The Divine Seven-Star Sect's plaza was packed, full of hundreds of figures. All of them were level nine of the second realm; on each of their robes, different clan symbols were stamped on the chest.

The sect's higher-ups were present too, so technically the place had almost every powerful person who wasn't allied with Radiant King Dohans.

Most people in the plaza stood; only the Leader of the Sect and his five Deans were seated. The visitors were quiet, faces grim—nobody smiled—and the atmosphere was heavy.

All the visitors belonged to the high councils of the "neutral" clans, mostly Chromaraics. The primitive beast races, Aberrants and Fiendgods valued power above everything; so they'd all allied with the Radiant King.

In the end, besides the sect, the only resistance left were the Chromaraic clans and the nature races.

As for the Heavenly Elemental Spirits... Darian had researched them a bit in the Celestial World and found something shocking: none of them could be seen there.

For some reason the Radiant King had given top priority orders to capture any that existed. They weren't taken as subordinates — they just vanished, like they'd died.

No one was stupid — they knew that this king did something terrifying to members of his own race.

Back in the plaza, suddenly one of the visitors, a Chromaraic as old as Murral, spoke coldly:

"What the hell do you mean by this, Murral?"

"I was very clear, Lord Aegli," the Leader Murral replied with a faint smile. "From today on, the Divine Seven-Star Sect will lead the war against Radiant King Dohans. We won't risk being betrayed again, so we'll cut any ties with those who aren't on our side. Every clan must choose a side. If you refuse, you'll be considered our enemy and we'll destroy you without mercy."

"What kind of stupidity is this? You can barely survive yourselves, and now you want to force us to pick a side? You want our clans wiped out no matter what?" shouted the head of a Chromaraic clan, furious.

"We will never ally with that bastard king. We're neutral, and none of our clans want any friendship or ties with him. We'd love to destroy him, but it's impossible. And now you want to destroy yourselves and drag us along?!"

The issue was vital to everyone's survival. They weren't afraid of being destroyed by the sect — to them that seemed impossible — but if the sect cut ties, they'd lose their main trade route and see profits shrink to a third. That would widen the power gap in favor of the enemy.

Murral nodded, understanding. Those clans' motivation was logical and valid: better to declare neutrality since, for some reason, that King left them alone.

At that moment Darian, Remira and nearly two hundred soldiers arrived. The sharp gazes of those figures turned to them.

Faden and Hirel couldn't help getting nervous under so many stares. But seeing Darian's back completely relaxed and confident, they steadied themselves — the pressure eased.

Darian himself showed no reaction. Murral had told him what he planned some time ago, so he'd been waiting for the day.

"Vice-leader, congratulations on the total victory in the last battle. After countless years, we finally managed to launch a crushing counterattack." Murral stood and spoke loudly as they arrived.

"You're very polite. It was just a small victory, not worth mentioning. Still, some shameless clans opened my eyes to the world. Who'd have thought people could be so brazen these days? Well... whatever — everything they had is ours now." Darian smiled and answered the Leader; then looked at the crowd and added, "Things are lively today. Is there something important to discuss?"

"Yes, there is. Cut the pointless theatrics!" the old man snapped coldly. "If you're so great and arrogant, why'd you destroy a clan of forgers and miners? If my clan wanted, we could do the same easily. Now, if you cut ties with our clans, that'll hurt everyone and leave us weaker. You want that bastard king to destroy us this generation, idiot?"

Darian smiled and stayed silent.

"Vice-leader, come sit for now. Let's talk calmly and explain the situation." Murral gestured lightly.

"Fuck that! We're not discussing anything with a brat. The smell of milk still hasn't left him. Murral, you losing your marbles with age?" the old man barked, clearly furious.

"What hole did this bastard crawl out of? Who do you think you are? Tired of living?" Remira shot back with contempt.

The old man's eyes flashed a deadly intent, but he restrained himself — he couldn't lose his head now.

"Vice-leader, let me introduce him. This elder is the patriarch of the Silver Blow clan. His name is Aegli, a very important man. You two should get to know each other," Murral said.

Darian looked at the old man called Aegli.

"Oh? So this is the patriarch of the clan with the most powerful and honorable warriors in this world." Darian laughed and walked toward Aegli.

As soon as everyone saw him laugh and speak so gently, they thought he was going to apologize, but...

When he got within ten meters, everyone felt a faint elemental fluctuation. Darian's lips curled: "I've been wanting for a long time… to tell you to go fuck yourself."

In a blur, he appeared right in front of old Aegli and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him sprawling backward.

Everyone's eyes went wide. Aegli scrambled up, coughing blood; cracks ran across his body.

"How dare you!" With a furious howl, Aegli activated his power and his body was wrapped in a silver aura that looked like armor.

The next moment, though, a dagger sliced through the air.

*CRACK!*

With a bang, that silver aura split at the chest. The dagger had driven into his body and stayed stuck.

This was the main force of that clan: an extreme defensive technique with considerable offensive power. Everyone in the clan used it and they were considered warriors very hard to topple. But against that dagger, their defenses looked like paper.

Everyone was stunned. Now the leaders of the other clans were terrified. They stepped even farther from Darian and drew their weapons.

Aegli might be old and powerful, but he was known to have a short fuse. Murral knew him well and had introduced him, leaving the decision of how to act to Darian. Even Murral was a little surprised, but he didn't dare interfere.

Darian stood holding his dagger, still stuck in the old man's body. "Looks like you're really tired of living…"

Everyone was speechless; they didn't even dare breathe. Aegli was a supreme being, admired by many. His clan was the top in power, and not even the Divine Seven-Star Sect—with far more people—would arrogantly assault them before. Yet...

Now this man's life was in Darian's hands. After piercing the body and leaving the blade in like that, it would take only a little power to blow him apart completely. There was no escape or counterattack possible in that situation.

A leader from another clan shouted, "Vice-leader Darian, what are you doing?! Don't be insolent, hurry and let him go—!"

*Slash!*

Suddenly a blade as fast as wind struck. The figure reacted purely out of survival instinct, retreating several steps.

On the attacker's clothes everyone saw a one-meter cut, blood dripping.

People turned to a young, beautiful, well-built Chromaraic woman wielding a sword.

"Is my Boss's name something you can shout? Mind your manners! Anyone who disrespects him again won't leave alive!" she snapped.

That man was level nine, and she only level seven...

He'd been caught off guard and wasn't someone who fought head-on—his physical power and reflexes were average. Still, nobody believed someone several levels below him could wound him like that.

"You…!" the man spat, radiating a fighting aura, then stopped immediately.

"What's the matter?" Darian stared at him coldly. In that instant the leader swallowed, not daring even to breathe, much less attack.

They all looked at one another. Darian was only... level 2, but his presence was overwhelmingly oppressive. Now they were witnessing what it meant to be unrestrained, what it meant to be overwhelmingly dominant.

Patriarch Aegli was in his hands, and nobody knew why he was so terrifying. Even a man who looked like a regular soldier beside him was already terrifying. They couldn't take this lightly.

"You really dare to kill me?" Patriarch Aegli asked coldly, staring at Darian.

Darian smiled icily. "I don't want to kill you. You felt so tough that you wanted to put me in my place, so I had to teach you a lesson. I will lead the whole sect to win this war. As for the rest of you—if you want to follow me, follow. If you don't... we'll cut ties completely and I may have to destroy you over time. I won't try to convince you with words; each makes their own choice. But if you want a preview of your clans' future, I don't mind giving you a little taste now."

Darian spoke with an authority that shook everyone's hearts. Even members of the sect were shocked.

The oppressive aura radiating from him created a natural dominance in the area. Not a single person dared question his words.

After speaking, Darian pulled the dagger out of the old man's chest.

Aegli took several steps back, then quickly swallowed a pill. He recovered, but his expression turned very dark; flames almost burst in his eyes as he looked at Darian.

"Since I dared to spare you, I also dare to kill you. If you won't submit, I invite you to try me. As long as you don't value your old life, I'll go along," Darian said indifferently.

Everyone watched the patriarch. They saw his expression waver several times, but in the end he didn't dare attack.

"I want to see how long you can keep acting wild. You think that with the Divine Seven-Star Sect's power alone, you can fight the Radiant King's army? How childish—you're destroying countless years of this sect's history forever," the Aegli jeered.

"Exactly. Without our help, you want to fight the enemy alone? What a ridiculous fantasy!" another added coldly.

"Hmph, young ones—after all, you're still young! Let's see how long you can keep acting so wild. We're leaving."

Aegli snorted coldly and turned to go. The other clan leaders sighed and followed him.

"Great, this is getting fun. Everyone, capture these idiots." Darian snorted and ordered directly.

Following his command, the nearly two hundred soldiers responded immediately, attacking all the clan leaders.

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