"Mid-ranked martial art, Assassin’s Grip?"

Derik abruptly raised his head, only to find a warm smile greeting him. The newcomer looked to be around eighteen years old, dressed in luxurious golden robes that gave him the appearance of a harmless young master. Yet beneath that scholarly face hid a pair of sharp eyes capable of making one’s heart tremble.

"Moon..." Derik gnashed his teeth the moment he recognized him.

Moon merely smiled lightly as though the bloody scene before him was perfectly ordinary. "Demonic cultivators truly are troublesome. Do you people really have to kill over every little matter?"

"Humph, that’s none of your business." Derik’s expression turned ugly. "Your Demon Suppression Office only deals with demons. Since when did you start meddling in human affairs?"

Moon slowly shook his head, but the determination within his gaze did not waver in the slightest. "I was ordered by Elder Albredo to ensure this young man survives tonight. If you wish to kill him..." His smile gradually faded. "You’ll have to pass through me first."

Derik’s heart sank instantly.

Moon was not joking.

The reason the top guilds and underground factions were capable of operating so freely throughout Sanctuary and Earth was precisely because the Demon Suppression Office rarely interfered with worldly conflicts. Their enemies had always been demons and demons alone.

But if the office suddenly began protecting individuals...

Derik felt his scalp turn numb at the implication.

’Moon could kill me effortlessly if he wished,’ Derik thought while cold sweat trickled down his back. ’The fact he stopped instead means someone else is involved.’

He understood exactly what kind of person Moon was. The man before him had slaughtered countless criminals and demonic cultivators without hesitation. Under normal circumstances, Derik’s corpse would already be lying on the ground.

Unless...

"You know they’re watching me," Derik suddenly spoke while staring at the heavily wounded Darius nearby. "If I die here, the city will descend into chaos. Let me finish him off and this matter ends tonight."

Moon’s expression remained indifferent. "The Demon Suppression Office will not involve itself in your internal struggles. We only require Darius to remain alive. Nothing more." He slightly narrowed his eyes. "I know what you’re thinking. You want to say that a demonic cultivator personally nurtured by your leader cannot simply be discarded."

Derik’s face stiffened.

Moon continued calmly, "I’ll make an exception tonight and leave you alive. What do you say?"

Before Derik could even answer—

"Deal."

A hoarse voice suddenly echoed through the darkness from far away. It sounded distorted, as though it was coming from every direction simultaneously.

Moon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’So they truly were watching everything from the shadows...’

The speed at which those underground factions moved genuinely surprised him. The moment a suspicious pavilion appeared and one of their hidden demons died, they immediately began investigating every possible connection.

Just as Derik finally relaxed after hearing the agreement—

A hand suddenly pierced toward his chest.

His pupils shrank violently.

Spiritual energy erupted frantically from his body as he attempted to block the attack, but at that exact moment, a strange golden energy disrupted the flow of his cultivation completely.

Before he could react...

Squelch!

A hand pierced directly into his chest and gripped his still-beating heart.

"Didn’t your master teach you something very important?" A familiar voice slowly sounded beside his ear. "In a battle to the death... the moment you relax is usually the moment you die."

Derik’s eyes widened in horror.

Standing before him was Darius.

The same Darius who moments ago looked half-dead.

The same Darius who should not have even been capable of standing.

Yet now, not only had he appeared beside him like a ghost, but his movements were even faster and more decisive than earlier.

Everything became clear instantly.

He had been tricked from the very beginning.

No...

Not only him.

Even Moon had been deceived.

Derik slowly turned his head toward Moon with desperate eyes filled with terror.

"Save..."

Crack!

Before the word could fully leave his mouth, Darius clenched his fist.

"Die."

The calm voice echoed softly beneath the night sky.

Blood exploded outward as Derik’s heart was crushed apart within Darius’s grasp. His body violently trembled twice before collapsing lifelessly onto the ground.

Silence followed.

Moon stood frozen in place while cold sweat slowly dripped down his forehead.

Even after fighting demons for years, the scene before him still made his heart tremble slightly.

Too vicious.

This young pavilion master truly fought like a cornered madman.

"Moon." The distorted voice from the darkness sounded once more, this time carrying rare seriousness. "Derik... is the young master’s father."

Moon swallowed dryly before looking toward Darius once again.

At this moment, Darius casually fixed his disheveled hair, gathered spiritual energy toward the bloody hole in his chest, then calmly swallowed an elixir before stepping on the shattered remains of Derik’s heart beneath his feet.

"Disgusting," he muttered lightly.

Moon’s expression turned increasingly complicated.

Compared to Darius, many demonic cultivators he had encountered throughout his life suddenly seemed almost reasonable.

Darius then turned toward him with a faint smile as though nothing significant had happened moments ago. "So you’re the person Elder Albredo sent to protect me? Thank you for the assistance. Please pass him a message for me." He dusted off his robes calmly. "I won’t be needing protection anymore."

Moon forced out a bitter smile before clasping his fists silently.

For the first time in years...

He genuinely did not know what to say.

It felt as though both he and Elder Albredo had been played from beginning to end.

***

Six hours later, inside the Demon Suppression Office of Dragon City...

Bam!

Albredo slammed his palm against the table with enough force to crack it apart while veins bulged across his forehead. Moon and another young woman stood nearby with lowered heads, not daring to utter a single word.

"To think there would come a day where I, Albredo, would be schemed against by some little brat." His expression twitched violently. "That damned boy truly threw me into a troublesome situation."

Moon almost choked hearing those words.

’Schemed against?’ he thought inwardly. ’You barely even leave Dragon City...’

Beside him, the young woman hesitated briefly before asking carefully, "Grandfather... I don’t understand. Didn’t Darius simply kill a demonic cultivator? Shouldn’t that be considered a good thing?"

Albredo’s furious expression softened slightly after hearing his granddaughter speak.

"You still don’t understand." He sighed heavily before leaning back in his chair. "The moment Moon publicly interfered and declared Darius under our protection, the underground factions no longer see him as an independent individual."

"They now see him as one of ours."

Moon’s eyes twitched slightly.

Albredo continued bitterly, "In their eyes, Darius is now an unofficial agent of the Demon Suppression Office. Meaning..." He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Instead of causing trouble for Darius and his pavilion, those people will begin targeting us instead."

After a brief silence, Albredo suddenly laughed from anger.

"That little fox gained stability for his pavilion overnight..." His gaze darkened slightly. "And we became his shield without even realizing it."