"…Help you usurp the throne?"
"What do you mean by that—don't tell me you're actually trying to replace the Wound-Bringer?"
Wei Qing's words hit like a bomb, stirring an even greater shock in the two Great Lords than before.
Replacing Nanook… perhaps Nanook wouldn't even care about a "destroy Destruction" impulse like that.
But Phantylia and Zephyro couldn't afford to sit back and watch.
The string-tone around Zephyro—just calmed moments ago—snapped taut again, and the atmosphere instantly tightened.
"Lord Wei Qing… that joke isn't funny," Phantylia said, her voice dry with a severity she'd never shown before. "The Wound-Bringer is Destruction incarnate—the source and the end of our will. Words like that are no longer mere overreach. They're suicide."
Zephyro didn't speak, but her half-clenched hands rose. Invisible shockwaves locked onto Wei Qing again—ready to "clean house" the moment he crossed the line.
Even if he was a fellow Great Lord… if his mind had warped to the point of trying to supplant Nanook, then he would become every Destruction Emanator's common enemy.
Faced with the surge of hostility and killing intent that was almost tangible, Wei Qing only smiled lightly—like the earth-shattering statement hadn't even come from his mouth.
"You two misunderstood," he corrected evenly. "When I said 'usurp the throne,' I didn't mean that unreachable seat of an Aeon."
"I meant… the position of Luofu General."
The tension froze.
Phantylia: "…"
Zephyro: "…"
The Destruction-laden power that had nearly reignited the battlefield deflated like a punctured balloon. For a moment, both Great Lords were simply speechless—like they'd thrown a full-force punch into empty air.
They'd forgotten the other half of this "colleague's" identity.
He was the Xianzhou Alliance's rule-breaking Hunt Emanator—practically the next general by default.
If he lived long enough… with his strength, even becoming Marshal wasn't impossible.
"Luofu… General?" Phantylia repeated, her tone weirdly strained, as if the sheer absurdity physically hurt. They'd been bracing to deal with a colleague who might be insane enough to commit deicide—and his goal was just… a general's chair on one Xianzhou ship?
The turn was so abrupt it almost felt… cheap.
Zephyro's icy stare, however, flashed with calculation and cost-benefit appraisal. Helping a colleague seize control of Xianzhou power did fit Destruction's grand narrative—an excellent hidden piece on the board.
"Explain," she demanded.
Wei Qing's expression didn't change as he laid it out.
"My master, General Teng Xiao, is advanced in years. A change of Luofu's generalship is imminent—everyone knows it. As his disciple and a Hunt Emanator, my succession is the natural outcome."
Then his tone shifted slightly as he looked at them.
"However, the Xianzhou's internal factions are complicated, and the Alliance is not a monolith."
"If I want a smooth transition—and if I want to practice our will more efficiently afterward—I still need… external support, to handle whatever 'accidents' might occur."
His meaning was obvious:
When he needed it, he wanted them to manufacture crises or "achievements" that matched Destruction's aesthetic—while conveniently helping him eliminate rivals and consolidate authority.
Phantylia's eyes flickered. She was tempted.
This was practically a stage built for her: a playground where she could toy with hearts and political currents.
Plant a seed of Destruction inside the Luofu, watch it grow in the soil of power and ruin, and see what sweet fruit it would eventually bear…
As a Great Lord who countered the Hunt—and who especially enjoyed watching civilizations rot from the inside—Phantylia's itch had been scratched with surgical precision.
The future image of the Luofu sliding, quietly and beautifully, toward the abyss…
That was far more interesting than simply smashing a Xianzhou ship outright.
For a moment, she even felt like she was the masked fool here.
"Zephyro, what do you think?" Phantylia asked her companion. "Driving a wedge of Destruction into the core of the Xianzhou Alliance—can there be a symphony more aligned with Destruction's will than that?"
Zephyro fell silent for a few beats, like she was valuing an investment.
"…Fine," she said at last—simple, clean.
Then she pivoted.
"But how do you guarantee that after you take the seat, the Luofu's blade will still point at Abundance, instead of turning on us? You are, after all, favored by the Hunt."
It was a fair doubt.
Even with Destruction's golden blood in him, the fact remained: Wei Qing was simultaneously a Hunt Emanator.
If he fully controlled the Luofu, who could guarantee he wouldn't prioritize Alliance interests—and aim the spear at Destruction instead?
Wei Qing didn't look surprised. He asked back calmly:
"If my heart were truly with the Xianzhou, why would I reveal my identity to you just now?"
"What I seek has never been the Alliance's prosperity," he said. "It is the practice of my own Destruction."
"Holding the Luofu lets me mobilize resources more effectively and purge the Apothecary's filth. That is both the Hunt's meaning—and the Wound-Bringer's duty assigned to me."
But Phantylia and Zephyro still seemed unconvinced, which made Wei Qing inwardly sigh.
"So tell me," he asked. "What race do you think I am?"
That question made both of them pause.
Their eyes swept him again, reassessing his clearly human features.
"Human. Obviously," Phantylia answered first, perplexed by the sheer obviousness.
Unless he was secretly a heliobus like her.
Zephyro also nodded. For Great Lords, species recognition among major civilizations was basic competence.
"Human…" Wei Qing said slowly. "Yes. To anyone looking, I should be human—'Xianzhou human,' even."
"But this body of mine—this bloodline—was crafted by the Wound-Bringer personally."
Then A Colleague's Authority triggered again.
That pressure—like Nanook had arrived in person—crashed down on Phantylia and Zephyro.
Watching their different reactions, Wei Qing spoke evenly:
"If you translate it into simpler terms, it's like this."
"You two… were picked up. Illegitimate."
"Me?"
"The real one. The legitimate heir."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 90)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter70)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter70)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter60)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 30
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 30
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