The Gordons hadn’t yet reached the point where they could bare their fangs openly, and Alec wasn’t about to become the reason the City Lord got the excuse he needed to strike, especially not now, when the clan was still unprepared for such a confrontation.
You can have him,” Alec said calmly, waving his left hand as the corpse tumbled out of his space ring along with its head, sliding toward the City Lord, who stopped it by placing a foot on it.
The faces of the Gordons’ Elders and Patriarch nearly twisted in shock, none of them had expected Alec to let go of the body so easily, they all knew just how notoriously stubborn he could be.
But once the body was relinquished, they eased their stance and withdrew their aura pressure, the City Lord followed suit, sensing that he no longer had leverage over them.
“Gordons mages, let’s go home.
We’ve done our part,” Alec said, and many of them moved with arms slung over their comrades’ shoulders, heading back toward the city.
To the City Lord, it was oddly amusing that a mere youth had become the spokesman for the Gordons clan, though he knew Alec was George’s heir, but today he realized just how much autonomy that boy had, and how dangerous that combination of martial prowess and eloquence truly was.
It solidified a chilling thought in his mind, and that was the fact that Alec was one of the Gordons who had to be eliminated before he grew any further.
Alec’s rapid rise in power unnerved him—but more than that, something else had shaken him.
He, a Tier 8 mage, had just had his aura completely neutralized by George and his brother, it exposed how deeply he had underestimated their strength.
He had always assumed that when the time came to tear off the mask of diplomacy and attack, he’d be able to crush them with ease.
But that single moment had shown him just how limited his vision had been all along.
‘I need to start making plans,’ the City Lord thought grimly.
After breaking through to the Tier 8 realm with the support of the Dragonmir’s clan, as reward to his city’s rising influence and the alliances he had forged elsewhere, he had grown complacent.
And assumed that those mages stuck in the Tier 7 realm could never pose a threat, but this Gordons clan… they grow more mysterious with each passing day, and no matter what, he felt he must be the one to see their downfall.
He finally turned to face the rest of the city’s forces who had aided in the battle, putting on a practiced smile.
Just as he was preparing to deliver a heartfelt speech in appreciation of their efforts, a voice cut through the moment.
“My clan would also like to retrieve the corpses of the two Tier 7 zombies I killed,” the Darkbliss Patriarch said flatly,
“If you don’t mind, I would prefer that only my standard merit points be calculated.”
“What?” the City Lord looked stunned, taken aback by the unexpected request.
But the look in the Darkbliss Patriarch’s eyes made it clear, this wasn’t a request.
He had made up his mind.
It drove the City Lord nearly mad, as to why even the Darkbliss clan, which was known for avoiding unnecessary waves, was now trying to claim zombie corpses like the Gordons?, Was there some hidden secret about them that he had yet to uncover?
He leaned in, lowering his voice as he asked,
“If you don’t mind me asking… what does someone of your stature want with a zombie corpse?”
The Darkbliss Patriarch responded plainly,
“The Gordons clan is organizing an auction, and you also heard Alec mention that corpses of Tiered lifeforms can be used as currency.
I’m just taking my chances.”
At that moment, the City Lord noticed the shifting expressions among the other remaining clans members present, and with a sinking feeling, he realized he’d made a serious mistake, he had asked that question in front of far too many people.
Very soon, his fears were confirmed.
One after another, clan leaders began requesting the corpses of the zombies their clan members had killed, every single one of them wanted a seat at the Gordons clan’s upcoming auction, and were eager to discover what the clan had to offer.
After witnessing the strength the Gordons had displayed, they were convinced there was something valuable to gain in that auction and if corpses could serve as currency, they were more than willing to fight for their share, even if it meant reclaiming them from the hands of the city hall.
The City Lord could only stare in frustration as the clan leaders crowded him, their demands echoing in his ears, demands that had started the moment he’d questioned the Darkbliss Patriarch.
In the end, he couldn’t refuse them, having already permitted the Gordons to claim their share under the laws of the Northern Kingdom, he had no grounds to deny the others.
And so, reluctantly, he gave in, some clans even took more corpses than they had killed, and by the time the frenzy ended, the battlefield was left so bare that even the City Lord struggled to reconcile the few scraps remaining with the bloodbath that had once taken place there.
What stung most was that only two high-rank zombie bodies remained, a devastating blow.
If Alec was telling the truth, the higher the realm of the zombie, the greater its value.
Without hesitation, the City Lord stored the remaining corpses in a space ring and passed it into Alistair’s hand.
“Take this to our research branch, and give it to the lead researcher, tell him he can use as many corpses as needed, but before the day of that auction, I want to know exactly what makes these zombie remains so important.
I don’t care what it takes—find out why the Gordons are hoarding them.” he ordered.