Chapter 138: Elder Council

Terrence had made up his mind—Nerissa had to die right now. It was a genuine shame that such a powerful, genius tamer had to perish by his hands, but it was all necessary for a better future.

Terrence was just about to unleash a terrifying Dark Slash straight at Nerissa when, suddenly, a thick, magical energy barrier slammed down between them, stopping his attack in its tracks and keeping Nerissa completely safe inside.

The Five Generals had stepped in to aid Nerissa, though they still refrained from directly engaging him in battle.

Facing Terrence with cold, silent eyes, the Five Generals secured Nerissa’s retreat. They backed away into the shadows, their glares promising that the family would undoubtedly seek brutal retribution in the near future.

They quickly carried Nerissa’s unconscious body away, and Terrence simply let them go. He wanted to chase them down and finish the job, but he couldn’t afford to waste his dwindling energy on a prolonged chase.

’Nerissa is effectively sidelined for a long time anyway,’ Terrence reasoned, wiping sweat from his brow. ’Without the primary beast she built her entire style around, she’ll have a nightmare of a time trying to adjust her powers to a new creature. Or maybe she’ll just contract a similar one later... Either way, I don’t give a damn.’

Terrence was determined to finish his objective today. Even if it was tedious and exhausting work causing total chaos throughout the estate, he had to do what needed to be done.

Without caring about what consequences might await him in the future, he pressed forward, forcing his aching body to ignore the dull throbbing of his injuries.

Terrence walked past the wreckage of the grand hall, navigating around the sweeping staircase toward a heavy set of doors located directly behind it.

’The Elder Council members are truly terrifying monsters,’ Terrence thought, his grip tightening on his weapon. ’They are veteran tamers with decades of combat experience, and every single one of their beasts is at least B to A-Rank.’

However, Terrence had built immense momentum for himself. A surge of raging confidence radiated from his core; he felt as though he finally understood the true, untapped potential of every single creature resting inside his Beast Sanctuary.

The moment he passed through the rear entrance leading into the Elder Council Hall, the modern, bright atmosphere instantly shifted into a dimly lit, ancient ambiance.

Only the flickering orange light of scattered candles provided visibility inside the grand council chamber.

At the far end of the long entrance corridor sat a massive, circular table surrounded by vacant high-backed chairs.

’They sure live in absurd luxury...’ he couldn’t help but note, glancing at the ridiculously expensive decorations and extravagant interior craftsmanship.

He had fully expected a heavy ambush waiting for him here, yet the entire chamber appeared completely deserted. What could possibly be the reason?

He scanned every corner of the room, but he couldn’t sense even a single sliver of a hidden presence.

"Where the hell are those old bastards hiding?" Terrence muttered, his palms itching with the urge to tear them down immediately.

Still, something felt deeply wrong about the room. It was unnaturally quiet.

It could have been empty, or more likely, lethal presences were carefully suppressing their breathing behind the heavy silence.

WHIZ!

"Shit!"

A beam of condensed, invisible energy shot past the back of his neck. If he had been just an inch to the left, his head would have instantly exploded into red mist.

Looking over his shoulder toward where the attack had landed, Terrence saw deep, spider-webbing cracks spreading across the reinforced stone wall.

’They’re definitely in here...’ Terrence confirmed, his pulse quickening despite his inability to pinpoint their exact positions.

With the candlelight failing to illuminate the vast room, he had no choice but to rely heavily on his other senses to survive.

Just then, Noir scooched over to his side, his dark eyes glowing with a strange, unfamiliar aura.

Terrence looked down at his SS-Rank Shadow Hound, trying to decipher what his beast was attempting to communicate. The moment he realized what Noir was offering, a dark smirk spread across his face.

’An absolute advantage.’

Terrence had finally gained the upper hand—or at the very least, completely negated the fatal vision weakness he faced in this dark chamber. He no longer had any reason to fear the shadows.

One by one, the flickering candle flames mysteriously extinguished, plunging the entire hall into absolute, pitch-black isolation.

Normally, a human tamer would be completely blind and helpless in this environment, but Terrence could see every detail perfectly through Noir’s shared perception.

’Noir finally unlocked the full, unbridled potential of his Shadow Element...’

Recalling a system notification he had glossed over during the chaos earlier:

[Your Named Mutated Iron Shadow Hound has grown stronger...]

He finally understood what that breakthrough truly meant.

"Not even a little bit scared, are you?" a raspy, ancient voice cut through the dark silence.

Terrence remained frozen in his stance, intentionally pretending he couldn’t see in the dark to keep his enemy careless.

He tracked the source of the voice toward a high platform. It was an old man—one of the high-ranking elders of the Lee Family.

"Why are you the only one guarding this place?" Terrence replied, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "Did the patriarch order you to stay behind and die?"

The old man stared down at Terrence through the darkness, an arrogant smirk gracing his withered face.

"No. But I knew I had to be the one to do this. I insisted on it. I had to make sure to personally uproot the wild weed that dared to sprout back in our family garden."

"You mean me? I’m the wild weed?" Terrence scoffed softly. "Funny. You have the nerve to say that when I carry your exact blood and flesh in my veins."

The old man fell silent, his eyes narrowing intently as he stared at Terrence. For a brief second, his cold gaze softened just a fraction.

"You have to forgive this old man... I simply have to do this. You should already know why..."

Terrence shook his head slowly in the dark, his expression hardening into cold steel.

"You have to kill me because I am your grandson. Of course I know that."