Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1304: Testing Waters

In front of the Heavenly King of Metal, the warrior representing the united forces of the Rakos Empire and Abyss Empire introduced himself as none other than Rudra.

And as soon as he took off his cloak, his entire appearance became visible to the onlookers in the banquet hall.

“You… you are from the Basilisk Bloodline?” asked Jaro, his eyes wide open in shock.

The cloak was actually a very unique artifact that perfectly hid Rudra’s aura and his bloodline from even someone like a 7th-stage saint such as Jaro.

And now that his hexagonal-shaped, scaly black arms, his tail coming out of the back, and his gray skin were revealed, the leader of the Black Panther tribe had figured out his origins.

[Impossible! Since when did the Rakos Empire have members of the Basilisk Tribe?

Could he be a descendant of the same clan as the Empress?] wondered Jaro with a frown visible on his face.

Basilisk-kins were one of the strongest races in the Beast Empire. The current empress Kaali Adisesha herself was a prime example of how ferocious they could become.

Other than the Heavenly King of Fire, Romulus, and the Heavenly King of Light, Haldor… No one in the entire empire dared to even face her in battle.

And yet, someone of the same descent now stood right in the middle of the banquet hall that Jaro arranged for just to humiliate the guests.

“That I am. And more…” said Rudra nonchalantly as he chose not to reveal his overwhelming aura because most of the attendees would instantly die from his saint pressure, which also carried his monstrous bloodline essence.

“So… are we done here already? That wasn’t even a good warm-up,” said Rudra with a bored countenance.

Shock!

His words suddenly struck all the members of the Beast Empire as a blatant mockery.

He had swung his weapon just once and broke the opponent’s war axe like shattered glass.

“This… what is your rank?” asked the black panther tribe member.

“An intermediate 6th-stage saint.” responded Rudra.

In reality, Rudra had broken through just recently after he absorbed the core sent to them by Kahn back when he had to go to the Erdve Empire.

The cores he sent belonged to the deceased members of the Hero of Time’s party.

Rudra received the core of a Peak 6th-stage saint among them, and after Kahn became the Emperor of the Rakos Empire, he had broken through to the next rank as well as condensed his realm effectively to the point that he was already at an intermediate level just a few months after his rank-up.

One could say that his superior bloodline of the godbeast basilisk played a huge role in absorbing the core and increasing his strength considerably.

And if someone were to compare… his physical strength alone was on par with a beginner 7th-stage saint, and with Atlan in his hand, he could even face the Heavenly King of Metal himself.

But unlike the Rudra of the past… he had finally learned to calm his rage and battle-hungry nature.

They were here to set up the procession of their incoming armies, not to cause a fight. However, when the host himself tried to screw them over, Rudra decided to take matters into his own hands.

Now, he proudly stood in front of the onlookers, representing the pride of the Rakos Empire.

As soon as the crowd witnessing this predicament had calmed down… Rudra asked with an arrogant smirk…

“So, who’s next?”

******************

The entire banquet turned dead silent as soon as Rudra asked for another challenge.

And this time, his tone was both overbearing and condescending, as if he was looking down on the entire crowd right now.

“This bastard…” muttered the heavenly king’s son.

“Father, allow me.” he said as he quickly summoned a spear in his hand.

The weapon itself was of Quasi-Legendary rank.

“Are you sure… Harkan?” asked Jaro.

Since his son was also an intermediate 6th-stage saint, he was the most appropriate opponent for Rudra.

Harkan was the heir to the tribe leader’s position. And now that Dahaka was dead, killed by Atreus more than a year ago… he was the only heir left to pass on Jaro’s position.

In terms of talent, Harkan was also the pride of the Black Panther clan among the Godbeast Baihu’s descendant tribes.

So, in everyone’s opinion, only he could reclaim the lost honor of the Beast Empire as well as their clan.

Besides, if Jaro himself meddled, it would be seen as an act of desperation right after their previous warrior lost in a single move.

Because a Heavenly King having to force himself to fight an envoy member would be seen as a joke by the other Heavenly Kings as well as the Empress.

They already had to swallow their pride last time when Kahn, as Atreus, killed Dahaka after torturing him for hours in front of the whole Nadur Empire.

Back then, it was part of their customs that protected the former, and he had to give up on revenge.

That incident had already hurt their image, and if the news of Rudra utterly shaming them in their own territory spread across the masses… they wouldn’t have a face to save anywhere.

Step!

Step!

Harkan walked into the suppression barrier and signaled the previously lost challenger to leave.

Now, he faced Rudra with both resentment and a fiery look, filled with killing intent.

Harkan brandished his spear, and Rudra also pointed his trident at his opponent standing in front of him.

Since both of them were Intermediate 6th-stage saints, no one would have any objections to accepting the match’s result.

What Harkan did not know…

That Rudra was using Atlan, that carried the soul fragment of the Lesser Dragon that once guarded the Imperial Palace hidden in the Forbidden Zone of Verlassen Fiefdom, where Kahn eventually found Rathnaar and the Tablet of Arcana.

As the owner, Rudra could control the will of the dragon within the trident and increase the weapon’s own attack and skill damage.

However, today… he was fighting purely with his skills.

Now, it was time to see who had more strength to defend the pride of their respective empire.

And had the superior bloodline.