Chapter 2

The Sacred Heart had been taken away, and now, the Secret Realm had collapsed, trapping everyone inside. They could only leave three years later after the force field completely dissolved away.

The beastmen in the Secret Realm were all on the verge of breaking down.

"I've only just reached adulthood and haven't even had the chance to cultivate yet! But now, I won't be able to cultivate anymore with the Sacred Heart gone. I don't want to regress into a beast!"

"How could she just take the Sacred Heart away and destroy the entire Secret Realm for a lowly rat-rabbit hybrid like him?"

"We're finished! We're doomed! We're all going to die!"

"Go to hell, both of you!"

I watched the scene unfold and felt the beastmen's despair and sorrow. However, Jasper, the main culprit behind it all, frowned upon hearing their cries and began complaining to Priscilla instead.

"Prissy! They're all yelling at me and cursing me to die! I'm so upset and unhappy, and I'm really scared of them now too!"

"Whoever dares to upset Jas deserves to die!" Priscilla declared, her eyes filled with murderous intent as her eyes darted around.

I watched their flippant attitude and couldn't help but smirk at them. At this point, Priscilla was the second-most powerful beastman in the Secret Realm, after me. If it weren't for that fact, I knew that the other beastmen wouldn't have hesitated to beat her and Jasper up for their attitude.

Jasper didn't forget to drag me into the mud as well.

"Look, Prissy, I think your husband is going to nag at you too."

Why was he still harping on me even though I'd already kept my distance from them?

I didn't want to pay any heed to those two idiots. However, Priscilla roared at me and said, "Don't you dare keep testing my patience, Kael!"

I was speechless at her words. However, I was even more curious about something else.

"Priscilla, you do know that the beastmen trapped in here are all the most outstanding youth from their clans, right? Aren't you the least bit afraid that their clan leaders will hold a grudge against you for hurting them?"

Priscilla burst out laughing. "Did you think I'm as cowardly as you that I have to be afraid of them? So what if their clan leaders stand before me today? I'd still kill them all without blinking!"

She really was so full of herself.

In the past, when she kept offending other beastmen left and right and even had assassins sent for her head, I was the one who cleaned up after her and protected her from the shadows without her knowing.

If it weren't for my protection, she wouldn't even be able to stand up to the young masters and young mistresses of the other clans, let alone the clan leaders themselves.

However, I hadn't even had the chance to say any of that when Jasper sighed and said, "Prissy, you know that I'm a very likable and lovable beastman. So, why are there so many of them laughing and making fun of me today?

"Do you think it's because Kael has been talking to them and purposely turning them all against me?"

At that, Priscilla flew into another temper and began screaming at me.

"Kael Vaxenroth! How dare you! Just wait till I kill every single one of the beastmen making fun of Jasper. I'll come for your throat then!"

Then, Priscilla killed every beastman in the Secret Realm who had been poking at Jasper. Fresh blood spilled out all over the ground littered with broken limbs and bodies.

No one else dared to say another word against them.

Priscilla's face was streaked with blood when she glared coldly at me.

"Kael Vaxenroth, I demand that you dig out your beast core and give it to Jas as your apology. If not, I won't go easy on you!"

If she was shameless enough to say that, then I was also shameless enough to ignore her.

"You know that I'll die without the beast core, right, Priscilla? What makes you think I'd obediently kill myself just because you said so?"

She just glared at me impatiently and said, "If you want to continue being my mate, then you'd better do exactly as I say. Or else, I won't hesitate to replace you. I have plenty of cultivation in me. I'll just give you some of it after you give him your beast core. You won't die."

Sure, I wouldn't be dead, but it would be an experience worse than death itself.

I was thoroughly disgusted by her words. "Then go ahead and replace me instead. I'm not doing any of that."

Priscilla frowned hard. "Don't you keep testing my patience, Kael! You're literally begging for me to strike you!"

So, she was telling me that she, a beastman who'd relied on my power to get to where she was today, was threatening to harm me?

Over my dead body. This was getting ridiculous.

However, Jasper didn't know that they were completely irrelevant in my eyes and continued fanning the fire.

"Prissy! I bet that Kael's just taking advantage of the fact that you can't lay a finger on him because he's bonded to you so that he won't have to admit to any of his wrongdoings. That's fine, though. I'll just suffer in the meantime."

His words successfully ignited Priscilla's fury once again.

"No way! I'll never let you suffer, Jas! I might not be able to lay a finger on him directly, but I can equip you with my cultivation power so that you can strike him to death instead!"

She then retrieved some of her cultivation and channeled it to him. Jasper was ecstatic and immediately began to attack me.

He went for the kill and aimed at my head.

However, I just remained rooted to the ground and didn't even move a muscle. A massive dragon emblem flashed behind me for a brief second, and Jasper was immediately sent flying to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The other beastmen who were still alive immediately guessed that I was a descendant of the Dragon clan, and their faces were filled with awe and respect.

However, Priscilla never noticed a thing.

"Kael! How dare you hurt Jas! Just wait till we're out of the Secret Realm. I swear that I'm going to break the bond between us as soon as we're out. We'll see if you can still act as ruthlessly and arrogantly as you are now!"

I chuckled sarcastically and said, "Well, then, has it never crossed your mind that it's you who's been feeding off my power and energy in our bond in the first place? I am a descendant of the Dragon clan, after all."

Priscilla just glared at me arrogantly with a know-it-all expression. "Don't think that saying that will change my mind about replacing you as my mate. I'm not that easily fooled, idiot!"

She felt incredibly sorry for Jasper, who had tried to kill me, only to have it backfire on him instead. She then ignored me and told him to hurry up and fuse with the Sacred Heart.

However, his bloodline was simply too inferior to directly fuse with the Sacred Heart. If he wanted to successfully fuse with it, then he had to devour exactly 100 beast cores from pure bloodlines.

Priscilla charged toward the other beastmen without hesitation. Before she began attacking them, she warned me, "You'd better stop pretending to be a saint. If you dare to interfere in my affairs again, I'm going to personally destroy you and scatter your soul across the realm!"

I was completely speechless. What had I even said to make her constantly nag at me like this?

"Go ahead and kill them if you want. You're going to be the one the other clans hold responsible for this, anyway. It's got nothing to do with me."

She scoffed coldly. "I know that you'd be the one worse off than me even if I were to die. I know you're just worried about me, but I'm not afraid of anyone. Stop being so fucking annoying and self-righteous, Kael!"

Did she not know who the self-righteous one really was here?

I laughed in anger and exasperation. However, Priscilla had already begun killing the beastmen and harvesting their beast cores.

I found it disgusting to watch her and decided to leave the area.

Three years passed, and hundreds of beastmen trapped in the Secret Realm died in her hands. Countless aspiring beastmen looking to cultivate and evolve had all been forcefully regressed as well.

However, Priscilla and Jasper showed absolutely no sign of regret or remorse for it. They tore off the deer beastmen's antlers, cut off the bear beastmen's paws, and more, until the entire Secret Realm was filled with nothing but the wails and lamentations of the fallen beastmen.

"Prissy! Prissy, I did it! I've successfully evolved!"

At the end of the three years, Jasper finally managed to evolve, and he was utterly overjoyed. Priscilla was excited for him as well.

"As expected! Such a strong, determined beastman like you is truly destined to be my husband and mate!"

She then turned to look at me with a piercing gaze.

"Kael Vaxenroth, you dared to defy my orders and upset Jas. Just wait till we're out of here, and I will immediately have you replaced as my mate!"

I just looked at her sarcastically and said, "Instead of throwing useless threats at me, why don't you start thinking how you're going to defend your and Jasper's pathetic lives?"

The force field soon dissolved, revealing the beastmen from various clans anxiously waiting outside.

The time for Priscilla's and Jasper's judgment had begun.