Chapter 1307: Forcing Compliance

Out of nowhere, as the banquet had turned into a dangerous predicament... The two intermediate 7th-stage saints finally reveal themselves.

The shock left everyone in utter disbelief as the aura of these peerless saints spread throughout the entire banquet hall, mainly focused on the Heavenly King of Metal himself.

Crack!

The floor almost cracked as both saints targeted Jaro with their full killing intent and revealed complete hostility.

One of those two saints was none other than the Commander of the Imperial Army from the Abyss Empire, a human named Octavius Belkandor.

Back when Kahn killed Valius Nox Luvian, the newly anointed emperor, he was present in the same throne hall.

Kahn had killed both the emperor and the captain of the royal guards, a peak 7th-stage saint at that, who had conspired and killed the previous emperor, Oedipius.

And as a loyalist of the emperor, Octavius was filled with fury after he learned the truth.

When Kahn finally took out their armies in the real world and explained his plans to send the envoys through the allied nations’ borders, Octavious had volunteered for the task despite being one of the biggest powerhouses of the Imperial Faction.

The other saint beside him was named Oribus, a member of a species called Verbakill.

He had a floating chromatic diamond-like head, while the rest of his body was made of metallic alloys. And yet, he was as alive as everyone else.

"You dare conspire against the envoy of the unified forces of our empires?" spoke Oribus as his rustic voice echoed in the hall.

"We accepted your invitation to this boring and cheap banquet, filled with savages who do not know basic etiquette, just to show goodwill.

But not only do you disrespect us by forcing a spar on us... you dare try to confine one of our own by imposing fake charges on him just because he won the duel you suggested fairly?

Do you think of us as some kind of joke... You ugly cat?" spoke Octavius with an overbearing tone.

"We merely entertained you, neadethrals, out of common courtesy, but you dishonor our name and our empires.

How dare a mere 7th-stage saint, who isn’t even the strongest of his peers, dare to lay your hands on our youngest?" said Oribus as he walked towards Jaro.

"For that offence alone... we shall kill everyone here and paint a stark picture for those who would dare to commit the same mistake in the future.

You shall be used as a mere example so others do not think of us as some weak cowards," said Octavious, his old, wrinkled face with a grey beard showing complete disdain.

"Our Emperor already warned your Empress about what shall happen if you try to pull this kind of nonsense, has he not?" asked Oribus as he now directly faced the heavenly king.

"Yet you still dared to act like this, thinking that just two 6th-stage saints won’t be able to harm you in your own domain.

The truth is... our Supreme Commander predicted all of this since the very beginning.

And idiots like you will always be there... playing king among weaklings. Hence, he prepared for us in advance.

Now... tell me, what kind of destruction shall be committed to ensure that you learn from your mistake?" stated Octavius with a wrathful tone.

The next moment, Rudra spoke from within the barrier...

"Let’s start by killing his son in front of him first."

******************

At this moment... Harkon was frozen on the spot, facing turmoil in the illusory world Rudra put him in.

He couldn’t even hear them at the moment and was completely defenseless within the suppression barrier.

"If I clench my hand more tightly... I wonder what kind of sound he will make as his head pops off," said Rudra menacingly as he glared at Jaro.

"I concur. I heard that he already lost a son a few years ago, killed right in front of him.

Let him experience that same pain again. So that he shall finally learn his lesson as he watches it helplessly.

As for all these mongrels... they will simply be evaporated out of existence." said Oribus, the Verbakill.

"As for all their military defenses and their soldiers... we shall wipe them all out as well and open a new stronghold since a lot of our forces will be passing through this route in the days to come." said Octavius, adding more fuel to the fire.

"If an absolute ignorant idiot like him is removed from the picture, we will avoid needless bloodshed as well," said the 6th-stage snakekin saint.

Jaro was simply shocked to his core.

As soon as both of them appeared in the picture, he was on the receiving end of the stick.

From acting as an almighty tyrant who could do anything he wanted to being on the mercy of the two saints he previously didn’t even bother acknowledging.

At this moment, Jaro was barely standing. With both of their pressure combined, it was no different than that of an 8th-stage saint.

Thankfully, none of them had targeted anyone else in the banquet other than the Heavenly King.

"You hold a title too grand for someone so shortsighted. Now... give us one good reason why we should not exterminate everyone here?

And do not try to rely on a possibility of war. We only have to hold out here for a couple of days before our forces arrive here, and then we can easily defend this whole place after taking over." spoke Octavius again as he placed his right hand on Jaro’s left shoulder with a smile.

"The other Heavenly Kings won’t bother helping at this crucial time, and the Empress herself will take too long to reach here.

We both have the justification and the strength to do a hostile takeover at this moment.

So tell me... why should we let any of you live?" spoke Oribus as he too leaned forward and directly glared at Jaro in the eyes.

Jaro was shaking in morbid fear as his hands trembled. His tail gave away his efforts to maintain his calm despite the erratic surge of terror in his heart.

"I... I would like to offer my humble apologies. I may have overstepped my boundaries." he said with an apologetic tone.

One of the top 5 strongest people in the entire Beast Empire was now apologizing to another empire’s envoy... that too right in his own home.

"You ’may’ have? Did I hear myself correctly?" asked the human saint.

"He thinks we are both blind and deaf." said the Verbakill saint, his tone filled with fury.

"I apologize for my disrespectful actions towards the great envoy of the Rakos and Abyss Empire.

I, Jaro, the Heavenly King of Metal... Ask for your forgiveness," spoke Jaro as he bowed his head.

Back during the Elysian tourney, he had to quell his rage to save his clan’s fate and honor the traditions of the Beast Empire by swearing an oath to not take revenge against Atreus.

And now, to save his eldest son as well as millions of people currently residing in this junction under his domain... he had to show respect to the envoy.

Both times, he took a step back to save those under his authority to rule and took a hit on his own pride.

Whenever anything related to Kahn was involved, Jaro had to keep taking on Ls after Ls.

"Hmm... your apology feels insincere. Are you perhaps under the impression that what we said was a mere ruse?

Even if our own men die due to our fight... we will still stand alive and make you pay dearly for it.

You have millions of lives to lose while we have only a few hundred. So do not hold back on proving your regret." said Octavius again.

"Trust me, we will make sure that these 3 also survive under our protection.

But you... can you even save your own blood?" spoke Oribus as he pointed at Rudra holding Harkan by the throat.

Rudra, on the other hand, gave a sinister smirk as he clenched his grip even tighter.

"Tell your underlings to undo this suppression barrier, unless you want to see your only remaining son’s head explode." threatened Rudra with a wrathful gaze.

"Deactivate the barrier, quickly!" shouted Jaro as his magic class personnel quickly started undoing the formation.

Crack!

The magic formation shattered, and now both Rudra and Harkan regained their original strength.

"Argghhh!!" bellowed Harkan as Rudra deactivated Lucid Reality.

The Basilisk-kins were proficient in Illusion skills that often rendered people paralyzed and even temporarily put them in a trance due to illusions.

Kahn as Atreus also faced Sobek Slytherin of the Basilisk Clan back in the day, who used similar abilities on him. But due to his innate immunity to those skills, he broke easily.

Harkan, on the other hand, faced something even worse. Because the Lucid Reality skill overwhelmed all of his senses and put him in a world that was no different than hell.

He felt his will breaking down after suffering those horrifying nightmares while feeling like he was about to die at any moment.

And the next time he opened his eyes, his neck was still in Rudra’s grasp.

"You still haven’t given us a proper reason, heavenly king.

We should start a massacre here just to make an example out of you. But unlike your kind... we’re not barbarians who kill others over the simplest disagreements.

So for now... stay in your lane. Let our troops stop and rest here without causing another incident like this. Unless you want matters to escalate beyond repair." warned Octavius in a grim voice.

"And to ensure that we have your utmost compliance..." he continued with an overbearing tone.

But it was Rudra who completed his sentence with a sly smile.

"We will hold your son as our prisoner."