Chapter 2279: Two Choices

The Tarius family members were shocked. The strongest of them were out fighting the Morales army, but that didn't mean that those they had left behind were weak. In fact, it could be said that this was the strongest collection of geniuses that the family had. Even those that were in Tier 9 were among those with the highest chance of one day entering the realm of Ancestors.

They were shocked into almost not reacting, but that only lasted for a brief instant before they all rushed Leonel. Unfortunately, that brief attempt was all they got.

Leonel crushed the World Spirit in his palms and raised it into the air. In that instant, every Tarius in existence felt as though a part of them had been violently ripped away, many of them feeling their eyes tears well up for reasons that were far beyond their control.

An overwhelming pressure descended from the distance as the individual Leonel assumed was the Overlord of the Tarius family reacted. She rushed forward with a great amount of speed, but her expression sank when she understood the situation. No... when she felt it.

The Tarius family territory, even while they were still fighting with everything they had, had been stripped away from them. A new and foreign energy swept in, far weaker than the first had been, and far more subtle as well. Each member of the Tarius felt a small suppression on their abilities. It was minor, but it remained uncomfortable. Almost as though a thin and moist paper towel was placed before their nose and mouth, making breathing just a bit more difficult.

Overlord Tarius saw red. She didn't know how this had happened, or how an outsider had so easily entered their territory, but a scarlet red bow that looked as though it had been carved of rubies took shape in her hands. Even as her wrinkles deepened, her fury rose up, flames sparking in her eyes as she unleshed a roar.

She hadn't spoken in several years, she didn't have to. Her only duty to the family was to cycle her energy, protect the World Spirit, and remain alive for the event that they were placed in an existential crisis. And now, she had already failed in one of these tasks.

Her arrow released in an instant, appearing before Leonel's forehead as though it had teleported there. She didn't hold back in the slightest, not even minding the life and death of their family's future. If there was no World Spirit, there would be no future to be had in the first place!

However, under her astonished gaze, the arrow, even wreathed in flames, vanished. No, it didn't vanish, it crumbled like a moist cake, then it quickly dried out and drifted into the air like fluttering ash.

Leonel turned a gaze toward Overlord Tarius, his expression indifferent. The Overlord had seen this young man before. As an Overlord, her and her many companions across the Human Domain never cared to pay attention to other Heir Wars... except for this one.

They knew the face of this young man well, but never did she think she would come face to face with him so very soon.

"Soon, all of the former strength of the Tarius family will vanish. At that time, you'll have a choice to make. It's either you'll subordinate yourselves to those four powers, or to me. I can tell you that the smart choice is the latter one, but I have a feeling that you're all going to make a decision out of emotion. All I can say to that is that I don't give second chances. If you don't want to live, feel free to choose the wrong side.

"Adios," Leonel gave the Overlord a mock salute and then vanished in a twinkling starlight.

The instant he did, Nazag paled. "He used me!"

His words were full of grief and indignation, his legs buckling beneath him and his wails echoing through the Holy Land of the Tarius family. No one knew what to say, some of them had seen the light come from Nazag, but they found it difficult to blame him. It seemed they didn't know that they didn't know just how intentional it all was.

But they were still children in the Overlord's eyes, and what they would be swayed by wasn't what an Overlord would be swayed by.

"Detain him," she said coldly.

Her teeth clenched and her chest heaved. Without the World Spirit, she was staring down more than just the mortality of the Tarius family, she was also forced to face her own mortality. Without the World Spirit, she would live at most a few more months, and not much more than a year at the very most.

All the while, her strength would decrease day by day. It could be said that the function of the World Spirit aside from keeping her and other Overlords alive, was for the sake of maintaining a constant outpouring of strength. Without it, their power would decline too much with their old age.

Overlord Tarius watched as Nazag was captured and chained, but her reaction didn't change much... other than the biting of her lip. She could sense that Leonel's army was retreating after dealing them a devastating blow and she felt her rage rising up to her.

They had lost their World Spirit. They had lost several Ancestors. Their future seemed to remain intact, but what good were they without a strong backbone to begin with?

The worst part was that she didn't know whether this was all that was happening either. It made sense for Leonel to attack them first, after all he had a decided advantage against them. She hadn't thought that even her own arrows would be useless against him.

And yet here they were.

Overlord Tarius took out an item that looked like a talisman and then burned it with an odd white flame. However, her expression twisted when she realized immediately, even before it completely dissipated, that her message hadn't gone through. Leonel was already using their World Spirit to interfere with the normal function of their world.

She ground her teeth so loudly that the echoes resonated through the Holy Land.