"Stop right there, Vorin. Do not make another move."
The voice echoed with undeniable authority, reverberating across the sealed space as the translucent screen stabilized in front of Vorin.
The image projected was carrying the weight of countless predators looking for one chance to tear Vorin apart.
Vorin halted mid-motion; he turned his head toward the floating projection, his lips curled upward even before he fully registered the faces staring back at him.
The tension in the air shifted and thickened.
"Hehe," Vorin chuckled in a low sound. "So you are finally able to witness what is happening inside."
His eyes gleamed with malicious amusement as his gaze swept across the screen. He straightened his posture slightly, spreading his arms as if welcoming an audience to a grand performance.
"Very well," he continued, his voice growing louder and much more theatrical. "It will be far more exhilarating to torture your precious kin while you are forced to watch helplessly from the outside."
He raised one clawed finger and pointed it directly at William’s battered body lying broken on the forest floor below.
"And I will start with him."
The glint in his eyes made his intent unmistakably clear.
Before he could move, another voice cut through the space. It was calm but carried an edge sharp enough to pierce steel.
"You might want to reconsider that."
The screen flickered, then shifted its focus.
Yue Qinglan appeared; her expression was cold and unwavering.
In her grip was the unconscious, bloodied body of Vorin’s daughter. The girl’s breathing was shallow, her body limp, and black scales were marred with dried blood and fresh wounds.
Yue lifted her slightly, ensuring that Vorin could see her clearly.
"Recognize her?" Yue asked, her voice steady but heavy with restrained anger. "Your daughter."
For the first time since his arrival, Vorin’s expression faltered.
His pupils constricted violently, and the mocking grin vanished in an instant.
"Daughter...?" he whispered, disbelief flashing across his face.
Then he screamed.
"DAUGHTER!"
The roar was raw and visceral, echoing across the domain. His mana surged uncontrollably, warping the air around him as panic bled into his expression.
But just as quickly as it appeared, that panic twisted.
The fear contorted slowly and gradually into something ugly, something broken.
Vorin threw his head back and laughed.
The sound was shrill, manic, and completely unhinged; the expected feeling of kinship died on his face at that moment.
"Hahahahaha!" he cackled, clutching his sides as if the situation amused him to no end. "Kill her. Do it. Kill her for all I care."
The control room went dead silent.
Faces that had been tense moments ago now turned grim, horrified by the sheer lack of humanity in his response.
"Shameless!" Yue shouted, her composure finally cracking. "Do you feel nothing? Not even for your own kin?"
Vorin sneered, his laughter fading into a cruel smirk.
"If you had not found her yourself," he replied coldly, "I would have found her sooner or later and killed her with my own hands."
His voice lowered, turning eerily calm.
"You see, death is salvation for a creature like her. She does not belong anywhere. Not to demons, not to dragons, not to this world."
He looked directly at the screen, his gaze piercing.
"She was the result of a mistake I made one night. By killing her, you are doing me a favor."
The weight of his words crushed the control room.
What had once seemed like a bargaining chip dissolved into ash. The realization spread quickly that there was no leverage, no negotiation tool in their hands.
Vorin had come here with only one purpose.
"VORIN!" the Storm Dragon roared, his restraint finally shattering. His aura flared violently, the room trembling under the pressure. "You bastard! If you make another move now, death will be mercy when you step outside!"
Vorin laughed again, completely unfazed.
"Do you think I care?" he replied mockingly. "If today I succeed in killing the golden generation, then my existence will have meaning."
He raised his arms, his expression turning fanatical.
"The world will remember my name. Even thousands of years from now, they will whisper my story. They will fear offending people like me. They will understand how their useless pride led to the destruction of an entire generation."
As he spoke, William lay motionless on the ground.
Inside his mind, confusion flickered.
"What the hell... why did they bring his daughter for negotiation?" Will thought bitterly. "There was no daughter in the novel."
Host, you informed Tamasya about Vorin’s presence early on. This is likely her doing.]
Will grimaced internally. "Ugh. Whatever. He rejected the negotiation. That actually is a good thing."
[Because now you intend to kill him?]
A grin tugged at Will’s lips, despite the pain wracking his body.
"Nope, not just kill; I want to skin him first. He is the first major demon I am about to kill. Even though he is half demon, his death is going to be a memory."
"For that memory I will perform a ritual."
[Ding! ’Absolute Adaptation’ has granted a special trait: Spatial Damage Resistance.]
Will blinked. "Only resistance? Not immunity?"
[I believe you require further exposure. Perhaps being torn apart by spatial rifts a few more times.]
Will snorted internally. "Figures. Still, I’m itching to skin this sewage dweller alive."
Inside the control room, tension reached its breaking point.
"Kevin, how long to remove the artifact?" "Andrea demanded through voice transmission," her voice was tight with urgency.
"At least an hour," Kevin replied, sweat beading on his forehead. "That’s the minimum."
"Faster," Andrea snapped. "Vorin won’t give us even a minute."
Behind her, the Storm Dragon stood rigid, his expression carved from stone.
"Master," Klaus’s voice echoed in his mind through a mental transmission, pulling him from his thoughts. " He is the one who executed the Tempest technique."
The Storm Dragon’s eyes widened slightly.
" What?" he asked sharply. " That boy... he is the one you spoke of?"
Similar conversations erupted across the room, powerhouses exchanging urgent transmissions, fear and anger bleeding through their normally composed voices.
The Elven Empress clasped her hands together, whispering a prayer to the World Tree for her daughter’s safety.
The Vampire Empress’s eyes burned with murderous intent. In her mind, she had already sentenced every half-breed demon in her kingdom to death before personally hunting for Amon and his cult.
The Beastfolk Emperor and the Dwarven Emperor exchanged grim nods, silently preparing for war.
Meanwhile, the Dragon and Phoenix leaders stared at the screen in confusion and growing dread. Their children were not among the organized resistance. They were separated from others.
Their hearts burned with fear and fury.
Yue clenched her fists; she was helpless right now.
On Yue’s lap, the black cat shifted restlessly, its crystalline eyes fixed on the screen.
"Yue," it spoke urgently, its voice trembling with emotion. "He is in danger. Please. Do something. Stop Vorin."