Shang only looked at the distant Duke Torrent.
"For winning the war, it would be stupid not to accept your offer."
"However, accepting your offer would nullify half of the reason why this war even started in the first place."
Duke Torrent narrowed her eyes. She definitely didn't like what she was hearing.
"We want the warriors to finally have a place where they can thrive, but that is only half of the reason."
"Duke Whirlwind is a human just like all of us, and as a human, he has his own desires."
Shang slowly took out his sword.
"And his greatest desire right now is revenge."
Duke Torrent immediately started to cast several Spells.
She had never expected that they would refuse her offer, but she was still ready to act.
The warriors felt like their end had arrived.
They would die to Duke Torrent today.
However, Shang wasn't worried.
He couldn't receive any healing or Mana right now, but all his augmenting Spells were still active.
His speed, power, defense, thinking speed, perception, regeneration rate, life energy storage, and Mana storage were still boosted.
Fighting against an average Late High Mage would very likely result in Shang's death normally, but this was not the case with the current Shang.
As soon as Shang readied his sword, his surroundings started to distort and transform.
The air, water, and earth around him started to fall into pieces and transform into pure Mana.
All of this took a while to describe, but Shang had actually already shot forward as soon as all of this happened.
SHING!
Shang released Shock, but this time, there was no black streak.
Shang had activated his Domain of Entropy, and he generally only used that during one situation.
In an instant, Shang arrived in front of Duke Torrent.
His speed was far faster than Duke Torrent had anticipated.
Nevertheless, she had already readied one of her personal Spells.
Water drops gathered around her body, and an instant later, green wind surrounded them.
BANG!
The water droplets exploded outward at speeds that could only be achieved by using a Concept from the Wind Element.
SSSHHH!
Yet, the droplets between Shang and Duke Torrent vanished as soon as they reached Shang.
Below Shang's armor, his body began to deteriorate.
Then, Shang slashed forward.
Sword was already burning with black fire.
Shang was using Silence from the get-go!
Shang couldn't allow Duke Torrent to kill any of the warriors here, which meant that Shang had to kill her in an instant.
Duke Torrent's eyes widened when she saw that her Spell had failed.
How?!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Five rapid explosions occurred around her, and her mind briefly stopped as she felt over 40% of her entire Mana vanish!
How was it possible for an Initial True Path Stage warrior to unleash such devastating power?!
She immediately activated Mana Step, but the Mana that left her body to create the Spell also vanished in an instant!
She couldn't comprehend what was happening right now!
Shang unleashed another five attacks, and Duke Torrent fell into a panic.
She used several Mana Steps in quick succession. Whatever was stopping her from unleashing Mana Step must have some sort of limit or cost associated with it!
BANG!
At that moment, Duke Torrent left with an explosion. By using so many Mana Steps, she had created a humongous Mana Step that took her over five kilometers away.
Shang had not interfered this time.
Shang's body had already atrophied to a horrifying degree, and his skin had already vanished below the armor.
If he stopped this many Mana Steps, he might not be able to continue fighting.
Duke Torrent had moved so far away that she couldn't feel Shang anymore, but Shang could still feel her due to his gigantic Spirit Sense.
Shang readied his sword, which had turned into a short sword by now.
SHING!
Shock!
Shang released three Shocks and arrived in front of Duke Torrent in less than a second.
Duke Torrent had been prepared to flee, and her Focus had already readied another Spell.
A powerful beam of concentrated water supported by the sharpness and speed of wind shot directly at Shang.
SHING!
Shang released his last Shock to arrive behind Duke Torrent, making her Spell miss.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Then, Shang released Anger as he deactivated his Domain of Entropy.
CRACK!
The sixth attack destroyed Duke Torrent's Mana Shield, and Shang immediately slashed her Focus to the side, turning it into fragments.
Duke Torrent could only look with horrified eyes at Shang.
She couldn't accept reality at this moment.
Shang dropped his sword and lunged forward.
His body barreled over Duke Torrent, throwing both of them to the ground.
Shang was above her, and his right arm was gripping her throat tightly.
At that moment, Duke Torrent felt a powerful force come from Shang's right hand, and she felt her body atrophy as her life energy was siphoned out of her.
She tried to screech in terror, but Shang's grip on her throat made it impossible.
She could only look with terrified eyes at the image in front of her eyes.
Since Shang's Domain of Entropy had destroyed his skin, blood was now seeping out from all the little holes and crevices of his armor. Even the eyeholes of his armor were leaking blood onto Duke Torrent's body below him.
Duke Torrent had never been this terrified before.
To her, it felt like an eternity had passed.
She felt herself vanishing.
She felt like she was being eaten by some kind of demon.
Her death was so close.
And then, the absorbing force receded and vanished.
Yet, the grip on Duke Torrent's throat was still tight, stopping her from saying anything else.
For several agonizing seconds, the terrified Duke Torrent only looked at the bleeding eyeholes of the black armor above her.
Then, more seconds passed.
This moment so close to death but not actually dying was agonizing for Duke Torrent.
The uncertainty.
If Count Sword wanted to kill her, he could have killed her already.
But he hadn't killed her.
"Your death is certain," the black armor above Duke Torrent spoke in a cold and raspy voice.
She couldn't react to these words.
She was just in too much horror.
"But the manner in which you die and the fate of your loved ones is not certain."
By now, Duke Torrent could process some of these words, and these words terrified her.
At that moment, two light footsteps echoed throughout the swamp around them.
Duke Torrent's Spirit Sense was still working, and she saw what had just happened.
Duke Whirlwind had just landed beside the two of them, and he was looking at her with the coldest eyes she had ever seen in her life.
For several seconds, he only looked apathetically into Duke Torrent's terrified eyes.
"Sophia, Bryston, Kerrington, Lucia…"
Duke Torrent's terror reached even greater heights.
Duke Whirlwind had just recited all the names of her family and friends!
"Will you let your crimes be their crimes?" Jerald slowly asked.
"Will you accept death for your punishment, or will you force yourself and all your loved ones into a fate worse than death?"
"Will you let me read your mind and die with dignity, or do you want to doom your family and friends into an eternity of torture and suffering?"
Jerald only looked with unending apathy at Duke Torrent.
"Which will it be?"
"I'm not above killing innocent people anymore."
"That mindset died together with my son."
