Chapter 52
The elders froze, whoever nods last dies first? Turning an external threat into an internal stampede, on a three-second timer!
"Me, me, me! I’ll speak first, I confess first!"
"Me first, I know more!"
"The Old Clan Chief feared that any clansman whose strength surpassed his would threaten his seat, so he killed them! Every single one, without exception!"
Confession followed confession, and the entire territory sank into dead silence.
Osmond’s face had gone corpse-pale, like a drowned man three days in the water.
He was finished.
Lysara walked over to Jared and stopped before him, voice lowered. "Master has paved every road for you."
"I’ve sealed their Dantians, they’re strung up with no fight left."
"You should know what comes next."
"A new Clan Chief must establish his authority, after all."
She withdrew tactfully to Soren’s side.
"Demon Emperor, the few of us confessed everything, so can we..." The elders looked at him, legs shaking.
"The rest of them, you can’t eat." Soren didn’t answer the elders at all, he patted Orathis’s head, said his piece, and walked off into the depths of the clan territory, he had preparations to make.
A trip to the Endless Demonic Domain’s Great Emperor Palace, to meet that Great Demon Emperor.
Before following, Lysara turned back to Jared. "Kill them all."
"Ah? Empress, you said if we confessed, you wouldn’t kill us!"
"I won’t kill you, the one who kills you next is your Clan Chief."
Holy hell! This woman is not a good person! She was playing word games!
Orathis watched Lysara trail after Soren and sighed, In the end, that was Soren’s intention, she was merely the messenger.
This Master of mine kills without blinking and pulls weeds up by the roots, respect him, live, provoke him, die, follow him, and there will be great things.
Er... setting great things aside, a life of nine missed meals in every three days is guaranteed, without Master’s word, I’ll never eat my fill again...
Contemplating the bitter days ahead, Orathis quietly shed a tear.
Inside the territory’s main hall, Soren reviewed the relationship changes on the Strategy Encyclopedia, and was pleasantly surprised.
First, Jared, dealing with Osmond had raised his prestige and authority, bringing a solid haul of loyalty with it, Absolute Loyalty had lit.
This wasn’t even the primary method for conquering Jared, that it worked meant his feelings had genuinely resonated.
Next to Jared, Ethel’s jump could only be called absurd, it stunned Soren for a solid second.
Following to the Death!
Is this girl for real? She already trusts me this much? The tier put her level with Arnold and Bruce.
No one understood better than he did what that meant, even if he wanted to drive Ethel away, he couldn’t.
If he truly wished her gone, the only method left would be killing her, she would sacrifice everything for him without hesitation, her life included.
And that was merely under a normal relationship, as a Dao Companion, she would tolerate anything he did and never betray him for any reason.
The fastest way to conquer Ethel was helping Jared, Soren had pushed Jared onto the Clan Chief’s seat, cleared the hidden dangers, and avenged their murdered parents, she had no reason left to distrust him, and no reason not to place her life in his hands.
Soren sat thinking, then opened the entrance to his pocket space and brought Lysara into the demonic fortress.
The moment they entered, Bruce dropped to his knees.
"Master, I... I made a mistake." Remorse soaked his voice.
"I accidentally... beat Abel to death."
Damn it, and here Soren thought something serious had happened. "How did you beat him to death?"
"The three of them tried to talk me into betraying Master, how could I stand for that?"
"Althea and Duke both said it was Abel’s idea, I only meant to hammer him a few times as a lesson, but..."
"I didn’t control my strength, and I beat him to death."
All Bruce remembered was that when Soren had set Lysara on Althea’s trio, he’d said she could torment them however she liked, as long as she didn’t kill them, now one was dead, and Bruce felt the sky coming down.
"A trivial matter, I thought you’d knocked the room down."
Bruce stared at Soren’s calm face, stunned. "Master isn’t blaming me?"
"He died well." Soren kept walking toward the room.
"Master, with Abel dead, we hold one less hostage, if the Great Demon Emperor learns of it, he’ll take his anger out on Master."
"It was my recklessness, please punish me!"
Bruce had killed Abel because the trio asked him to betray Soren and he refused, what was there to punish? Abel was going to die sooner or later, it made no difference.
"No punishment is needed, throw him out, don’t dirty my demonic fortress."
"Master, you must be angry with me, when the time comes, hand me over, a life for a life, I will not drag Master into it!"
Soren’s reaction was too calm, so calm that a stone hung heavier and heavier in Bruce’s chest.
Watching Soren run out of words, Lysara became his mouthpiece. "You truly are a blockhead."
"Master considers you more important than Abel, so there is nothing to punish, he isn’t silently angry, understand?"
"R-really, Master? I matter more than Master’s half-brother?" Bruce’s voice shook.
Soren changed the subject with great solemnity. "Very soon, I will attack the Great Emperor Palace and settle everything that needs settling."
"I have a task for you."
Bruce thumped his chest. "Rest assured, Master, I’ll be first through the gates!"
"No, you stay behind and train Jared, I’ll leave a mark in your body to block the sonic wave."
Bruce stood dumbfounded, certain he’d misheard. "Then... what about Elder Arnold?"
"He hasn’t left seclusion, naturally, he stays too."
Soren had decided to bring only Orathis to the Great Emperor Palace.
First, the battle needed to end fast.
Second, the gap in strength between Bruce’s group and the Great Demon Emperor was enormous, and the gap in numbers worse, they would be almost no help.
Soren’s goal was the whole world, the Great Emperor Palace of the Endless Demonic Domain was one stop along the way.
The day would come when he needed Bruce, Arnold, Victoria, even the Spirit army, to integrate the demon race and unify the Exalted Continent.