The banquet hall sat in an extravagant, glorious palace. When they entered, they saw a line of beautiful ladies tasked with greeting guests and leading them to their seats.

The place was like a staircase: there were levels with tables and chairs, divided by importance at the banquet.

At the highest point were two seats — Painita and Morion, already seated. Below them were the twelve seats of the most influential Elders of the royal family. Then there was a large table with twenty places; the princes and princesses sat in that circle.

Lower down, almost a hundred seats held the Generals and Supreme Generals of the royal family. On the leveled area sat the other guests.

Tetoya recognized many faces and narrowed her eyes. Darian also noticed: a procession of nearly thirty humanoids was coming — elves, dwarves, orcs, and a rare humanoid race called the Fey. There were also humans, and Darian sensed by their auras that they were from the Wube family; they all stared at him coldly.

Those twenty are the princes and princesses of planet Runedell. They're the guests…' Tetoya thought to Darian.

The system on that planet was similar to Vadise: princes and princesses competed for the Emperor's throne. The Spiritual Sovereign was a hybrid between elf and fey and didn't favor any particular humanoid race.

The difference was that those twenty princes and princesses were chosen by a huge bloody tournament held every five years on the planet. Whenever it happened, all the princes and princesses had to fight again and prove they were the best of their generation.

If they lost, their seat went to someone else, and dying in those fights wasn't uncommon. Because of that extreme, constant pressure, those twenty princes and princesses were terrifyingly powerful — on par with dragon-blooded beasts.

Tetoya and Zelkov snorted and went to their seats up high.

To their surprise, Darian calmly followed. There were twenty seats, but only eighteen princes and princesses were present. One had died not long ago, and the First Princess was deeply asleep, "recovering."

In the center of that table, the main seat belonged to Niara — the First Princess — who represented the top of the hierarchy among the twenty. Darian, without hesitation, sat there.

Those seated in higher positions said nothing at the sight. He relaxed, knowing they intended to use him.

"Darian," a voice came from among the guests.

"Oh? Do I know you?" he answered, turning toward one of the princes; it was an elf with pointed ears, a slim, thin body.

"I'm Niall, from the lineage of the leader of the Wube family. So we're closely related."

Darian took the info seriously. He'd never seen or known much about the current leader of the Wube family — Mellory's husband — but now things made sense. That man wasn't from Earth, but from Runedell. That had obvious implications; planet number six in the universe was definitely an enemy.

Darian snorted. "I see... I don't hold anything against you or the people of Runedell. But if you stand with that filthy family, I won't think twice. At the first chance, I'll kill you without hesitation."

"You!" Niall's face darkened.

As his rage was about to explode, an elder beside him interrupted: "Niall, don't be rude."

The elder was a thin elf with an oppressive presence. He had nine rings and was clearly as powerful as Emperor Morion. He was the leader of the visiting delegation.

Darian smiled, feeling Morion's and the Elders' gazes on him. They clearly expected something — but what? So far, everything Darian had done was cause trouble and draw attention. They couldn't expect anything else from someone like him. So...

"What's the matter? Got something to say?" Darian boomed, his voice thunderous, causing everyone at the banquet to turn to him.

"Since we're at a friendly gathering, I'll be lenient. Say whatever you want now; in the future, when I cut off your head and destroy that whole family, don't be upset at his death. By the way, to all of you from Runedell, I'll be visiting soon. That day, I won't waste time talking — I'll just obliterate whatever displeases me. So feel free to speak up now."

Darian spoke slowly, giving off the aura of a king granting favors on a whim.

The hall plunged into deadly silence. The princes and princesses of Vadise looked serious. Those words crossed the line from arrogance into the madness of a lunatic. He only had four rings, yet he said he would destroy the most feared family in the universe and attack an immortal's territory? It was so absurd it bordered on laughable.

"You brat... you have no idea how ridiculous you sound," the elf Elder said coldly, clearly angry. "We came here to talk with the royal family of Vadise, not to act like arrogant, violent animals."

Darian replied lightly: "The essence of this world is simple: if there's reason to speak, we speak with reason; if not, only fists remain. Unfortunately, people like you have completely lost reason — and the right to speak. At the first chance, we must eliminate. That's why I'm being kind and letting you speak here."

"No matter how loud you shout, it changes nothing. You don't scare anyone." The elder elf retorted, visibly irritated by Morion and Painita's lack of reaction.

"Let's get to the point of this banquet. We came to discuss why you are protecting a murderer. Darian has long been wanted by demons and by my Wube family. He came here and committed new atrocities, and there's plenty of evidence of his crimes. You seem complicit with him — what does the immortal think about this?"

Painita just smiled, saying nothing.

Morion snorted, "The Matriarch's thoughts are none of your business. But, like young Darian said, we're willing to hear you. What do you want, anyway?"

Niall smiled and said dryly, "Isn't it obvious? Leaving everything else aside, the first thing is to hand him over to us! Otherwise... our planet and our family will take drastic measures. Do you want a war over a single foreign human?"

At that moment, Zelkov stood up.

"You bastard! You're basically threatening us!"

Before Darian could answer, Zelkov was already roaring. Darian, a murderer? Since the supposed "evidence" they claimed was forged — it was easy to assume the other accusations were fake too.

That Wube family had never been trustworthy; they'd caused plenty of trouble behind the planet's back, using the Merchant Guild. Right now, they were stirring up intrigue between the beast families and the royal family, destabilizing the whole planet's unity. And now they came with a delegation to try to take Darian with threats? Rage burst inside him.

All the princes and princesses were shocked; cowardly Zelkov, who had never dared lift his head before, now drew everyone's attention.

His mother's eyes shone with a hint of pride — that's how a man was supposed to act.

"So what? If you don't like it, let's fight!" Niall sneered.

Zelkov didn't hesitate and bellowed, "Then come!"

Darian roared, killer intent blazing: "If you've got so much guts, come at me. I can finish you right now."

"Darian, shut up! We of the royal family will settle this!" Tetoya said coldly, standing up.

It wasn't just her and Zelkov — Painita and others who knew Darian were holding back hard from exploding with anger. Those foreigners were outrageously disrespectful.

They couldn't let Darian step in — it was a matter of planetary honor. That family and planet had been acting like a virus for a long time. If they didn't protect him now, they'd be ashamed.

Niall laughed, staring at Darian: "He agreed. But if he's afraid of dying, he can back down. I won't force him to fight. Still, I thought dragon-blooded beasts had word and honor."

"We don't go back on our word! I, Zelkov, will fight!" he declared, furious.

Darian began to panic inside. What happened to this foolish kid? How could he not know his limits?

Darian had provoked on purpose earlier, to be able to attack them and solve some problems without damaging planet Vadise — but now everything had spiraled out of control. The issue involved the royal family, and there was no way to rein it in.

"Since it's come to this, why don't we make the princes and princesses fight? That'd make this banquet actually entertaining," the elder elf beside Niall said. "After we have our fun, we can get back to serious matters."

"Prepare the martial stage," Morion ordered curtly.

In a corner of the palace, they quickly set up a defensive inscription and a martial stage. Within minutes, Zelkov and Niall had already entered the stage.

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