A wisp of smoke escaped Zami’s lips due to the cold as she rubbed her arms, dazed.
"What even happened here...?"
At that mont, one of the Celestials floating behind her muttered sothing that snapped everyone out of their daze.
"Wait... did that silver-haired guy conquer the Golden Guardians Clan while the Clan Leader was away?"
The question hung in the icy air like a slap, making the silence sohow even colder.
Ares let out a loud laugh—sharp, furious, like that of an enraged demon on the edge of snapping. His eyes burned with fury as he cracked his knuckles, ready to beat the crap out of the silver-haired stranger who was in his clan and acting like he owned it.
"He dare?!"
However, just as Ares was about to charge forward, a pair of hands firmly grabbed his shoulders. Silver’s familiar, sheepish voice echoed from behind him, laced with guilt.
"Clan Leader Ares... I can explain."
Another shock—one even greater than so stranger conquering his clan.
Silver had just called him Clan Leader... instead of my dear, precious Ares.
Now that was truly unforgivable.
That’s why, even after hearing Silver’s explanation, Ares didn’t calm down.
"So what if he’s Kyle? It doesn’t give that prick the right to cover my clan in ice! He broke the clan rule—no fighting outside the arena! And instead of punishing him, you are trying to right his wrong just because he’s letting everyone use the mountains?"
Silver cleared his throat.
"But Kyle finally put those arrogant elders—whom you failed to rein in—in their place. He did what you couldn’t for years."
Ares rolled his eyes.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t deal with those greedy elders who were hoarding the clan’s resources—Ares had just been planning to ship them off to the Rulers in the future as laborers to make a massive profit, alright?
Ares started to roll up his sleeves, only to realize they were too torn from his earlier battle with the Voidspawn to roll properly.
Embarrassed, he turned away.
"I’m giving that silverhead a proper thrashing! Only then will I feel better!"
He smirked wickedly.
"After that, I’ll make him sweep every inch of ice he dumped on my clan—with a small broom. That’s his punishnt for breaking the clan rule. And honestly, he brought it on himself by giving such a good idea."
Silver tried to stop him.
"Clan Leader, he’s very powerful!"
But it was no use.
In the end, Silver, Cassian, and everyone else could only watch as Ares charged toward Kyle, radiating a dark aura.
Yet, instead of beating Kyle or punishing him... what Ares did next made everyone want to pretend they didn’t know him.
Yes, he was angry.
Yes, he fully intended to thrash Kyle.
But Kyle had heard everything from the mountaintop, so he was fully prepared.
Just as Clan Leader Ares stord up to him, radiating enough pressure to make mountains tremble violently, Kyle calmly pushed the multicolored Voidspawn core he had been absorbing toward the man.
He’d already absorbed half of the core’s power, so he wasn’t particularly worried.
Wearing a straight face, Kyle said.
"Clan Leader, this is for you."
Ares, mid-step and ready to punch, froze in place. His clenched fist hovered awkwardly in the air as his athyst eyes dropped to the glowing core now being offered to him like a peace treaty—or perhaps a bribe.
Kyle added with a hint of innocence.
"Think of it as... compensation. For the minor inconvenience of freezing your clan. It just happened accidentally."
Ares blinked. Once. Twice.
His outstretched fist slowly dropped.
"...I’ll accept it."
He muttered, snatching the core and vanishing in a flash to begin ditating.
A Voidspawn core wasn’t just any ordinary treasure. The imnse amount of natural energy it contained could strengthen one’s soul and even enhance their Celestial Lake. Since Voidspawn creatures had long been extinct in the Celestial Realm, such a core held imnse value among the Celestials.
So, obviously, he was going to snatch the Voidspawn core and disappear before that foolish idiot had a chance to reconsider.
As for the punishnt—he’d deal with it later. It’s not like he ever forgot a grudge.
The elderly Celestials who had battled the Voidspawn alongside him could only stare blankly as Ares vanished—taking the core with him—before they even had the chance to ask for a share. In all honesty, that core should have been their reward for helping bring the beast down, not sothing Kyle could casually use as a peace offering.
Suddenly, they were politely kicked out of the Golden Guardians Clan by Zami, who claid the clan needed a good cleaning and couldn’t accommodate any guests.
Wow. Just wow.
Was this the reward for all their struggle?
Swearing to rember the insult, they all vanished toward their own clans—fuming.
anwhile, atop the tallest mountain, Kyle let out a huge breath of relief after the clan leader vanished. It seed he had narrowly dodged a beating. Ares was stronger than him—he could tell, since he couldn’t sense his strength at all. And that only happened when soone was far stronger than him.
"I’m a 4th-stage Celestial. I can handle those at the 5th stage with ease... so just how much more powerful is he?"
Cassian’s familiar figure appeared beside him, calmly settling down cross-legged.
"I wonder the sa thing."
Kyle raised an eyebrow. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a barrier around them to ensure no one could eavesdrop. He knew that if soone stronger than him wanted to, they could still eavesdrop—but he was confident that no one nearby would dare.
The one who’d—Ares—had already left.
"I thought you knew."
Cassian shook his head.
"No, I don’t. The last ti I saw him in my past life, he was just a third-stage Celestial who had inherited the clan from his master who adopted him just to dump the clan on him so he could finally roam around freely."
Kyle nodded with a thoughtful look.
Then he asked sothing unexpected.
"Why weren’t you surprised?"
Cassian glanced at him.
"About what?"
"When you saw my Celestial symbol in the Hell’s Layer—I found out from soone that it’s not exactly ordinary to have one."
Cassian chuckled, the sound hollow, as he rubbed the space between his collarbones.
"It’s because that didn’t surprise . Actually, I have one too. But..."
He tugged down his collar, revealing a symbol of a golden clock. It was tainted with dark and red spots, glowing faintly.
"... it’s just broken now."
"Soone stole most of it."
Kyle’s eyes widened slightly.
Why does this look familiar?
Then, he rembered the tainted purple flower that had always protected Azazeal and turned to look at Cassian. However, he didn’t voice what was on his mind directly.
Instead, he asked sothing that would indirectly confirm his suspicion.
"You... are you a Dark Celestial?"
Cassian’s lips curled into a wide smile.
"You just realized?"
A soft chuckle escaped him—sweet, yet equally hollow. His eyes shimred, their crimson glow flickering deeply as if they were weeping blood. Then ca a hum—low, eerie, and almost lodic.
"I serve Darkness. Not nature."
He whispered.
"It ca to ... when no one did."
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