CHAPTER 282: MERCURY CULT

This big golden bastard first grabbed it, kept it from getting to mommy, then wanted others to feed it.

Who the hell did it think it was?!

Blood Silver had its own damn pride!

Blood Silver kept throwing warnings. If mommy wasn’t here, it would definitely show this big moron what it felt like to get kicked around like a soccer ball!

Ginya’s fists clenched. Though it couldn’t understand the squeaks, the tongue-wagging and face-making taunts crossed all species lines.

"Master, can I teach it some manners?"

"Go for it."

Blood Silver would eventually become his new retainer. Having it sort things out with the other retainers early on was fine by him.

Carlos let go, plopped Blood Silver on the ground, then headed out of city hall.

"Red Spirit, come with me. Let’s give them some quality time together."

"Moo?!"

Blood Silver stood there dumbfounded. What did mommy mean? Wait, it got it!

"Caw!"

Red Spirit happily trotted after him, seemingly forgetting all about its buddy.

"Moo! Moo!"

When Blood Silver realized what went down, only it and the ’grinning’ big dummy were left in the hall!

"Crybaby, Red Spirit just told me you said you wanted to kick me around like a ball?"

Ginya cracked its knuckles, making nasty popping sounds.

Its towering shadow loomed as Blood Silver freaked out, pushing off with all four hooves toward the hall door.

Too bad Ginya saw that coming, blocking the only way out and smacking Blood Silver back with one hand.

Blood Silver tumbled ass over teakettle, shook its head, and its bright red eyes blazed with wicked fury.

"Moo moo!"

You dare mess with me!

All four hooves dug into the ground as surging psionic energy flowed. Behind it, a blood moon phantom flickered to life, like it was brewing up some nasty shit!

Seeing this, Ginya’s mouth split into a wicked grin, the disgust in its eyes getting worse:

"You really are that blood moon bitch’s spawn!"

Part of Ginya’s essence came from when the Withering Sin Tree sapling had just been born and got hunted by the blood moon. Countless blood moon lackeys chased after it. If the Withering Sin Tree hadn’t gotten lucky enough to escape to other realms through spatial storms, it would’ve died before it could walk.

The hatred from that near-death experience was burned deep into the Withering Sin Tree’s instincts. Ginya, having merged with the Withering Sin Tree’s essence, naturally inherited that rage.

This was why among the three retainers, the most human-like Ginya suddenly had it out for Blood Silver.

The Withering Domain kicked in, instantly crushing Blood Silver’s momentum. It let out a pissed-off roar:

"Moo moo!"

"Hehehe, crybaby, what other tricks you got up your sleeve?

Better use them quick, ’cause I’m about to get serious."

Ginya slowly cranked up the pressure, wanting to drag out Blood Silver’s hidden abilities step by step.

The blood moon bitch’s spawn, even when they’re young, would instinctively be bloodthirsty and brutal as hell.

Ginya suspected Blood Silver was faking everything, putting on an act for master to make him drop his guard, waiting for...

"Moo!"

Seeing Blood Silver pinned down, Carlos, who’d been watching the whole show through the window from outside the hall, shook his head.

"Red Spirit, you’re saying you can’t pick up its soul vibes?"

Ever since Blood Silver’s transformation, Carlos occasionally felt on edge, especially when Blood Silver fed—he’d actually feel this weird comfort that had never shown up before.

"Caw caw!"

Red Spirit nodded. It was dead certain Blood Silver’s soul essence definitely hadn’t hit Controller level, but weirdly it couldn’t detect any soul vibes at all.

This was seriously messed up. Even facing Controllers, though Red Spirit’s finely-tuned spirituality couldn’t read soul fluctuations, it would never completely fail to sense them.

In Red Spirit’s spiritual radar, when Blood Silver showed emotions like happiness, hurt feelings, or anger, the expected soul waves just didn’t happen—like a rock, cold and dead inside.

With Ginya hell-bent on schooling Blood Silver, Carlos wanted to see if Blood Silver would show its true colors under enemy fire.

....

Meanwhile, in the Dotruu Kingdom, the second prince met with a black-robed figure in a secret chamber.

He said frantically:

"Father got whacked by Shadow Hall. Noo’s officially doing the coronation ceremony in three days. When the hell are your people showing up?"

Second Prince Boli talked a mile a minute. The kingdom’s sudden shitstorm had clearly screwed with his plans.

"Your Highness, chill out. The Archbishop has heard about this mess and will be here soon to bail Your Highness out."

The black-robed figure got the second prince’s panic, but things had gone sideways too fast. Plus, the king’s assassination in the Dotruu Kingdom still had way too many question marks, making these traitors necessarily careful.

The second prince’s eyes lit up as he said urgently:

"Your cult’s Archbishop is coming?

For real?"

The second prince was stoked. Only with power that could go toe-to-toe with the first prince could his schemes work. Otherwise, all the plotting in the world couldn’t stand up to one strong bastard’s casual word.

Though he was a stubborn old-school royalty prick, that didn’t mean he didn’t know the Archbishop’s street cred in the Mercury Cult.

That was someone on par with the King’s Right Hand, Sword Saint Levi... maybe way stronger.

"Your Highness, our cult doesn’t need to bullshit a prince."

The Mercury Cult’s messenger looked pissed. Some two-bit human prince dared question them.

The second prince kept raising his cup:

"Hahaha, with your cult’s Archbishop coming, how can we lose!"

The messenger’s face softened as he grabbed his wine cup, knocked back several gulps, and reminded:

"Your Highness, don’t forget our deal."

The second prince’s eyes narrowed, downed two cups straight, and said boldly:

"Just common rabble.

If I grab power, except for nobles in the kingdom, your cult can take everything else and go wild!"

The Mercury Cult messenger was thrilled. The second prince didn’t just agree but sweetened the pot—truly someone ballsy enough to reach out to their cult!

"Hehehe, Your Highness can relax. In a few days, your road to the throne will be smooth as butter!"

The two kept drinking and hammering out details until they nailed everything down, then the Mercury Cult messenger split.

When only the second prince was left in the secret chamber, his smile vanished like smoke, his expression ice-cold.

"Hmph, a bunch of sewer rats with shit for brains!"

The second prince was secretly contemptuous.

Even if the Mercury Cult’s power was scary as hell, it couldn’t hide the fact that they were hunted dogs.

The second prince wasn’t brain-dead. Once the Mercury Cult’s tracks got sniffed out, the Human Supreme Council’s judgment squads would definitely move.

Then, having used the Mercury Cult to snag the throne, he wouldn’t last five minutes.

So...

The second prince’s eyes narrowed, cooking up different schemes.

...

Meanwhile, in the palace,

The first prince went ballistic on his lackeys:

"What the hell have you morons been doing? Boli actually vanished right under your noses and you still can’t find him!"

"The... the second prince’s hiding game is off the charts. We got played by his misdirection..."

The lackeys groveled on the ground, carefully laying out what went down.