Chapter 823: Despicable Human!

The moment he sees the evil dragon waver, Henwell raises a hand to the space between his brows and swears an oath upon his own body.

Barbarossa knows Henwell's body is immensely powerful, but controlling it demands an equally powerful will and soul.

Without them, the body would develop a consciousness of its own.

Henwell spent half of his seclusion simply forcing his body into submission.

By swearing upon it now, he risks another violent rebellion from his body if he breaks his word.

Yet that only makes Barbarossa hesitate.

After all these years, he knows this human too well.

Henwell may not be the smartest human he has ever met, but he is certainly the most cunning.

Henwell's confidence in making the wager leaves Barbarossa doubting his own judgment.

As he hesitates, Henwell laughs. "Heh... Time is running out. If you wait much longer and Ronan suffers a few more injuries, I won't make the bet."

Looking at Ronan's wretched state and hearing his agonized screams, Barbarossa grits his teeth. "He cannot possibly win! I accept! I swear upon my dragon soul that this brat will lose!"

Henwell nods lightly. "The pact is sealed. From this point on, neither of us may interfere with the ritual."

"Of course! The reputation of dragonkind is far better than that of you humans!"

Henwell cuts off their mental exchange and says coldly to Dalton, "Akta's squad has arrived, hasn't it?"

"The boy cannot hold on much longer. The ritual cannot be allowed to fail. We must obtain the intelligence in the water demon's mind."

"Go! Seize Akta's squad and bring them here! Once the boy dies, we will continue the ritual."

Dalton blinks his guileless eyes, utterly lost.

"My lord, are you saying that we should..."

Anzo immediately shoulders Dalton aside, steps forward, and salutes. "As you command! I will bring them here at once!"

Dalton is about to ask another question when Clarke, the newly appointed deputy commander of the Lord Iron Guards, pulls him back.

Clarke asks Henwell, "My lord, what else should we prepare?"

Henwell glances over his shoulder. "Bring every survivor from Lanku Village here. Bring the remains as well."

Clarke answers, "As you command, my lord!"

Dalton and Barbarossa both stare at Henwell in confusion.

Unlike the bewildered Dalton, Barbarossa asks warily, "What are you doing?"

Henwell says nothing. A cold, villainous smile spreads across his face.

Even while fighting in the spiritual world, Ronan can hear what is happening outside.

He hears Henwell's orders clearly and stares at him in disbelief, certain he must have misheard.

Then he sees the smile on Henwell's face, the smile of a storybook villain.

He has no idea what is happening or why Henwell would give such an order.

That instant of distraction gives the blue-haired water demon an opening to tear a large chunk from his shoulder.

Ronan can no longer defend himself. He can only flee.

A short while later, Anzo returns with a squad of Lord Iron Guards and dumps Akta's squad onto the ground.

Every member of Akta's squad is covered in blood, their bodies riddled with wounds deep enough to expose bone.

Chained and bleeding enough to stain the snow red, they still hold their heads high and curse Henwell and the others.

Dalton, who had been confused moments earlier, immediately draws his sword when he hears Akta's squad insulting Henwell.

Anzo steps forward to report and blocks Dalton's path at the same time.

Dalton tries to push past him, but Anzo does not budge.

He tries again. Anzo desperately signals with his eyes, but Dalton only scratches his head, baffled.

Henwell speaks. "Gallagher, what is the boy's condition?"

Gallagher is no stranger to schemes himself. He has clearly realized what Henwell intends.

"My lord, the boy is nearly finished! Kill those people. They have a connection to him."

"Sacrificing their souls and flesh will allow him to hold on a little longer."

Henwell bares his teeth in a savage grin. "Anzo, kill two of them first!"

"As you command!"

His blade flashes. Two members of Akta's squad fall, their blood spraying a scarlet stain across the snow.

Anzo carries the two bodies forward and throws them into the ritual spell formation. Gallagher shifts the formation, shredding them into a cloud of blood mist.

Ronan roars in the spiritual world, "Why? Why did you kill them? What are you doing?!"

The blue-haired water demon attacks again and tears another piece from Ronan's soul.

When she tries to press her advantage, Ronan whirls around and bites through her wrist.

An evil smile curls across Henwell's lips. "Good! It seems to be working. Keep killing them!"

As one member of Akta's squad after another is killed and erased without even a bone left behind, Ronan descends into madness.

In his frenzy, Ronan is no longer helpless beneath the water demon's attacks.

Numerous gaps appear in the blue-haired water demon's body, and the frequency of her attacks drops sharply.

Wary now, the blue-haired water demon stops attacking recklessly and circles Ronan in search of an opening.

Henwell frowns. "It seems we still don't have enough fuel. Sacrifice every survivor from the boy's village."

The weeping, screaming villagers are killed one by one and fed into the formation.

More than half an hour later, Henwell lifts three sets of remains: those of an adult, an adolescent, and a child.

Henwell smiles. "That should be enough. Gallagher, pull the souls belonging to these three sets of remains out of the underworld and feed them into the formation as fuel."

Gallagher lets out a string of sinister cackles and casts a thoroughly evil-looking spell. Three phantoms rise from beneath the ground.

Ronan recognizes his mother, his elder brother, and his little sister.

Ronan watches the souls of his family burn, screaming and begging for help as they turn to ash.

Ronan's eyes turn bloodred. He roars at the people cackling sinisterly outside, "I did everything you told me to do. Why?!"

"Why are you doing this? I gave up my own life to fight for you. Why did you still kill so many people?"

Watching Ronan's spiritual power surge, Barbarossa stamps his feet in panic. "Damn it! You despicable humans!"

"You stupid insect! Look carefully! They are all phantoms. It is all fake, every last bit of it. Just die in peace!"

Then Ronan notices the terrifying dragon beside Henwell and his sinister smile.

The evil dragon roars wildly, seemingly desperate to devour everyone's flesh and souls.

Ronan finally understands. The Blood Hill Lord is using dark spellcraft to feed the dragon at his side.

Ronan roars. Though all four limbs are maimed, his mouth splits open and twists into a hideous maw.

The sight of Ronan copying him and transforming his head into a dragon head just like his sends Barbarossa rolling across the ground in fury.