While in the realm of Sulum, in the kingdom of Kalkan, there were many clans; one of the more powerful clans was the Altyn clan.

Clan’s motto was ‘Only the most powerful shall rule.’

They took it to a whole new level. Many of the clan members were half-bloods, thus only partially descended from the Phoenix demons. Half-bloods, unlike what their names implied, were only distantly related to Phoenix demons, being the branch family members, the main family’s members were the descendants of the current Demon Lord of Altyn clan, Jaulon Altyn.

Recently, they have become aware about the existence of Ren Karatengu, who was the descendant of their age old enemy, Karatengu clan.

At first, Jaulon thought that Ren Karatengu could be taken care of during the trials; after all, five of his sons were more than strong enough to beat him even on one on one.

However, a certain incident involving Jaulon Altyn’s third son changed all of that.

Kin Altyn, Jaulon’s third son, apparently encountered this Ren Karatengu at the market place, accompanied by his maid servant. Kin had the numbers advantage on Ren, so he confidently attacked Ren, aiming to crush him on the spot. He was confident he could defeat Ren easily.

But it seems they have underestimated Ren Karatengu’s power. Jaulon approximated Ren to be of lower caliber than his sons, so he thought that Ren would be killed rather easily if his clan encounters him. It seems they were dead wrong.

According to Kin Altyn’s subordinates, this Ren Karatengu overpowered Kin, beheaded him, threw him into a building, and then exploded high level fire magic at a point blank. Even with Phoenix demon’s formidable regenerative abilities, it was too much to escape unscathed.

Kin Altyn, while he did survive, he was rendered catatonic until a few days ago. He was still recovering, consuming flames to regain his strength. The damage to his head was the worst, he now had a blast shaped scar on his face, and the facial structure was still intact, just covered by a permanently damaged face. His face and his torso had burn marks all over, which was surprising considering Altyn clan demons consumed and were generally immune to weaker flames. This could only mean that Ren Karatengu’s flames were stronger than Kin Altyn’s.

His subordinates, after reporting of what happened, were punished with death for their inability to protect Jaulon’s son. Such was their fate at the hands of Altyn clan’s patriarch.

Jaulon’s fury saw no bounds, while Kin Altyn’s retainers were begging for their lives, Jaulon’s sole reply was.

“Weak do not deserve to live. In being unable to protect my son, you have proven yourselves to be weak. Altyn clan has no need for you.”

Thus, they were killed on the spot. Their bodies were cut into pieces and eaten by the lower ranking branch family members, and their heads were put on pikes. They were still where they were left, rotting to their core.

With his third son rendered catatonic, Jaulon bid his clan to gather their forces; they were going to attack the Karatengu clan soon.

Jaulon’s pride felt shaken after such an insult from Karatengu brat.

It would take a Demon Lord level demon to break the barrier and gathering Altyn’s clan forces took several days, but finally they were ready to march. With Jaulon in their lead, the barrier set by Korgan Karatengu could be broken, and then the invasion could begin.

Karatengu…this is your last insult!

However, before they could march towards the Karatengu clan’s territory, Jaulon’s spies informed him that the powerful Kas clan was defeated by an enemy clan. Jaulon couldn’t help but open his mouth in surprise.

What happened? Who could have done such a thing?

This was alarming. Jaulon considered the Kas clan, power wise to be equivalent to Altyn clan, so who could possibly defeat that clan?

Then, his answer came in the form of the former patriarch of the Kas clan, Kar Kas, begging to join the Altyn clan and asking for their assistance in annihilating the foe that destroyed their clan, Ren Karatengu and his Tengu clan.

Ren Karatengu…Ren Karatengu…Ren Karatengu…

That name again.

That brat really does not have limit to his impudence.

According to Kar Kas, Tengu clan’s forces invaded into the Kas clan’s territory, with forces comprised of two Demon Lord level demons, multi headed giant monster resembling a basilisk, and allies that can use powerful magic.

But the most alarming part was how the victory was decided.

According to Kar Kas, the leader of the clan at the time was his son, Nar Kas.

Nar Kas, who was one of the strongest demons in Kas clan, was defeated by Ren Karatengu with one blow in a one on one combat.

“He is most likely a Demon Lord level demon as well.” Kar Kas replied solemnly. “And the monster with multiple heads kept eating so many of my subordinates, it did not slow down no matter what I did, and apparently it was Ren Karatengu’s pet!”

“And your arm? Was it eaten by that creature as well?” Jaulon asked of Kar Kas’s bloody, bandaged left arm, it was severed below the elbow.

That beast he mentioned, by description it is a Hydra, but to tame such a beast is an impossible feat even for a Demon Lord level demon, then how in the world did this brat achieve it? It seems like Ren Karatengu is far more dangerous than I gave him credit for, Hydra alone can take on several Demon Lords with no problem, and it is extremely hard to kill, with its ability to adapt and eat everything, only someone of Demon King’s level stands a chance of barely beating it. To tame such a beast…how strong is he?

“No, it was inflicted upon me by Demon Lord, Korgan Karatengu.”

So the old crow was involved as well, huh.

“You mentioned the second Demon Lord aside from Korgan, who was it? How strong is he compared to Korgan?”

If he is anywhere as strong as Korgan, then it going to be a problem. I wonder though, which clan’s Demon Lord had forsaken his clan to join the Tengu clan?

“I am not sure, he was a dragon type demon, and he was as strong as Korgan Karatengu, at the very least. After all, both of them were able to cast level 7 spells; he is a Demon Lord level, that’s for sure.”

Draco clan’s Demon Lord? But he is dead. Maybe it was just a clan member of Draco clan who reached the level of Demon Lord, but my spies are keeping watch over that clan, ever since the death of their Demon Lord, their powers have stagnated, they are weak. It is hard to believe the 1st Demon King was a member of such a weak clan…

“What else do you know about Ren Karatengu?”

Any information about this crow demon could prove crucial.

“Quite a lot actually, Nar Kas made sure to do a thorough investigation on him.” Kar Kas made sure to avoid telling about how their clan technical captured Ren only for Ren to escape and defeat them in one move.

It was a fiasco, in every sense.

“We had an incident with a runaway slave, member of Tang clan, my firstborn, Jar Kas, went to capture him, but apparently he ended up encountering Ren Karatengu, and lost his life.” Kar Kas clenched his fist on his only remaining hand.

“After that, Nar Kas investigated everything about Jar Kas’s murderer. Things we found out were quite shocking.”

“Continue.” Jaulon commanded. His tone was authoritative but under current circumstances Kar Kas had no authority to disobey.

“From a member of the Jou clan we had imprisoned, Nar was able to find out that the Jou clan member tried to assassinate the previous Demon King, Akil Ras, before he was stopped and defeated by none other than, Ren Karatengu. But that is not all, it seems like the reasons for Aiu clan and Aris clan’s decline is closely related to Ren Karatengu as well.”

“I know of Aris clan, but what of Aiu clan? They have a Demon Lord, after all.”

So many clans, Jou clan, Kas clan, Aris clan, and now Aiu clan, all of the clans were once strong enough to pose a threat to Altyn clan… Are you saying that this brat beat all of them? Is my Altyn clan next on his list?

“Yes, but Nar speculated that their recent decline was caused by Ren Karatengu due to how close in time proximity it happened to the other events, he said that it cannot be a coincidence, but I suppose this is a mere speculation, yet my son has never been wrong about these kinds of things.”

“You said that Nar Kas was defeated by Ren Karatengu, did Karatengu kill him?”

“No, he took him prisoner, I do not know whether he is alive or dead. Either way, he can no longer lead his clan without his horns intact.”

Apparently Ren’s powerful attack rendered Nar Kas hornless and unconscious.

With all of the forces of Kas clan scattered, only a small portion of the original clan came with Kar Kas, in order to beg for Altyn clan’s help.

They were counting on the fact that Karatengu clan was Altyn clan’s arch enemy for centuries. They had the same enemy, so Altyn clan might be inclined to help their cause.

“I see. But how such a large army end up crossing such a distance so quickly? Karatengu territory is far away from Kas clan’s former holdings, it should have taken them at least a day to get to your location, at a fast pace, and they should have been exhausted by then, so how exactly did they succeed in doing such a feat?”

The fact that Kas clan was literally defeated overnight was very concerning; they went from their strongest to almost nothing in such a short amount of time.

“It was a miscalculation on our part. The runaway slave I mentioned earlier was a darkness magic user; Ren Karatengu apparently recruited him to join Tengu clan. One second there was nothing, and then a portal of darkness transported a large army towards Kas clan’s location. They took us by surprise.”

I see, not only does he have powerful allies, some of them have such rare skills, and he himself is no weakling…Invading their territory right now is out of question.

I am currently the strongest member of Altyn clan, a gold ranked demon, at the level of a Demon Lord, while there are in Altyn clan close to the Demon Lord level; there isn’t one who achieved it yet.

Yet his clan, including him, has three Demon Lords, if we strike them now, it would be an equivalent of suicide. Not to mention the monster Kar Kas mentioned to be Karatengu brat’s pet. And it seems all of his allies are very powerful. Attacking them right now is a foolish choice, our casualties will be enormous…Damn you, Korgan! Is he your final trump card? If that is the case, I will make you watch him die in front of your eyes, just like your other son’s death!

If we cannot attack them head on, I will have to entrust my sons to defeat him during the trials, when he is most vulnerable, without the barrier and his father to protect him, we can strike him down then and there.

“I see. Then is that all you know about Ren Karatengu?”

“That is indeed so.”

We cannot invade Karatengu territory, if what this idiot is saying is true, then this Karatengu brat is unimaginably powerful, his allies are no small fry either. To be able to accomplish so many feats in such a short amount of time, I have to admit, the brat is a prodigy. One that appears only once every hundred years. Out of all my sons, I am confident my eldest can fight him, but from what I saw of Kin’s injuries, the other four are no match for him.

Still, if they take him by surprise, then even the mighty shall fall. But they will have to strike him when he is at his most vulnerable.

Kin acted recklessly, thus he suffered the consequences.

Jaulon reminded himself to order the weaker Altyn clan members to flee if they encounter Ren, anyone weaker than Kin, who was one of the stronger Altyn clan demons, would not stand a chance against Ren Karatengu.

However, if they attack him together during the trials, when he is at his most vulnerable, then he will perish.

“I thank you for your resourcefulness.” Jaulon snapped his fingers.

Altyn clan members carrying a pole pike and a pot of molten gold came in.

“Jaulon, what is this?” Kar Kas asked, afraid of what this could imply.

“It is your reward, for being such a useful feline…”

One of the Altyn clan members slit Kar Kas’s throat from behind and proceeded to behead him. His head was dipped in molten gold and then put in a pike.

It was put outside and there it remained.

It has been several days since Kar Kas’s grizzly fate.

Kas clan members who joined were now the lowest ranked members of Altyn clan, only the strongest were allowed to join, the weaker ones were killed, taken apart and eaten.

Remaining Kas clan members will be used as disposable force thus will be useful until they get used up, then after they have exceeded their use, they will die.

Former Kas clan members could only stare at the gilded head on a pike of their former patriarch in tears.

“Only the strongest shall survive, the only thing I can give you is a golden end.”

Jaulon stared at the head of Kar Kas smugly, that demon, he came hoping for help, instead he met his untimely end.

What a fool. In this world, demons survive by killing each other; that is the law of demon kind. Demons do not help each other.

That is the Altyn clan’s way.

To become the strongest, all the weak must perish.