“Just because your father gave you the Lord Token doesn’t mean I’ll listen to your orders!” Kevin Blaze cursed his cousin.
It had been a while since they were forced to abandon their homes both in the Tritan Alliance and the Origin Expanse to survive and move to the Sacred Desert.
However, because their household didn’t manage to procure more than 10 Lord Tokens, some members of the Blaze household were forced to become their family’s subordinates.
Kevin Blaze was one of those unfortunate. He was forced to become his cousin’s Subordinate through the Link of Loyalty. Olivia Blaze was only slightly stronger, yet she was given the Lord Token to establish a territory in the Sacred Desert. She didn’t deserve it! But, of course, Olivia Blaze was of a different opinion.
Olivia looked at her cousin in disgust. “If you’re not going to work, you might as well drop dead. Do you want me to report your attitude to Father?” Kevin shuddered and shook his head, “Forget it…” ‘Bitch!’
Olivia could tell what her cousin thought of her, but she didn’t care. She’d already abandoned everything important to her. Kevin was probably not the only one who was cursing her right now. At least, that was what Olivia was hoping for. She didn’t regret abandoning the Tritan Alliance or Alice. Their lives were better now. No. Her life was better now. She was stronger than ever and would continue growing stronger every day. In the future, once the Blaze household was strong enough to face the Tritan Alliance head-on, they would return and become their rulers. They would dominate entire stellar systems and create an empire in their name.
“Spread the word and make sure everyone knows what they must do. We need to expand the territory,” Olivia ordered her cousin, ignoring Kevin’s punchable face. He looked at her like he was waiting for his last brain cell to register her words.
“In which direction do you want to expand, though?” Kevin asked, which earned the Higher Lifeform a deadly glare.
“In all directions, of course. Did you fall on your head too often in your childhood? There is nothing in our surroundings. Your brother’s territory is tens of kilometers south, but that’s all,” Olivia was ready to punch Kevin in a fit, only to calm down when she recalled something else, “There is the burning mountain range as well, but Father told us to avoid it for the time being. A powerful monster has been protecting the mountain range for centuries. It will take a while before we reach our final destination.” Kevin nodded and was about to leave when the watchtower bell resounded through the settlement. The cousins looked at each other, a groan escaping their lips. A moment later, they charged toward the eastern watchtower, where they saw Summons and Awakened waving at them. They gestured to the eastern walls. Olivia and Kevin leaped on top of the walls with a single jump. After a waft of sand splashed against them, they brushed their clothes but didn’t pay any more attention to their attire. Instead, their eyes were glued to the cloud of sand near the burning mountain range. “We are not expecting any kind of reinforcement, right?” Kevin asked after his last brain cell was deducted that something was wrong. Something didn’t make sense, yet Kevin Blaze couldn’t be sure what was happening. Olivia studied the sand cloud intently and found the source of it in no time. A massive army marched toward the settlement. Someone had invaded her territory.
‘That cannot be. We killed all Lords. The Sacred Desert belongs to the Blaze household! Father said nobody was left… Wait. Is it one of my cousins?’ Olivia’s eyes widened in shock as her imagination ran wild. ‘Someone betrayed Father? No, my Uncles and Aunts wouldn’t do that. They’re only strong and alive thanks to Father. But who is it then? My cousins wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack me. None of the Blaze territories is closer to the burning mountain range than mine either… Wait!!’
Olivia quickly deduced what was going on. However, she didn’t like what she was seeing.
‘Humans…Berserkers…and Warlock Centaurs?!?’ She nearly screamed aloud. Olivia had to summon her willpower to contain her shock.
‘That’s not all either. There are other races as well. Elves? No. Those are not ordinary Elves. I read about them once. Aren’t those Forest Elves? Or Wood Elves? Aren’t they extinct? And who the hell are those silver-eared Demis?!? What’s going on here?’
It didn’t take long before Olivia’s eyes fell upon the Human Awakened amidst the massive army marching her way.
She discovered Frederik Kolbenheim and Hiraku Teranos and remembered them. How could she not?
“Aren’t those kids with…”
The scenery around her changed before she could finish her sentence. Her body tensed up, and her sense of danger told Olivia something big would happen.
Suddenly, the sun disappeared, yet the surroundings weren’t covered in a shadow. The surroundings were still illuminated, only for a shade to submerge Olivia’s settlement. The hair all over her body stood up to its end, and her head shot upward, unraveling a colossus meteorite shooting down from the sky.
The meteorite was dozens of meters long and high. It was covered in molten stone, which split up and sprawled all over the settlement. The massive mountain of earth, molten stone, and energy whizzed past Olivia’s head. It crashed heavily into the ground, spreading chaos, fear, and destruction.
Explosions resounded behind Olivia, and it was only a matter of milliseconds before a massive shockwave reverberated through the surroundings, tearing apart the buildings of several districts. Thousands of subjects died when the meteorite was impacted, and the number doubled following the shockwave’s aftermath. If the severely injured subjects were added, the number was even higher. Even Olivia had to block the shockwave, otherwise, she would have fallen from the eastern wall like some of her subjects. They were too weak to block the shockwave and fell to their deaths.
Olivia swallowed hard, but she managed to suppress her shock quickly. The enemy army was getting closer, and the chaos and destruction in the settlement would make it harder to gather her forces. Repelling the enemy army wouldn’t be easy.
Olivia didn’t give up, though. She came too far to give up at the first sign of inconvenience. Her head flicked to her cousin, and several orders formed in her mind. But Olivia froze in her tracks before she could tell Kevin what he had to do.
A familiar youth with vibrant golden eyes and eerily dark hair stood beside Kevin. He eyed Olivia’s cousin as no more than a nuisance, a pebble blocking his path. However, the youth’s lips curled upward when he discovered Olivia.
“To think you would be the first,” Michael murmured, his eyes transforming into serpentine slits. Kevin groaned in pain and found himself paralyzed, unable to move, even as a massive silverish-golden sword manifested in his hands. The sword pierced Kevin’s chest and disappeared, Insert transferring the Qi, True Extraction Essence, and the blood of a Curse User into the High Awakened’s body.
“Watch your family die,” Michael said, disappearing with a pop before Olivia made a move.
Her head flicked to the sky, where Michael reappeared. He stood calmly on the back of a Minor Typhoon Roc and snapped his fingers. The sound, amplified by origin energy, reverberated through the surroundings and silenced everyone. Even the desperate screams of the subjects in the settlement died down.
The sound died down quickly. Kevin’s body exploded right after. A short, pained scream was all Kevin could utter before he was no more.
His body parts and insides burst in all directions, showering Olivia and the surrounding Awakened in his blood and organs.