Clayde was pursuing a deer. He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and took aim-just then, a streak of golden light plunged from the sky, so fast that even its afterimage was almost impossible to catch.
Clayde sensed danger. His instincts as a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank sent a chill down his spine. Someone was trying to kill him! He leaped from his horse and rolled aside, roaring, "Enemy attack!"
A golden figure skimmed past his body and landed where he had just been, smashing a deep crater three meters across into the ground. Rocks and dirt flew everywhere. His warhorse did not even have time to scream before the shock wave reduced it to a mass of pulped flesh.
"Who are you?!" Caesar immediately drew his greatsword and unleashed his battle aura. Crimson light flowed along the blade as he stepped in front of Clayde.
The dust cleared, and a figure covered in golden scales emerged from the crater, wings sprouting from his back and draconic horns rising from his forehead. His dark golden slit pupils stared coldly at Clayde and Caesar as he radiated a suffocating Saint-level pressure.
That pressure felt almost tangible, making Caesar's knees buckle. His pupils abruptly contracted, and his greatsword nearly slipped from his grasp.
Clayde's face turned deathly pale. "Saint-level?!"
"Clayde." A deep voice came from the figure. "Twelve years ago, you sent men to abduct a woman from a hotel in Fenlai City. That woman was my mother."
Clayde's pupils contracted as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Golden scales... Saint-level... He blurted out, "A Dragonblood Warrior? You... are you An or Linley?"
An did not answer. He extended his right hand, his golden claws gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
Caesar gritted his teeth and charged at An with his sword. He knew he stood almost no chance against a Saint-level fighter, but he also knew that if Clayde died, he would not survive either. Putting all his strength as a ninth-rank fighter into the attack, he condensed his crimson battle aura into a solid blade of light along his greatsword and brought it down toward An's head with enough force to cleave mountains and split stone.
That strike could have split a small mountain.
But An merely extended two fingers.
Clang!
The sharp ring of clashing metal was deafening. An caught Caesar's greatsword firmly between two fingers, holding it motionless.
Caesar's expression changed drastically. He desperately tried to pull his greatsword free, but those two fingers were like iron pincers. Even when he strained with every ounce of strength, the blade did not budge.
Crack.
An tightened his fingers, and the greatsword snapped. Half the blade spun several times through the air before burying itself in the trunk of a tree ten meters away.
Caesar reacted swiftly, immediately abandoning his sword and retreating as he drew a dagger from his waist. But he had only taken two steps back when a golden foot rapidly filled his vision.
An lashed out with a kick, too fast for Caesar to block. His foot struck Caesar squarely in the chest with a tremendous, muffled crash, like a battering ram hitting a city gate. Caesar's breastbone shattered with a teeth-grating crunch, and he flew backward like a stone launched from a catapult.
Boom, boom, boom, boom-
Caesar's body smashed through more than a dozen large trees in succession, each so thick it would take two people to encircle its trunk. Splintered wood flew, and leaves filled the air. At last, he slammed into a small earthen mound, leaving a human-shaped hole several meters deep. He spat blood and struggled to rise, but the agony in his chest made his vision go black. At least a dozen bones in his body had broken.
An turned his gaze away and looked at Clayde.
Clayde sank into utter despair.
He was a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank and had dominated the Fenlai Kingdom for decades without ever finding his match. But he knew all too well the gulf between himself and a Saint-level fighter. Neither numbers nor willpower could bridge it. It was the gulf between mortal and god.
"Don't kill me!" Clayde's legs gave way, and he fell to his knees. The ruler of an entire kingdom now had tears and snot streaming down his face. "I can give you money! Ten billion gold coins! No, a hundred billion! I'll give you all the wealth in the kingdom! Anything! Whatever you want!"
An walked up to Clayde and looked down at him, not a trace of mercy in his dark golden slit pupils. "I don't need your money. I only want to know one thing-where is my mother?"
Clayde's lips trembled, and his eyes darted about. He did not dare answer.
An reached out with his claws and seized Clayde's left arm. He gently closed his grip, and bone shattered with a sharp, piercing crack. Clayde let out an agonized scream, tears and snot pouring down his face.
"Talk."
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Clayde nearly fainted from the pain, his voice distorting. "Your mother... was sent to the Radiant Church! I didn't kill her, I really didn't! The Church's people took her away!"
An narrowed his dark golden slit pupils. Even though he had known about this from the original novel, the thought of the warmth Lina had given him when he was little still sent an uncontrollable, icy killing intent spreading from his body.
"Why was she sent to the Radiant Church?"
Clayde trembled, his voice coming in broken fragments. "Because... because her soul was exceptionally pure, the kind of pure soul that appears only once in a century. The Church needs pure souls for sacrificial rituals, to offer to the God of Light."
"Big brother, have you finished dealing with things out here?"
Linley's voice came from the distance, slightly breathless. "It's done. Three hundred guards and twenty mages, all dealt with."
Bebe the Shadowmouse jumped down from Linley's shoulder and squeaked twice.
An looked down at Clayde. The king who had once stood above everyone now knelt before him like a dog, trembling all over, his crotch already soaked.
"Do you have any last words?" An asked.
Clayde desperately kowtowed, his forehead thudding against the dirt. "Spare me! Spare me! I can be your servant! I can do anything for you! I'm the king of Fenlai! I'm useful! I'm useful!"
"You're not worthy."
An reached out and seized Clayde's head. His claws pierced the crown of Clayde's skull. Clayde's body suddenly stiffened, then collapsed limply like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Blood poured from the five holes in his head, staining the fallen leaves and soil red.
An withdrew his claws and straightened, staring expressionlessly at Clayde's corpse.
Linley emerged from the woods. He looked at Clayde's corpse and remained silent for a long time.
"An, what do we do about the Church...?"
"There's no rush to deal with the Church. The Radiant Church is too powerful. A single Saint-level fighter like me can't possibly pose any threat to it."
Linley clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "Then how long do we have to wait?"
"If we're going to take revenge, we have to tear it out by the roots," An said in a low voice. "Until then, we must conceal this hatred and build our strength. Improve ourselves, find allies, and wait for the right moment."
Linley drew a deep breath and nodded.
"All right. I'll listen to you."
The two disposed of Clayde's body and those of all the guards, erasing every trace. Using earth element magic, An buried the more than three hundred corpses dozens of meters underground. The ground returned to its original state, and he even replanted the grass.
In less than an hour, the Hunting Grounds returned to their usual tranquility, as though nothing had happened.
The next day, Fenlai City erupted into an uproar.
King Clayde had disappeared.
Three hundred guards, twenty Court Mages, and Caesar, a ninth-rank fighter, had all vanished without a trace, as though they had evaporated from the world.
The entire Royal Palace descended into chaos. The princes accused one another, the nobles fought for power and wealth, and the ministers were gripped by fear. The Radiant Church dispatched experts from the Inquisition to investigate, but after three days and nights, they had found nothing.
An and Linley sat in the study of their residence, listening to the clamor outside, their expressions calm.
Before you continue