Hades mimicked a courteous Dragonmarshian gesture before he raised a hand
and swiftly brought it downward. As a loud thunder boomed around them, t
he dark shadow of a palm the size of a hill materialized
out of nowhere, and with the downward motion of Hades' hand, it too slamm
ed down upon Rufus.
Under the enormous shadow, Rufus looked as tiny as an ant. Had the impact
been brought down anywhere else, it would have reduced the entire medica
l center to a pile of rubble, much less any human.
"Boom!" Even from a great distance away, most of the Boulderthorn members
fell to their knees and threw up blood from the remnant of the force. Vu
lnerable bystanders were
always the ones who bore the brunt of the consequences whenever there wer
e conflicts between those of greater power.
Ultimate grandmasters were basically nuclear weapons in human form! Just
one move from them was enough to bring down mountains and cause the earth
beneath their feet
to part! Of course, these mere mortals would not be able to withstand it.
"Huh?" Dustin's brows furrowed when he saw the huge shadow of a palm over
head. Just as he was hesitating on whether he should go ahead
and make a move, an old man dressed in white emerged and pulled Rufus beh
ind him.
At the same time, the old man emitted dazzling golden rays from his body,
and a golden giant about 15 feet tall arose from behind him. In one swif
t motion, the giant's fist made contact with the enormous palm–shaped
shadow. With a reverberating bang, the shadow, which was about the size o
f a hill, instantly shattered into fine shards. The golden giant stood mo
tionless and steady behind the old man, looking very much like a golden s
tatue.
"Who are you?" Hades demanded maliciously. He had thought that they had t
heir assassination plan down to a tee. It had never occurred to them that
there would be a secret master hidden under their nose.
"You may call me Wilkins. I'm just a regular attendant in Aylka." Though
the old man had white hair, he had a childlike appearance. When he spoke,
his gaze was cast downward to the ground, showing extreme humility and s
ubmission, and he lacked any sort of authority.
"Mr. Wilkins?" Hades squinted as he studied the man in front of him.
Then, it suddenly seemed to dawn on him. "Oh! I remember now. So you're N
estor Wilkins? The legendary, unrivaled master within the palace gates?"
"That's just a rumor. Nothing of the sort." Still, the old man hung his h
ead low, as if embarrassed.
"I do not care if that's a rumor. I need you to get lost right now, or I'
ll make sure you never get to see the next sunrise!" Hades ordered haught
ily. They were in Dragonmarsh territory now, so he needed to get things d
one as fast as possible. The longer things
dragged on, the higher their chances of failing were.
"I can't." Nestor shook his head. "I've come bearing two orders, and the
first one is to protect the prince."
"Oh? And what of the second one?" Hades asked nonchalantly.
"To annihilate the gods of Streuqua." And as he spoke, Nestor suddenly di
sappeared into thin air. When he took form again, he stood right in front
of Hades with less than three feet between them.
"Huh?" Hades blanched. He felt like he had fallen into an icy stream. His
scalp crawled, and all his hair stood on end.
Just as he was about to make a move, Nestor grabbed him by the throat and
lifted him up over his head. Hades stiffened all over, and he could not
feel his limbs. He could not even lift a finger. Gasps of astonishment br
oke out all around as they saw how weak Hades was in this person's hands.
"We have laws here. And when you're in our territory, you've got to obey
our laws. It doesn't matter if you're a human, a demon, or a god; if you
break our laws, you will pay for it. Oh, and I forgot to mention, no gods
allowed in Dragonmarsh!" And with that, Nestor's grip on Hades' throat
tightened, and with a deafening
crack, his neck was snapped in two. Hades ceased to exist right then and
there.