GACHA SOVEREIGN

Inside the barrier was a city that was far different than the silent city Alex stayed in previously. Because of the competition that would be held next month, the city was bustling with devils, wondering who would be their next leader.

There was a house with a blue roof in the middle of the city. People sighted an elder walking toward the balcony, seeming to meet someone else.

"Elder…" The two walked inside the room and sat down before the younger one glared at him with a serious expression.

"Fufu… It's been a while since our last meeting. I have been occupied by something recently and can't visit you." The elder chuckled. His expression was gentle and his tone was calm.

"I still can't understand you, Elder. You have been working for this tribe to the bone, but you yourself have no sort of ambition. Even if it means disobeying the rule, I am sure you can become the leader yourself. I believe you can do a better job than the previous leader who idiotically died by his own poison."

"Hyohyo!" The elder chuckled again. "I am just following the rule. If we can't even follow the rule, why would the ancestors bother to create it? Isn't it for the stability of our tribe?"

"It's true, but I still disagree with this rule." He shook his head with a serious expression. "You are our strongest devil, and your poison is unmatched among the tribesmen. Instead of becoming our leader, you stay in your position, waiting for the next generation leader to appear. If I were you, I would have become the leader long ago."

"In that case, why don't you break the rule and become the leader right now? You have seen it yourself that the current candidates are not that strong to begin with, so you visit me to be their leader because you are worried that they will lead the tribe to ruin, right?"

"Elder is right. I indeed visit you to persuade you again. After all, you are our Rank 9 God. Your wisdom and charisma are what make us like you." The devil paused for a moment. "If I were to break the rule here, you would stop me. Isn't that right?

"Yes. I will stop you since you have already become ineligible to be the leader. Still, I have placed too much work in your hand… And I believe that your potential is even bigger than mine. I am looking forward to the day you become a Rank 8 God and bring pride to our tribe."

"I am honored to be praised that much by Elder, but I am still worried about the fact that we are in this dire situation because of the sudden loss of the leader."

"Do you remember how he died?" The elder's eyes suddenly turned sharp, startling the devil.

"What do you mean? He was meddling with his poison and somehow got killed. It's not a rare case for our tribe because there are many people dying from their own poison, so what are you implying, Elder?"

"You might not have noticed this, but there was a sliver ice cube in the poison, causing the poison to go slightly out of control. Just like an Alchemist, we need to be careful as to not let any elements destroy our refining… And there was this cube…"

"Do you mean there is someone targeting us now?"

"I am not sure, but I believe the previous leader was murdered by using his own poison."

"Do you want me to search for that person? Or is this the work of an influence? Now that you mention it, we have friction against two places." The devil thought and realized all the movement that this elder made since a year ago. "Don't tell me…"

"Yes. I have been preparing myself for this, and that's why I have been covering this whole city with my Divine Energy. Unfortunately, I have yet to find the rat, so I can't act recklessly."

"Since Elder couldn't find the rats here, can we safely assume there is no rat in this tribe? Instead, I believe they are outside the barrier."

"That's what I am thinking as well. You must have noticed the incident a year ago, right???? He asked.

"Which incident?"

"The one in the forest. You were the one who found it."

"Ah!" The devil looked down with a serious expression. A year ago, he found a trace of two people hitting the ground and some footsteps around the area.

Although Nelson had covered the ground and other things, they didn't know that the forest had its own arrangement. Just like how an ice cube could ruin the poison to the point it killed its master, the poison that was not poisonous was covering the whole forest. He noticed it was slightly different from the original position, so he knew there was someone trespassing the forest.

"It started from the ground to outside of this forest. But the two bodies should be lying on the ground, and the poison around the forest doesn't harm anyone because its true purpose is to track the change in the air."

"Well, there are two possibilities. They were not dead and left the forest their own because of something, or there was another person carrying them outside. Nonetheless, we can't really track to that very detail." The elder nodded.

"I see… That's why you erect the barrier and poison. And I believe you also recalled all the spies in the world to help you in this process."

"Yes. They will be hiding around the city and release the poison on my signal." The elder nodded. "I assume there is an influence targeting us, so I need to ensure the safety of this clan. I hope you can help me during this time."

"Normally, we wouldn't need to call the spies we planted on the other continents, but the situation became too serious… And if I were them, I will attack this tribe when the competition starts."

"I have the same thought. Because of the nature of the competition, they will be most likely to attack right after the competition because many of our Martial Saints will lose their lives during the competition, and most of them will have exhausted their energy."

"I see. You are calling the spies to act as a replacement while using the potential leaders to be the baits. I am impressed once again by your wisdom Elder." The devil clasped his hand and bowed politely. He stared at the elder, full of admiration. "I really wish that Elder become our leader. Even if I reach Rank 8 God, I really like to serve as your second-in-command."

"Hyoho! Don't say that. Becoming a tribe leader will take most of my time. I rather work as a normal elder and guide the juniors. Besides…" The elder fell silent.

"Elder?" The devil tilted his head in confusion, not knowing why the elder suddenly fell silent.

"Fufu… Besides, I can control everything in the dark. Just like this, I can trap them because I have been staying out of the spotlight this whole time." The elder grinned and pumped his fist as if he was enjoying this. "That's why I am not suited to be the leader of this tribe."

"I see…" The devil nodded. "Then, how is the progress of Elder's preparation?"

"The poisons have been made, and I only need to wait until the time is right to distribute the poisons to our spies, so they can hide all around the city."

The devil nodded. "In that case, I shall play my part as well. I will be assembling a few elites to get ready for an ambush."

"Yeah. The moment they are poisoned, we will destroy them with your help." The elder nodded. "I leave it in your hand."

"Don't worry, Elder. You have been helping me since I was a kid, so it's time to repay you." The devil nodded with a smile. Although neither of them said it, they knew that their relationship was like a teacher and a student. There was an unconditional trust between them.

"Thank you. I will distribute the poisons to the spies two weeks from now, so they didn't use it before I instruct them. Although they are our spies, they can't be trusted fully after all…" The elder sighed, looking at this matter with a disgusted face. It seemed he really disliked people that he couldn't fully trust.

And the devil smiled because the elder trusted him completely. He clasped his hand and bowed again. "Then I will take my leave."

"Yes. Take care."

Before he could rise from the floor, three shadows emerged from the dark.

The two just noticed them because Alex used his Teleportation instead of walking through the Space World. Because of this, they managed to sneak past the Elder's energy.

Alex used his Spirit Eyes to locate the biggest energy. Because the elder had been hiding his energy, he didn't know, but the slight fluctuation that he let out when he became too excited, Alex realized that the two God Rank Experts were in the same place.

At that time, the only thing they needed to do was to ambush them by teleporting from within the gap filled with poison to the house.

"What?! Elder—" The devil rose and called his claws covered with green liquid. However, the liquid suddenly became frozen as a sword struck him.

"Undefeated Claw!"

"Heavenly Ice Sword."

A beautiful woman with a white mask that covered her eyes struck the claw. The shock wave immediately destroyed the entire house, but the woman managed to slip her attack through the claw.

"Kh!" The devil never expected this strength and realized that the woman's strength was far above him. He could even sense the elder's cultivation, but he felt nothing from the woman. In other words, the woman was a Rank 8 God or even higher.

If an attack coming from such a person landed on his body, it would be very dangerous, so he shifted his body, directing the sword to the side, albeit still managed to take his arm.

The devil gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, especially with the fact that his arm got frozen when it was hit by the residual of the ice. At the very least, the sword didn't hit his body, else his organ might be frozen by the ice.

In the meantime, Alex and Alicia had free reign. The collapsing house didn't hinder them even for a second, and the elder was the same.

A green sword coated with strange liquid appeared on his hand as he struck the incoming person's sword.

"Devil Poison!" The elder smirked because the liquid immediately flew toward the incoming person. "I have been prepared to meet all of you, but I should praise you that you have just gone beyond my imagination by attacking us this time. And only a Teleportation Array can sneak behind my energy… Whether you have a Space Element or not is not important because the liquid will melt your skin."

Unfortunately, the incoming person was Alex. Before the poison could even touch his skin, his Pure Fire covered his body and burned all those liquid droplets.

"What?!" The elder widened his eyes. But the shock didn't come only from the poison, but the intent he just felt. "A Sword God?"

Because Alex only used his Sword, he immediately thought Alex had reached a Sword God Stage, but little did he know that it was already far too dangerous for him to think that way because this would be the perfect time Alex used his technique.

He planned to massacre the entire tribe, so he didn't need to worry about hiding it for the first time as only those in the room could watch him using it. Hence, he released his Space Element along with his Pure Fire to coat the Sword before infusing it with his new Absolute Blade Divine Intent.

The strength contained in this was far above when he had yet to attain a Divine Intent.

A smile appeared on Alex's face as his sword slid down the elder's sword as Alex completed his swing, releasing a powerful sword strike.

"Three Purities Slash!"