The battle raged outside the city.Samuel no longer held back. He had also discovered that combining both flames elevated his power to an entirely new level.The Solarheart Flame, in particular, proved exceptionally effective against abominations. As creatures born from dark energy, they were heavily suppressed by its scorching power.After thoroughly testing the limits of his newfound strength, Samuel nodded in satisfaction.He could now fuse two of his flames together while simultaneously merging his aether qi and vital force. The only thing left was to combine all of them into a single force. If he could accomplish that one day, his strength would reach an unimaginable level. He would be capable of fighting opponents several cultivation level above his own.Javier quickly realized that Samuel wasn't even taking the battle seriously, yet he was still being completely overwhelmed. The realization tore through his pride.He crashed into the ground once again, sending dust and sand bil

"What did you do to me!? What happened to the Seed of Urgaba!?" he yelled."Shut it. Now you have two options: accept my spiritual imprint, or be tortured until you either accept it or die.""Fuck you!""I don't have that kind of time," Samuel murmured to himself before casually throwing him aside.Nina immediately hung him upside down. She took out several tiny needles, each coated with a strange substance at the tip, and slowly drove them into different parts of his body."Ahhh! What did you put in those!?" he screamed. His agonized cry was so loud that, if not for the sound barrier surrounding the hall, it would have echoed far beyond it.She then pressed a knife against his neck."This knife... even the slightest cut from it will hurt a thousand times more than an ordinary cut. On top of that, these needles have stimulated every one of your nerves to its limit. You're about to experience unimaginable pain. I'll keep cutting you apart, little by little, until you either die or agre

Zafa dashed toward the window and flew off without a second's hesitation.Everyone was alarmed."So it was him after all!" they exclaimed.But what shocked them most was that Samuel didn't pursue him. The reason soon became clear.A group of people flew in through the window, among them Victor and Tibeth. A Gothic-dressed girl and a mean-faced man followed close behind, dragging someone between them. It was Zafa.His face was a mask of confusion as he called out to the two who held him."Wallace, Nivia, it's me, Zafa!" His voice cracked with disbelief. He knew both of them, along with many others in the group behind them. They were all Urgabas. So what had changed?Why had they hunted him down and dragged him back to Samuel?"Welcome back." Samuel's voice was calm, almost gentle. "Victor, would you help us put the ring on him?""Wait, wait! Fine, I admit it! I'm an Urgaba, the Abomination of Egean City! But so are they!" Zafa yelled, thrashing against the hands that held him.He didn'

The weather over the Divine Beast Continent had shifted. It was the kind of weather that heralded war, the kind that could usher in a new era.The most world-shaking news after the Dalvillia invasion was the expansion of the council. There was no longer a Council of Four. It was now a Council of Five, with Samuel taking the fifth seat.And this time, they all stood fully behind him. When the news spread, every resisting faction gave up. Their hope from the very beginning had rested on the council.They had believed the council might eventually intervene and rein Samuel in if he grew too excessive. But now the council stood fully in his support. One member, Aldric, was even more aggressive than Samuel himself, and people had begun to dread him more than they dreaded Samuel.In a forest near Kelp, Samuel landed on a quiet mountainside and sat down on a moss-covered rock. He said nothing. The forest held its stillness around him, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves stirred by a pas

Carson, Nina, and Ugadi fought as a single unit, carving a bloody path through the battlefield wherever they went.Heng Mei and the others formed another compact team and advanced close behind them.Just as Samuel had instructed, everyone fought in coordinated squads and battle formations, covering one another while systematically overwhelming the enemy.A few Urgaba ancestors transformed into monstrous abominations.Ordinarily, each of them would have become a nightmare capable of turning the tide of battle.This time, however, the situation was completely different.They were hopelessly outnumbered.The moment an abomination appeared, four opponents of the same cultivation level surged toward it from different directions.Sword lights flashed.Spears pierced the air.Towering fists crashed down like falling mountains.The abominations roared as they were driven backward again and again, unable to gain even a moment to unleash their full strength. There simply weren't enough of them