continent. I didn't have access to any important information as no one had a reason to share it with me."

"Anyway, the fact was that we were eliminated by the Vruve Organization. After that, I don't know what they did, but they somehow made our entire Lafis Continent disappear! An entire continent, can you believe it?"

That truly surprised Rean's group. "Is that even possible?"

Roan nodded. "Since they did that, it is obviously possible. Also, it is pretty obvious where the Lakure's continent ended at."

"The Vruve Organization home inside the Temporal Path," Rean immediately understood.

"So you even know about the Vruve Organization's location, uh? Well, since you were able to disguise yourselves as Devils and enter the Underworld, I guess it makes sense you know this much." Luman liked it since he didn't need to explain that much. "Anyway, I was lucky enough to have my own Pocket Dimensional Realm at that time, which I used to save as many Lakures as I could. After that, I found an ancient Spatial Gate Formation, which I used to enter the Mortal Realm."

"Unfortunately, my cultivation was too high for the Mortal Realm, so it was rejecting me. Anyone above the Transition Realm can't stay there for long, and I was no exception. Nor were the Lakures inside my Dimensional Realm. In the end, I found a nice planet and released all the Lakures at the Transition Realm or below that I had in my Dimensional Realm. Perhaps one day, they would cultivate to ascend to the Realm of Gods again. As for those above the Transition Realm, they came with back to the Realm of Gods."

Luman couldn't help but sigh. "Too bad that Lakures were being actively exterminated. As you know, I have this disguising technique of mine, so I was able to hide. At some point, I was forced to pretend to be a Devil and even entered the Temporal Path to reach the Underworld. Here I heard about the Swamp of No Return. If there was a place where I would definitely not be found, it had to be here. As far as I know, there were no other Lakures left. Of course, I might be wrong, but I've never found any information about other Lakures after I returned to the Realm of Gods, so I truly believed my group was the last one, including the ones I left in Sunkan Planet."