Lilia had lost everything in this commercial war.
The Dragon Gate Group’s market value plummeted from over a hundred billion dollars to a staggering debt of over ten billion. The once-mighty Hussain family, which owned eight enterprises, was now reduced to barely keeping two struggling companies afloat. Had it not been for creditors hoping to recover some money, they would have already forced the Hussain family to sell off even those last two businesses.
But those two enterprises combined weren’t even worth two billion. In the end, everyone agreed to let the Hussain family continue managing them, with a five-year deadline to repay the ten-billion-dollar debt. It was a situation not unlike dealing with banks-if an ordinary person owed money, they would be hounded relentlessly. But when a multibillion-dollar corporation couldn’t repay its loans, creditors practically worshipped it, terrified it might collapse entirely.
Even this fragile lifeline was something Lilia had begged for, wagging her metaphorical tail in desperation. Without it, the Hussain family’s debt would have far exceeded ten billion.
Now, she had nothing left. All her assets had been liquidated. She was renting a one-bedroom apartment in an old, run-down neighborhood.
Her hatred for Flynn was bone-deep. She longed for Dario Bragg’s return, pinning all her hopes on him. That wish had finally come true.
Dario Bragg was back.
Lilia took an early bus to Pelens Swordgate Peak, but the bridge was hopelessly jammed with traffic. She got off the bus, debating whether or not to cross the river on foot, when she heard the voice she despised most in her life.
Rose glanced at her coldly. It had only been three days since they last met, but Lilia looked like she had lost twenty pounds. Her face was gaunt, her cheeks sunken.
Lilia had brought this upon herself. Rose’s expression was calm, without a hint of sympathy. Flynn didn’t bother with cruel words either. Instead, he teased her about where her luxury car and designer watch had gone before turning to Molly and the others.
“We’ll just stop here,” he said. “You won’t be able to see the mountaintop from anywhere anyway.”
Crossing the bridge to the other side, only to fight the crowd back later? What was the point?
Rose nodded but frowned. “What about you? How will you get across?”
Before Flynn could answer, a thunderous roar echoed from across the river.
“Lord Valerian Nox! Have you arrived yet?!”
The voice boomed like rolling thunder, shaking even Rose’s heart despite standing on the opposite shore. Lilia, pale and frail, staggered and nearly collapsed in fear.
Dario Bragg had arrived.
A wave of chaos erupted on the other side of the river. Fear spread like wildfire. Tens of thousands of people turned toward the source of the sound, trembling in dread.
Standing at a checkpoint, Dario Bragg appeared, clad in a tattered black robe. He loomed like a demonic sovereign, towering and unyielding. His white brows stretched into his temples, and his eyes flashed like lightning. A sinister aura radiated from him, chilling to the bone. His murderous intent was so palpable it felt like a physical force, making onlookers’ scalps tingle and hearts pound as though they might burst.
Over a dozen people nearly died from sheer terror.
The crowd retreated dozens of meters in a frenzy, scrambling and tripping over one another.
Behind Dario, the head of the Karlis Wallace family stood silently, his gaze fixed on the mist-shrouded mountaintop. His eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
Zion Watson rushed over, bowing deeply. “Mr. Bragg, it’s only eleven. Lord Valerian Nox hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Then I’ll wait for him at the summit!”
Dario’s voice boomed like a spring thunderstorm. In an instant, his figure vanished, leaving only a black shadow racing toward Swordgate Peak. A massive cloud of dust rose in his wake, blotting out the sky.
As he approached within a thousand meters of the peak, Dario suddenly leaped. His feet pushed off the ground with an explosive force, propelling him straight toward the summit.
“Boom!”
The earth trembled and roared, reverberating outward. Tens of thousands of people tilted their heads toward the sky, watching in awe as Dario shot upward like a black sword piercing the heavens.
He was fast. Too fast.
It was as if he had broken the sound barrier. A layer of white mist formed around his black robe, much like the vapor trail of a fighter jet shattering the air.
The scene was beyond stunning.
This was a force that defied all logic. The sheer speed tore the air apart, and the resulting gale swept across several kilometers, cutting like blades.
On Carter Hillridge, the tycoons and elites felt it most acutely. The fierce wind stung their faces like knives, carrying with it the sharp, metallic scent of blood-a deathly aura that seemed to come from a sea of corpses. This was the killing intent Dario Bragg had brought back from countless battles.
“Boom!”
The summit of Swordgate Peak erupted. The ground beneath the 2, 000-meter mountain shook violently, and the rumbling echoed far and wide. Giant boulders were blasted into the air, some hurtling into the western river and creating massive waves.
At the same time, a shockwave spread from the peak, dispersing the clouds that had enveloped it. The vapor expanded outward in concentric rings, revealing the summit to everyone below.
What they saw left them dumbfounded: the sharp pinnacle of Swordgate Peak had been leveled by Dario Bragg’s landing. The once-pointed peak was now a flat plateau, the size of a football field.
Madness.
The crowd of ten thousand erupted in hysterics. People screamed in disbelief, their eyes bulging from their sockets as they stared at the impossible scene.
Dario Bragg had scaled the peak in a single leap.
Jade Dragon Mountain, standing 800 meters tall, had taken Jack Jenkins two steps to ascend. But Dario Bragg had reached the 2, 000-meter Swordgate Peak in one leap, breaking the sound barrier along the way. And as if that weren’t enough, he had reduced the summit by 30 meters with a single step.
The sheer power was terrifying.
The crowd could not comprehend what they had just witnessed. The rumors of Dario’s strength-shattering glaciers, quelling ice storms-had spread far and wide. But seeing it with their own eyes was an entirely different matter.
“Vicente, if you can reach Dario Bragg’s level in this lifetime, I’ll die without regret,” Paxton muttered, staring at the black-robed figure standing atop the peak.
Vicente Clark’s eyes glimmered with determination. “Dad, I’ll do my best. It won’t be easy, but I believe I can reach that level before I’m forty.”
He had been using medicinal supplements to aid his training. To reach Dario’s stage, he knew breakthroughs in pharmacology were essential. If he could decipher the ancient medical texts, he was confident he could surpass his current limits.
From this day forward, Dario Bragg became his ultimate goal.
Dario had leaped 2, 000 meters into the air. Vicente could barely manage 500. And Dario had done it with ease, while Vicente needed to exhaust every ounce of strength.
Dario’s true limit was undoubtedly far higher. The fact that he still had the strength to flatten the mountaintop proved that much.
Even the Greater Sovereigns among the gathered clans exchanged uneasy glances. Their shock was palpable. Dario Bragg’s power had reached the pinnacle of Earthly Sovereign capabilities, surpassing all expectations.
Only the two Semi Earthly Sovereigns on Carter Hillridge remained composed. Everyone else fell to their knees, bowing in reverence.
“Lord Valerian Nox, come and meet your doom!”
Dario’s voice thundered across the heavens, fierce and unrelenting. It carried the wrath of a god, freezing the air with its murderous intent. The very world seemed to tremble in its wake.