“Mr. Clark, these two are truly terrifying. Even Miss Layla fears them to some degree.”
“Be careful,” Callie whispered, tugging lightly at Flynn’s sleeve as she hid behind him.
Layla’s master was incredibly powerful, with connections that scared even the Shadow Brothers. This fact alone made Callie even more uneasy. She couldn’t help but feel that Dario Bragg was an even more dangerous figure.
Thus, like Layla, she wanted to persuade Flynn to avoid confrontation-or to use the military’s influence to negotiate. Given Flynn’s accomplishments with The Edge, she was certain Mr. Davies would do everything in his power to protect him. After all, Adam Davies was acquainted with Nate Black. Even someone as formidable as Dario Bragg would think twice before crossing that name.
Flynn, however, remained silent, his eyes fixed on the two old men before him. A chilling light flickered in his gaze.
He was annoyed.
The last time he spoke with Zion Watson, Flynn had made it clear: if they wanted a fight, he’d take it straight to Pelens, to Dario Bragg himself. Yet here they were again-Dario Bragg’s two mangy dogs, showing up on his doorstep.
It was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to intimidate him, to stop him from escaping.
Disgusting.
Utterly disgusting.
The stench of these two old men was unbearable.
“Hmm? Is this child Lord Valerian Nox?”
The Shadow Brothers’ expressions shifted slightly as they looked at Flynn, a trace of shock flickering across their faces.
After receiving Dario Bragg’s orders, they had come straight to the Wallace family estate, where Zion Watson had also been present. The Pelens King had mentioned that Lord Valerian Nox was young-under thirty years old. But the boy before them, despite his slightly rough skin, had eyes as clear as a mountain stream, appearing no older than twenty.
Such youth was surprising, but that was all.
“Lord Valerian Nox? Quite the pretentious name. But can you live up to it?” scoffed Light Shadow, his voice dripping with disdain.
To him, Flynn’s title sounded like something a cocky teenager might invent, like a blond-haired punk calling himself “General.” Ridiculous.
A mere Greater Sovereign daring to call himself Lord Valerian Nox? How absurd!
Dark Shadow ignored Flynn’s simmering fury, instead closing his eyes to sense the energy of the mountaintop.
“Brother, do you feel it? The spiritual energy here is incredibly dense! Even stronger than in West Africa or the Arctic depths!” Dark Shadow’s eyes suddenly snapped open, filled with excitement.
The Jade Dragon Mountain wasn’t known for particularly potent spiritual energy. However, Flynn’s presence and his connection to the Dragonsfire Cauldron had infused the mountain with an overwhelming vitality, causing the energy to swirl and surge like rolling clouds.
Light Shadow quickly concentrated, and after a brief moment, burst into laughter. “What a place! A truly remarkable place! Who would’ve thought that tiny Niarak would hide such a treasure trove of spiritual energy!”
“From this moment on, this land belongs to our master!”
For half a year, they had scoured the globe in search of spiritual havens. They never expected to stumble upon such a hidden gem in Shipmeda. What a discovery!
Flynn narrowed his eyes. “The last person who tried to claim Jade Dragon Mountain is already dead.”
Dark Shadow’s face darkened. But he quickly sneered. “Hah! Killing a Great Grandmaster is worth bragging about?”
“I once killed a Lesser Sovereign and didn’t make such a fuss.”
Light Shadow let out an eerie laugh, his voice grating and mocking. “Kid, you might scare others with those words, but don’t try to impress us. You’re just a Greater Sovereign like us. If not for our master wanting to deal with you personally, we’d have ended you ourselves!”
As he spoke, his aura exploded like a thunderclap, his voice booming as he fixed his gaze on Flynn.
“Lord Valerian Nox, my master challenges you to a duel tomorrow at noon, atop Pelens Swordgate Peak! Will you dare to-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Flynn moved.
In an instant, he was upon them, his hands clamping around the Shadow Brothers’ throats.
“You disgusting old dogs! Polluting my Jade Dragon Mountain, mocking my friends, and testing my patience-you deserve death!”
A searing, volcanic fury erupted from Flynn’s body, his aura blazing like molten lava. His eyes burned with unrelenting, murderous intent, akin to an unchained primordial beast ready to wreak havoc.
The terror was palpable.
The Shadow Brothers were paralyzed.
How could someone so young exude such devastating killing intent?
In Flynn’s eyes, they saw endless battlefields, an unyielding and overwhelming force. Their terror deepened as they realized the truth: this was no ordinary Greater Sovereign.
The intensity of his aura, its purity and ferocity, surpassed anything a typical Greater Sovereign could muster.
They hadn’t even noticed when he closed the distance to seize them.
Flynn was an Adept Greater Sovereign.
This realization struck them like a thunderclap.
It was the same feeling they had experienced five years ago-when Dario Bragg subdued them.
Boom!
They had miscalculated.
Their provocation had been a mistake.
But how could they have known that Flynn, out of concern for Callie’s safety, had been suppressing the full extent of his power? Even the faintest hint of his true strength had already left them trembling in despair.
Callie, unable to withstand the oppressive force, collapsed to the ground, her mind spinning as if frozen in ice.
Crack!
Dark Shadow’s neck snapped.
His lifeless body crumpled, his aura extinguished.
“Brother!! Lord Valerian Nox, you killed my brother! My master will surely…” Light Shadow rasped, his voice a mix of anguish and fury.
Before he could finish, Flynn flung both brothers into the air.
They hurtled down the mountainside like meteorites, their bodies spiraling helplessly through the air. Their screams echoed through the valley like the wails of the damned.
“Go back and tell Dario Bragg-I accept his challenge. Tomorrow, I’ll kill him at Pelens Swordgate Peak!”
Flynn’s voice thundered across Jade Dragon Mountain, resonating like a divine decree.
At the foot of the mountain, Layla had just arrived. She froze as two black figures plummeted from above, crashing into the ground with earth-shaking force, sending plumes of dust a hundred meters high.
Dark Shadow’s body was shattered beyond recognition, reduced to a heap of bloody pulp. Light Shadow, though alive thanks to his Greater Sovereign physique, was gravely injured. His right arm was broken in three places, and his body bore countless fractures.
No longer did he resemble the proud Greater Sovereign he had once been.
“Brother! Nooo!”
“Lord Valerian Nox, you’re just an Adept Greater Sovereign! Don’t get cocky! Tomorrow, my master will kill you!” Light Shadow howled in despair, coughing up blood as he wrapped Dark Shadow’s corpse in his black cloak and fled.
Layla stood frozen, her mind reeling.
Lord Valerian Nox wasn’t just a Greater Sovereign.
He was an Adept Greater Sovereign!
And he had treated the two Shadow Brothers-beings she feared like death itself-like mere trash.
How could this be?
He was one of the youngest Adept Greater Sovereigns in existence, a monster among monsters. There were fewer than five like him across all of Ostrad.
An unparalleled genius.
A peerless prodigy.
Compared to him, Vicente Clark was nothing.
Layla’s heart raced. Her earlier scorn for Flynn and Lord Valerian Nox now seemed utterly foolish.
But as her awe subsided, a deep worry crept into her heart.
Light Shadow had said that Dario Bragg was a Semi Earthly Sovereign, a Greater Sovereign at his peak.
Even someone as powerful as Lord Valerian Nox would face an uphill battle.
The duel would surely attract an audience of over ten thousand-a spectacle ten times grander than Flynn’s battle with Jack Jenkins.
Tens of thousands of witnesses, all there to see the fall of Lord Valerian Nox.