Chapter 510 - 508:Artwork

Chapter 510: Chapter 508:Artwork

"These guys are..." Leo was the first to speak out, as he was arguably the person most familiar with this particular family.

"Surprised, Leo? Didn’t expect to see some friends here, did you?" I teased, my gaze focused on the haughty, blue-haired youth who still had an infuriating smile etched onto his face. The fucker really was waiting for us to answer him.

"No... they’re not the same people. Aegon and Baron are still on Terra; these guys must be—"

"Part of the force behind those families? Yeah, I thought so as well."

Both Leo and I began deliberating the absurd coincidence we had just found ourselves in—especially after I’d just asked Xuan what he would do should someone actually dare to disregard his authority.

"Hmm? Did you not hear me?"

Our lack of response or even acknowledgement seemed to have finally gotten on the young man’s nerves as he cut into our conversation, his voice grating on the ears. "Are you going to answer me, or shall I take matters into my own hands? Believe me, you wouldn’t like it if I did."

"Why, just why do these types of people keep popping up everywhere? Is being brain-dead popular culture now?" Paku asked, his voice fed up with all the nonsensical scenarios we’d been forced to face since arriving here.

What made it worse was the fact that this guy wasn’t even part of the cultivation genre; he was just being a nuisance.

I looked toward Nyssara. The beautiful blue-skinned woman had an exhausted expression on her face as she simply shook her head. It would appear even she was tired of being the proverbial voice of reason and had, like millions before her, accepted that ridiculous scenarios like this were actually not so hard to come by.

"You’re still ignoring this young master? Then I guess you no longer—"

"I’m curious." I cut the young man’s words off. "Do you actually know who it is you’re talking to?"

"Heh! A measly emperor of some puny galactic cluster thinks he can ask me that? I should be the one asking you such a thing, you minion."

"Oh, no, no. I’m not talking about Xuan."

HUUUUMMMMM

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of knees crashing into the ground was followed by the painful groans of the young man’s entire entourage as my aura pressed down upon them.

"I’m asking if you actually know whom you speak to."

"Ahh... they made the bastard upset," Malachi noted.

"Well, it’s been a while since we saw him actually do something, so I guess there’s a show to watch," Paku added.

"What’s... what’s happening?" Lin Xuan muttered.

""Dante, that’s what.""

...

"You... you..." The leading youth’s voice came out strained and forced as he tried his absolute best to get his body working. By his side, the young man with the sealed mouth had pried his lips apart, trying to speak, yet no words came out whatsoever.

"You come to me, dare demand I give way, and insist I explain myself or die?" The sheer audacity of it was maddening.

I didn’t know if I had simply been playing the "young master" role for so long that the universe felt justified in keeping a steady stream of foolishness flowing toward me, but this time, I wasn’t having it. Something about this particular group—the way they spoke as if they held authority over my life and death—grated on my nerves.

"Quite audacious of you indeed."

"Do... do you know—"

His mouth vanished before he could even complete the sentence.

"You do not speak while I’m talking, worm."

"Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm..." Watching terror bloom in the eyes of the insignificant, squirming worm wasn’t even delightful. His pain didn’t interest me nearly as much as I thought it would.

The commotion had already attracted quite an audience, spectators whispering and pointing about what had happened, but I paid them no heed.

"Malachi..." I had barely completed the word before the monkey disappeared from his spot.

I had felt a spike in aura from the very top of the Tower just now. Someone up there was clearly acquainted with this group of ants and was trying to intervene, but...

Not today.

No, for today, "there shall be hell to pay."

I pulled my attention away from the battle about to take place overhead, focusing back on the fools who had dared demand anything of me.

"Bite down on something hard. This is going to take a while."

BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

A thunderous explosion cut off my words as the very roof of the gigantic Tower exploded into debris, two streaks of light blasting through it and disappearing into the horizon.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! DANTE!! YOU GUYS GO ON AHEAD!" Malachi’s wild laughter echoed as his figure became a dot in the sky before vanishing—though not before his final words: "THIS OLD GUY IS FUN, I THINK I’LL HAVE HIM ENTERTAIN ME FOR A BIT!"

"Damn it!! Why does he get to have all the fun?" Paku grumbled.

"Heh! Looks like the monkey is excited," I laughed. "I hope you guys are too, ’cause we’re about to have some fun."

Glancing back at Nyssara, I directed, "Cover his eyes and ears."

She swiftly raised her energy to shield Lucien’s senses. "Now, let’s begin, shall we?"

What followed were a series of excruciating sounds of pain that didn’t feel like they came from humans but from beings of utter despair, a deathly silence falling over the region as the audience watched on in horror what would probably become a very scarring memory for most of them.

...

...

"What... what is this?"

"How... how can one be this cruel?"

BLERGHHHH!!!!

"Oh Gods... no more... no more... please, no more..."

The horror rippling through the crowd was palpable as I finally stood up, eyeing my handiwork with mild satisfaction.

"At least you didn’t turn out too badly." I nodded, my mood finally recovering from the unpleasantness of earlier.

"Dante... brother..." Xuan’s voice came from behind me. He sounded unsure if he was still speaking to the same person.

"Hmm? What? Scared that the Dante you knew isn’t the Dante you think you know?" I asked, intrigued by how he would react.

I could’ve done this all differently. I didn’t need to show this side of me to the new additions to our group, oblivion could’ve removed the problem with no one being the wiser, but I needed them to see the face of the ABSOLUTE when he wasn’t playing the goofy, shameless perverted fellow they thought him to be. I needed to know how they would handle it when the other side came out.

I shot Nyssara a quick glance, and my smile widened.

There she stood, cheeks reddened, steam practically venting from her mouth as her eyes locked onto mine with a hunger I had never seen in her before.

"Ahh... so she’s like that too, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised," Shaia sighed.

"So," I turned away from the heated beauty before I lost control of myself out here, "Xuan, you have something to tell me?"

I asked the man, who still seemed unsure of who he was talking to. All I got in reply was—

"Dante?" My name called out once more.

"Yes?"

"Good." The man simply nodded at my reply, a smile of relief washing over his face while I stood there entirely confused.

"Let’s go. The auction will soon begin, and we don’t want to be late. You’ve already attracted enough attention with your little spectacle." Xuan started behaving as though he hadn’t just been giving me a deeply doubtful look moments ago, almost as if he’d neatly filed away everything that had happened after I—

"Ahh... ahahaha... Xuan, I knew I was right about you." I laughed as the pieces finally clicked in my head.

And so, I followed behind him as we finally made our way into the Tower, ready to begin the bidding for an egg entrusted to a chamber of commerce by some mysterious entity who only wanted treasures and nothing else.

All the while, the entire planet kept shaking from time to time as a massive, system-collapsing battle raged on outside the world’s orbit.

"What could possibly go wrong?"

I just jinxed it, didn’t I?

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A/N: nothing much to say, you guys know how I feel about substandard Chapters, and this one doesn’t sit right with me at all. But on a side note, I hope none of you expected these guys to put up a fight just because I called out their significance? Oh please, you guys know me better than that by now.

Anyways, sorry for the subpar Chapter and as always,

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Thanks for reading...