Chapter 37: Please Stop Showing Off
Grand Ritualist Uno arrived at the main entrance of Roselle Palace with a composed expression and smoothly entered the palace.
As soon as he stepped inside, he blinked his left eye at a guard, who then followed behind him.
Given Uno’s status, he easily made his way to the Sand Emperor’s bedchamber. Meanwhile, in a wine cellar beneath the Sand Capital used for storing spirits,
Venomfang held a bottle of wine, savoring the desert specialty while using his ability to monitor Uno’s every move.
“He’s inside Roselle Palace. There’s a demigod named Red Sand in there. If I keep using my ability to interfere with Uno, I’ll be detected. Plus, that Hunter is also there—the risk of exposure is too high. I’ve lured the target in; the rest is up to you, Amisha.”
Venomfang waved his hand, and the shared vision from Uno vanished. Beside him, Amisha re-projected the image onto the wall and began monitoring the audio through her ability.
“It’s convenient to know high-tech. The picture quality is clear—at least 4K, right?”
Venomfang joked lightly, but as he spoke, the projection on the wall began to distort.
“Shut your crow’s mouth. Something is interfering with the signal. I suggest aborting the plan.”
Amisha glared at Venomfang, chewing gum while adjusting the equipment.
“What about the audio?”
Venomfang was reluctant to give up. He had prepared for so long. If that Hunter suddenly left the Sand Capital, everything would be over.
“Audio is normal.”
Amisha already had a bad feeling. From the start, she felt Venomfang’s plan wasn’t reliable. But once Crimson World entered this world and learned the enemy had 300,000 troops under control, all three of them would die. Crimson World wouldn’t reason with them—failure was failure, and all excuses were meaningless.
Just then, the projection on the wall restored. Su Xiao, the Sand Emperor, Uno, and Carros were all in the bedchamber of Roselle Palace.
Inside the bedchamber.
“Kukulin, you’re too aggressive.”
Uno stared coldly at Su Xiao. The Sand Emperor sat on the bed, while Carros stood behind Su Xiao and Uno.
“You’ve been too comfortable in the Sand Capital. You should go to the front lines.”
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and glanced at Uno.
Meanwhile, the three in the wine cellar exchanged glances. They had succeeded.
Inside the bedchamber, Su Xiao now fully understood why the Sand Emperor, Uno, and Carros had summoned him back to the Sand Capital. These three old schemers knew there were Violators in the city and had deduced from clues that these Violators were targeting him. That’s why they urgently recalled him—to lure out the three Violators.
Venomfang had once attempted to kidnap the Sand Emperor. For the three rulers of the Sand Capital, that couldn’t be ignored.
Now that Venomfang had reappeared, the three of them coordinated their plans without even discussing it. This was tough on the Sand Emperor, who was already weak. He had to pretend to be indulging in women daily, feigning a life of debauchery.
Uno wasn’t controlled—or rather, not fully controlled. Having held power in the Sand Capital for decades, how could he lack countermeasures? Hundreds of Soul Warriors were willing to die for Uno, including one with demigod strength.
The Sand Capital was such a trap that even Su Xiao hadn’t wanted to stay long. Venomfang, who only had a partial understanding of the situation, had barged in and tried to manipulate Uno. The risks were obvious.
Inside the bedchamber, Uno’s face was pale. After entering Roselle Palace, Red Sand had nearly ripped out his stomach to remove the biological bomb inside him.
Now, all they had to do was wait for the Violators to reveal themselves.
The clatter of armor echoed as guards rushed into the bedchamber from all directions.
“Kukulin… did you really meet secretly with King Peru?”
The Sand Emperor spoke, his voice filled with disbelief and hesitation, though inwardly he felt helpless. He just wanted a good night’s sleep.
“Your Majesty, I have solid evidence. Kukulin has betrayed us.”
Uno knelt on one knee before the bed, his expression mournful and indignant.
Inside the wine cellar.
“Not bad, Venomfang. That smear campaign of yours—I thought we’d need explosives to handle this.”
The Magician’s expression relaxed as he praised Venomfang’s plan. First, control Uno, then use the Sand Emperor, and threaten Carros not to interfere. This way, Uno’s guard forces could legitimately surround and attack the Hunter.
Then, detonate the biological bomb inside Uno, killing the Sand Emperor, Uno, and Carros. The Hunter would become the public enemy of Sand Flame, with no chance of leaving the Sand Capital alive—not even a one-in-ten-thousand chance. Even if he somehow escaped, he couldn’t command 300,000 troops.
Using Uno’s authority to force Su Xiao back to the Sand Capital, then framing him, letting the guard forces attack him, and finally killing the Sand Emperor, Uno, and Carros while pinning the blame on Su Xiao—it was a decent plan.
“……”
Venomfang said nothing. He held a detonator wrapped in muscle tissue. He had pressed the activation button over a dozen times.
“I can’t detonate… the bomb inside Uno. Remote psychic detonation also failed.”
Venomfang’s words made the Magician’s smile gradually fade.
“A malfunction?”
“A Holy Spirit-grade item—would it malfunction?”
“……”
Venomfang, the Magician, and Amisha all looked at the projection on the wall. At almost the same moment, Su Xiao, the Sand Emperor, and Carros turned their heads, seemingly staring directly at the three Violators through the image.
Venomfang felt his scalp go numb. Everything he witnessed was incomprehensible. The plan had been going smoothly.
Boom!
A loud crash came from above the wine cellar. Above the city, a black dragon circled. Fully armored guards wielding long spears charged in—at least 80,000 of them, elite among elites, the Sand Capital’s last line of defense.
Boom!
A giant hammer smashed into the ground, leaving a large crater and cracks. It was a Soul Warrior over three meters tall, muscles bulging—a demigod under Uno’s command.
A whistling sound came from above as a meteor with a fiery tail fell. On a distant building, three youths held hands.
At the center was a demigod, surrounded by 80,000 elite guards, and beyond them, 1,025 Soul Warriors. Colored barriers enveloped the area—underground, sky, and space were all sealed.
With a thunderous roar, the energy-formed meteor crashed down. The ground sank, and dirt and shattered buildings flew everywhere.
Three figures burst out. Their first challenge was the 80,000 elite guards.
“Venomfang, is this your plan?”
Amisha crushed the scroll in her hand. A muffled sound came from her palm—the spatial item had failed. The seals around them were too numerous.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
The guards with long weapons charged. Seeing this, Venomfang’s body turned dark purple.
“Lord Kukulin’s orders: leave one or two alive.”
The guard captain roared. With that shout, the three Violators were engulfed by the tide of soldiers.
“I f***ing… Kukulin, Bai Ye!!”
Venomfang looked up and cursed, but it was meaningless. No matter how loud he shouted, it couldn’t stop the guards and Soul Warriors closing in.
The rumbling continued. Guards fell one by one, but for every one down, three more surged forward, mixed with Soul Warriors.
‘Magic Box: Burial.’
A black dot appeared—the Magician, in despair, activated a mutual-destruction ability. As for Venomfang, that treacherous teammate, the Magician wished he would die soon.
To be fair, Venomfang and Amisha were not weak. After half an hour, they were pinned to the ground by long weapons and bound by various abilities from the Soul Warriors.
The two were lifted by guards using spears and taken to a secret prison in the Sand Capital.
Throughout it all, Su Xiao sat on the windowsill of the bedchamber, a cigarette between his fingers, watching the battle below.