Chapter 2514: Best Behavior

The woman on the throne studied Fanelei for a long moment. Her swirling black eyes seemed to grow a little deeper as she looked over the A-tier who had just slaughtered five of the Nethum’s carefully chosen representatives.

Then, she smiled.

"Not bad, Alex. Not bad at all."

Alex smiled back, though he didn’t dare take too much credit for what had just happened.

If anything, he was starting to wonder whether bringing Fanelei along had been one of the smartest or one of the stupidest decisions he’d ever made. And, considering how many questionable things he’d done in his life, that was saying something.

Fanelei, meanwhile, stayed silent.

She could feel the woman’s attention on her. It didn’t carry any real hostility, but there was something about it that made her unwilling to relax.

Ever since Sylas helped her rebuild her foundations, her seven souls had become extraordinarily sensitive to changes in Will. The years she’d spent refining her Rune Mastery in the Creation Tower had only sharpened that further.

Yet, even with all of that, she couldn’t get a proper read on the woman sitting in front of her.

She could sense her strength well enough. The problem was that every time she tried to find its limits, she found herself staring into depths that didn’t seem to end.

Fanelei wasn’t stupid enough to think that beating two S-tiers meant she could take on anyone at that level.

Those two had come from the Demi-God Planes of their own Heavens. Their talents were extraordinary, sure. However, there was still a big gap between them and the people who had spent countless years establishing themselves in the God Plane.

Even so, Fanelei was confident she could put up a good fight against most ordinary S-tiers of the God Plane now.

She had spent too many lives building her foundations to underestimate herself. With the improvements Sylas had given her, the limits of her A-tier body weren’t nearly as restrictive as they used to be.

But, this woman was different. Fanelei had exactly zero confidence she could beat her.

There was a peak to the S-tier that Fanelei could recognize, even if she couldn’t understand it. The woman in front of her seemed to stand somewhere beyond what Fanelei could even perceive right now.

That didn’t mean she had any intention of lowering her head, though. Fortunately, the woman didn’t seem interested in pushing the matter.

"Now then." She turned to the five remaining descendants. They were still staring at the corpses of their representatives, their expressions getting uglier by the second. "I believe that concludes your assessments. Since you’ve all lost to Alex, you’ve forfeited your right to participate in the Grand Competition."

That changed their expressions.

One of the descendants shot up from his seat almost immediately, his face flushed red as he looked back and forth between Alex and Fanelei.

"Great Grandmother, surely you can’t be serious? We agreed to an assessment, but this doesn’t prove anything about his abilities!"

Alex raised an eyebrow.

The young man was clearly furious. What Alex couldn’t figure out was where he’d found the courage to argue. Had he not been listening when their great-grandmother explained the rules?

The descendant kept going before anyone could cut in.

"He’s a C-tier who brought an A-tier to fight his battles, and he doesn’t even have proper control over her! Anyone can see that she’s the one giving him orders, not the other way around. How can you call this his victory when he hasn’t demonstrated a single thing himself?"

Alex’s expression got a little complicated. Well, the guy wasn’t entirely wrong about that last part.

Fanelei had spent most of the assessment ordering him around. If Alex was being completely honest, he wasn’t even sure she’d listen if he asked her to do something as simple as going back to the Hollow Ship.

But, wasn’t that exactly why he’d brought her?

He had convinced an extraordinarily powerful woman to represent him, without having any authority over her at all. That was a skill all on its own, and Alex would have appreciated a little recognition for it.

The descendant seemed to take his silence for weakness.

"If this is enough to qualify, then what’s the point of assessing us at all? I refuse to accept that someone who can’t even command his own followers deserves to stand above—"

The woman on the throne raised a finger, and the young man’s head disappeared.

There was no explosion, no grand display of Aether, not even the slightest fluctuation of Will that Alex could pick up on. One moment, the descendant had been standing there arguing his case. The next, his headless body was collapsing onto the polished floor.

Alex’s smile froze.

The other four descendants stared at the corpse, their faces going pale as it sank in. Their great-grandmother had just killed one of them.

He wasn’t some outsider, or a servant who had overstepped. He was one of the descendants the Clan had spent years cultivating and preparing to bring home. And she had killed him for complaining about an assessment.

The woman lowered her finger and smiled at the remaining four.

"Does anyone else have an objection?"

No one answered.

"Good. Then I believe we’re finished here."

The four descendants traded a glance, then practically ran for the exit. None of them dared look back as they hurried out of the tower.

Alex watched them go, wondering if he should feel sorry for the guy who’d just died.

After all, he knew what it was like to lose something valuable to circumstances out of his control. The man had probably spent years preparing for a chance that vanished just because Fanelei didn’t feel like wasting time on five separate fights.

On the other hand, arguing with someone who could kill you with a finger wasn’t exactly smart. Especially when she’d already made it clear that she didn’t think their family ties were worth mentioning.

Alex cleared his throat and turned back to the throne with the most charming smile he could manage.

"Great Grandmother, has anyone told you how beautiful you look today?"

The woman’s dark eyes settled on him.

"Are you flirting with me again?"

"Absolutely not. I’ve learned my lesson, and I know my limits." He put a hand over his chest, wearing every bit of sincerity he could muster. "I simply believe that a woman of your extraordinary grace deserves to hear a compliment every now and then. It would be a shame if everyone around you spent so much time being frightened that they forgot their manners."

The woman chuckled.

"You’re an interesting one, Alex Reynolds."

Alex’s smile stiffened for a moment before it came back.

He didn’t like the way she’d said his name, especially considering how unusual it was for a Nethum descendant to come back with a surname that didn’t belong to the Clan. However, if she had any suspicions about where he came from, she clearly wasn’t interested in sharing them.

Instead, she flicked her wrist and sent a small silver badge floating toward him.

Alex caught it. He immediately noticed the complicated spatial fluctuations gathered on its surface.

"These are your accommodations. The badge will grant you access to a pocket of space attached to Planet Nethum, large enough to house the thirty million people you brought with you."

Alex looked the badge over with fresh interest.

The spatial craftsmanship was a lot more impressive than he’d expected. He could tell it was an access key rather than holding the space itself. Still, the fact that the Clan could casually hand out accommodations on this scale was rather ridiculous.

He had spent 5,000 years gathering resources. Yet, here was his great-grandmother treating a home big enough for an entire civilization as though she were handing him the keys to a spare bedroom.

"Further instructions will arrive once the registration arrangements have been completed. In the meantime, I suggest you begin preparing your people."

Alex looked up. "Preparing them for what, exactly?"

"Every individual you bring into the Clan’s territory must undergo registration, including a thorough examination of their Genes, Bloodlines, and other relevant characteristics. The process is mandatory, and we will not make exceptions for followers who find it uncomfortable."

Alex’s expression changed. That was a lot more troublesome than she seemed to realize.

He had spent an extraordinary amount of time developing the Haloryn. Sylas had already helped him build Gene Locks that could hide their secrets, but Alex had no intention of letting the Nethum examine them without knowing exactly what those examinations involved.

More importantly, he had 30 million followers, and not all of them were used to bowing to the authority of some unfamiliar Clan.

Some of them had spent centuries, even millennia, following his orders. Others held positions of authority of their own in the civilization he’d built. Getting them to accept a process that might expose their deepest secrets wasn’t something he could pull off just by telling them to behave.

Unfortunately, his great-grandmother didn’t seem very concerned.

"If you aren’t confident in your people’s willingness to accept that sort of screening, then I suggest you deal with it now. Whatever arrangements you make are your responsibility, and the Clan won’t tolerate anyone attempting to interfere with the registration process."

Her smile stayed pleasant. The meaning behind her words was anything but.

"Any trouble brought to the gates of the Nethum will be dealt with by execution, even if the head is yours. I trust you understand."

Alex swallowed and nodded. He was already sweating. The real problem wasn’t Fanelei, it was Sylas. Would that madman be willing? But that didn’t change Alex’s words.

"Of course, Great Grandmother. I’ll make sure everyone’s on their best behavior."

The woman studied him for another moment, then let her gaze pass over Fanelei. This time, her smile carried a little more interest.

However, she didn’t say anything else. Her figure simply vanished from the throne, leaving Alex and Fanelei alone in the enormous tower.