Chapter 140: The Patriarch

"Kill me? Are you sure about that, kid?"

The Patriarch’s lazy eyes tracked the beasts Terrence summoned, watching them materialize one by one. A total of twenty versatile creatures filled the space, each carefully collected in preparation for this exact moment.

Yet, the Patriarch didn’t show a single trace of surprise or alarm as the horde appeared.

"So you can contract multiple beasts as well... How funny that the former black sheep, who couldn’t even contract a single bottom-tier creature, suddenly has all these beasts in his arsenal. I suppose you got remarkably lucky this time around."

Terrence’s brows furrowed tightly. His boots felt glued to the floor, unable to take a single step forward.

It was as if his mind had suddenly gone blank, unsure of how to initiate the opening move.

’I should just command them to attack immediately. But I don’t know a single thing about his abilities...’

Regret began to slowly take root in the corners of his mind. He had tried so hard to brush off his rising anxiety earlier, but the suffocating pressure radiating from the young man on the throne was undeniably real.

There was a very clear reason why this man had maintained an absolute monopoly over the family’s power for decades. It was this exact oppressive, terrifying presence Terrence was feeling right now.

He didn’t know what specific magic or technique the Patriarch possessed, but he knew with absolute certainty that he had to exercise extreme caution.

Terrence darted a quick glance at Avery and gave a sharp nod. The small dragon immediately took flight, hovering in mid-air as energy began to condense rapidly inside her gaping maws.

Simultaneously, the remaining beasts—quadrupeds, bipedal warriors, swarm insects, and specialized support creatures—all snapped into high alert.

Terrence’s eyes flared with a sharp, desperate focus as he finally began executing his pre-planned battle formation.

He fielded a total of five primary physical damage dealers. Bipedal beasts like a goblin, a golem, an orc, and an ogre—all in smaller, human-sized variations—were instantly showered in glowing buffs from his three utility creatures.

The first utility creature was a White Flower Butterfly Beast, which exponentially multiplied physical attributes. The second was a Pink Caterpillar, which drastically boosted movement speed. The third was the Black Fairy Beast, capable of inflicting mental debuffs, disrupting enemy magic, and providing passive healing to its allies.

Lined up along his flanks were four ranged damage dealers, while the remaining creatures—beasts he had personally captured due to their unique passive and active traits—formed a protective inner wall.

"Attack!"

In a synchronized wave, the buffed physical damage dealers launched themselves forward.

They dashed across the carpeted floor at blinding speed, charging straight toward the elevated throne platform where the Patriarch sat.

It was an all-out assault designed purely to test the limits of what the Patriarch could do.

BOOM!

In a fraction of a second, a violent shockwave erupted through the grand hall as all five frontline beasts slammed into an invisible, shimmering barrier protecting the throne.

Even though the Patriarch remained completely untouched behind the wall, the sheer force of the impact shook the entire chamber, shattering the stone floor and pulverizing the nearest columns.

The frontline beasts bounced off the barrier, falling back as a thick cloud of pulverized concrete and dust blanketed the platform.

Slowly, the dust cloud cleared, revealing a completely vacant throne. The Patriarch had vanished.

Terrence’s heart violently skipped a beat. In a sudden panic, his eyes darted frantically across the vast hall, searching for the missing tamer.

"So, you hold unique contracts with these beasts..."

The Patriarch’s chilling voice suddenly echoed from Terrence’s immediate left, standing directly beside his buffed goblin beast. "A Unique Element, huh... How intriguing."

The young Patriarch casually extended his open palm, reaching out and grabbing the short goblin by its skull.

In a split second, the goblin’s head violently exploded into a red shower under pure physical force. The Patriarch had crushed its skull like a soft, squishy fruit without using an ounce of visible mana.

BLOOD SPURT!

Terrence tried to react, but before he could even shout a command, the Patriarch flickered like a phantom.

In the span of a single heartbeat, the young man materialized beside every single creature in the room. One by one, skulls were crushed and torsos were snapped with effortless precision.

All twenty of the additional beasts Terrence had summoned collapsed into lifeless heaps. They were utterly annihilated in seconds without the Patriarch even breaking a sweat.

Terrence’s eyes twitched uncontrollably. His lower lip went completely numb as horror paralyzed his chest.

"Now, Avery! Do it now!" Terrence screamed in pure desperation.

Forced to rush, Terrence ordered Avery to release her attack before she could fully condense the swirling white torrent of fire into its maximum sphere of destruction.

Avery opened her jaw and launched the blazing white torrent of raw energy straight at the Patriarch’s position.

For a brief second, Terrence thought he had landed a hit—the dense ball of dragon fire engulfed the Patriarch entirely. But with impossibly casual speed, the young man simply raised his bare hand, caught the white-hot dragon energy in his palm, and squeezed his fist.

POOF!

The massive blast of flame crumbled like a popping soap bubble, instantly dissolving back into harmless, raw mana particles that drifted into the air.

"N-No..." Terrence’s voice broke completely. He could no longer feel his lips or control the shuddering of his jaw.

His hands twitched uncontrollably as he frantically issued a command to his shadow hound, utterly unsure if it was the right decision.

"Noir! Use Shadow Dance!"

[You have activated the Unique Skill: Shadow Dance for the first time. Its base effects have been increased by 50%.]

Shadow Dance was a lethal Unique Skill Noir had unlocked upon evolving into an SS-Rank beast. It allowed Noir to dive directly into an opponent’s shadow, slowly draining their energy from beneath before detonating a rapid barrage of dark slashes.

[Your Named Mutated Iron Shadow Hound has converted Shadow Slash into Dark Slash, utilizing significantly harsher energy particles.]

[Noted... System interface updated.]

Terrence completely ignored the glowing golden notifications floating before his vision. He didn’t care about the name of the skill or the system updates—he only cared about survival.

However, before the Shadow Dance could even fully initialize through the floor, the Patriarch instantly materialized directly in front of Terrence’s face, a calm, arrogant smirk gracing his young features.

"You certainly carry a few interesting aces up your sleeves, kid," the Patriarch whispered softly, his eyes staring straight into Terrence’s trembling soul. "But you cannot kill me. You should have known that from the very beginning."

A heavy hand reached out, and everything went pitch black...