"Bayiz Serkar, with the Holy War having yet to start, what is the meaning of your presence in our territory?
Are you perhaps…tired of living?"
Erhardt spat, adopting a hostile stance and not giving the Serkar intruder any face. The words caused Bayiz's lips to curl into a radiant smile.
"If I were, who would end me? You? Preposterous. Allow me to be blunt, this generation of spirits is in every way inferior to our Infernal Cult's youths. Were it for this Holy War being the last, your future would be worrying.
You should be grateful for your elders' protection, and keep hiding beneath their skirts, instead of tooting your horn before your betters."
Bayiz replied, his words causing the Serkar experts by his side to burst into laughter.
"As a five-thousand years old Quasi-Sage, you're not qualified to speak such words before me."
"True, your talent trumps mine. But so what? I'm stronger. If you do not live to surpass me, it matters not.
In the meantime, while you're brooding over a woman and compromising your Dao, our prime disciple has already broken through the Divine Rank. You are not his match. To say nothing of him, whether you can meet house Serkar's first inheritor as an equal, is still a matter of debate.
Therefore, looking down on you is right and proper. What is wrong with that?"
Bayiz leisurely retorted to Erhardt's undermining attempt.
And indeed, his words struck Erhardt hard. The Infernal Cult's prime disciple was his rival of a lifetime, but since his fall for Yvonne, he'd started surpassing him.
Now, after nearly four centuries, he stood at the pinnacle of the Holy Road, but failed to take the next step while his rival had already broken through, and officially became a Sage.
Though it was but one step, a tremendous gap now stood between the two of them. If that wasn't enough, the first Serkar inheritor was also showing signs of breaking through.
In the contest of the younger generation, the Celestial Church was left behind.
But knowing was one thing, admitting, another. Moreover, Bayiz's confidence in his superiority was something he couldn't digest.
Erhardt waved his right hand, a move that triggered the arrival of several light beams. Six figures now stood by his side, each boasting a cultivation above the Star Manifesting Saint Rank.
"If you stand down now, and return from whence you came, I can forgive this slight, and fight you on another occasion. However, if you persist in seeking your destruction, do not blame me for being heartless."
Erhardt declared, confident in his ability to suppress Bayiz. Although he ranked among the mightiest Infernal Cult Protectors and was a Quasi-Sage, Erhardt didn't dread him.
"Alas, I'm here to collect beauties, one of which being the woman you seem to covet. That being the case, how can I retreat?"
Bayiz's proclamation was the last straw, and Erhardt's eyes went bloodshot.
"Also…"
Bayiz waved his hand, causing the Metze patriarch and elders to lose control of their bodies, and become at his mercy.
"…Else Metze, show yourself! Otherwise, I'm afraid your relatives will soon dive into the underworld."
The words spread across the entire Voight Domain, and naturally didn't escape Else's ears.
In a blue haze, she vanished, and reappeared before in the sky, above the palace. Standing several feet away from Bayiz.
"Is this Gulistan's will?"
Although Else didn't know of the events between Konrad and Eysan, she knew Bayiz's status within house Serkar. A man like him didn't lack exotic beauties and certainly didn't need to cross the Barbarian Continent just to snatch two women.
There definitely was a bigger story behind this move.
And indeed…
"Gulistan? How could it be? I'm just here for revenge. My cruel nephew dared murder my son. For my sister's sake, I can't kill him, but I definitely can and will take his most cherished women.
You tell me, when your luscious lips wrap my shaft, how bad will Konrad feel?
Having broken my share of men, I can tell you that the highest form of male torture is…cuckolding."
Bayiz chortled, with his arms folded beneath his chest. And through his words, Else reconstructed the events. At the same time, she became more confident that Gulistan was behind this. After all, her father, Berken, aside, none within house Serkar would dare antagonize her for the sake of the deceased.
But what she failed to comprehend was…the why.
Meanwhile, though he couldn't fully understand their words, and the name Konrad didn't match anyone he knew, Erhardt was able to realize that the man he owed his loss to was related to the Serkar.
Worse, he indulged in polygamy! His face violently turned toward Yvonne.
"You reject me…because of a man you have to share?!"
He roared, his placated rage soaring back to the surface with more considerable might.
Facing his outrage, Yvonne shrugged.
"What can I say? He's just that good."
"You!"
Erhardt almost spat blood, and star force erupted from his form alongside the full might of his arsenal. Waving his hands, he raised a force-field seal, that prevented escape from anyone in the vicinity.
"You should just stay put. When I'm done with Bayiz, I'm taking you away, and cleansing you from this wretched place's depravity."
He pledged and shifted his attention back onto Bayiz who now also faced him.
The two faced one another with flaring energies. In cultivation Bayiz was above, in bloodline levels, they were evenly matched. However, in physiques, Erhardt took the crown. Or so he thought.
When the pressure of a Mastered, low-grade Divine Physique erupted from Bayiz's form, Erhardt's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Since when?"
He asked in awe.
"Hahahaha!
Foolish boy. This is the era of the Infernal Cult, the era of house Serkar!"
Bayiz proclaimed with a burst of wild, unrestrained laughter.
But at that time, squalls came from the distance to indiscriminately slam into the warring parties.
Bayiz, Erhardt, Yvonne, Else, and all still standing experts' eyes rose to meet the squalls' origin and were shocked to see a massive golden chariot driven by a three-hundred meters tall crimson tiger boasting a startling cultivation base!
"A…level nine Restoration Beast?"
Bayiz and Erhardt said in tandem. Their eyes widening in disbelief. Although a level nine Restoration Beast was not enough to deter them, because of demonic beasts' cultivation requirements, such creatures were few and far between. Either residing in the Infernal Cult or hiding in seclusion within the Barbarian Continent?
How did one suddenly appear in the Holy Continent?
And it was driving a chariot? With a level nine Restoration Beast's pride, who was qualified to enjoy such a treatment?
All eyes rose to the chariot's seat where a teenaged looking man sat between two pale-skinned beauties.
"Restoration Beasts. They're also high-level Restoration Beasts."
Bayiz realized upon closer examination.
His eyes then locked on the youth. And was startled to see a man whose looks transcended all descriptions. With lustrous jade-green hairs, golden eyes, and translucent skin, he appeared like the incarnation of empyrean perfection.
For an instant, both Bayiz and Erhardt were dazzled and failed to comprehend were such a celestial being hailed from.
But then, Bayiz took a closer look and saw that within that face lied traits faintly similar to his sister's. Doubt shone within his mind.
"To see men so desperately clash for the right to rob my women, I must say I don't know if I should feel proud…or infuriated."
Konrad coolly said while sweeping Serkar and Wirth with his golden eyes.
Those words were the only confirmation Bayiz needed, and his face contorted into an ugly grimace.
"Konrad, bastard nephew, it's you!"
