Chapter One Hundred and Three: Insidious and Cunning, a Vile Man

"I’ve found something! It feels like a blade!" I said, looking over at Wright.

"It must be the Kuiba Imperial Blade! Pull it out quickly, and then keep searching!" Elder Wright urged, a smile spreading across his face. Even the other ten elders showed various expressions of delight, but I couldn't help but feel there was something deeply sinister about their smiles.

Following Wright's instructions, I drew the so-called Kuiba Imperial Blade from Brute's body. Holding it up, I observed its dark purple glow before setting it aside and continuing to search inside him.

At this point, I felt as though I was committing a grave desecration against Brute's remains. I couldn't understand why the elders of the Kuiba Clan insisted on extracting these treasures from his body. Was it for self-defense, or for war? I already knew from Louis, the Prince of the Blood Clan, that the Three-Headed Fiends were a highly bellicose race. If these powerful relics fell into their hands, it would surely bring ruin to the world.

So, keeping my wits about me, I placed the Kuiba Imperial Blade within arm's reach just in case. In a situation like this, anything could happen, and who knew if Wright was hiding a deceitful heart behind his friendly facade.

I plunged my glowing golden hand back into Brute's body. Before long, my fingers brushed against a hard object. It felt like a ring, but with the distinct shape of a skull engraved upon it.

I froze for a brief second before regaining my composure. Still inside Brute's chest, I slipped the ring—whose function and powers remained unknown—onto my own finger, then continued searching as if nothing had happened.

This time, I found nothing else. I only felt a stream of incredibly pure energy drifting between my fingers, which I could not harness; I could only let it weave harmlessly through my grasp.

Brute was surprisingly poor. For a grand figure, he carried fewer treasures than Lucy, the fallen Blood Sovereign of the Blood Clan. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disdain; how on earth did a man like this ever become a legendary hegemon?

"Huh? How can there be nothing else? It seems there's only this blade!" I said, looking up at Wright with an innocent expression.

"What? That's impossible! Lord Brute was the strongest of the Three-Headed Fiends back then. How could he only have this single blade?" the ten elders cried in unison, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

Just as Wright and the others stopped chanting their incantations, I felt that pure energy break free from its constraints. It surged out of Brute's body and shot straight toward Buck, who was standing at the entrance of the cavern.

"Agh! What is this? It hurts so much!" Buck shrieked like a slaughtered pig. The sound made my skin crawl. Was the forced entry of this energy really that painful?

"Give me the blade, quickly!" Wright demanded, reaching out to me. Yet his eyes never left Buck, his face twisted with pure greed.

Instead of handing it over, I kept my eyes on Buck and said to Wright and the others, "I'll give it to you only after Buck finishes absorbing the energy!" Just as the words left my mouth, I noticed a change in Brute's remains. He had transformed into a green Kuiba, just like Buck. In that instant, a realization struck me.

So the hierarchy of their race had been altered after Brute's fall. These low-level Kuiba, who should have stood at the very top of the pyramid, had been ruthlessly classified as a lesser branch of the race and subjected to endless oppression for thousands of years.

But in the brief moment of my realization, Wright lunged forward to seize the blade. I was a step too late; he snatched it away. I could only use the split second of his grab to pull Buck and bolt for the exit. I had no desire to fight someone of my own level who now held a supreme treasure—that would be suicidal, especially against ten of them. At this moment, I had to push the speed advantages of the Demon Corpse Clan to their absolute limit.

"Member of the Demon Corpse Clan, drop Buck immediately! Otherwise, we will disregard the relations between our clans and execute you on the spot!" It was Wright who spoke—a beast in human clothing. I had thought he was a decent man, but he turned out to be such garbage.

"Screw you! I despise insidious hypocrites like you the most! If I'm not mistaken, you want to forcibly extract that pure energy from Buck's body for yourselves. If you do that, Buck will die!" With that, I accelerated even further.

In truth, Buck's two-meter-tall frame wasn't much of a burden to me. I could lift him with a single finger. Thus, I managed to maintain a distance of about twenty meters from the pursuing Kuiba.

By now, we had burst out of the cavern, and before us lay the open residential area of the Kuiba Clan.

"With this blade in hand, the world is mine! You bastard of the Demon Corpse Clan, return our clansman! Furthermore, let it be known to the entire district: all Kuiba of the sixth rank and above, join the battle immediately!" These words came from Wright. Only the Grand Elder possessed such authority now; the other ten elders could only follow him, obeying his every whim.

Wright used an amplifying ability, allowing his voice to reach almost every Kuiba. Below us, figures could already be seen flying upward. It wouldn't be long before Buck and I were surrounded by a wall of bodies.

"You shameless old bastard!" I spat. As I spoke, a row of Kuiba blocked my path, their powerful auras suggesting they were all above the fifth rank.

Buck was still locked in his state of sudden epiphany, unable to move. With only my words, who here would believe an outsider? I had no choice but to resort to force.

The golden runes on my wings trembled in response to my emotions, each character surging with sudden, manic energy.

"Step aside, or die!" I bellowed. A pale golden blade materialized in my right hand, pointing directly at the wall of people before me. Yet none of them backed down; instead, they drew their weapons and charged at me.

An aerial battle erupted. This was the gathering ground of the so-called mid-to-high-tier Kuiba, after all; there were no masters in the low-level Kuiba districts.

But then another thought struck me: *These mid-to-high-tier Kuiba must know that the hierarchy was altered. They were likely complicit in isolating Brute's bloodline. Killing them now is just venting anger on behalf of the low-level Kuiba.* No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I cleaved a three-meter-tall, dark-skinned Kuiba in two. His body plummeted from the sky, crashing through a stone house below.

The clash of blades rang out continuously. Wright and his cohorts hovered in the distance, watching me fight their clansmen without intervening. It seemed the old bastard wanted to wear me down to death.

With every sweep of my blade, two or three Kuiba fell. These fifth and sixth-rank small fries were like minor mobs in a game, completely unable to withstand a blow. After all, the gap between our ranks was as vast as a river compared to the ocean.

Before long, I was drenched in sweat, and the Kuiba no longer dared to take a step forward. If I hadn't been holding Buck with my left hand, I would have escaped long ago.

"Leave Buck behind, and I will let you go!" Wright called out, glancing at the unconscious Buck. But as you know, that energy had originated from Brute's body. Once it entered Buck, it forced him into a state of sudden epiphany, leaving him with no choice but to enter a trance.

"Go to hell! I would rather die than leave Buck to be tortured by you bastards!" I snarled. With that, I raised my blade and lunged toward Wright and the others hovering in the air.

***

(What will happen next? Please wait patiently; the next chapter will bring the answers you seek. If you find this story decent, please vote to support the author. Your support is my greatest motivation!)