Chapter 592: Chapter 592: A Grave Silence

Maurice boiled with fury as Zen seemed to have a fighting spirit. He attacked while withdrawing back. No one ever dared to get on his nerves and challenge him. However, these were blows of a dying horse in Maurice's eyes.

“Losers never concede defeat despite their overthrow as they still fight like a cornered wild-monster. This is a futile battle and you are nothing close to a wild beast but an ant that can be simply suppressed and trampled upon. It's of no use putting up a fight.”

Maurice was determined to kill Zen whom he thought was the primary source of all the pandemonium. As long as Zen died, the Demon Night would have no connection with human race and would not dare to challenge the ogre race. The enthusiasm of getting rid of Zen stirred up Maurice's psyche. The aftermath of the Demon Night revenging after eliminating Zen together with their queen was less of his interest. After all the ogre race didn't fear them.

There was starlight expelled, and it had been unmistakably clear. This was because of Zen's punch.

Zen's punch was more influential and vigorous despite it being underestimated for a mild punch. The dim light emanated hidden force from the punch. In the real sense it was more energetic than it seemed and it was even more powerful than any common cultivation technique.

“Snap!” Being an ogre, Maurice was full of himself and assumed that he would smash the star radiance of Zen's fist. His hands were masculine, meaning they had tremendous power, but he didn't recognize that he chewed more than he could ingest. His confidence outweighed his capability. According to him, the potential he bore would be abundant to appease his ego while crushing the star radiance.

There was a dazzling light that spurted out of Maurice's right hand. This was way far beyond his inferences, since according to him his energy could beat the star radiance. The dazzling light was initiated when the two fighters' fists struck. The forceful energy emitted from Maurice's hand was immensely strong.

An excruciating intense pain erupted from Maurice's right hand because of the effect of the collision.

His speed slackened. The fellow he assumed way below him had inflicted pain on his right hand. With confusion written all over his face, he lifted his right hand to check. Blood oozed from his hand and cracks had flared up. He howled out recklessly in disbelief. “Ha-ha! How spectacular a mere human war fighter has dared defy me and above all injure me!”

Elder Mei and Madeline had to safeguard Zen, who by now was in the arena's edge after withdrawing back. They stood in front of him to protect him. Lavender also flashed on Zen's side. She had the opportunity of striking with her sword but she knew she wouldn't be able to hit Maurice. So she withdrew back and stood next to Zen, remaining as mute as a grave.

Fabian and Jarrod exchanged glances and joined Zen while standing in front of him.

“How enchanting! You two human clowns! No one has ever crossed my path so who do you think you are to challenge me? By the look of things, you humans really don't want the seats in the Tower of Sin anymore,” Malcom uttered the words while over sixty ogre war lords followed him as he strode into the arena.

The existence of many ogre war lords surrounding them meant more harm than good. The situation was tricky and troublesome for them since it was so complicated to tackle.

The tallies and positions separated the high and mighty from the inferior ones. From this perception the ogre war lords considered the humans as buffoons. Their positions gave them the title regarding the humans had only four seats in the Tower of Sin. In depth, three of the four human seat holders ranked lower than a hundred, and the only human seat holder who was considered outshining the three was only ranked ninety-second.

Fabian and Jarrod had envisaged what would happen to them if the ogres took the power and that was why they didn't have second thoughts joining Zen. They had analyzed the positive and negative sides before deciding to join Zen. It was not an awful idea.

Demon Night was on Zen's side. This gave them a slight hope since the Demon Night wasn't feebler than the ogres. They had been afraid previously because they were in no position to tackle the ogres by themselves. In the Tower of Sin, the ogres were strong but the Demon Night had the capacity to overshadow them.

Zen planted a smirk on his face while glancing at Maurice, who was a stone's throw away. Acting as if all was well he spoke calmly, “Huh! Are human seats handed out by you? Or is there a written policy, that the ogre race is the only one entitled to determine everything in the Tower of Sin?”

Many races from the Sea God Continent had tried to repress the Tower of Sin. All the efforts had turned out to be futile. Finally they came to an agreement that the Tower of Sin was not entitled to a particular race. That was why so many races could send their talents into the Tower of Sin to cultivate!

Maurice in a twinkle of an eye signaled the ogre war lords to attack. Zen's assertions were none of his business. An excellent move called for an advantage on his side. The human war lords and the Demon Night war lords would be torn apart if the ogre war lords rushed forward.

As he plotted his ambush, a crisp voice rang out, “Yes! The Tower of Sin belongs to all races. No specific race should be entitled to it! By the look of things your motions were wholly based on your own opinion without caring about other seat owners who also are a part and parcel of the Tower of Sin!” ȒаƝỔ𝐛Ёš

Members of the Demon Night in a dozen gathered at the entrance of the eleventh floor. The highest percentage of them were feminine, but few males whose facial appearance displayed attractiveness were present.

The sight of war lords of Demon Night made Maurice's face turn dull. This changed his mood and his high spirits.

According to the ranks, Maurice was the second despite him being considered the high and mighty. The top ranked positions were all seized by the Demon Night, who had a dozen seats in the Tower of Sin. Moreover, they had secured the first place among the one hundred and twenty-eight seats, which meant that the toughest seat holder came from the Demon Night.

Esther Ling was the holder of the first seat and the person who spoke just now.

Esther Ling, with a buoyant attitude, led the war lords of the Demon Night and proceeded towards them. She was confident and had faith in herself. She emitted an aura of tact and poise. Just a moment ago, the aura emitted from Maurice made many of the creatures on the tenth floor feel as if it submerged them in the lava. But now, they could feel vitality and vigor from Esther Ling's aura, as if they were in the spring when the snow had just melted. Everyone felt immediately revived and vigorous.

Esther Ling led the many top-level war lords of the Demon Night to ramble towards Lavender. Her eyes gazed across the group of people before her. Then she went down on one knee and greeted Lavender, “Your majesty!”

All in unison the top-level war lords that followed Esther Ling acted and knelt down.

After glancing at the top-level war lords, Lavender broke her silence and spoke, “Stand up.”

Glancing at Maurice, Esther Ling stood up and declared, “Long live our queen. Our lives are her majesty's. Maurice, it's not a harsh task for you to have a second opinion before passing a hasty decision.”

The Demon Night had grown in power over the past few years and had already surpassed the Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and Dread Ogre Sacred Place. However, this race was not violent or bloodthirsty. So when facing the overbearing ogre race, they had always chosen to tolerate them. As long as the ogre race wasn't doing something out of the way, the Demon Night wouldn't push them too much.

But today the case was different. The queen Lavender's presence changed everything. The Demon Night didn't give in to their woes. Their queen meant everything and Elder Mei had told Malcom that if that meant eliminating Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and Dread Ogre Sacred Place at all costs, they would gladly do so.

Maurice had to act fast as there were so many roadblocks on the way. It was now or never to get rid of Zen, who by all channels was consistently one step ahead of him. This was the only option he had considering Esther Ling was present with other Demon Night war lords. “Esther Ling, our ogre race will heartily give up five seats in exchange for the life of that lowlife Zen.”

Five seats being granted voluntarily in exchange for Zen was an immense privilege and a walk in the park.

The ogres had twenty-six seats in the Tower of Sin, while the Demon Night had sixteen. If both parties came to a truce and the offer was to be accepted, then both sides would have an equal number of seats, with each having twenty-one seats.

Having the gate pass to the Dark Nether Cave was a mouthwatering chance. Various races had been contemplating for this chance, and gaining one more seat meant that they had five more qualifications to get in the Dark Nether Cave.

The humans had struggled for so many years, yet they only had four seats. But now, the ogres just offered five seats to the Demon Night. This was equivalent to slicing a big bunch of meat off the ogre race, which was already a huge concession. And this concession was made only for the exchange of Zen's life.

Fabian and Jarrod always freaked out and Maurice's offer made them agitated.

The deal was too good for Demon Night to resist.

Zen would be dead and the human race would be wiped out if the Demon Night accepted the deal. The aftermath would be incredible!

Fabian and Jarrod got it right.

Maurice had exactly the hidden agenda to eliminate the human race. Human race being wiped out meant four seats would be entitled to the ogre race despite them losing five seats to the Demon Night.

Esther Ling couldn't help but force a plastic smile on her face. “Which part of my sentence don't you understand and what language can I adopt for your brain to absorb? Maurice, let me elaborate this by a basic illustration. If our queen requests that everyone in the Demon Night should end their lives, the over one million members would gladly do so. No one would put a knife on necks but we would do so by our own will and without second thoughts. Get that clear in your head?”

The entire Demon Night comprised a million members. This was because they had a low reproduction ability. Despite that, they regarded themselves as elites, because they were born nature creatures. This described why their fighting techniques were on par with that of the human race with a hundred million humans, despite the Demon night only having a million members.

Esther Ling's speech was true and not extravagant.

Lavender had all the authorities. With all the vigor, the Demon Night perceived Lavender as a divine emblem. Other than being influential to the creatures of the Lower World, she had authority even in the Upper World.

The faces of Maurice and all the other ogre top-level war lords darkened by Esther Ling's utterances.

“In brief you mean that you are not ready to comply with my terms?” Maurice said firmly.

“That's right. That's my ultimate verdict.” Esther Ling nodded.

��You resolve to settle this through a war between our ogre race and Demon Night, is that your final remark in this matter?” Maurice repeated

“Yes, that's our final comment and we will abide by it.” Esther Ling stood firm in her decision and nodded again.

“Hahahahahaha...” Maurice suddenly raised his head and giggled fiercely. His raucous roar was so mighty that it resounded throughout the entire tenth floor. “You Demon Night think you have grown powerful enough to challenge our ogre race!”

Esther Ling frowned.

Madeline's and Elder Mei's eyebrows furrowed. The way Maurice reacted implied that the ogre race had a secret trump card under their sleeve in the Tower of Sin. Their actions spoke louder.

The Demon Night was more robust than the ogres in the Tower of Sin. If a war broke out between them, the Demon Night would hold the winning title. It was discerned that the Demon Night contained a peculiar expertise with Amber on their side. They would wipe out the ogre war lords present. If Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and Dread Ogre Sacred Place started a war, their chances of winning the battle against the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place which belonged to the Demon Night were slight.

In the effect of the battle both sides would suffer great losses.

The Heavenly Feather Sacred Place could be back at its feet with Amber assisting them. The Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and Dread Ogre Sacred Place would have a rough time reestablishing themselves. This would contribute to vengeance from the diverse races in indignation.

What was Maurice clinging on as a backup? Or what were these ogres relying on?

Maurice suddenly shouted, his tone proving courage. “Patriarch Colin! Patriarch Neil! Time has occurred to reveal yourselves!”

“Thump! Thump! Thump!”

Two ogres walked down majestically from the eleventh floor.

An intimidating aura was produced due to the great thumps of the ogres. It was ten times more powerful than that of Maurice!

Seeing the two ogres, Esther Ling couldn't help but blurt out, “Colin! Neil! Weren't those ogres perceived to be dead? Why...”

“War sages! War sages appeared in the Tower of Sin!” in the midst, one yelled out. This was like bumping into a dead man alive.

Seeing those two ogres, Zen's heart suddenly sank. The ogre race could now celebrate as they had strong ones who had reached the level of war sage, and the Demon Night was still in the darkness concerning this issue. How on earth could war sages step into the Cursed Land and enter the Tower of Sin?

Relating to Phoebe's words, this was like a reverie! 'How was this even possible?' Esther Ling thought with her eyes wide open in shock.

According to the hierarchy, the highest ranking in the Sea God Continent was the Soul Sea Realm masters!

Below the Soul Sea Realm were war sages, and down further were war lords, war generals and the hierarchy continued.

There were usually only a few powerful masters in the Soul Sea Realm in each sacred place. The war sages formed the real backbone of the forces.

Tower of Sin had rules. These measures were put from its existence. The rule was that no Soul Sea Realm masters or war sages could enter the Cursed Land. If any of them dared to go against this rule they would perish.

The rule was in place ever since the emergence of Tower of Sin and nothing changed. A particular trend cropped up because of the restrictions imposed on the Cursed Land. All the races decided to create transmission arrays and most of them led to the Cursed Land. To those warriors below the level of war sage, these transmission arrays were nothing more than ordinary transmission arrays!

However, for war sages and Soul Sea Realm masters, they were baits and could end their lives.

Back then, many war sages and a small number of Soul Sea Realm masters from different races ended up dead in the Cursed Land. This resulted in they being duped and sweet-talked to enter the transmission arrays. That was how they perished.

Later it had become an unwritten rule on the Sea God Continent that both war sages and Soul Sea Realm masters didn't use transmission arrays. Nothing prepared them to what they would encounter if they randomly entered any transmission array. They had to be extra cautious, since not refraining from entering the transmission array that led them to the Cursed Land was dangerous. They would encounter a shameful death.

In front of them were the two war sages who suddenly appeared in the Tower of Sin. Lots of top-level war lords who witnessed stood in disbelief.

There were tests that were carried out by the Demon Night and ogre race earlier on.

They had tried to make their top-level war lords break through to the next level directly in the Tower of Sin!

There was a curse. Anyone who fought in the Cursed Land would suffer the consequences. The effect was death. Such barriers didn't exist in the Tower of Sin. This led to races figuring out that if war sages and Soul Sea Realm masters were not allowed to enter the Tower of Sin, would it work if war lords made the breakthrough in the Tower of Sin and became war sages there? Would the whole process elude them from the punishment?

The result was surprising.

The curse never inflicted any casualty at first. Those martial artist who managed to become war sages in the Tower of Sin were not eliminated by the curse. However, that was short lived. After they promoted themselves to war sages and stayed in the Tower of Sin for ten days, the effects of the curse were seen since one after the other newly-turned war sages died.

Perhaps it was because they were in the Tower of Sin, those who completed their breakthrough and became war sages in the Tower of Sin did not die immediately. While those war sages who had directly rushed into the Cursed Land almost died a miserable death right on the spot in an instant. The few war sages who reached the new level from the top-level war lords in the Tower of Sin had a chronic death. Their body would fester and start rotting gradually. They would suffer all kinds of pain and finally die in agony.

That experience frightened the top-level war lords of any race. The thought of that held them back from breaking through in the Tower of Sin. Instead, they opted to leave the Tower of Sin and the Cursed Land when they planned to make a breakthrough. They went for good without returning.

Colin and Neil were not strangers to Esther Ling and the top-level war lords of the Demon Night.

Having been the top-level war lords previously, the two ogres also had been seat owners. They had searched for golden chances in the Dark Nether Cave which cut their lives short.

It shocked Esther Ling as well as the other creatures who thought they were dead all this while. As if that was not enough, they had broken through and become war sages. The most shocking part was to see them in the Tower of Sin. Esther Ling was more shocked by this news. This revelation too shocked the Demon Night.

“According to the situation at hand, the ogres were alert and knew of the two ogres. They knew they had a backup support!” Now Madeline and Elder Mei realized why Malcom and Maurice were full of themselves when they confronted them. After all, they had two more superior beings.

“we are ruined...” Fabian looked at Jarrod. Fear took control of his body. How would he act like everything was normal now?

Jarrod wasn't any better than Fabian and fear also engulfed him. Everything took a different turn now. After believing that they had seen a light at the end of the tunnel, hey suddenly found that everything was shattered. Everything not even the surrounding was safe and fresh to feel confident in. The human race was troubled. They had counted their eggs before they hatched. They had felt lucky to have the Demon Night on their side, but the emergence of the two ogres ruined everything. They tried figuring out how the ogre war sages had managed to appear here without receiving any punishment.

Had the ogre race worked out a way to break the spell of the Cursed Land and be alive? This was impossible! Having existed for many years, the curse of the Cursed Land was not easy to break. It was next to impossible for anyone to survive the curse and break it.

The two being in front of them alive and kicking answered their questions. They had survived. And now their presence had one agenda….

“Esther, ha-ha! You are still a top-level war lord. Me being alive and kicking was the last thing you would have thought, right?” Colin burst into sarcastic laughter.

There was a reason Esther Ling didn't become a sage earlier. Neither the Demon Night nor the Heavenly Feather Sacred Land wanted Maurice to be the strongest person among the seat owners. The competition was intense in the Tower of Sin; if she broke through, she had no option but to leave the Tower of Sin. This would leave Maurice with all the privileges, which was something that neither Demon Night nor the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place would expect to see.

Unless another top-level war lord emerged and was able to overcome Maurice, Esther's hands were tied and she had to continue to suppress her cultivation level. But if a top-level war lord appeared in the Demon Night and could defeat Maurice, Esther Ling would then leave the Tower of Sin, leave the Cursed Land, and return to the sacred place of Demon Night to break through.

Back then Colin and Neil were both top-level war lords, the same as Esther Ling. However, Esther Ling was way much ahead of Colin and Neil. At that time, Collin and Neil only ranked after top forty, which made them no matches for Esther Ling.

Tables turned…

Collin and Neil had both become war sages while Esther was still a top-level war lord.

The once defeated foes had surpassed her. Her facial expression was like an open book that both Collins and Neil could read.

The two ogres' appearance destroyed everything. The equity and balance created would now be in favour of the ogres. This would mean that the Demon Night was in hot soup. They would face the wrath of the ogres.

“I wonder how did you pull through? You have already become war sages. What's the secret to you having no barriers entering the Tower of Sin?” Esther Ling asked.

“Hahaha!” Patriarch Colin laughed loudly.

“Hahahaha!” Neil joined him as he let out a hysterical laugh.

There was a sarcastic laughter in the tenth floor of the Tower of Sin. Maurice, Malcom and the ogre top-level war lords laughed all in unison. Their faces described happy souls trying to mimic the surprised face of Esther Ling.

Before the other races came to protest the monopoly of the ogre race on the Tower of Sin, the ogre race was at the height of power and splendor and it almost dominated the Tower of Sin. However, after the other races formed allies and forced them to share the Tower of Sin, the situation for the ogre race declined. After Amber appeared, the black horse led the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place to soar to the top. For the past hundred years, whether it was outside of the Cursed Land or inside the Tower of Sin, the Demon Night had been suppressing the ogres wherever they went.

Although the ogres were extremely annoyed, they didn't have any way to change the situation. Most of time, they could only bear with it and swallow the pain.

Everything was turned around. Today. The two ogre war sages were present in the Tower of Sin!

A war sage was so mighty that it could sweep through the entire Tower of Sin. Considering the strongest martial artist in the Tower of Sin was only a top-level war lord, the two mighty war sages with the ogres meant super powerful combination.

The powerful collaboration of ogre war sages and ogre war lords implied that the Tower of Sin would be under control of the ogres again.

Zen was so pissed off by the hysterical laughter of the ogre top-level war lords and the two war sages. How could they dare laugh especially on this critical situation? Zen suddenly shook his head with a bored look. He took a deep breath, then infused his life vitality into his chest and suddenly shouted out loud, “What is so funny that you two dunderheads are laughing about? What's so special about being war sages?”

The ogre top-level war lords and the two war sages only laughed in a hasty manner. They did not use their forceful energy when they laughed to intimidate the crowd, while Zen had infused life vitality when he shouted. So his loud voice instantly drowned out all the laughter.

There was a grave silence on the tenth floor of the Tower of Sin. One would think there was no one present. This was after Zen ended uttering his words.