The ferocious Lionheart growled, “The kid’s wise to avoid us. I’d certainly make him cry uncle otherwise.”

Lightford had been his fellow tribesman, so Lionheart naturally resented Jiang Chen for killing his peer.

Not to mention, eliminating the young lord would be a feat of great merit for the demon race and a great opportunity for the forefather to distinguish himself.

But Forefather Ironclad was solemn. “Brother, don’t look down on the kid. Just think, how many times have we demons suffered at his hands? We’re no cowards, and is Forefather Goldenhowl weaker than either of us? Were his crack troops any less mightier than ours? And what was the result?”

“Are you saying the golden demons underestimated him?” Lionheart blinked.

“Even in the ancient times, it was impossible for humans to defeat golden demons in straight battle. Wasn’t the ancient Veluriyam Palace equally powerless head-on, despite its might? How can a later generation achieve what their forebears couldn’t, when he lacks their ancient inheritances?”

Ironclad very much acknowledged the golden demons’ strength in combat, so after careful analysis, negligence seemed the only possible explanation for their annihilation. They must must have fallen prey to human machinations, or had some of their abilities restrained.

Otherwise, they were too ferocious to fail so spectacularly.

Lionheart agreed with his conclusion. “Golden demons are condescending and arrogant without parallel. It must have caused their downfall. But isn’t their downfall a huge blow for our race? The celestial demons were counting on the golden and titan demons to spearhead the attack against Winterdraw. That plan is dead in the water now.” 

“Hmph, maybe the celestial demons weren’t fond of their arrogance either. Who knows if they didn’t play a part in the golden demons’ undoing? Even down one tribe, there are still nine left, more than enough to deal with the human domain. It’s simply a matter of consolidating the tribes and the strength of our leader.”

“That can’t be...” Lionheart gasped. If the celestial demons had really plotted against their own kind… What a terrible thought!

The celestial demon tribe was truly terrifying.

“I’m not saying it was on purpose, but intentionally or not, they assigned the golden tribe to a dangerous area. The plan was to pit them against the human domain and wear away the human defenders. Perhaps even they didn’t expect that the golden demons would be spent without anything to show for it.”

“No matter, forget it. Let’s just attend to our own business.” Lionheart was rather pale, a little daunted by the possibility of the celestial demons’ sinister schemes.

Urgent footsteps suddenly sounded outside. An attendant entered in quick strides.

“Forefathers, bad news. Something happened to Commander Fei Yao.”

What?

The two forefathers sprang up from their seats, grimaces immediately appearing on their faces.

Commander Fei Yao was their most reliable subordinate. Though not yet in the divine realm, he was their strongest demigod cultivator, as well as the most resourceful and the best at directing troops among their close aides.

Losing him would be a massive blow to the entire tribe.

“What happened?” Ironclad said coldly, his eyes screaming murder.

“H-he’s been murdered, and gruesomely so,” stammered the pale attendant, afraid of looking the forefathers directly into the eye, clearly aware that the news would incense the duo.

Indeed, both wore a dangerous scowl as they quickly exited the tent.

The commander’s corpse wasn’t even whole anymore. It looked like someone had stomped on a watermelon and crushed it into pulp.

At this sight, rage boiled in the two forefathers’ chests!

“The titan demons! This is definitely their doing!” Lionheart shouted in a fit of anger. This was a favorite pastime of the titan demon tribe. It couldn’t have been anyone else. “Dao brother, look at his chest. His heart’s missing. Titan demons love to eat hearts, everyone knows that!”

Gnashing his teeth, Lionheart’s eyes shone a deep red. He tightened his fists until they started cracking.

His emotions clearly threatening to get the better of him, he urgently needed to vent his energies. If only he could rush to the titan demons’ camp and slaughter them all right now!

But Ironclad stayed calm and collected. He circled the corpse and observed it carefully for a moment.

He didn’t lose his rationality in spite of his wrath. But no matter how long he examined the circumstances of the commander’s death, he had to admit no one else could have committed such a gruesome murder.

Humans?

They might have been able to kill the commander, but not in such a cruel way. Not to mention, the murder had occurred on the monster demons’ own territory, yet no one had caught a whiff of it.

That was no mean feat. Was there anyone this powerful among the humans? Although the commander was just a step away from godhood, no ordinary god would have been his match. Even if he couldn’t win, he’d have caused enough noise to alert his tribesmen. 

But everyone, including the two forefathers, had been blissfully unaware. What did it mean?

The opponent was formidable, and his actions sudden and overwhelming to kill his victim in a single strike.

Nothing apart from the titan demons’ heart-smashing art could have caved a hole this big in the commander’s chest.

All clues pointed to the titan demon tribe.

“Dao brother, we can endure no longer. This is intolerable! How can we take this blatant insult lying down?” Lionheart stamped with fury.

Not that they wanted to disobey the celestial demons’ directive, but the titan demons had crossed the line. Was it a show of force or an intimidation attempt?

So what if titan demons showed a preference for tyrannical bullying? Did it mean they couldn’t respond in kind?

Ironclad’s face turned dark and sinister. “Gather our men. The titans have some explanation to do!”

If they didn’t react after such a blatant slap to the face, they would lose all prestige and standing among the tribes.

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