Hidden Area

A small hidden area quite crowded and there was some groaning from animals and humans going on which was followed by the snickering and laughing of the other people that had watched over them.

It was a little away from the path Ki had travelled down the first time she went sledding.

There were several people gathered together, a lot of them were wearing thick clothing that covered most of their features.

It was difficult to identify who they were or even what their gender was with the amount of clothing covering them.

They all had the most dominant position among those who were within that area while there were a couple of others that seemed to have a lower position than them or were held as captives.

One larger man was seated further away on the cold rocks as he gazed down towards the others.

He perched himself up higher as if he was overlooking those beneath him.

There was a bone in his hand which still had a lot of raw meat left on it which he brought towards his mouth.

The raw meat was torn from the bone as it was chewed up before being swallowed.

He showed no discomfort or disgust as he ate the meat from the bone in its raw state.

He seemed to be very used to it and it was like he had lived that rough of a life that even a single edible thing could be eaten.

Such behaviours were to be expected from those that could be found within the lawless zone of the Northern Lands.

There was even poorer resources available and fewer rules so those with the biggest fist were usually the ones to decide how they could live.

They could take from others and kill in order to gain what they needed and some of them would resort to acts of cannibalism if they ran low on food.

It was unknown what the bone of raw meat had come from but it was highly likely that it had come from one of the animals or the humans that had been captured.

Seeing that there was no more meat left on the bone, he tossed it to the side and let out a grumble before speaking up. "How is the plan proceeding?"

A thin cloaked figure had stood a little further away and showed an intimidating aura of their own.

The man sitting above had given a dominant and fiercely strong aura while the other person had gave off a chilling and cold aura but looked not nearly as strong.

Both seemed to hold higher positions in the group since they both were talking so casually to each other.

The thin figure spoke in a feminine and soft voice. "No problems. Everything is proceeding smoothly. There were a couple of issues earlier but it should be dealt with by now."

They seemed to have confidence in their success and that if there were any problems earlier, they should have been solved already or they would not pose a threat to the plan.

The thin figure had spoke again. "It should not be long before the rest of the teams have returned then we can move on to support the others."

The man that was sitting at a higher position had thought to himself for some time before coldly replying. "Can you really trust those weakling to not make any mistakes? You should have let me solve it myself."

The thin figure shook their head. "That may have been an option but you are needed here and were important to the plan if anything else went wrong."

The plan was very simple for them to carry out.

The icy cold flame users would target those that tried to resist or flee during the initial ambush.

The power of the icy cold flames could be controlled enough to incapacitate their opponents and leave a layer of ice over their bodies.

If increased further then it would spread and cause frostbite on those places until it reached the stage that the affected body parts would become like ice or glass that could be turned to fragments upon being met with a powerful enough attack.

They intended to capture as many as possible with that method as the Netherflame Sect were leading the ambush.

Those not affiliated with the Netherflame Sect were mainly a part of the lawless zone and mostly relied on sharp weapons or their fists.

They were the backup plan in case the first method did not work and anyone not captured right away would have to escape from them who aimed for close combat as opposed to the Netherflame Sect people who fought from further away.

They had caught several people who had tried to flee using that method but one had slipped away due to them underestimating them.

That person was Ki and they had not expected that she would be able to have several of their people coming back wounded.

A stronger force was sent out to deal with her but the man who was sitting there had been told to remain.

If anyone else showed up that was too difficult to deal with then he would be needed so they could not spare such powerful combatants to pursue Ki.