The Gods' Decree 236 The Autopsy Of The Deflowering Prince 1

At first, he had thoughts of fleeing the forest. Yet at this juncture, there was no certainty he would not simply be running into the awaiting mouth of the beast. Thus his best bet was then to stay put with the forest for the time being.

Still, he would not condemn himself waiting to die by the hands of this youth. Perhaps if he were to ally himself with one person within the top three, he would be safe from harm. They were half-step Lords after all. in his mind, there was no way Taf could content with such beings.

Jason he knew was out of the question, and so too Bartholemu. He had met each, knowing for a fact this would be seen in their eyes as a matter beneath their intervention.

What could he possibly offer to get their attention when they have been given everything from birth having grown up within the Zaro Clan?

That meant the only one remaining was #2 Shinoda. At a young age, he has had to fight for everything he has gain. But even with that determination, his accomplishment would have been naught without his talent. He was different from the other two having grown in a lower family and unaccustomed to wealth.

Darwin, on the other hand, was from a quite profitable clan known for its patented smelting of fine ores throughout the Fu province. He was even the one destined to inherit it all after his older brother was found not to have the capabilities to ever cultivate.

This is a tradition most clans practiced. A clan no matter how powerful is always being plotted by others operating in the shadows. Biding their time waiting to pillage and plunder away after seeing any form of weakness.

The first place an enemy pries for weaknesses is at the top. Customarily this is kept in check through a show of power by the clan. Hence a mortal heading a clan of cultivators would be akin to putting a sheep in the wilderness filled with wolves.

Therefore, Darwin sought to exploit Shinoda's thirst for power in order to save his life. With his promised future influence, Darwin could perhaps create a future for Shinoda whereby he was given a high position within the clan.

Whatever he wanted would be his - women, wealth. The skies were the limit. Perhaps the best part of it all was there wouldn't be constraints of a blood oath which differed from a sect.

Prior Darwin had sent Doan out in order to seek Shinoda, whereby he would negotiate terms under which he would be protected.

Sure, Sir Mouse was a tyrant, but even he would be foolish to go against the wishes of a half- step Lord. Now he waited for Doan with bated breath as the seconds went by. With each bush that the wind blew, he instinctively flinched.

'What is taking that bastard so long. I can't live like this in fear of a mere child.'

Darwin cursed as he checked his surroundings. He knew Doan was the weakest disciple currently within the forest, so he had equipped him with sufficient resources. This was a means to abate attacks from other disciples seeking to take his marker from his possession.

He was always one to put contingencies in place, so Darwin made sure to place himself within close proximity to a safe haven. Inside he would have the ultimate protection which was that of the sect. Therefore, his concerns became a little less bothersome as he tried to calm himself. Soon he heard a voice that brought sweet relief, it was Doan.

When he finally saw Doan, accompanying him were three persons he knew quite well. They were squadmates of Shinoda. Each was at the full circle of qi condensation, which was quite intimidating to Darwin who was only a slither away from that stage, yet it seemed so distant.

"Darwin this is a bit of a surprise. Your lackey has approached us with the terms and the boss has agreed with a few alternations." Speaking was a tall man with broad shoulders. He is well known as #9 Garro who is Shinoda's, right-hand man. As he spoke it was as though Darwin was a pathetic soul before him.

Two of his fellow companions were also males, they were #15 Sal and #17, Brutus. Both seemed quite eager to engage in this undertaking. This was a tournament after all, and they too had hopes of shining on the big stage.

If this Sir Mouse and May dared to attack, they would most definitely gift them quite the bounty. Thus, the reason they had previously jumped at the chance to provide something as minuscule as protection in this death grudge.

"Of course, this is no problem brother Garro. Rest assured I am more than capable to fulfill these terms." Darwin looked at a parchment that was given by Garro before nodding his head with a smile. It was either agree or wait for his demise, so the choice was made quite simple.

"Regarding the one who has a vendetta against you, are you certain he will seek to gain vengeance on this night?"

Garro questioned as he had no intention of protecting Darwin for a prolonged period. With the emergence of these dark horses, his previous year's position was placed in jeopardy. Yes, it would be ideal if Taf and May showed, but if they didn't it might have been the last nail in his coffin.

Darwin was a smart fellow so he had some inclinations as to the reason Garro asked such a question. He then sought to assure him that all was not in vain,

"With what has occurred in the past two weeks I have no doubt he has plans to seek vengeance."

"Very well, let's hope he is as you say."

Garro ended by saying with a bit of threat in his voice. This caused Darwin to swallow his saliva in a bit of discomfort. He knew Garro's temperament if Sir Mouse did not arrive Darwin had no doubts that he and his squadmates would be pummelled to the ground in Garro's fury.

With Garro, Sal, and Brutus coming to his aid, Darwin once more regained his previous confidence. Now he hoped that this Sir Mouse would seek vengeance. With this manpower at his disposal even if there were three of his enemy, defeat was imminent. His only regret was Shinoda had refused to let his men take the fucker's life.

 Yet he could live with that for the time being. At this juncture, all he cared about was leaving the forest safely.

Pew!

An ice shard suddenly ripped throw Darwin's chest as he foolishly lingered in his thoughts

Puh!

He coughed a mouthful of blood as he looked at a hole inside his chest in sheer horror. Blood spewed as he instinctively staggered back. There was gasping sounds for air as his lungs apparently were pierced by the hidden attack. as he gasped for breath he instinctively gripped onto a nearby tree to keep his footing.

Pew!

Ahhh! He screamed in anguish as an ice spike pierced through one of his hand pinning him to tree as though he was being crucified.

It all happened so quickly. Judging by the time between attacks it could be no more than a millisecond. Within this small time frame Garro, Sal, and Brutus cursed themselves as they could not have intervened in time. Thankfully from what could be seen of Darwin these were not life-threatening injuring.

Hurriedly Sal sought to provide cover. If another attack were to hit Darwin there was a high possibility he would be killed. How would they explain this foul-up to their boss?

Regaining his composure Garro signaled for Brutus to keep his eyes peeled. Even at this juncture they still have not seen the enemy.

Yet instead of maintaining this advantage, they saw a couple of teens coming out of the shadows. There was a youth with a smile on his face and a beauty who nocked her bow and arrow with ice shards pointed directly at Darwin's head.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

An infuriated Garro shouted as his qi ignited. It was so overwhelming that Doan who was in close proximity could hardly breathe. This was after all the extents of full circle's power in all its glory.

"Not the smartest fellow, are you pal. Well, since your quite slow I'll break it down for you. We are morticians and have come to conduct an autopsy.

Yet we are faced with a dilemma, you see the patient sadly is still alive. Therefore do to our ethical code we have sought to rectify his wrong. Simply put we have come to make a corpse of the one who is known as The Deflowering Prince."

Taf chuckled while May aimed once more at Darwin's head. They cared not for the three full circle qi realm who sought to protect him. He was labeled dead in their mind, therefore dawn would not greet him with breath still remaining in his lungs.

Unedited Version

To be continued...

Chapter end