The Five Godslayer Clans

Du Chen nodded. “The descendants of Auerbach must be the current imperial family of the Macallan Empire—the Baton family! And Lynch Baton’s descendants are…”

“Indeed, Lynch Baton’s descendants are today’s Saint Baton Family!” Sherine’s brow furrowed slightly as she added, “What I’m about to tell you might differ from the sagas of deification you’ve read in the Holy Church’s Code.”

Du Chen chuckled. “I understand. History is written by the victors. While my ancestor is one of the gods revered by the Holy Church, I must admit that the Holy Church’s Code’s description of him contains elements of embellishment!”

“It’s good that you understand!” Sherine smiled, much of the worry on her face dissipating.

“The Holy Church’s Code states that Auerbach was besieged by thirteen Fiendkind Battle Gods. To buy time for the army, he fought to his last breath, ultimately sacrificing himself heroically. This account is identical across various Godslayer secret scrolls, leaving no doubt! However, Lynch Baton’s fate presents some questions. The Holy Church’s Code records that he sustained seventeen injuries in various great wars, and as humanity was nearing victory, his wounds recurred, leading to his death near the Auerbach Grand Canyon…”

“And the truth?” Du Chen pressed.

“It can’t really be called the truth. After all, it was too long ago; no one truly knows what happened back then, so the Holy Church’s Code might not necessarily be wrong! However, some secret scrolls do record that Lynch Baton didn’t die from his injuries, but rather… disappeared!”

“Disappeared? How could a venerable Marshal simply vanish?”

Sherine shrugged. “That’s beyond my knowledge! But it’s said that his wife and children also disappeared with Lynch Baton. It’s precisely for this reason that his younger brother Auerbach’s descendants were able to become the masters of the vast plains. Otherwise, the rightful heir should have been Lynch Baton’s eldest son!”

Du Chen pursed his lips, remaining silent.

Sherine continued, “Yet, many years after Lynch Baton’s death, or disappearance, his descendants suddenly reappeared as the Saint Baton Family. Moreover, that generation’s Family Head inherited most of Lynch Baton’s divine power and his sacred artifact, the World-Shattering Blood Axe. However, despite their strength, they showed no intention of reclaiming their imperial throne. Instead, they handed the Beast Emperor’s Seal, which had vanished along with Lynch Baton, to Auerbach’s descendants, acknowledging their legitimate rule. Even more, they instructed Auerbach’s descendants to downplay the beastmen’s reverence for Lynch Baton, acknowledging only Auerbach as the Supreme Father God. After that, they themselves became a mysterious, reclusive clan… Auntie doesn’t know why, and perhaps no one else knows besides them!”

Du Chen’s heart, too, was clouded with suspicion as he listened.

“Now do you understand? The Beast Emperor’s Seal represents the sovereignty of the plains and is a relic of two beastmen ancestors. If the Beast Emperor’s Seal is stolen, the Saint Baton Family will spare no effort to slay the thief and recover it! Furthermore, the beastmen’s fanatical worship of gods makes their thinking and actions exceedingly radical, which is why I call them ‘lunatics’!”

Du Chen remained silent for a long time. It felt as if a pair of malicious eyes were staring intently at him from a dark corner, a sensation that sent shivers down his spine!

Sherine, noticing Du Chen’s pale face, comforted him. “It’s nothing. It’s just a counterfeit. Destroy it, and all will be well! Anyway, not many people should have seen it yet!”

Then, with a smile, Sherine shifted to a lighter topic. “By the way, what was that about a marriage you mentioned earlier? Is the intended partner the daughter of that lady?”

Du Chen was in a foul mood. The Beast Emperor’s Seal was a hot potato causing him grief, and Annie’s aunt was no less troublesome!

“Her name is Annie, and she lives next door to me! She’s not Aunt Betty’s biological daughter, but it’s pretty close—she’s her niece, raised by her, and they’re closer than real mother and daughter!” Du Chen shook his head impatiently. “But I’ve already made my stance clear and refused the marriage! Yet, Aunt Betty seems not to have heard me! Such a headache!”

“Refused marriage? Good heavens, Francis, you actually refused the daughter of Madam Betty’s family?!” Sherine looked more shocked than when she saw Beibei playing with the Beast Emperor’s Seal!

“Hmm, Auntie advises you, if the young lady is decent, it’s best not to refuse, especially now that you have a counterfeit Beast Emperor’s Seal and might face trouble from the Saint Baton Family!” Sherine continued, disregarding Du Chen’s astonished expression. “To be honest, for that family to be willing to take you as a son-in-law, you are truly marrying above your station!”

Du Chen felt a surge of displeasure. Marrying above his station, what did that mean!? His current identity was at least that of a Divine Scion and an Earl-Lord. Moreover, he commanded Flaying and Deboning, two of the greatest experts of their age, and had the backing of over a hundred Red Phoenix Battle Formations. With all that, marrying any princess wouldn’t be considered marrying above his station, would it?

“You don’t believe me?” Sherine smiled. “You already know the origins of the Blood Axe Saint Baton Family, but do you know the Thunder Halberd Batuk Family?”

She quickly elaborated, “Similar to the Saint Baton Family, Annie’s ancestral lineage traces back to Marshal Batuk, the Thunder God of the Yakun War Zone during the Godslayer era! By the standards of the Godslayer era, even if your ancestor, Sigurd, were to resurrect, upon meeting the Batuk Family Head, he would respectfully address him as ‘Young Marshal’!”

Du Chen wore a half-smile, half-frown, unsure what to say.

Sherine continued her persuasion, “In terms of status, the Batuk Family’s hereditary titles cannot even be conferred by the Pontiff himself; they are God-bestowed noble ranks granted only by the grace of the Holy Alliance back then, placing them on par with the monarchs of various continental nations! In terms of strength, Annie’s grandfather inherited most of Thunder God Batuk’s divine power. His Thunderous War Halberd once forced Sea Emperor Thanes to issue an order, forbidding sea creatures from appearing within a hundred-mile radius of Emerald City… And this doesn’t even account for the immense wealth and foundation the Batuk Family has accumulated during a millennium of reclusion!”

“Auntie, please don’t say anymore!” Du Chen thought to himself. Leaving everything else aside, Deboning once remarked that if Roland were to draw the longsword from the Icy Jade Pool, virtually no one in the world could contend with him. Yet, during the great battle at Mount Wanliu, Sea Emperor Thanes, even without water, was only slightly inferior to Roland! And Annie’s grandfather forced the Sea Emperor to sign a treaty of surrender… that would put him at least on par with a peak-state Sword Emperor Roland!

Du Chen mused, if he truly fell out with the Batuk Family, Annie’s grandfather could eliminate Flaying, Keane could at least hold Deboning, and Betty would probably be able to take him down! As for the Grand Matriarchs… forget it. If it came to a fight with the Batuk Family, it’s uncertain whose side they would take. He was merely the descendant of their friend, while the Batuk Family… what if they still possessed some Marshal’s command token from the Godslayer era? The Grand Matriarchs might even execute military orders on the spot, encircling him with the Red Luan Killing Array!

Hmph, this was true power. Damn it, they wouldn’t need much effort to crush him. The strength he already knew about was more than enough!

In that light, Annie’s aunt coming to inspect him truly did feel like a ‘marriage of convenience’ where they were marrying down… But why did he feel more awkward the more he thought about it!?

He needed to quickly do good deeds. Once all Bagua were activated, he’d find a suitable young man and ‘marry off’ Beibei… Damn it, what the hell!

Du Chen felt indignant, but it didn’t show on his face. He considered the two hot potatoes currently troubling him and asked, “By the way, Auntie Sherine, you and my mother were like sisters. Do you know if there was a Saint Dak family among my mother’s friends?”

Sherine froze for a long moment, then looked at Du Chen strangely. After a while, she said, “I don’t know what relationship Phil had with the Saint Dak family, but Auntie can tell you that in the Godslayer era, there were five reclusive families passed down in a manner similar to the Saint Baton Family. They are: the Undying Death God Saint Baton, the Thunder God Batuk, the Wind God Claywell, the Starry Sky Battle God Vinsler… and the descendants of the Sun God Mikael—the Saint Dak family!”

“Heh!” Du Chen suddenly laughed heartily. “So their strengths are all similar, right?”

“Yes, quite similar! But these five are all reclusive families, few people know about them! How did you come to know?”

Du Chen glanced at his daughter, who was almost asleep, and said something with deep emotion that earned Sherine’s repeated nods, “It’s good to be a child. At least you don’t have to think about anything!”

Hmm, excellent. I’m being pressured into marriage by a Thunder God’s descendant, I’ve dealt with a Sun God’s descendant, and I’ve even dug up the tomb of the Undying Death God’s brother…

Sherine advised Du Chen a few more times that if Annie’s character was decent, it would be best not to refuse the marriage. She then warned him to destroy the Beast Emperor’s Seal as soon as possible—because no one could predict what secret technique the Saint Baton Family might possess to track Du Chen down. Before leaving, Du Chen asked Sherine why she knew so much, and received a not-so-surprising answer.

“The library contains over a million books, and no less than a thousand secret scrolls from reclusive families. If you read them all, you’d know just as much!”

After seeing Auntie Sherine off, Du Chen turned and walked towards the side hall—he suddenly felt like a drink. But as he entered, Du Chen, deep in thought, stumbled. Looking down, he saw Andy, sleeping like a dead dog with a bone in his mouth, snoring at his feet.

A thought struck Du Chen; he suddenly realized he had overlooked a significant loophole in his calculation of his own strength!

“Andy, stop sleeping!” Du Chen kicked Andy hard. “Get up! Today, your lunch, dinner, and late-night snack are all canceled! Unless you eat one foot of that Golden Behemoth in your soul, with Beibei as witness!”

“Oh, merciful Master, Andy is trying so hard, but that Golden Behemoth just won’t give me its body! I… I can’t eat it in a short while! It’ll take at least three to five… ten years!” Andy wailed.

“I don’t care! Restore your combat strength to what it was when you defeated the Crimson Mausoleum Guards, and do it as fast as possible!” Du Chen threatened viciously.

Deboning had commented that the strength displayed by the Composite Aberrant Beasts back then was certainly no weaker than Roland at his peak, at the very least!

Meanwhile, Roland was intently focused on another loophole in strength that Du Chen had forgotten to calculate, or rather, he hadn’t even realized it existed…

“Damn Aliza, faster! Otherwise, you’ll never eat beef jerky again in this life, and you’ll never see your Master Francis again!”

A small mountain, condensed by battle qi, rapidly moved around the Icy Jade Pool. Below, a ‘tiny’ Aliza mumbled as he lifted the mountain, “Young Master Francis, Aliza misses you…”

With Roland’s immense power, he naturally heard Aliza’s complaint. His eyes instantly sharpened, and he roared, “Still spouting nonsense!? Ten more laps!”

The small mountain moved even faster. Roland smirked contentedly, lying on a chair by the pool, a blade of grass in his mouth, and happily mumbled, “One year and seventeen days. Hmm, thirteen days faster!”

Suddenly, Roland sat up again, scratching his head and muttering, “No good, thirteen days is too little!”

He abruptly spread his arms, shaking them. The earth around the Icy Jade Pool rose like rolling dragons, swirling and adhering to the mountain on Aliza’s head. With a fluctuation of Roland’s battle qi, the earth merged obediently with the mountain. Only, the mountain grew two sizes larger, transforming into a ‘great mountain’!

Aliza, below, held the great mountain aloft, sweating profusely, but still running desperately. “Master, Aliza is starving, Aliza is dying of hunger, you won’t have a disciple anymore!”

Roland jumped up, enraged, and cursed, “I’d rather you starve to death than disgrace me in the future!” After cursing, Roland suddenly burst into insane laughter. “Charlemagne, the Foremost Battle God beneath the Starry Sky? Bah! Just you wait, my progress in this life was trampled underfoot by you, but my student will become a Five-Star Battle-Warrior thirteen days faster than you!”

“Aliza, faster! You must become a Six-Star Battle God within three months! Haha, I’ll infuriate Charlemagne!”

“Master, can Aliza just not compete with Charlemagne? Aliza just wants to see Young Master, just wants to eat beef jerky…”

“No!” Roland smiled coldly, his demeanor changing with unimaginable swiftness. “You can be even faster. Hmm, Charlemagne took a year and a half to become a Six-Star Battle God. My student, a year and five months will be enough!”

Suddenly, Aliza felt the great mountain on his head grow heavier again. He gritted his teeth and vowed fiercely, “Charlemagne, don’t let Aliza find out who you are, or Aliza will knock out your front teeth!”

Charlemagne, who ranked first in the Battle God Academy’s hero list? No, the strongest person in Battle God Academy’s history was actually here… Of course, Du Chen, under Roland’s strict orders not to see Aliza, would probably have to wait even longer to patch this forgotten loophole in his assessment of strength.