“You again!” the man shouted, his voice a roar of pure, unadulterated fury. His name was Kael, and he was the Elder in charge of this entire western operation for the Beast Revolution Faction. The young man who had promised him safe passage had betrayed him, leading this terrifying trio of executioners directly to his doorstep.

Li Yu simply smiled, a cold, emotionless expression that made Kael’s blood run cold. “Yes,” he replied, his voice calm and clear, easily carrying over the rising alarms. “I let you leave as I promised.”

Before Kael could give a single command, the battle erupted. The two figures moved simultaneously, each choosing their targets. Spine, his ancient eyes burning with a cold, sorrowful rage, shot towards the two lower-stage Core Formation experts.

Cyra, a graceful phantom, moved to intercept the two mid-stage Core Formation experts. And Li Yu remained where he was, his gaze locked with Kael’s, a silent challenge that pinned the powerful 9th stage expert in place.

Kael didn’t understand it, why did this boy make him feel so suffocated. He’s never felt like this before, even before those stronger than him but this boy. There was something about him that made him question his every move. He should have just launched his attack and helped his subordinates but here he was, filled with inaction.

Spine’s fight was not a battle; it was a slaughter. He was a 7th stage Core Formation expert, but his foundation was that of an ancient beast whose power defied conventional levels. Even if he didn’t have that, he would still massively out match them. He met the two lower-stage experts head-on, their desperate beast transformations shattering against his simple, overwhelming force.

He was a blur of motion; he tore through the first opponent's defenses and ripped out his throat before the man could even finish his transformation. The second opponent, terrified, tried to flee, but Spine was upon him in an instant, his rage a force of nature.

He did not just defeat them; he obliterated them, their bodies torn to pieces in a brutal, visceral display of pure, unrestrained fury. He did not pause. As soon as his initial opponents were dispatched, he let out a massive roar and plunged into the chaotic ranks of the base’s other disciples, beginning his wanton killing.

Cyra’s battle was more of a tactical fight, no less deadly but far more elegant. Her two mid-stage opponents were seasoned warriors and did not hesitate. They roared and immediately transformed. One grew dark, crackling feathers and a wicked beak, his arms becoming massive wings as he transformed into a ferocious Thunder Crow.

The other, a woman, shrieked as her skin became slick and gray, her teeth sharpening into rows of daggers as she became a hulking, amphibious monster, a Tidal Shark-fiend. The Thunder Crow took to the air, firing bolts of crackling lightning, while the Shark-fiend charged on the ground, her powerful jaws snapping, aiming to tear Cyra apart.

Cyra, faced with a coordinated assault from air and land, did not panic. She smiled, a beautiful but chilling expression. Her six ethereal arms began to weave intricate patterns in the air, and her illusion techniques bloomed. Suddenly, there were not one, but a dozen Cyras on the battlefield, each one a perfect, life-like image, each one moving with the same deadly grace.

The Thunder Crow and the Shark-fiend were instantly confused, their attacks now aimed at phantoms that dissolved into motes of light on impact. They wasted precious energy, their roars of frustration echoing through the canyon as they tried to find the real target.

Using the opening her illusion provided, the real Cyra struck. She was a whirlwind of deadly grace. Her six ethereal arms moved in a mesmerizing, independent ballet. Two arms weaved signs, creating shimmering barriers of light that deflected the stray lightning bolts that came too close. Two more parried the Shark-fiend’s savage charge when she finally found the real Cyra, their strikes as solid as steel.

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And the last two worked in concert with her main hands, which wielded her whip. She was not as brutal as Spine, but just as effective. She focused on the Thunder Crow first, her whip lashing out like a striking serpent, wrapping around its wing and slamming it into the ground with bone-shattering force. Before it could recover, she was upon it, a flurry of precise, deadly strikes from her six arms ending its life.

She then turned her full attention to the terrified Shark-fiend. Instead of killing her, she moved with a blur of speed, her whip cracking against the woman's joints, a series of stunning blows from her ethereal hands striking nerve clusters. The beast-woman roared in frustration and pain before collapsing, unconscious but alive. Since she was of an aquatic bloodline, she would be kept for Li Yu’s Koi Sanctuary and to serve since her strength wasn’t bad.

All of this had happened in moments. Li Yu hadn't even engaged Kael yet. They had simply stood there, looking at each other, their auras locked in a silent struggle. But Kael had seen it all. He had watched his four Core Formation lieutenants, his entire command staff, be annihilated as if they were children.

He saw the ancient, sorrowful leviathan beast now rampaging through his base, a force of nature that could not be stopped. He saw the young man in front of him, who had not even moved, yet was the clear leader of this monstrous trio. Kael’s rage cooled, replaced by the icy, pragmatic instincts of survival. He hesitated to move even more.

He had a choice. He could fight this young man, who was an utter unknown but was clearly the master of the two monsters currently tearing his base apart. He would almost certainly die. Or, he could choose another path. He made his decision. His life was more valuable than anything else.

“Wait,” Kael said. He completely retracted his powerful 9th stage Core Formation aura, a clear and undeniable gesture of submission. Li Yu watched him, his expression unchanging, waiting.

“I surrender,” Kael stated, his voice devoid of its earlier rage. “I will offer myself to you, to be your slave, your subordinate, whatever you wish. I only ask that you spare my life.” He then revealed the truth. “I am not like the other fanatics here. I am a Sky-Glider Manta Ray from the White Tiger Continent. I joined the Beast Revolution Faction years ago not because I believe in their fanatical cause, but because I had powerful enemies I had to escape from.”

He spoke quickly, laying all his cards on the table. “I don’t believe in their beast god or their mission of cleansing the world. I only wanted to use their resources and their network to hide and grow stronger. I was eventually selected to go to this continent, which I was thrilled about. It was a chance to get away from both my enemies and the faction’s more diehard fanatics. I do not want to die here, in this backwater land, away from my true home. Especially so for a misunderstanding in a cause I do not believe in. I surrender. I want to live so that one day, I can return to my homeland and get revenge for his family, who were slaughtered by my enemies.”

Li Yu listened to the man’s story, his expression unreadable. He thought to himself that revenge is a very powerful driving force. It was the motivation behind Fengliu’s tireless search, and it was the fuel for Spine’s current, sorrowful rage. It was a motivation he understood.

“If you are not a true believer,” Li Yu asked, his voice cold, “why are you an Elder? How are you able to be free to make choices like this, to offer your surrender? I was under the impression your faction was made up of fanatics willing to die for their god.”

Kael shook his head. “That is the contradiction of the faction. The foot soldiers, the lower-level members, yes, they are mostly fanatical believers. But to recruit powerful, independent experts like myself, they must offer a degree of freedom. High-level members are given this freedom. We are not bound by the same mental conditioning. They hope that over time, we will come to share their fanatical nature, but they know that people with power would not trade their freedom so easily. So it is a bit of a give and take. They get my strength, and I get their resources and protection, while maintaining my own will. Most of those in the upper ranks do share in the fanatical nature of the faction, but some, like myself, are simply using them for our own ends.”

Li Yu nodded his head in understanding. This was true even in his own circles. While all of his retainers were under his seal, he let them do as they wanted towards their goals and some do take advantage of this. Fengliu for example, while connecting information for him, his efforts are truly directed towards finding his sister’s murderer.

He was using Li Yu and Li Yu was using him. That is to be expected in any organization, there will always be give and take in any relationship. It would seem like that is true in fanatic groups as well.