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Chapter 64: The Thirteen of the Sorrow Clan
🕑 Added 2025-07-05 14:12:37 +0000 UTC"Father, life grows harder every day," a young man said, his voice laced with bitterness as he took a sip of wine and complained to the middle-aged man across from him.
The middle-aged man, Silas, looked at his son with a helpless expression. "Our lives and deaths are in the hands of others. What else is there to say?"
Hearing this, the young man, Emil, angrily slammed his cup on the table. "If it weren't for His Excellency—" He stopped short, his eyes darting to the corner of the room where a small surveillance device flashed with a tiny, malevolent red light. He swallowed the rest of his words.
Silas knew what his son had been about to say. He shot him a sharp glare. "Be silent!" he hissed. Glancing fearfully at the camera himself, he whispered, "I know what you want to say. Just… alas."
A gloomy look settled on Emil's face. "If it weren't for the Four Great Fiends…" But as his father's expression grew sterner, his voice trailed off into silence.
At this moment, Silas spoke again, his voice cold. "Emil, you should know what can be said and what cannot. We are fortunate to be safe for now. But if the livestock of this world were to truly hear your words… I'm sure you know the outcome."
Hearing his father's reminder, Emil's face turned pale. Seeing that his son had heeded the warning, Silas did not continue to preach, but offered a small comfort. "Okay, your father does not mean to scare you. I imagine the humans of this world don't have time to care about us now." As he spoke, a helpless expression crossed his own face. "And even if that person were not gone… His Majesty was only an equal to the kings who serve under them." Otherwise, he would not have passed away, Silas thought silently. A pity for the once-mighty warriors of Sword Lake.
The young man was stunned, but he immediately realized his father was telling the truth. And because it was the truth, it only made him more depressed. Lies are not sharp swords; the truth is. If His Majesty had come with them, they would not be in this situation. The ones kept in captivity would be the humans. Or even if His Majesty was not around, as long as their clan's great ancestor was still alive, he would not feel so utterly powerless. But unfortunately, all the strong warriors of Sword Lake had perished alongside His Majesty. Now, there were only a few scattered remnants left, with no true powerhouses among them.
With his back to the camera, Silas dipped his fingers in the spilled wine and began to write lightly on the table. "What do the other families say?"
Seeing the words, a look of disdain flashed across Emil's face. He took a sip of wine. "They're just waiting for the end," he said aloud, his voice flat.
Silas understood. He continued writing. "Are they content to live like this?"
At this, Emil looked out at the sky with a melancholic gaze. "They are just stray dogs," he said. Anyone who couldn't read the words on the table would think the young man was talking about himself.
A trace of anger flashed across Silas's face, but then his body, which had been straight and proud, seemed to hunch over. "A stray dog," he sighed softly. What his son said was true of them all. Unfortunately, the time agreed upon by His Majesty was coming. Even with him dead, the advent was inevitable. And no matter what preparations they made, it would be of no use. They couldn't even escape. All those who had tried to flee had found themselves inexplicably returned to Sword Lake at the moment of the last advent.
Just as the two were drinking in silence, a man ran into the yard, his voice frantic. "Master, a disaster is coming!"
Hearing this, Silas and Emil looked at each other. So, this day had finally come for the Sorrow Clan.
After a long flight, Russell rode Pidgeot down, landing slowly on the island before him. Luffy and his other summons appeared at his side in an instant.
"This is it," he said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion as he looked at the quiet settlement. "The Sorrow Clan."
If he were operating under his "Iron Man" guise, he could have used the [Beads of Concealment] to secretly assassinate every demon on the island. Unfortunately, his current identity prevented him from using tools given to him by the Spirit Begging Society, especially within a monitored secret realm. Using them here would be like writing "I am a Society member" on his forehead. And without the beads, he had no other means of hiding his tracks. A direct, open assault was the better option.
There were only two bronze-level demons here. And all the original bronze-level demons in this realm had been killed long ago. The current ones had only grown up in recent years; they were "farm-raised" and comparatively weak. It was all laid out in the information provided by the Association. But if by some chance there was a true prodigy among them, Russell would simply summon Zoro. He could use his One-Sword and Two-Sword styles to fool people, and as a bonus, he could also trigger the [Straw Hat Pirates] bond with Luffy.
When Russell arrived at the gate of the Sorrow Clan's settlement, thirteen demons were already standing there in a neat, defiant row. After seeing Russell, the middle-aged man in the lead, Silas, regarded him with an unhappy but resigned expression. "A cardmaker?" Although it was a question, his tone held the certainty of a man facing the executioner. He knew of cardmakers. When his people had first arrived in this world, they had been prepared to fight to the death to invade the human realm. They had dreamed of a new home, a world where the fish could jump in the vast sea and the birds could fly in the sky, free from the constant threat of death. Unfortunately, their plans had been shattered at the very beginning by the cardmakers of the Association.
Blocking the others behind him who were tensing for a fight, Silas suppressed the murderous intent in his own heart and spoke, the words costing him a great deal of effort. "Sir, I am willing to sacrifice my life. Can you let the others go?" He already knew why a cardmaker had come. Through his own introspection and communication with the other captive families over the years, they all knew this day would inevitably come.
But unfortunately for him, Russell ignored the plea. Since entering the secret realm, he had kept the words of the Association guards at the forefront of his mind: Don't listen to or believe what demons say. Who knew if the demon was just trying to make him lower his guard?
And why did this creature in front of him think he was qualified to negotiate?
Silas, Russell thought, identifying the middle-aged man from the Association's data. He then turned his gaze to the young man next to him. Emil.
"That's just right," he said aloud, his voice carrying across the tense silence. "Saves me the trouble of looking for you." These two were the bronze-level demons of the Sorrow Clan.
"Let's do it," Russell whispered to his summons.
Seeing Russell's arrogant and dismissive look, Silas's expression gradually turned ugly. "Do not underestimate us!" he shouted, his voice ringing with defiance. "The sword comes to me!"
As he spoke, a beam of white light shot out from the house behind him. Silas reached out and grasped the white light, his glare fixed on Russell.
But at this moment, Russell was just staring intently at the item that had appeared in Silas's hand.
It was a bronze-level item material: the [Heart of Reflection].
This was the first time Russell had ever encountered an item-type material in the wild.
Comments
Phil Meyering
Wow this is disturbing. Maybe it's just me, but I kind of hoped that at some point Humanity would have intervened and somehow good things could have happened for some parties.
Raphael Espinoza Angulo
Here they are genocidal
