Chapter 178: Without honor.

Gasps turned into shouts of protest. Matilda and several other female relatives were on their feet, some weeping, others furiously gesturing toward the Grand Patriarch. "Stop her. End the fight."

Another screamed, "You crazy girl! That’s your brother, let him go."

"Grand Patriarch, declare her the winner! Save him!" A third voice cried out.

Derek’s children were almost losing their minds. A commotion was rising and the Grand patriarch decided to do as the majority wanted. Derek would live to fight another day.

But before the old man could move, Derek’s body went limp. His final ounce of resistance evaporated. The pain, the blindness, the wound, and the submission hold had driven his consciousness right out of his body. His arm fell uselessly to the mat.

Sabrina felt him go slack. She held the position for five more seconds, enjoying the complete control over his dead weight. Then, she released him, letting him crumple to the blood-stained floor like a forgotten doll.

She stood up, threw her arms wide to the silent, petrified audience, and declared with a chillingly cheerful laugh, "I do not know why you would do this to Derek, father; you knew that I would win either way. There was no other outcome! I am your rightful heir, and the only one worthy to lead the family. I would love to have your support as the next Grand elder of the clan. Don’t even think of recommending Derek."

"You__" a deep, resonant voice rumbled from the edges of the ring. The Grand Patriarch was now inside the ring boundary. He was looking at her, and his face was utterly devoid of human emotion. "You have won nothing, dear daughter, except the disgust of all your relatives."

Sabrina’s manic smile didn’t just fall; it dissolved into a mask of petulant confusion. "Who cares? I beat him! I proved that he is too weak to lead the family forward. By the laws of the fight___"

"You are such a vulgar, honorless fighter," the Grand Patriarch said, his voice flat and cutting, "with that said, you have no business determining who should lead this family or clan. You fight like a street hoodlum in the pit, not a warrior. A fair fight in the martial ring is to test skill and spirit, not to see who can smuggle the deadliest dirt."

The Grand Patriarch then turned his back on her, a sign of total rejection in their culture. "Because of your actions tonight, Sabrina, you are hereby barred from all voting activities within the clan. You can play tricks at your guild and within the family, but not with the clan. I will not allow your shame to spread outside these walls."

Sabrina staggered, as if his words had physical weight. "Father, you cannot take my voting rights! That is against the foundational laws of the elders!"

"Go read them again because each family in the clan gets one vote for all important decisions. I will do it myself, you will not be representing me this time. You mother must be turning in her grave at what you have become." The grand patriarch answered.

Sabrina shook her head in disbelief. "Father please! What will people think?"

The old man didn’t even turn. He started to walk toward the exit of the martial hall. "You will figure out something to tell them, Sabrina. You are good at that."

He continued to walk away amidst Sabrina’s shrieking screams. "It’s unfair! You take everyone’s side but mine all the time! You can’t do this! HE LOST! fair and square. I am your only worthy heir, why can’t you see it?"

The grand patriarch did not look back and the hall remained silent. So silent, that they could all hear each other breath.

In the silence, Matilda rushed to Derek’s side. She pulled out the hairpin in his stomach, placed her hands over the bleeding wound and soon the wound began to close. Then, she applied the same treatment to his hip.

Matilda looked up, relief flooding her face. "He’ll live! I have stopped the bleeding. I can heal his wounds completely, and__ I think I can purge the toxin from his eyes. He will be okay."

A sigh of pure relief collectively swept the room.

Sabrina, upon hearing that Derek was going to be fine, hissed like a demon from a fairy tale. All of her rage from being rejected by her father snapped back onto her brother. She began to lunge toward Derek’s unconscious form, her bloody fist raised.

"It’s all your fault! You did this! If you had just submitted or left this house like Alessa, this would not have__"

A hand shot out and clamped onto her wrist like an iron band. It was Maverick.

"Young miss, stop. It is over." His eyes dared her to go any further.

Maverick was not a mere servant, and Sabrina did not want to mess with him. The Grand Patriarch had recognized his terrifying killing skill and poached the man from the special soldier’s unit, which handled extractions beyond the veil for special individuals. Maverick had seen real war and killed deadly beasts. He not just an ordinary butler He knew a hundred ways to make a person stop breathing.

"Move," She ordered.

"Miss Sabrina," Maverick said, his voice quiet, calm, and utterly terrifying. "I said that it is over."

He didn’t pull her. He didn’t twist. He just held her. And she felt the casual, professional-grade danger radiating off him. He was the only person in this hall who could snap her Soul maiden’s abilities like a small, dried twig.

Sabrina stared into his blank, professional gaze for three long seconds. Her jaw clenched. "Let go of me, servant," she spat the word, but it had no weight behind it.

Slowly, carefully, Maverick released his grip.

Sabrina knew better than to push him. He was an ex-soldier, not a blood-relative with family politics holding him back.

She glared one final, hateful look at the healing Derek, then spun on her heel. "If father dares to send Derek to the clan meeting as his representative," she yelled, her voice raw, echoing down the hall as she walked out into the cool evening air, "then I will make sure my brother does not make it to that meeting at all. Don’t test my ruthlessness."