"Am I wrong?" Lian gave a cold smile and said.
"No." The monster said with a deep, cold voice, and its black eyes narrowed.
"A large part of what you said is correct."
The village chief lowered his head. Ryan also stood still, as if waiting for his master’s permission.
The Dreadmaw Sovereign raised Aria’s bloody heart, smelled it with strange pleasure, and then a terrifying smile appeared on its face.
"For years, I have been looking for a way to get a human body, but at the same time keep my powers."
"My children succeeded."
"But I... am much more powerful than them. Much more powerful." Its long nails scratched the heart.
"And to withstand my power, a normal heart is not enough."
"A powerful heart? What makes a heart powerful?" Seris frowned. From her perspective, all hearts were the same.
The monster laughed. A laugh that made the hair on the back of Seris’s neck stand up.
"Hearts do not become powerful with mana. They do not become powerful with energy. They do not become powerful through training." It put its hand on its own chest.
"Emotions. Emotions are what make a heart powerful."
"Love, hatred, sorrow, regret, hope."
"The stronger the emotions... the stronger the heart will be." Its eyes fell on Aria’s body.
"And this girl... had an extraordinary heart. Deep love for that boy, deep love for her sister, and in the final moments..." Its smile grew larger.
"When she was killed by the love of her life, a great hatred also formed in her heart."
"Love and hatred combined in one moment are a perfect mix."
Seris clenched her teeth. She felt disgust towards this bastard monster. This monster only saw humans as dolls and playthings for its own goals.
"So that is why you did not kill them." Lian, however, remained calm.
"That is correct." The Dreadmaw Sovereign’s eyes turned toward him.
"All this time, you have been cultivating Aria’s emotions. Friendship, attachment, love, hope, so that in the end, you could build a heart that can withstand your power." Lian continued.
"Exactly. And I succeeded." The monster laughed, and its laugh filled the cave.
"This heart can be the foundation of my evolution. The foundation of my rebirth."
Lian paused for a moment.
"Then why do you want a human body?" He then asked.
For the first time, real hatred appeared in the Dreadmaw Sovereign’s eyes. Hatred so deep that it made the air even colder.
"For revenge. For revenge against humans."
"Against those wild creatures that slaughtered my race." Its eyes shone with killing intent.
"I want to kill all of them. All of them. Entering the seven regions is not easy."
Lian paused in his mind.
Seven regions? Probably the remaining shelters of humanity. The last strongholds of humans. But if his guess was correct, then this ruined realm could be different from all the previous ones.
"But if I have a human body, entering there will be possible. And then..." Its smile grew wider.
"The slaughter will begin."
Lian said nothing. He had nothing to say. This monster had been planning for years just to find a way to take over a human body.
And this really made him understand how astonishing the intelligence of an Unholy is. Then how smart and terrifying are Demons and above them Supremes?
But now was not the time to think about that, because the monster had fixed its gaze on him again.
"And among all the humans I have seen, your body is the best option." It pointed its finger at Lian.
"At first, I wanted to use this trash." It pointed to Ryan.
"But you... have more talent, a stronger body, more potential."
"If I take your skin, taking revenge will become much easier."
Lian’s eyes turned cold, but instead of answering, he asked another question.
"When did your plan start?"
"Why do you want to know? What difference does it make to you?" The monster was quiet for a moment.
"At least before I die, let my curiosity be satisfied." Lian shrugged.
The monster laughed.
"You are an interesting human." Then it leaned back on its massive stone throne.
"About thirty years ago, humans came to this mountain. They wanted to live here, build homes, form a village." Its eyes narrowed.
"So I killed them. How could such lowly creatures dare to enter my sacred territory?"
Lian stayed silent. It was what he had guessed. So the real village people who were killed were the same people from Frostheart who had left because of the snow and blizzard.
"After that, my children took over their bodies. They lived in those bodies for years. And for years, I tried to find a way for my children to use both their own abilities and the abilities of those humans while inside their bodies."
"But I did not succeed. At least until I discovered the secret of hearts." Its claw tightened on Aria’s heart.
"Then we removed their hearts. My children absorbed those hearts and evolved. But none of them were enough for me."
"I did not want to just absorb that heart and turn into the shape of those lowly humans. I wanted to completely take over the body of my target and at the same time keep my powers."
"The best way was to find a heart that could withstand my power, place that heart inside the human body I wanted, and use the heart as a channel."
Then it continued.
"Only two hearts could withstand part of my power. One was a mother who died with her child. The other was a father who had to watch his child die."
Even Lian felt disgust for a moment. The monster spoke of these tragedies with pride, as if talking about a scientific achievement.
And this monster was more savage and bastardly than any other monster he had seen. It practically used humans as laboratory mice.
"Those two hearts could withstand a little of my power before being destroyed. And that was when I understood what I needed."
"You are a crazy monster." Seris stepped forward, her eyes burning with anger.
The monster just laughed.
"No. Just an idiot." Lian said mockingly.
All eyes turned to him. Even Seris.
Lian gave a mocking smile.
"Years of experiments, years of killing, years of wasting time, and you still haven’t been able to complete your first evolution. You tried for thirty years, and you are still here. What a pathetic failure."
For the first time, the smile disappeared from the Dreadmaw Sovereign’s face, and its black eyes froze.
The air suddenly became heavier. An invisible pressure filled the hall.
"Human." Its voice was no longer calm.
"You are too brave. This is not good."
"Enough talking."
"Now surrender and die, or I will kill you and take your corpse for myself."
Seris gripped her sword tighter. Lian took a quiet deep breath, and then without taking his eyes off the monster, he said,
"Sorry, but I have no plan to die here." He glanced at Seris.
"Get ready."
"I don’t think we can defeat it." Seris raised the Frostfang sword. Even though she really wanted to tear this monster apart, she was not stupid.
Lian nodded.
"We are not going to defeat it. We just need to take the key."
His gaze fixed on the golden key around the monster’s neck. The only way out. Their only hope.
Seris understood what he meant.
"Okay. Then we take the key." She said quietly.
At that moment, the Dreadmaw Sovereign looked at the village chief and Ryan. A cold smile appeared on its face.
"You two. Bring me the dead body of that boy."