Chapter 110: True Storm
"STOP!"
With a roar that made the hall walls vibrate, a figure shot out like lightning, cutting through space and throwing himself exactly between Priam and the middle-aged man.
The newcomer lightly struck the air with his palm; an invisible pulse of pure energy expanded, hitting the middle-aged man in the chest and forcing him to stagger several steps back.
Priam let the air out of his lungs in a trembling sigh, feeling relief flood his exhausted body.
The man who had saved him was none other than Grand Elder Ladomi.
From the moment Hahho set foot in the hall, Priam had already sniffed out the political cracks within the Aether-Wood Deer race. Everything indicated that the current Grand Elder could not stand the Race Leader’s brother — who, by the way, was an extremely powerful existence within the race.
There was an abyss of secrets and interests behind that rivalry, and it was exactly this hidden conflict that drove Ladomi to extend a hand to Priam now, no matter the cost.
Ladomi was not acting out of pure kindness. He saw Priam’s absurd potential. He knew that, in the future, that boy would be a formidable ally... or, even better, a perfect chess piece under his control.
Ladomi’s sudden intervention froze the hall in absolute shock.
Even the fierce middle-aged man was unable to react in time.
That was what they called overwhelming strength.
Ladomi was not stuck at the Disciple Rank like the others present. He was a genius from the past, one who had ascended and trained in a sect of the Divine Plane. Currently, he was a first-level Mage Master; a legendary level completely unreachable for those of the Mortal Plane.
In fact, even among those from the Mortal Plane who were lucky enough to enter a divine sect, many still could not break through to that realm.
So, they became mere laborers for those sects, living only to accumulate resources and return home in old age. In the end, it was not a bad deal for the sect or for the Mage. Because of that, Ladomi was valued even more.
In the hall, the middle-aged man forcefully stabilized his steps and snarled, his face distorted:
"Grand Elder: What is the meaning of this interference?! This miserable bastard had the audacity to mutilate the Young Master of our race! Blood debts can only be paid with blood! Don’t tell me you’re going to stain your hands to protect this trash?!"
"Hahaha..." Ladomi let out a low laugh, almost relaxed, before fixing his eyes on the man.
"Protecting the members of our alliance is my most sacred duty as Grand Elder. But you know... if my eyes are not deceiving me, I just saw you trying to murder young Priam. You tell me, what does that mean?"
The middle-aged man’s expression collapsed, becoming pale with pure hatred.
"Don’t play dumb! That was only an exchange of pointers between youths! But this brat... he shredded every meridian in the Young Master’s ethereal body! Not even the best healers can recover 100% of a Mage’s meridians! H-He became an invalid! He was crippled!"
The word "crippled" echoed like an explosion in everyone’s mind.
The entire hall plunged into chaos, with desperate whispers spreading everywhere.
The blood instantly disappeared from the faces of the Ylisse Clan members, leaving them white as wax.
Those brutal words confirmed the worst: Hahho, the supreme prodigy of that generation, the direct nephew of the Race Leader, had been... ruined! He had been crippled by a single blow!
Keeping him alive was not the problem, but regenerating the shattered meridians of a semi-spiritual body was a practically impossible task. With only a Jade Core, the Ether had nowhere to flow, making it impossible to use. With that, Hahho had lost all his power... possibly forever.
In the blink of an eye, a gust of icy air seemed to crawl up the spine of every person present at the banquet.
The way they looked at Priam changed drastically. It was no longer admiration for a genius; it was the pure terror of someone staring at a true monster.
Incapacitating the greatest prodigy of the alliance with a single move meant that Priam’s true strength was beyond the imagination of anyone there.
However, the shock at Priam’s power soon gave way to the premonition of an imminent tragedy. Everyone could perceive that he had just dug a deep grave with no way back for himself.
The catastrophe he had caused was, without a doubt, the greatest scandal in the Alliance’s recent history. Everyone could already anticipate the size of the storm that was about to come: a merciless, cruel, and bloody revenge coming directly from the Race Leader’s brother.
Ladomi snorted softly through his nose, hiding his own astonishment. Not even he had expected Priam to go so far and cause such huge chaos.
However, as he observed that scene of destruction and despair, a flash of satisfaction crossed his eyes. That widespread chaos was the perfect environment for his plans.
Before the Grand Elder could even open his mouth to answer, a sarcastic laugh echoed from right behind him.
Priam, even panting and with his voice clearly weakened by physical exertion, did not miss the chance to mock him.
"And then? What are you going to do?" He spoke slowly, letting every word carry the purest mockery.
"Before Hahho and I exchanged the first blow, we sealed an explicit agreement: it didn’t matter who ended up bleeding or how serious the damage was, the blame would belong purely to whoever lost. The entire hall witnessed it. But now that your precious favorite collapsed, you decide to lose your mind and come attack me? Is this the famous honor of the Aether-Wood Deer? Don’t tell me your entire race is nothing more than a bunch of hypocritical cowards who spit on their own word?"
Priam’s words hit the wound perfectly. The middle-aged man’s face wavered for a millisecond before twisting into even darker fury.
"Shut your mouth, you miserable worm!" he roared, his voice trembling with hatred. "A hundred of your lives wouldn’t be worth a single finger of the Young Master! I swear, you won’t leave this planet alive!"
"Hahaha..."
A light laugh, almost relaxed, escaped Ladomi. But the sound did not last long. In the next instant, the Grand Elder’s expression completely darkened, and the temperature in the hall seemed to plummet.
"I suggest you measure your next actions very carefully, unless you want me to defeat you myself here and now. Everyone in this hall, including me, gave their word. The two of them accepted the consequences of combat before the entire alliance. Now, you want to execute a young man out of pure spite? Just because of your threat, if I tore off your head at this exact moment, it would be a perfectly justifiable act. Is that clear?"
"You...!!"
The middle-aged man’s expression became completely distorted by frustration. He swallowed hard and retreated. The reason for his hesitation, however, had changed; behind the Grand Elder’s cold eyes, he managed to see a barely disguised excitement.
Ladomi was loving this situation. He would certainly use Priam’s bizarre feat as a perfect political weapon to crush the rival faction and deal with the race’s internal disputes.
For Ladomi, it was worth buying any fight to protect Priam. After all, with that level of destructive talent, if the boy gained time to grow in the Divine Plane, he would become a force everyone would be forced to fear.
And as for the "risk" of Priam becoming too strong and turning against his race in the future? To the higher-ups, that was completely impossible.
The moment Priam accepted that contract in the underground depths — believing in the naive justification that it was only a secrecy pact not to reveal what he had seen — he signed his own sentence of eternal servitude.
That black contract rune also carried the purest Bloodline energy of the Aether-Wood Deer. If Priam showed even the slightest sign of rebellion in the future, a single command would be enough to activate the mark in his soul, subjugating him completely.
This was a trap created by the race to have absolute control over all the clans of the alliance. That way, they could use them safely, without any fear of being betrayed.
The middle-aged man’s lips trembled, while his teeth ground together with such force that they seemed about to break.
"Today’s incident... as well as every word that came out of your mouth... I will remember them very fondly. Just wait!"
Turning abruptly, he lifted Hahho’s destroyed and hollow body with the utmost care and beat a retreat, disappearing from the hall with hurried steps.
With the departure of the two, the hall sank once again into sepulchral silence.
In what remained of this banquet, the reactions formed a mosaic of chaos: some clan leaders exchanged looks of pure terror, others secretly savored someone else’s misfortune, and most felt their chests tighten with unease.
One thing was certain: Hahho’s father would never let that blood debt die. A true storm was only beginning, and it would certainly last for years or centuries.