A few hours before dawn, Verna, accompanied by Aude, forced her way into her sister Shia's quarters.
At Shia's door, they were stopped by Ulturion.
"Move aside," Aude snapped.
With a polite gesture, Ulturion responded, "I'm sorry, Princess Verna, and you, Aude, but as you know, I'm the castle guard. Any attempt at murder must be stopped by me."
"Don't make me laugh, Ulturion. You, who only cares about cultivation and power! Now you're taking your job seriously?" Verna retorted, a sly smile spreading across her dark face.
"I wouldn't have to intervene if you hadn't killed my men outside," Ulturion replied.
He paused, leaned forward slightly, and let out a small chuckle.
"And you're going to tell me you didn't come here to kill your sister?" he added.
"What if I did?" Verna shot back.
The two locked eyes, neither showing the slightest hint of stress or agitation.
"If that's the case, I'd only have to stop Aude," Ulturion declared.
"What?!" Aude exclaimed, before being thrown back by a single punch from Ulturion.
Verna turned her gaze to Ulturion, now standing beside her.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
Ulturion flashed her a smile.
"Well, Verna, if you want to kill your sister, I couldn't care less. Kill each other if you want—it's none of my concern. All I care about is pure power, nothing else," he said before darting off in pursuit of Aude.
Alone in the dark corridor, Verna walked forward and entered Shia's chamber.
Shia was seated at a table.
"Well, I thought I'd have time to die, given how long you took to get here," Shia remarked.
Taking a seat at the table, Verna poured herself a cup of tea.
"There's someone out there who thinks we're fools," Verna said.
"Oh, you noticed? I was worried you'd come here like an idiot with the intent to kill me," Shia replied.
Taking a sip of tea, Verna added, "And Ulturion—what's he doing here? That two-hundred-year-old man spends all his time cultivating or training. Did you really bring him in for your little performance?"
"No," Shia murmured, sipping her tea.
Surprised, Verna asked, "What do you mean, no?"
"First, I expected you to come with Aude and kill all the guards watching my quarters. Then, we were supposed to figure out who's trying to pit us against each other. But Ulturion showed up claiming you wanted to kill me… yet I'm sure you didn't tell him anything," Shia explained.
"So, he's in league with whoever's behind this," Verna concluded.
"Yes, I'm certain of it. But now I'm wondering how they managed to buy Ulturion. He only cares about cultivation and uncovering the world's secrets. As soon as we arrived on Earth, he went off to explore the world, and he's been training ever since," Shia said.
Verna scanned the room and noticed the absence of Li Vêt.
"And where's your personal follower?" Verna asked.
"I sent him to help Aude. It won't be an easy fight, especially since no one knows Ulturion's current abilities," Shia replied.
"By the way, do you know where Dola is?" Verna asked.
"I think she's locked herself in one of the training rooms with Chiva. It's been four days now," Shia shared.
"Always absent, that one. Is she still affected by that mysterious man?" Verna asked.
"We don't even know if that man really exists. Leave her be—she's been like this since her best friend's death. But it's normal that you wouldn't know; you weren't born back then," Shia said.
Irritated by the remark, Verna replied, "Let's stop talking about other things and focus on finding the one—or ones—playing games with us."
"No problem. You start," Shia said.
"Rieze or the resistance group—it's one of the two, for me. On one hand, I think Rieze knows we're watching him, but he doesn't care and keeps wandering around. On the other, I'm now certain it was the resistance group that attacked me at the shop, but…"
Shia interrupted Verna, "But you think it's too big for them. Why haven't they attacked us directly? For me, they're caught up in a game bigger than they can handle. As you know, Li Vêt overheard your conversation with that little Polla before you killed her for no reason. He brought me the manager of the flower and tea shop. We gave him the description of the man with black hair, but nothing came up. So, at that moment in the shop, there was one of the resistance members… and the one who poisoned your tea."
"And who is that man?" Verna asked.
"It can only be Rieze," Shia declared.
"Him… all because the clan killed his family," Verna said.
A small laugh escaped Shia.
"Haha, you can tell you're only eighty years old! You think that's all we did to him? No, no, no. Let me explain. We dismembered his little brother alive in front of him, then forced him to eat parts of his flesh. His mother was turned into a sex slave by our hands for two years, and we made him watch every act. Then we threw her to the wolves. His father was crucified at the center of the sect. For ten years, we barely fed him, yet he held on. By the end, his body was a spectacle to behold: his bones were visible, with barely any skin left."
"And where is he now?" Verna asked.
"We made him believe we'd forgiven him, then we beheaded and dismembered him piece by piece in front of Rieze. You should've seen his face! With every death, his expression burned with hatred. It was just too entertaining to watch," Shia said.
"But why keep Rieze alive instead of killing him?" Verna asked.
"Simply to make his life miserable until his death. Besides, we forbade him from surpassing rank six. And since then, we check every year to ensure he stays at rank six," Shia explained.
"But isn't he two hundred and forty years old now?" Verna asked.
"Yes, but he'll die before reaching three hundred, unless he reaches rank seven," Shia replied.
Crossing her legs, Verna asked, "But why do all that to his family? Did they do something?"
"Are you feeling pity for him, dear sister?" Shia said.
"No, I'm just asking," Verna replied.
"There's no good answer. We needed to strike fear into everyone, and chance decided—"
"That it would be me," Rieze cut in.
Verna stood up, ready to defend herself, but Shia remained seated.
"So, a mere rank six wants to avenge his family… How… touching, hahahaha!" Shia declared.
Light Style: White Explosion
The light floating in Rieze's hand expanded and swelled, triggering a massive explosion that destroyed Shia's quarters and half the castle.
At the same moment, on a rooftop across from the castle, Rieze observed the scene.
"It's a shame I had to limit my power, or you'd both be dead. But no matter—you'll carry the scars from this anyway. Enjoy the little time you have left," Rieze declared.