Meanwhile, Jared and his beleaguered companions were ensnared within the clutches of the Five Great Sects.
Their allies, Montane Daemon, Igor, the valiant Catina, and the resourceful Tyler, all bore the brunt of grievous wounds.
They were ringed by the covetous eyes of the Celestial Darkmore Sect, Celestial Moon Sect, and Celestial Sun Sect, whose disciples encircled them with avarice gleaming in their eyes.
The Demon Seal Alliance’s century-long promises were a lure too seductive to ignore.
Heinrik, Edward, and Stuart couldn’t help but exchange knowing looks and burst into mirthful laughter.
Despite Lauden’s express prohibition, the temptation of the Demon Seal Alliance’s offerings was too strong to resist.
Everyone had their schemes, their secret desires, and now, they were all here, with Jared unwittingly cast as their prey, a fish laid bare upon the board, awaiting their will to carve.
“Will you surrender your life willingly, or must we wrest it from you ourselves?” Heinrik asked, his smirk playfully cruel.
Jared’s response was silence, but the relentless fire in his eyes was a silent testament to his unyielding spirit.
Inside Jared’s nascence, the nascence star seemed to stir, twinkling with defiance. Facing the inevitable, Jared’s resolve hardened; he would go down fighting, determined to drag as many as he could with him into the abyss.
Heinrik and his cohort scoffed at Jared’s tenacity, their sneers thick with contempt. “You overestimate yourself, boy. Since you’ve chosen defiance over surrender, we’ll show no mercy. Your end is nigh…”
Heinrik had barely unleashed his formidable aura when a sudden, icy rebuke sliced through the air, a powerful presence that quashed Heinrik’s burgeoning force with ruthless efficiency.
“Mr. Darkmore, did you just disregard my words?”
It was Lauden, emerging alongside Keelan, leading a cadre of their own swiftly to the scene. Lauden’s visage twisted with distaste.
Heinrik’s face contorted subtly upon laying eyes on Lauden. “Mr. Delacroix, surely even you cannot disdain the Demon Seal Alliance’s century of offerings. You won’t stop us, will you?”
With the support of sect leaders Edward and Stuart, and the collective might of three of the Five Great Sects behind him, Heinrik’s confidence swelled.
“You’d have to strike me down first to get to him,” Lauden declared, his voice seething with fury.
“And what, pray tell, is your stake in this young man’s fate?” Edward inquired, his tone laced with irritation.
“He owes nothing to anyone. Should he step beyond our sects’ bounds, his fate is his own to meet. But within the Five Great Sects, such wanton violence will not stand. Our forebears founded these sects on principles of justice, to combat evil. Even in these degraded times, should we not honor their memory? Should we not hold fast to the last vestiges of our integrity? We are not butchers, to kill at whim for personal gain. And let’s not forget, the Demon Sealing Alliance has their own dark history. Have we forgotten their attempts to consume even us?”
Lauden’s voice thundered with righteous indignation.
Yet his words seemed to fall on deaf ears, the allure of the Demon Seal Alliance’s promises too potent for some, like Heinrik.
Sensing their unyielding stance, Lauden turned to Jared. “You and your friends should make your escape now…”
Jared exchanged a look with Lauden, then, with mutual support, led his group toward the exit of the Five Great Sects.
Heinrik and the others made to intercept them but were halted by the sheer force of Lauden’s commanding palm strike. His voice thundered a stern caution, “Don’t push me to the brink of killing my own, gentlemen,” he warned with grim resolve. “Should you seek death so fervently, then let it be known that the existence of our venerable Five Great Sects is utterly pointless.”
The warning hung heavy in the air, and Heinrik, along with his cohorts, could do nothing but simmer in their stifled rage. They were acutely aware of Lauden’s formidable presence, a force not to be recklessly challenged.
Meanwhile, Jared ushered his beleaguered group away from the Five Great Sects. As they made their escape, Jared cast a final, piercing look over his shoulder.
With every step he took away from that place, the resolve hardened within him. He would return; this he silently vowed.
The sacrifices of Cloud and Feenix, the pain they endured, would not be in vain.
