Bundled up in black rope, Mask stood helplessly behind Wendy on one side of the conflict while confronting a group on a larger scale.
"Haven't you taught your little sister how dangerous the outside world is, Kane?" Wendy's charming voice breached everyone's ears, her eyes smiling at a lanky middle-aged man dressed in an assortment of military gear.
This man stared hard and cold, his eyes dead set on Wendy's face as he spoke, "Although we are set to oppose one another, you don't want to cross the line, Thorns. If you push things too far, no matter who among us survives to laugh the last laugh, only punishment and misery await."
None of the vultures was stupid, and all of those who climbed to the position of leaders understood the principle of checking the balance between their ministers.
With limited resources and promoted competition, the underlings tend to invest extra effort to suppress their rivals and gain more benefits, but no matter which of the two rivals gains the edge, the ultimate winner remains the boss.
Kane understood that Wendy was promoted recently as a means to suppress, motivate, and monitor him. Of course, he was doing the same thing to her, only that he hadn't expected this woman's ambition to drive her into committing such an idiotic act.
Just as he said, a full-blown war between them wouldn't benefit either party; no boss would enjoy his subjects tearing apart at one another, that would be no more than a joke for others to laugh at.
Wendy raised her eyebrows and replied, "You think too highly of yourself, Kane… Haha, I can kill this little girl right here, right now, and no one can hold me accountable for it!"
Wendy, on the other hand, understood that Kane's value in the eyes of the aristocrats was comparable to hers. However, when it came to their respective subordinates?
The aristocrats didn't care at all!
Yes, even if Mask was his flesh and blood, she remains as nothing more than a subordinate in the eyes of those big shots. If Kane started a full-blown war between the Thorns and the Shadows for one worthless life, Wendy would at most be punished, not killed.
Furthermore, the number of natives who can practice the standard martial stance is growing, albeit slowly.
She and Kane were rare cases for now, but the tenure period of exchange when the resources from the Lower Abyss are sent to the higher continents helps nourish the Lower Abyss with each opening, no matter how small the channels are.
The sudden influx of source energy five years ago was but one example and the following influx five years from now would probably bring about yet another drastic escalation to the growth of the natives.
Wendy formed plans in her mind to control as vast a territory as possible within the upcoming five years, allowing her to screen and pinpoint the talents during their early budding phases and assimilate them into her team, providing her more value and capital when confronting the aristocrats of the myriad races.
The natives of the Lowe Abyss are as human as they can get, especially since the disgraced race was wiped clean. The chances of another human rising to the level of an ancestor is in the negative, and even if that did happen, that person would branch out and create their own race and progeny.
No one from the original humans takes pride in their status as it equates to the meaning of primitive, undeveloped, barbaric… and trash even.
Wendy didn't envision a future of luxury and riches for herself, but she wouldn't stand down with a future that replicates her past and present. Now, she had the power to foster ambitions of her own, and she would chase these ambitions no matter the cost.
Kane's eyes spat fire as he steered his sight from the smug look on Weney's face to the miserable body of his little sister.
Pain and remorse entwined in his eyes, his fists clenched tightly till his skin split open on the handle of his tactical knife, staining it red.
A moment later, something seemed to have torn in his eyes as he closed them tightly. Then, he decisively turned around and started pushing his way through the crowd that stood behind him.
Mask's eyes widened in shock, but the cloth gagging her mouth prevented her from talking. Her eyes were bloodshot and black veins that went unnoticed by anyone else pulsated from her arm and neck, covered by the rags of her robes and disheveled, black hair.
Wendy was stunned, not expecting Kane would rather abandon his sister than face blackmailing. "Hey! You can't be serious, huh?!"
Wedny's shouting was in vain, as Kane's trembling body gradually calmed down. His heavy steps slowly transitioned into light, steady, and cold footfalls as he speared his way through his group of vultures.
"You've fucked up big time this once," it was his hoarse voice that echoed from the distance. "You've forced a rabid dog into a corner, just beware for those so-called undervalued subordinates of yours… Hopefully, you can keep up with the losses."
Wendy's expression changed, not having foreseen this turn of events. The only reason she could dominate the vultures that served under Kane in this ambush was her overwhelming power and the element of surprise.
That being said, if the latter chose to deploy personally to the field and go on a hunting spree after everyone who worked under her command, things might get a little messy.
Far in the distance, Aza'zel heard the entire conversation with his acute hearing, but he couldn't help but frown. If Kane decided to unreasonably drag him into this mess of conflict, he wouldn't be able to freely focus on cultivation to grow stronger.
The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got.
Wendy gritted her teeth and shouted, "Are you really going to play the unrelenting guy card in THIS situation?! All you have to do is bleed a little, and get this spoiled brat back!"
Her shouts landed on deaf ears altogether, as the man merely raised a middle finger her way while walking away. If anything, especially in this day and age of the Skysplit era, showing weakness once is nothing short of voluntarily stepping into a noose.
Kane knew that this would plant a seed of despair and hatred in Mask's heart, and was she to survive this day, this might backfire on him with a small chance of his little sister understanding his position and forgiving him.
Nonetheless, he wasn't planning to take chances, and would rather deal with whatever may come his way upfront. No matter what, Wendy wouldn't dare kill him and vice versa, unless a third talent similar to them joined in on the competition…
"Fuck!" cursed Wendy, tugging at her own hair in frustration. Then, from the corner of her eyes, she spotted Aza'zel in the distance, a cloud of miasma almost concealing his figure whole. Her eyes glimmered.
"Why am I so anxious?" she muttered to herself with a splendid smile. "At least, I got myself a trump card!"
Kane's dominating position with his Shadows group could be attributed to his previous, uncontested occupation of Nameless Valley, and so Wendy had no idea how deep the waters ran in Shadows. Now, she also had her trump card in Aza'zel and his mysterious identity, as she had the feeling that no matter how deep a pond that alligator, Kane, resided in… It could not compare with this young boy who showed up out of nowhere.
She watched him turn his back and depart from the Nameless Valley with a smile on her beautiful face, wholly unaware of Mask's circumstances as the latter stood behind.