Godric nearly came apart on the spot, his whole body shaking.


    He knew exactly what stood in front of him. His strength had fallen hard, and the people behind him were nothing but a battered remnant. There was no way they could win.


    In that instant, he stopped caring about pride.


    He dropped to his knees in front of Darian with a heavy thud, his kneecaps


    mming into the ground hard enough to send out a dull crack.


    "Chieftain Darian! Please calm your anger! This really is a misunderstanding! I''m not


    here for revenge. I''m here to join you! Please, Chieftain, take us in!"


    Still kneeling there, Godric spoke in a hoarse, catching voice.


    Every word came out bitter and low.


    Darian froze.


    He stared at the man kneeling in front of him, at Godric''s posture ground down sopletely it barely looked real, and disbelief spread across his face. For a second, he almost thought he was seeing things.


    He even lifted his head and looked at the sky, as if checking whether something was off, then drew his brows together.


    "What did you say? Join us?"


    A mighty True Immortal Realm expert, one of those lofty celestial cultivators, was actually kneeling there and begging to defect to the Demon Dragon Lineage.


    It was absurd enough to sound like a bad joke.


    Godric pressed his forehead to the ground and forced the words out, one bitter line after another.


    "Chieftain, the Celestial Pce is gone. The Sacred Mountain has been burned into scorched earth. My disciples are almost all dead or wounded. I was badly injured, my cultivation dropped, and I''ve run out of road. I ask only that you show mercy and give us a ce to stay."


    He raised his head again. His eyes were bloodshot, and the plea in them was in.


    "I, Godric, swear that from this day on, I willpletely submit to the Demon Dragon Lineage. I''ll serve like a hound or a horse. I''ll go through fire and water withoutint. I will never harbor another mind. If I break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me."


    Darian went quiet for a moment.


    Godric looked too ragged for this to be a clean act, and once Darian linked that with the news about the destruction of the Sacred Mountain, he started to believe at least part of it.


    Then he burst outughing.


    The sound was thick with ridicule and satisfaction. "Godric, Godric... so your day finally came. Back then, you were swaggering all over the ce while you led the hunt against my people. You killed my kin. You seized my territory. You couldn''t have acted more arrogant. And now that you''ve fallen this far, suddenly you remember to beg me to take you in?"


    Godric lowered his head and clenched his hands so hard his nails bit into his palms until blood started to seep out.


    He stayed there and took it without a word.


    Darian saw him swallow it and stay silent, and that only made it better.


    He looked at Godric with open contempt. "You say you want to join us. What gives you the right? The Celestial Pce is gone. Your power is gone. You''ve got two hundred broken survivors left, and you''re nothing but a stray dog yourself. Your cultivation''s fallen hard.


    "If I take you in, I have to feed you too. That''s two hundred extra mouths for nothing. What do I get out of it?"


    Godric jerked his head up at once, a flicker of hope breaking through his eyes. "Chieftain! My cultivation may have dropped, but my foundation is still there. I was originally in the True Immortal Realm Level Two. If I''m given time to recover, I can return to my peak and maybe even go further.


    "In the Demon Marches, True Immortal Realm strength stands at the very top. When you wage war and expand in the future, I''ll be the first one charging in. I''ll win glory for you. I''ll serve you forever, and I will never turn traitor!"


    Darian''s eyes shifted, and he fell quiet.


    Godric had once been a True Immortal Realm powerhouse. Even a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. If he recovered, the boost to the Demon Dragon Lineage''s strength would be enormous. This deal wasn''t a loss.


    After a short silence, Darian spoke in a t voice.


    "Get up."


    Godric froze for a beat, then scrambled up in a rush, nearly unable to steady himself as he cupped his hands again and again. "Thank you, Chieftain, for taking us in!


    From this day on, I''ll serve you to the death. I would never dare disobey!"


    Darian''s gaze stayed cold. "Don''t get happy too soon. I can take you in, but remember this well. From now on, you''re not the Lord of the Basilica anymore. You''re just a dog in my Demon Dragon Lineage.


    "If I tell you to go east, you don''t go west. If I tell you to die, you do not keep living.


    In everything, you obey my orders. You do not resist. Understood?"


    The words hit like knives.


    Godric''s face locked up. Color surged into his cheeks. His hands clenched so hard the joints stood out, and he said nothing.


    But the killing intent still hanging around the warriors hadn''t gone anywhere, and behind him his disciples were already on edge.


    With nowhere left to go, he forced all of it down, lowered his head, and said in a humbled voice, "This subordinate understands. I will follow every order. Thank you, Chieftain."


    Darian gave a satisfied nod and was just about to order someone to arrange their cement when a cool, indifferent voice came from behind him, carrying pressure so heavy it seemed to press over the whole hall.


    "Darian, what are you doing?"


    The moment he heard that voice, Darian''s whole body jolted.


    The authority and satisfaction on his face vanished in an instant, reced by bare respect, caution, and sudden disorder.


    He turned around at once and strode forward, then bent deeply at the waist.


    "Senior!"


    Every Demon Dragon warrior in the ce, including the youngmander and the Elders, went rigid. One after another, they bowed their heads and bent at the waist, not daring to even breathe too loudly. Whoever that voice belonged to, they feared him down to the bone.


    From the depths of the Demon Dragon Hall, two figures walked out at an unhurried pace.


    Each step they took pressed down with an invisible force, and even the demonic aura around them seemed to submit.


    In front was a young man in ck. He stood tall, sharp-featured and striking, with eyes deep as a frostpool. His aura was drawn in so tightly it looked in at first nce, but the pressureing off bim stilI sank straight into the chest, as if the whole world had gathered around him.


    It was Skr.


    Josephine walked at his side.


    Darian hurried forward and lowered his head. "Senior, Godric, the Lord of the Basilica, came here with his remaining disciples to seek refuge. I was just thinking of taking them in, so I wanted to ask your permission first. What do you think?"


    Skr''s steps paused.


    His deep gazended directly on Godric in the distance, and he gave him a casual look.


    Godric''s whole body jolted as if lightning had struck him. Every hair on him stood on end, and a killing chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of the


    skull.


    The second he looked at Skr, his legs turned weak. The ruin of the Sacred Mountain shed back into his mind, and that memory crashed over him so hard it nearly swallowed him whole.


    He dropped his head at once and kept it there, not daring to meet Skr''s eyes for even a moment. Even his breathing turned careful, as if one wrong sound might set off a disaster star.


    Skr walked over to Godric and stopped in front of him.


    He looked down at him in silence, then the corner of his mouth lifted into the faintest


    smile.


    There wasn''t a trace of warmth in it. If anything, that smile made the cold around Godric turn sharper, until his whole body went icy and his mind nearly broke apart.


    "Godric?"


    Skr spoke in an even voice, t and calm, but there was no resisting the weight behind it. "I remember you. Back in Cloudhaven City, when things started going bad, you ran pretty fast. That''s how you kept your life."


    Godric shook so hard he couldn''t


    hold himself up anymore. He dropped to his knees with a thud, pressed his forehead hard against the ground, and begged in a trembling stumbling rush''s Senter, spare me! Please, spare me! I was blind and failed to recognize greatness. Back in Cloudhaven City, I offended you. I know I was wrong. Please, my lord, be merciful just this once! I''m willing to fully defect and ce myself under yourmand. I''ll serve you like a dog or a horse without a single disloyal thought!"


    Skr looked at Godric kneeling there, shaking so hard it was almost visible in the


    ground beneath him.


    He said nothing. He only watched.


    That calm, still gazended on Godric like a weight, and with every passing breath,


    the pressure grew heavier. Godric''s heart mmed harder and harder against his chest, like it was about to burst straight out.


    Godric took the silence for hesitation.


    He thought Skr might still refuse


    to take him in, and he rushed to speak again, his voice dropping lower and lower as he begged. "Senior my cultivation may have fallen badly, but my foundation is stiff that of a True Immortal Realm expert. If you give me a chance l can recover quickly. No matter what youmand in the future, I''ll


    charge through fire and die a thousand deaths withoutint. I only ask for a way to live. Please


    take me in!"


    He slowly raised his head.


    His face had gone tight and pale, and his eyes stayed locked on Skr, fixed there


    as he waited for the sentence toe down.