"STOP!"
The shout ca from Kriz.
He hovered unsteadily in the air, his face pale from blood loss, his missing arm still leaking faint wisps of vitality despite the ergency seals around the wound. Yet despite his battered state, his eyes were sharp and rciless, and his voice carried an authority so absolute that defying it felt akin to suicide.
Cain watched him coldly.
The kick Morningstar had delivered earlier had been brutal-but not fatal. Kriz could have returned to the battlefield long ago. Instead, he had hidden, conserving strength, waiting until the danger had passed before revealing himself. And now, after abandoning the fight and nearly dooming everyone, he still had the audacity to issue commands.
Cain did not respond directly.
Instead, a blood avatar rose slowly from the Ocean of the Blood Sun, crimson liquid coalescing into a tall, regal form. Its hollow eyes fixed on Kriz with glacial indifference.
"Explain your words," the avatar said flatly.
Kriz's expression darkened at the tone. Rage flared in his eyes, and for a mont he looked ready to explode. But then he felt it-the gaze of Morningstar, heavy and oppressive, pressing down on his soul like a blade against his throat.
Kriz clenched his fist and swallowed his fury.
Taking a breath to steady himself, he spoke again, his voice controlled but sharp.
"Those three are not just warriors of the Kalous Kingdom. Their origins trace directly back to the Dark Blood Kingdom." His eyes
hardened. "Now that we have defeated them and they no longer pose a threat, the smartest course forward is to capture them and seal them."
He paused deliberately, letting the weight of his next words sink in.
"You do not want to draw the wrath of the Dark Blood Kingdom. Am I wrong?"
The blood avatar remained expressionless, but deep within Cain's soul, a solemn ripple spread.
The Dark Blood Kingdom was not a minor power. Provoking the strongest kingdoms in Paradise's Dark Blood Realm was not sothing to be done lightly.
"I could return Gilgark and Orfin," Cain analyzed calmly. "However, the Crown Prince is already dead."
As he reached that conclusion, Cain relaxed slightly.
"I will already draw attention for the death of one. Letting the other two go will not change much-and I would be losing precious
resources."
Then the blood avatar slowly shook its head.
"They are all dead already."
"What?!" Kriz shouted, shock and disbelief flashing across his face. A flicker of horror followed imdiately after. "How could you have killed all three of them so quickly?!"
The blood avatar shook its head again.
"First of all, I did not kill them. We did," it corrected calmly. "It was your attack that damaged the Crown Prince's soul, leaving him unable to resist the strikes of Morningstar. As for the other two, the death of the Crown Prince triggered a chain reaction within their souls."
The avatar's voice echoed across the entire Ocean of the Blood Sun.
"You share the credit for their deaths."
A faint smile curved the avatar's lips.
"The final barrage only shattered already cracked eggs. They perished the mont they fell into the blood ocean."
The smile widened slightly, sharp and unsettling.
"If you do not believe ," Cain continued, "you are welco to enter the Ocean of the Blood Sun and inspect the corpses yourself."
Cain could already see that reconciliation was impossible. There was no need for politeness or compromise. He pressed Kriz directly into an inescapable corner.
Kriz clenched his teeth.
He wanted to deny those words-but he couldn't.
Claiming his attack had not hard the Crown Prince would only make him a laughingstock, shattering his standing within the Royal Family. And even if he tried, it would not erase his responsibility for the Crown Prince's death-or the collateral demise of the other two. After a long, tense silence, Kriz forced himself to calm down. The burning rage in his chest cooled into sothing darker.
"You should be more careful with how you speak to your allies," he
said coldly.
"Hmph."
The blood avatar sneered openly this ti.
"An ally who runs the mont things beco dangerous is not worth having. If you no longer want this alliance, then so be it."
The avatar's eyes glead.
"Our alliance is over."
"What?!"
The declaration hit Kriz like a hamr. He froze, utterly unprepared
for that response.
He had intended to pressure the Blood King by invoking the alliance-
not to lose it entirely. The alliance was far too valuable.
"He must be bluffing," Kriz told himself urgently. "Without us, he
cannot face the Kalous Kingdom."
But as that thought ford, his gaze drifted upward-to the three
Royal Guards hovering in the sky.
Satan. Hades. Morningstar.
With Morningstar's addition, their combined power was more than sufficient to deter an assault-especially after the Kalous Kingdom's devastating losses in both manpower and elites during this battle.
Kriz's heart sank.
"Let us not rush things," he said quickly. "First, we must—"
"No more words from you," the blood avatar interrupted, no longer sparing him even a glance.
It turned toward Mirena instead.
"Please inform your leaders that the alliance is over, and explain the events that led to this outco. If they wish to reforge it, I am open
to negotiations-but the terms will change."
Its gaze sharpened.
"I did not want this. Your comrade forced my hand."
A complicated expression appeared on Mirena's face. She felt Kriz's gaze lock onto her, urging her to intervene, to smooth things over and salvage the situation. She opened her mouth to speak
Then a voice echoed within her mind.
"Why help him?
He is wounded. His actions hard the kingdom.
You, on the other hand, defeated a mber of the Dark Blood
Kingdom and stand at your peak.
If he falls... you can rise." The voice did not sound foreign.
It sounded like her own thoughts.
Mirena fell silent.
After a mont, a faint smile appeared on her lips. She inclined her
head toward the blood avatar.
"I will report the events exactly as they occurred."
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