Amidst the foggy night, Roels eyes remained on the old man before him as his body stiffened up. Selina and the others were confused for a moment before realization finally struck them, and they stared at the old man with widened eyes.

Y-you are Paul?

No, how is that possible?

Stuart subconsciously retreated two steps out of astonishment. Selina froze up on the spot. Juliana even exclaimed out of incredulity, which was understandable since she was the most familiar with Paul amongst the transfer students due to her frequent visits to the Azure Manor.

However, the one who was the most shaken up was still none other than Roel.

Unable to come to terms with the situation, Roel scrutinized the old man from head to toe, and he finally found a trace of Pauls shadow in the old man. But before he could ask a question, the old man suddenly passed out once more.

Paul? Paul!! Roel exclaimed anxiously.

The old man appeared to have exerted all of his strength uttering those words, not waking up no matter how Roel called for him. The group of four exchanged glances with one another and eventually decided to conduct their own verification.

The current Paul looked nothing like his normal self. His hair had turned completely white, and his face was covered in thick facial hair. His clothes looked like rags dug out from the ground. By the standards of an ordinary human, he looked to be over a hundred years old.

Roel, is he really Paul? Selina asked apprehensively.

Roel didnt answer her question right away.

It was rash to assume that the old man was Paul just because they bore a bit of resemblance to each other. The old man had almost no mana, and he had no possession that could verify his identity. It would have been nigh impossible to verify his identity if not for Juliana.

Juliana looked incredibly reluctant, but knowing that there was no other alternative, she nicked the old mans hand, dabbed her fingernail in his blood, and finally put it in her mouth. Her face instantaneously scrunched up, and she quickly turned to the side and began coughing violently.

That diabolical taste! It cant be anyone else but him! Juliana cried out with an awful look.

She was certain about it because she had once tasted Pauls blood while fighting him in the Challenger Cup, but her confirmation only brought about a bout of silence.

Pauls current state was indubitably the result of an enemy attack, but such a form of attack was unheard of in the current era.

Temporal spells were extremely rare on the Sia Continent, to the point that they were thought to be nonexistent for a long time. Furthermore, most temporal spells were deemed to be forbidden spells for a simple reason: The price one had to pay to cast them was simply too great.

Users of temporal spells would usually have to pay a price equivalent to the effect they had produced, and things could easily prove fatal if there was a deviation in the casting of the spell. Not only so, but there were also strict requirements on their invocation and scale.

It had only been half an hour since Roel was alerted to the presence of a Fallen, and it was clearly impossible to reduce Paul to such a state within this short span of time. Even Roels Time Devourer didnt have the ability to siphon time away from a person that quickly.

This is impossible. How could this even happen? Stuart, check his condition!

Understood!

Stuart snapped out of his daze at Roels command. He took off his blindfold and started assessing Paul from head to toe. He was using an ability different from his long-range detection skills from earlier, shown by how his eyes were glowing faintly green. He made sure to double confirm Pauls condition before turning toward Roel with a distressed look.

His internal organs have become dysfunctional and his mana flow has stalled to a halt. His internal condition matches that of an ailing old man. It isnt just a superficial transformation; he has indeed turned into a dying old man.

You must be joking with me

Stuarts update left Roel and the others horrified.

In particular, Selina and Julianas faces paled at the sight of an acquaintance languishing in such an appalling manner. For youngsters who were at the peak of their youth, having their time robbed from them and undergoing rapid aging was the most frightening way to die in the world.

None of them wanted to venture any further into the enigmatic and sinister fog anymore, but Roel didnt issue the order to retreat. In the first place, their key responsibility as the auxiliary team was to reinforce the main team should things go awry, but more than that, Roel didnt think that it was possible for them to retreat anymore.

We wont be able to make it in time even if we retreat now. It took only half an hour for Paul to be reduced to this state. If we cant escape from the fog within half an hours time, its almost certain that the enemy will catch up to us. Theres only one way for us to survive and save Paul, and thats to proceed ahead and defeat the enemy, Roel spoke after careful consideration.

Selina and the others slowly regained their composure upon hearing those words. Being in such a despairing situation stoked their tenacity to beat the enemies and survive this ordeal. After an exchange of gazes, they quickly began discussing a plan.

Since they had recognized Paul, they couldnt possibly leave him to the lurch. Not to mention, Paul was their only source of information regarding what had happened here.

If the rate of aging is equal for everyone, its likely that everyone else other than the young Paul and Lilian is already murmured Selina.

Thats hard to say. Some of them might have a higher level of immunity to this enigmatic spell. Paul was also the weakest one in the main team, refuted Roel.

It looks like Paul was trying to break out of this encirclement to gather reinforcement Stuart analyzed.

With Stuart carrying the unconscious Paul on her back, the group resumed their journey. Under Roels lead, it didnt take long before the outlines of the abandoned Marlin Town appeared amidst the thick fog. However, the groups complexion only grew more livid.

There was no sound.

From the moment they met Paul till now, they hadnt heard the slightest sound of combat.

A party that was ambushed in the fog would have retaliated with everything they had, especially one that was filled with high-level transcendents. Their battle would have surely caused a huge commotion, whether they intended for it or not.

In other words, the current absence of sound meant that the battle had already concluded.

Knowing that, it couldnt be helped that Selina and the others were on the edge. Even Roel was unable to fully keep his composure. Even so, he didnt lose hope as he knew that Lilian was somewhere inside the fog.

He had great confidence in Lilians fighting prowess. It was impossible for her to be defeated that quickly even if she was faced against an Origin Level 1 transcendent. That much could be seen from her previous encounter with Magician King Priestley Maxwell.

Its not too late yet. Theres still hope.

Clutching onto his faith, Roel and the others finally arrived at the entrance of Marlin Town. As one would have expected from an abandoned town, the houses were dilapidated and the streets were covered in overgrown weed. The thick fog only made the place even more unsettling, as if some sort of eldritch horror would suddenly lunge at them.

Even with the sharpened eyes of a high-level transcendent, Roel could only see within a ten meters radius around him. The deathly silence wasnt providing him with any extra information either. They couldnt quickly search the town under such circumstances, so Roel could only turn to his scout for information.

Stuart, are you able to locate them?

There was no response even after several seconds had passed, so Roel turnedaround to take a look. What came into his sight were two women vigilantly scanning the surroundings and no Stuart.

!

Roels pupils enlarged in horror. Noticing his reaction, Selina and Juliana also quickly turned their heads over, only to be shocked by the disappearance of their team member.

Selina! Wheres Stuart? What happened? Roel questioned Selina, who was in charge of protecting their backline.

I-I dont know! He was just right behind me! Selina shook her head in a fluster.

Did he fall behind? Juliana asked with a pale face.

Roel gritted his teeth. He immediately channeled his mana and manifested a colossal crimson skeleton giant around him. Grandars powerful presence eased Selina and Julianas anxiety a bit. The group immediately turned around and headed back in the direction where they came from.