âMain ... main sacrifice imprint!â
Strena murmured to herself, and she was dumbfounded for a moment. All of a sudden, she rushed out of the house. Everything along the way fell to the ground, and the door was knocked halfway down.
Immediately afterward, the entire valley shook, echoing Strenaâs furious roar.
The girl moved to the door in panic, trying to catch up with her sister, but because she couldnât see things, she tripped over something on the ground. Chen Rui frowned as he helped the naga girl, who was only a Higher Demon, to walk outside the door step by step.
More than half of the mountain slope in front had collapsed. The ground was full of exaggerated and criss-crossed deep trenches which seemed to be traces of slashes. Amidst the sand and gravel, the 6-armed figure roared up to the sky. Her shout was full of rage and sadness.
âSister...â The girlâs body seemed to have lost the power to hold on. She could only rely on Chen Ruiâs support to barely stand as tears slipped down from her dim blue eyes.
From the previous words and deeds, Chen Rui faintly guessed something which was completely different from the internal power struggle prediction that he had previously. Seeing that Strena was so sad and angry for her sister, he inexplicably thought of a sister in the palace.
Strenaâs roar stopped abruptly. Her eyes turned to a figure that appeared in the valley. The figureâs majestic voice sounded, âStrena, shouldnât you stay in the White Tower Island? Who allowed you to return to the Thunder Snake Island?â
This voice came from a tall naga who was wearing a black armor and a golden crown on her head. The face that should have been beautiful looked cold and stern, making people tremble with fear. It should be the naga tribeâs queen.
Race: Naga (mutated)
Comprehensive Strength Assessment: S+.
Physique: S+, Power: S+, Spirit: S, Speed: S+.
[Analysis]: Dangerous.
âChief!â The girl Adeline quickly wiped away her tears and showed a respectful look. She folded her hands on her chest and bowed deeply.
âMother!â Strena did not salute. She looked directly at Queen Naga and exclaimed emotionally, âTell me! Why Adeline will be the main sacrifice of tomorrowâs sea sacrifice! Why do you have to personally send your daughter to death!â
âStrena! You should call me chief or Your Highness Modesty!â Queen Naga said coldly, âIn fact, you already know the answer to your question! Survival of the fittest is the tradition of the naga tribe, not to mention that this is the dangerous Black Sea!â
Strena snarled fearlessly, âAre you going to watch Adeline being devoured by that monster! Isnât she your biological daughter?â
âI have to follow this rule even more because she is my daughter!â Queen Naga glanced at Adeline sternly, âThe fate of the naga tribe is in jeopardy. How can a naga, who has no talent for fighting and doesnât even have the will to fight, protect herself? How can she fight? Use that ridiculous harp? She is destined to be eliminated!â
Strena yelled hysterically, âShe doesnât need to fight! I can protect her! You can too! Why arenât you willing to do this! If you donât even have the ability to protect your own daughter, how can you protect the people? Youâre not worthy of being a mother! Youâre not worthy to be our chief!â
Modestyâs face suddenly became gloomy. A terrifying aura quickly filled the entire valley, âIt is not your place as a daughter to evaluate whether Iâm worthy to be a mother. Without me, you wouldnât even have life! As for the chief... Are you not the heir? According to tradition, the position of the chief is yours as long as you can beat me! At that time, I canât control you even if you want to forgo the survival rule and destiny of the naga tribe to protect her!â
âWhooshâ, Strenaâs 6 arms had 6 long and narrow scimitars at the same time. Her powerful fighting spirit had surged to the apex in an instant as her angry eyes were tightly locked on Queen Naga.
âI will challenge you now!â
âVery good!â Modesty smiled coldly. She slowly pulled out 2 scimitars with her pair of hands in the front. âLet me see how far you have reached. Or let my scimitars tell you what stupidity and overestimating yourself is!â
Strenaâs breath sore quickly. The snakeâs body vibrated and appeared in front of Modesty almost instantly.
Chen Rui who was next to Adeline only saw the light of the scimitars in the sky. In the blink of an eye, Strena made at least 200 slashes. Not only the speed, but the high-speed flow of the scimitars turned into arcs, blocking Modesty in all directions as if the space was split. There were countless hidden moves in the arc. Unless Modesty stood still and withstand the attack, otherwise once she only moved, it would trigger a chain strangulation of all scimitars.
Facing the mother who had reached the peak stage of the Demon Overlord and was also the most powerful powerhouse in the tribe, Strena went all out and didnât hold back her power.
Chen Rui was secretly palpitating as he watched the mysteriousness of the scimitar light. If he faced this blow, he could only use teleportation to escape the scimitar light range or withstand it with a protective shield before trying to counterattack.
In this âunmovableâ situation, Modesty still moved unbelievably. Then, she slashed the left and right sides.
On the surface, she simply waved the scimitars in both hands, but in Chen Ruiâs feeling, these 2 âsimpleâ slashes contained profound rhythm. The seemingly impeccable scimitar light of Strena was like a neat and meticulous painting dipped in large swaths of ink. The entire conception, including the hidden moves, was destroyed. Not only that, this large swath of ink also forced the style of meticulous brushwork into a freehand brushwork against the object.
As the scimitar light flickered, those âarcsâ broke apart one after another. Strenaâs figure staggered backward as countless dense blood stains appeared on her body.
It was just 2 slashes.
This was not only a difference in power alone, but a huge gap in the realm. Both had scimitars and the martial skill talent of nagas, [6 Wield]. Strena had already thoroughly trained and tempered this kind of sword skill to its finest. It was like an object that she had produced countless times; she could clearly tell which part should be more or less with her eyes closed. However, in the hands of Modesty, [6 Wield] was more like a piece of artwork. Objects could be duplicated, but the artwork was unique.
Strena had mastered the âtechniqueâ of [6 Wield] while Modesty had sublimated to the level of âprincipleâ. It could be said that this Queen Naga was the strongest weapon master since Chen Rui came to this world. Of course, no matter how strong Modestyâs [6 Scimitars Wield] was, she couldnât break through the category of Demon Overlord, nor could she truly compete with Supremo powerhouse who had kingdomized or even Demi-God powerhouse.
In the face of âpowerâ with an absolute gap, no matter how subtle âtechniqueâ or âruleâ is, it was in vain.
However, Queen Naga was still an insurmountable barrier for the current Strena.
âUnrealistic ambition! You havenât mastered 2 scimitars yet, and you are going to use 6 scimitars?â Modesty looked at Strena contemptuously.
Strena yelled and pounced again.
âHave you lost even your calm? This kind of naive attack is simply worse than the child who just awakened the [6 Wield]!â
âFlaws! All flaws! Even if you work hard like this, you will only kill yourself first!â
âFlashy! Too many extra moves!â
â...â
In Queen Nagaâs mocking sneer, Strena was knocked down again and again. She got up again and again, and was knocked down again...
Her golden armor was broken, and her body was covered with bloody scars; some were even deep into the bones. If it werenât for the naga tribeâs extremely strong body, she would have been seriously injured and died. This was still under Modestyâs mercy.
Chen Rui could tell that even though the battle was very cruel, Queen Naga did not intend to kill Strena. It was more about feeding her with tricks. Many of the points pointed out were Strenaâs key shortcomings. It was a pity that a certain naga sister was clouded by grief and rage. She was just thinking of how to defeat her mother. All those pointers became real mockery in her ears.
Although Adeline couldnât see the battle, she could clearly hear everything that happened, but she didnât speak to stop them. She just covered her mouth tightly in tears for fear that her crying might disturb Strena.
The girl knew her sisterâs personality very well. Advising or crying would only make her elder sister more irrational.
Finally, the exhausted Strena fell to the ground and couldnât get up anymore. She seemed to actually faint.
âYou canât even grasp the level of your strength, how can you grasp the naga tribe?â Queen Naga didnât even look at the seriously injured daughter who fainted. She wriggled the snake body and came to Adeline. She looked at Chen Rui who was beside the girl with scrutiny.
After being scanned by the cold eyes, a chill came from Chen Ruiâs back. He couldnât help but shiver.
âWho are you? Why did you come here with Strena?â
Chen Rui quickly explained the fact that Strena agreed to exchange the devil fruit for the safety of him and his sailors. Queen Nagaâs eyes flashed when she heard the words âdevil fruitâ. When she looked at Adeline, who was sobbing softly, she suddenly understood Strenaâs intention.
âDemon, I believe you have seen it too, I will not show mercy to my daughter. If Strena is not the heir of the naga tribe and is related to the future of the whole tribe, I will execute her for just the offense alone.â Queen Naga said faintly, âNow hand over the devil fruit, otherwise I will kill you and your companions immediately.â
Chen Rui could hear that the ruthless queen could do what she said, so he did not hesitate to take out a devil fruit. Queen Naga took the fruit, smelled it, and her eyes lit up. Instead of taking it herself, she looked at Adeline, glanced at the harp lying on the ground in the house, pondered for a moment, and went toward the unconscious Strena.
Chen Rui clearly saw Modesty bent down and stuffed the fruit into Strenaâs mouth. This action made Chen Rui feel strange.
âDear Your Highness Queen Modesty, I have handed over the most important treasure, devil fruit. According to the prior agreement, I have the right to ask Your Highness to fulfill the promise. Please let my sailors and I go.â
A sullen smile appeared on Modestyâs face, âYou have to be clear of 2 things. First, you and Strena may have an agreement, but itâs not with me. I just asked you to hand over the fruit. Second, it is useless even if I promised you because as a sacrifice for tomorrowâs sea sacrifice, you no longer have any power including the power to let me fulfill my promise. Guards! Take him down!â
2 naga warriors came forward from outside the valley and grabbed Chen Ruiâs arms.
âChief.â Adeline said, âPlease allow me to have a few words with this demon.â
Modesty frowned slightly, â3 minutes.â
Adeline came to Chen Rui based on her feelings and bowed to him, âFirst of all thank you for the fruit, but... Iâm sorry; Iâm so sorry...â
Chen Rui saw the girlâs heartfelt sadness and guilt, and he did not blame her. He just said, âMy name is Aguile.â
Adeline was a little surprised by Chen Ruiâs calmness. She hesitated for a moment, and she said, âMy name is Adeline. The music you played is very nice. Can you tell me what the name is?â
âCastle in the Skyâ.
This was a piece that Chen Rui liked very much in his previous life. It was played by Master Hisaishi. He was bored at the sea these days. He took great effort to recall and practiced hard. It was also a small achievement. He wanted to give Isabella a surprise, but it made a debut here.
âCastle in the Sky... Is there really a castle floating in the sky?â
âYes, as long as you have hope, it is in the air.â Chen Rui glanced at Queen Naga and shrugged, âThere is a saying in my hometown that life can be taken away, but hope will always exist.â
âHope?â Adeline nodded slightly, âThank you...â
At this time, Modestyâs stern voice interrupted the conversation between the 2, â3 minutes is over! Demon, donât waste your time. Even if you delude my daughter with flowery words, it is useless. She and you canât escape the same fate! Ok, guards, take him away immediately! Put Strena in custody too!â
Chen Rui and the unconscious Strena were both taken away. Modesty turned around and walked for a few steps. With her back against Adeline, she suddenly added, âAdeline, the main sacrifice imprint cannot be removed... You should understand.â
âI understand, please tell sister not to be sad for me, chief. Everything is my will.â Adeline lowered her head and politely bowed to Modesty, âAlso... take care, chief...â
Modesty stopped and turned her head slightly, âItâs the last time. You can call me Madam Mother...â
Adeline still kept her head down, keeping her salute posture. Her body trembled slightly, but she didnât say a word.
Modestyâs lips moved as if to say something, but she didnât say anything in the end. She turned and moved forward quickly.
At this time, the glittering tears that had been brimming in the eye sockets just slipped from the girlâs cheek with her head down, dripping into the ground and disappearing.
TL: ð°, can Chen Rui remove the imprint with his power? The Black Sea God is likely to be the target of this trip, will the Dark Elemental King help?