Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord Chapter 262: That’s cold

He didn’t swoop down on them directly. Instead, he moved back a few paces and then ca down, shrinking the tower. Slya and Tiber nagged him, reminding him that he had promised the Master Knight he wouldn’t co down from the tower.

Vale didn’t listen. "I’m just going to have a look around."

He was in a clearing, making his way toward the unit camp. The forest was silent. The insects made little to no sound, and the animals were the sa. Apparently, everyone was feeling the aura coming from the Master Knight.

Vale walked forward cautiously, his eyes scanning the forest for guards, but no one was stationed to keep watch. That imdiately made him raise his guard.

’... Are they so comfortable with a Master Knight among them that they don’t care...?’

Vale finally walked into the clearing and saw the camp with the tents set close together. Warm light spilled out from within. But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

A man was sitting on a tree stump in front of the tents, his head raised, eyes up, as if tracing the stars.

The sight of the man made Vale tense imdiately. He narrowed his eyes, his steps becoming firr as he entered the clearing. "You are not the Master Knight."

The man lowered his head and looked at Vale, taking in his figure. "You are not one either," he said, his voice low, as if they were two long-ti friends whispering together after not seeing each other for years.

Vale’s eyes swept the tents. "Are you using an enchanted tool to simulate the aura of a Master Knight?"

His brother smiled. "Is this the question you will ask your big brother after all these years of not seeing ? That’s cold."

Vale looked at Thrain Athrimir. When he had left the Clan, his brother had still been in the small gap between young adulthood and full manhood. But now, everything had been washed away into manhood.

Even the way he sat made him look like the true Clan leader.

"Big brother? Didn’t you already remove from the Clan?"

Thrain smiled. "And yet you gathered n in the na of the Clan to take it."

"Because you never had the power to take from the Clan in the first place. I gathered n to take what doesn’t belong to you," Vale said.

Thrain shook his head sadly. "You have always been weak. More so when you were discovered to be a Forbidden Knight. I should have killed you then instead of letting you go to the borderland."

Vale was a little surprised. This was the first ti he had heard soone outside himself refer to him as the Forbidden Knight.

’... Seems his mory wasn’t wiped... Unless he was the one doing the wiping... But that’s not possible... He didn’t have that kind of power...’

"So why don’t you kill ?" If Thrain had made a move back then, Vale would have gladly accepted death—before the borderland forged him into sothing more.

Thrain sneered. "Oh, I wanted to kill you, but it would have been useless since you were supposed to die in the borderland. Why are you alive, Vale? Why don’t you die? Your death would have solved a lot of problems. Your death would have been the best gift you ever gave !"

Vale watched him intently. "You are bold to assu I would be here tonight instead of sending one of my Master Knights."

Thrain chuckled. "Because I’m finally understanding how you think. Before, I was still seeing you as the old Vale. But now I know you are more than that. I know you are here because you want your most powerful pieces close..."

The more Thrain spoke, the more wary Vale beca. There was no way this wasn’t a trap. The man was purposely talking while sothing was being set up around him. Vale used his senses to check his surroundings and was relieved when nothing jumped out at him or seed out of the ordinary.

But at the sa ti, that only made him more tense. Had Thrain set up such a sophisticated trap that he couldn’t even detect it?

Vale scowled. "Cut the bullshit, Thrain. We both want each other dead. All the fake admiration won’t do anything for . Now tell what you want. Why do you want to et ?"

If there had ever been any brotherly love between them, it had long since been swept away by ti and the desire to destroy the other.

Thrain’s eyes shone. "Join . Swear loyalty to , Vale."

Vale was surprised to hear those words co out of his brother’s mouth. That was the last thing he had expected. For an instant, he couldn’t say anything. But then he pushed out, "Why?"

"It’s simple. We are making the Clan weak—and weaker still if we continue this war. The other smaller Clans are hovering at the edges, waiting to jump in and devour us. They are sharpening their weapons.

"We have to stop, Vale. This war will hurt us more than it will ever help. This is the ti to make the Clan strong so the other Clans won’t eat us up."

Vale nodded. "I agree with you."

And it was the truth. The Athrimir Clan was already growing weak, and now the two of them were making it even weaker by clashing internally. In fact, the other smaller Clans would have been foolish not to take advantage of the situation.

Thrain was surprised to hear Vale agree with him so quickly that he paused, the words he had prepared next failing to find their way out. Instead, he blinked. "You do?"

Vale nodded. "Of course I do. But then, this does beg the question, Thrain, if you love the Clan so much, why did you kill its Clan leader? The smaller Clans would never dare look our way if he were still on the throne."

Thrain’s expression twisted. "You... You don’t know anything! Father was strong, but he made the Clan weak! He made it weaker over the years. He had to go for the developnt of the Clan! Just... Just like you have to go!"