At the top of the food chain

Stein took a last smirk at the boy before training his genital. He was just about to force it inside when his whole body froze up in terror. At once he jumped back, looking all around. Nothing. All around him there was nothing that had changed, except a sudden drop in the temperature. Every hair on his body stood at its end.

The next thing he noticed was the apparent frown on Greg's face. Just like him he too should have noticed the strange phenomenon. "Can you guys feel it, too?" "Yeah, it's grown colder in here!" Voices of his friends emerged from behind him. "What's is happening here, Greg?" It was just a drop in temperature but combining it with the mumblings of the boy, somehow Stein had a bad feeling about this. Didn't he say that someone was watching them? Can it be an expert?

He rubbished the thought as soon as it surfaced. What good can an 'expert' from a ragtag border town be? The only person he can challenge his guardian here was the Grand Magus Emily herself. But it was an open secret that she had cut herself off from this place decades back.

Greg stepped aside, taking a few steps forward and trying to perceive the changes around him, with his extended mana sense. He was a true expert in cultivation, belonging to the cream of the empire. Despite the fact that he can't trace anything, his decades of experience meant he had developed a sixth sense for any grave dangers. And right now it was tingling hard.

"You need to get back, young master." Not wanting to make any sudden movements he composedly commanded the boys ahead of him. "Master Stein, you need to get back!!" He was annoyed after the boys refused to listen to him. This was a severe situation. He had a hunch that there is definitely another entity present with them, right in this very house.

"Gregg.. behind you..!!" Stein and his friends and a terrified face as they struggled to crawl back, even forgetting to get up. That's when the man noticed that the boys had their gazes affixed not on him, rather behind him. Immediately he turned around and jumped multiple steps back.

"Hehehe.. hehe..!!" A grim chuckle echoed in the hall. The grievously injured boy had forced himself back on his feet. His face was extremely pale, lacking any signs of blood. His hair grown by more than a foot, he was depleting mana from the surroundings at a monstrous pace.

"It was not hard at all.. ahahaha... Do you believe me now, kid? You can't rely on anyone but me haha... Where is your little grandma when you needed her the most? Hahaha.." He seems to be talking to himself. It sounded crazy but Greg had no time to mind any of it because there was an even more strange occurrence going on with him.

Right in front of his eyes, he saw the wounds on his body sealed up, all at once. What was even more perplexing was that Greg can sense even the broken bones of his body rejoin. That's not something even an expert healer can pull off. In a matter of minutes, the boy was practically reborn.

"You should learn to rely on me faster. It would have been bad if your little lover here had been defiled haha.." 'Ryu' took a step and picked up Kira in his arms. "She is a cute one indeed. Such trauma for a little soul. Let's put you to sleep for a while." His words were tender but there was no single remorse in his heart, instead, it was filled with a single emotion, ecstasy. This girl had been the reason he had gotten a free hand, with the boy willingly stepping back.

"At this rate, it won't be long hehehe.." While he chuckled in his usual grim tone, Kira levitated from his hands and was placed together with Lyla. As soon as she landed beside her mother, roots wriggled out of the ground and pulled their bodies underground.

"May I know who you might be?" Greg had taken a step back but his confidence had not been shaken. This was definitely not the boy from earlier, rather an entity that had been residing inside of him. It was not simply a matter of changed voice. His whole demeanor had changed. This thing must have been hiding in his body, otherwise, he would have noticed someone approaching them from miles away.

Even then, just the fact that it remained hidden for all this while meant that it can be difficult to deal with this guy. Hopefully, they can avoid a confrontation.

"Hmm? Me?" A single word from his mouth felt like it directly impacted their souls. "Haha... Believe me, you got bigger concerns right now... Oops... I almost forgot... It will be bad if you end up running away. Just a second." *Clap*

Right at that moment, Greg's heart jerked. With wide eyes he witnessed the boy bring his hands together and begin forming multiple seals in rapid succession. "Now no one will disturb us. We can have our sweet time together hehehe.. hahaha.." It's not always that the demon was so happy. This had been his aim all along, slowly getting the boy accustomed to his powers. Once they are inseparable, he can then set his plans in motion.

Greg had no idea what those hand signs meant but one thing was clear, the situation had turned extremely grave at this moment. Why? Because there was a barrier that had manifested around them, that was blocking his senses from leaking out. That meant, similarly no other sense that was even at his same level can't snoop inside. This guy was truly planning to lock himself with them.

"Haha... Please don't try something that you might regret. Do you know which family we belong to?" The entity didn't bother replying. With a wide smile, he tilted his head to the side, allowing the man to continue while his body kept soaking up the mana.

Stein and others took a relieving breath after the dreaded being didn't resort to violence. They had multiple ways to convince the guy as such. Though Stein believed in Greg's capability but somehow the entity didn't feel human at all, generating a primal fear in their hearts just by standing there.

"Young master Stein here is the only offspring of the Pediot family. I hope you can give a face to their reputation and back down." It was a well-constructed sentence however the veiled threat was behind it was evident for anyone listening.

"Are you done? Go on, amuse me. You got... hmm.. around one more minute." His feet left the ground and the boy was now suspended mid-air, looking down on them with his crooked smile.

Greg found sweat forming on his forehead. All this while he had been keeping track of this guy and with each passing second he can feel his presence growing more massive. There was no end to its ravenous devouring of the mana. Combining that with his unrelenting gaze, despite him bringing the name of the family he served, meant that he can't let this guy get any stronger than this.

'Master Stein, I will open the barrier in the next few seconds. Take your friends and run away. Once you guys leave I will take on this guy.' Stein received the mental transmission, informing him of the imminent confrontation between these two powerful experts. Greg must not have been sure that he could protect them simultaneously, hence the plan.

"Then you leave me no choice! Hold him off, Reji!!" With a shout, he dashed backward and while doing so a magic circle was created right in front of him. A large feline creature with black stripes landed in the hall. It was twice the size of a large tiger with yellow fur. It was summoned from the spirit realm just like Nerissa.

But this one clearly lacked the intelligence she possessed, only responding to commands. *Rooaar* The spirit beast immediately launched itself towards the suspended entity mid-air. Meanwhile, Greg had taken the opportunity to reach the edge of the formed barrier. His first priority was to get Stein out of here. After that, he will take this guy on with all his might.

A long sword appeared in his hands and he smashed it over on the transparent barriers containing all of them. *Booom* The force of his strike was such that the entire house was blown away into bits. "Fuuckk!!" Greg's hand was numb from the earlier strike however the barrier stood as unassuming as earlier.

Stein and his friends had huddled together on the ground, barely managing to survive the massive blast that tore away the canopy over their heads. Their eardrums still buzzed from earlier. Even then, they noticed that there was not a single disturbance right outside of the barrier. While the inside looked like a tornado passed through here, not even the grass on the lawns was harmed, the outside.

Greg gritted his teeth. He had been ready for such a possibility. He took a look back to make sure the Reji was still trying to bite onto the floating entity, who was avoiding every attempt with its agility. He knew that his spirit beast won't be able to hold on longer. He had to make every second count. *Bit* He hurriedly tore open the skin on his palm, marking the handle of the sword with his blood.

"Respond to my unfaltering will... O great one!!" His lips moved at a rapid pace chanting through multiple spells at once. *Rumble* *Rumble* Mana from his reserves poured out, swirling around and wrapping his whole body. His eyes began to glow as he reached the limits of his powers. His foot swept back as he pulled back his sword.

*Strike* *Boooooommm* The earth rumbled as the topsoil was eroded by the blast. This time there was nothing left of the earlier house that stood there. Everything had been turned to dust. Greg had intentionally saved the boys, otherwise, this much energy release would have made them explode from inside.

*Huff* *Huff* Having not held anything back this time around, there was no limit to his despair once the dust settled around him. "One more would certainly break it. Why don't you try again?" The heavy voice returned. Greg turned around to find his spirit beast whimpering on the ground with its insides laid out on the ground. Spirit beings can't be killed in this realm but they can be left useless. He saw Reji's body break up into yellow glitters before fading away.

There was no escape from this prison. He knew the guy was just mocking him. Even if he tried 10 more times, the result will hardly differ. Now his only choice was to defeat this guy and make his release this barrier. "Ahahaha.. Don't tell me you have given up so soon, human. I got my hopes too high, it seems." Greg didn't interrupt his monologue, using the time to recover his energy.

"Hehehe.. let me tell you a fact. Even a wretched Angel would have had to sacrifice a limb to escape this barrier. And creatures like you think you can break it with a peg of your blood? How foolish!!" The mana around the boy had slowed down, signifying that he was almost ready.

Greg took a lasting look at the boys shoveled together in one corner. Each one of them was bleeding through all the orifice of their heads. Naturally, he could not keep them entirely safe from the last wave. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips and painted it on his swords just like earlier. He planned to go all out from the start. A single hesitation can lead to disastrous consequences.

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