Old man Zedra stood in the air with his long silver hair drifting behind him. His expression shifted from troubled confusion to cold acceptance. He sighed once and said in a calm but sharp voice, "Well, if his talent is far too low and he already harbors deep resentment toward our Lycannis Family, then if he dies, he dies."
The high elders and elders all turned their heads at the same time and looked at him with strange, puzzled eyes. Some frowned. Some swallowed hard. Some shared uncomfortable glances. They seemed uncertain whether they heard him correctly.
Then, Zedra suddenly burst into laughter, a deep and rolling sound that echoed through the whole hall. His shoulders trembled with each laugh, and his voice grew louder. "Now then!" he shouted. "Where is my favorite daughter?"
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted with a booming voice that made the walls vibrate. "Eldra! My daughter! Eldra, where are you?"
He spun around and glared at the elders. "Do not tell me she is hiding. I remember she used to hide when she was angry with me. What is she doing now? Where is she?"
Zedra's eyes brightened with excitement. "I remember. She was pregnant when I left. Pregnant by that scum she claimed to love. I still do not understand what she saw in that weak brat, but it does not matter anymore. Seventeen years have passed since I left the Lycannis Family. It is time. It is time to see the child."
He paused and whispered softly, "Is it a grandson? Or a granddaughter?" His smile widened. "I cannot help it. I must know."
One of the elders stepped forward, sweat forming on his forehead. He bowed and spoke carefully, "Elder Zedra… Madam Eldra… she attended a meeting elsewhere today."
Zedra froze. His expression fell like a stone. "She is not here?"
The elder shook his head lightly. "No, Elder."
Zedra clicked his tongue in disappointment, but before he could speak, the elder continued with trembling words, "As for your grandson… erhhmm… he is inside the trial. The trial you created."
Zedra blinked.
Then his posture straightened.
And a soft, almost tender voice slipped out of him. "So it is a grandson."
He let the words settle in the air before asking slowly, "How is he? Is he talented?"
The elders all looked away. Their eyes shifted to the floor, to the walls, to the sky. Anywhere except Zedra's face. Their silence felt heavy, like they were sucking the air out of the room.
Zedra's voice sharpened. "Hey. I am asking you."
Still no answer.
His brows twisted. "I said I am asking you all!"
His shout boomed like thunder, cracking through the tension.
Finally, one of the high elders stepped forward with shaking legs. "Calm down, Elder Zedra…"
"Speak," Zedra growled.
The high elder swallowed hard. "Your… grandson… was the one who conjured the nine tailed demon fox."
Zedra's eyes widened. A smile lifted his beard. "He did?" His chest puffed slightly. "So he has the bloodline. So he truly inherited something from me. Good. Very goo—"
He suddenly stopped.
The smile froze on his face.
Then slowly, painfully slowly, it melted away.
"Oh no," he whispered in growing horror. "Oh no."
He stared at the elders like they were demons. "You said the one who summoned the fox had low talent. And the one I spoke with earlier had a resentment toward the Lycannis Family."
The elders lowered their heads.
Zedra's voice trembled. "So the one you and I spoke of… was my grandson himself."
The elders all nodded with shame.
Zedra's face twisted with rage. "Who," he growled, "gave the nine tailed demon fox to someone else?"
No one answered.
They did not have to.
Their guilty faces said enough.
Zedra's curse mana burst from him like a violent storm. Black and blue energy exploded outward. The ground cracked beneath the pressure. The air shook. His hair whipped around him like wild flames.
"You fools!" Zedra roared. "All of you! You dared take the fox from him? You dared label my blood as worthless?"
The elders staggered backward from the pressure. One fell to his knees. Another grabbed his chest. Their robes flapped wildly as Zedra's rage surged stronger.
Zedra flung out his hand, preparing to strike, but then his eyes widened in panic.
"No," he muttered. "I cannot attack them. I… I planned for the beasts inside the trial to attack the one who summoned the nine tailed demon fox."
His voice broke. "But my grandson… my own blood… I placed him in danger!"
He began to chant a spell quickly, summoning something from the depths of his curse mana. A summoning circle formed behind him, glowing gold and red. A massive three headed dog, each head baring huge fangs, each pair of eyes burning with fire, burst out with a deafening roar.
"Rip open the trial area!" Zedra shouted. "I must get to him!"
The beast lunged forward, but it stopped abruptly at the invisible barrier of the trial. It growled and snapped, but the barrier held firm.
Zedra clenched his fist. "The curse in the trial is conditional. I cannot break it by force."
He spun toward the elders again, his fury reigniting.
"This is your fault!" he shouted. "All your fault!"
The elders immediately bowed and begged.
"Elder Zedra, please calm down!"
"We only did it to protect the nine tailed demon fox!"
"It is the treasure of the Lycannis Family!"
"We feared your grandson would waste it!"
"We thought of the family's future!"
"We had no choice!"
"It was the safest decision!"
Zedra growled, but they continued.
"He had low talent!"
"He had unstable curse energy!"
"Please understand! We never wanted to harm him!"
"We wanted to protect the family!"
They spoke one after another, desperate to convince him, their voices overlapping and rising in panic. Their words tumbled from their mouths like uncontrolled rains. They tried to explain, to justify, to soften the truth.
They bowed deeper, begged harder, voices cracking, hands trembling, trying to wash themselves clean of guilt as Zedra glared at them with burning hatred.
Finally, their desperate rambling slowed.
Zedra closed his eyes and breathed heavily, forcing himself to calm down.
When he opened them again, they were still angry, but no longer blazing.
"Well," he said slowly, "his talent is too low anyway."
His voice was quieter now.
"I am sure, with my daughter's personality, she would not have cared about his existence."
Then he exhaled and whispered almost sadly, "But I did not expect my grandson would die because of my own doing."
The elders lowered their heads again, unsure whether they should speak.
—-
Meanwhile, deep inside the dark dungeon, Lazry stood in the middle of his team with his arms crossed, doing absolutely nothing.
He looked relaxed, almost bored, as he waited for the mysterious system timer to tick down. His group stood around him in a loose defensive circle.
Winston was the first to spot something moving in the shadows. He lifted his cane and smiled. "Young master, small fry incoming."
Jaro stepped forward with a grin. "Finally. I was getting sleepy."
Ren cracked his knuckles. "Let us end them fast."
Old man Tomas squinted at the crawling shapes. "These things again? They look uglier than yesterday."
Pip hid behind Tomas and whimpered. "T…Tomas, they look scary."
Tomas smacked the top of Pip's head lightly. "Then stop staring. They cannot hurt us."
Lazry watched the approaching beasts. They were small, twisted creatures with crooked limbs, sharp fingers, and slimy skin that glistened under the dim light. Their eyes glowed faint red, but their movements were slow and clumsy.
Winston stepped forward confidently. "I will handle them."
But Jaro ran past him. "No, I will!"
Ren laughed. "Move. I want to punch something."
They were not worried at all. In fact, they were making fun of the monsters.
Jaro kicked his beasts like it was a rubber ball. The creature flew across the room before splatting against the wall.
Ren grabbed one by the head and said, "Look at this ugly thing." Then he slammed it to the ground.
Old man Tomas walked toward another beast that approached too slowly. "Are you even trying to attack?" He casually kneed it in the face.
Pip jumped around nervously but still watched. "It is so small. Why is its tongue so long?"
Winston smirked. "It is not a tongue. It is its brain slipping out."
Pip screamed and ran behind Lazry. "Young master, they are gross."
Lazry didn't react.
The group laughed and kept dealing with the monsters like they were dealing with annoying insects.
But Lazry felt something.
He felt a faint vibration under his feet.
He slowly lowered his gaze.
His six eyed demon dog lifted its head, all six eyes glowing more fiercely than before. The fur along its back stood up. Its growl echoed through the dungeon.
Lazry swallowed. "Hmm?"
Winston paused. "Young master?"
Lazry could not take a step back. But he felt something was wrong.