"What are you still standing there for? Full retreat! Move! Break out and kill your way through!"


    Godric shouted the order in a hoarse voice.


    The sound tore out of him, raw and unsteady.


    The Celestial Pce elders had already been swallowed by fear, near utter soul- ruin, but an order from the Hall Master wasn''t something they could disobey.


    They gritted their teeth and forced themselves forward.


    Pressing down what was left of their dread, they all attacked at once, calling out their own divine weapons and techniques as they charged at Skr, trying to buy enough time for the retreat.


    Skr did not even spare them a nce. His eyes stayed t, as if the people in front of him were nothing but dust and weeds, not worth a shred of his attention.


    He only gave his hand a light wave, casual and easy.


    In an instant, ck demonic mes burst from his palm.


    They roared higher and higher, carrying a heat so terrifying it seemed able to burn everything clean. The mes spread into a sea of fire across the sky and rolled straight at the Celestial Pce forces. Wherever they passed, even space twisted under the burn.


    "Ah-!"


    Screams broke out one after another, sharp enough to tear through the air.


    The Celestial Pce Elders and Basilica elites charging at the front were swallowed by the ck mes in the blink of an eye. They never even got a chance to resist. Not a scrap of bone remained. They were burned straight into ash and scattered between heaven and earth.


    The remaining Celestial Pce disciples lost every bit of nerve they had left.


    They turned and ran on the spot, shoving past each other to get away. Their formation copsedpletely, and they scattered in every direction like beaten dogs.


    Darian saw it, and a hard glint shed through his eyes.


    He swept out one arm and shouted, "Demon Dragon Lineage, with me! Kill them! Leave no one alive! Wipe out the remnants of the Celestial Pce!"


    The dark red Demon Dragon host surged after the fleeing Celestial Pce troops like a flood.


    Demon Dragons roared. Demonic mes churned. This was no longer a battle. It had turned into ughter from one side only.


    The Celestial Pce army fell apartpletely.


    Countless died or fell wounded. Bodies covered the sky and the ground. The golden


    light faded away, and demonic aura flooded everything.


    Godric was shielded by several fiercely loyal Elders as they fled for their lives toward the distance.


    The golden warship was covered in damage. In a panic, it swung around and fled Cloudhaven City without a shred of hesitation.


    He turned back for onest look toward Cloudhaven City.


    His gazended on Skr, thick with venom, dread, and refusal, but he did not dare slow down for even a moment. He roared, "Retreat! Move!"


    When Darian saw that, he was just about to lead the Demon Dragon host in pursuit and finish Godric off for good, cutting out every future threat at the root.


    Then Skr raised a hand and stopped him with a small motion.


    "No need to chase them."


    Skr spoke in a calm, even tone.


    His eyes passed over the battlefield and settled on the blood-soaked figure standing atop the city walls.


    Rnd stood on the shattered city walls, covered in blood, bracing himself with a broken sword.


    He looked at Skr with a tangled expression that would not smooth out.


    He had no idea who this terrifying young man was, or why he had suddenly stepped


    in to help the Sky Dragon n drive back the Celestial Pce army.


    But one thing was clear. Skr''s strength ran too deep to measure, and it was far beyond anything Rnd could stand against.


    Skr looked at him and spoke in a t, clear voice. "You''re Rnd, the Sky Dragon n Chief?"


    Rnd nodded.


    He forced himself steady, cupped his fist, and said, "Senior, thank you for stepping in. You saved the Sky Dragon n. You saved Cloudhaven City: The Sky Dragon n will ever May ask your name? And what brought you here today?"


    forget a debt like this er


    Skr gave him no answer.


    His gaze went straight past Rnd and settled below, toward the hidden chamber beneath the city lord mansion. Something shifted in his eyes. He looked like a man staring at the one thing he hade for, heat buried under the surface with one faint ripple that still hadn''t gone t.


    "Jared is in the hidden chamber below?"


    Rnd''s face changed at once.


    He stepped forward on instinct and blocked Skr''s path, his grip tightening around the broken sword in his hand. He knew perfectly well the gap between them was as wide earth, but he but he still in


    as heaven anyone disturb Jared


    refused to let let


    seclusion.


    Skr looked at Rnd''s guarded stance, and the corner of his mouth lifted.


    A mild smile showed on his face as he cut off Rnd''s concern. "Rx. I won''t kill


    him while he''s injured. I''ll wait until he''s fully recovered. Then I''ll kill him in a way that leaves him with nothing to say."


    At that moment, Skr was arrogant to the extreme...


    It was as if he had forgotten all of it.


    From the mundane world to the Ethereal Realm, and then all the way to this celestial realm, Jared had beaten him again and again. Jared had humiliated him again and again.


    Now Skr stood there like a man who thought he was untouchable.


    So he meant to pay back every bit of the humiliation and hatred he had carried before, all at once.


    If he only killed Jared easily while Jared was still injured, that wasn''t enough.


    To Skr, that did nothing to settle all the suffering he had swallowed over the years. And it was far too cheap for Jared.


    He wanted to toy with Jared.


    Like ying with an ant, he wanted to leave Jared without even the right to choose life or death for himself.


    Only that feeling—holding Jared''s life and death in his hand—would ease him even a little.


    "Senior, are we really going to wait for Jared to recover ande out of seclusion?"


    Darian couldn''t make sense of it.


    If Skr had a grudge against Jared, this was the perfect time to finish him while he was down.


    Who waited for an enemy to grow stronger before taking revenge?


    Skr said nothing.


    He only shot Darian a cold look, and that one nce alone made Darian stumble


    back several steps. After that, he didn''t dare say another word.


    And so Skr stayed outside Cloudhaven City, waiting in silence.


    Waiting for Jared to recover ande out of seclusion.