Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 84: Surrender now?

Algar growled, holding his mangled left hand, which he had used to shield his face from the full blast of the shield. The left hand was missing a chunk from the elbow down, dripping blood onto the flowers.

"Will you surrender now?"

Algar’s nostrils flared. "We, the descendants of the True Blightfur, don’t surrender so easily!"

Vale paused. "Blightfur?"

Algar snorted. "You don’t even know anything. So how did you even get that power? Are you a blessed of the Crimson Lord?"

Vale’s heart skipped a beat. ’This is an opportunity to learn more about this Crimson Lord that sounds suspiciously like the Forbidden Knight whose inheritance I’m holding now!’

Vale acted casually. "Maybe I am. So tell me about this Crimson Lord and the True Blightfur."

Algar’s lips curled. "You don’t know about him, and you think you are his blessed? Don’t make me laugh!"

Vale sighed. He briefly considered beating the man up and asking Tiber to enter his mind to find the information. On the other hand, he thought better of it. Who knows what type of information he might not be able to get? Still, he’d surely resort to that if the man did not cooperate.

Meanwhile, the others were watching through the broken wall. Tiber wore a calm expression, while Xan still looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. Slya was shooting smug looks at Jenna, who wore an unreadable expression.

Vale watched the man for a while and came up with a solution. "Then if I prove that I’m stronger than you, will you tell me the answers I want?"

They both looked at Algar’s mangled hand together, and Algar grimaced.

Vale quickly added, "Without touching you. We both know you can’t win this one again. So why don’t you judge whether I’m worthy of being his blessed or not?"

Algar growled softly, his expression flat. As much as Vale was curious, the man was curious as well. Besides, he’d have something to report back to Manefor. It wasn’t as if the information he held was any great secret; it was an open secret.

"Very well, I accept."

Jenna took a step forward, opened her mouth, then stopped with a frown. At first, she wanted to stop them, but now she thought otherwise. After all, the deal was that one person should be defeated. She was just as curious.

Vale nodded. "Be ready," he said, his voice loud enough for his team to hear.

Vale covered his right hand, where the mark of Order would appear, with his left. Then, without holding back, he released his essence pressure.

There was a brief moment of pause, a slight hesitation, but then the pressure exploded from him in an almost vivid energy. His aura bellowed outward like a windstorm, enveloping the entire building and reaching out beyond. Everyone in the surroundings instinctively turned their heads toward the base of Team 34.

For those close to him, it felt as if they were standing too close to a bonfire. The air smelled like ash, making it almost hard to breathe.

Slya and the others had prepared as well, but they still found it difficult to breathe, clutching their chests.

Jenna took an unconscious step backward, her hand on her sword as if she were facing a monster and didn’t dare make a sound.

’What is this? Based on rankings and advancements, like Knight and Errant Knight, those stronger than the average are ranked based on potential. Although unofficial, people still use that ranking from B to S’

’Algar doesn’t hold any of these ranks, but I am a B-rank Knight. Yet this aura I’m feeling—could it really surpass my own? That’s impossible! At the very least, he should be a B-rank Knight like me’

Just as she was about to analyze further, the aura vanished.

The silence that followed was thick. Algar had jumped backward, moving as far away from Vale as possible. He was on his knees, head bowed, feeling as if he were being scolded by an elder.

Vale broke the silence. "Well?"

Algar curled his mouth bitterly. "It was a fight I could not win from the start. I admit defeat."

Vale stepped forward. "Tell me then. Tell me about this Crimson Lord."

Algar sat on the ground, his body shuddering as he returned to his human form. He sighed. "Alright. The Crimson Lord is the god of us Forsaken Tribes. He’s the lord of the Crimson Moon and fire. That’s who we worship, and through him, we gain our Blightfur form.

"Years ago, our tribe ruled this place. We spread as far as the Hinterlands proper, but then our god became distant and stopped answering our prayers. The True Blightfur also disappeared in search of answers."

"True Blightfur?" Vale asked, his eyes fixed on Algar.

"Yes. They aren’t human or monsters. They aren’t inherently evil because they serve the Crimson Lord. He sent them to us as guardians to look over us. They are the True Blightfur, they don’t need to change forms."

That got Vale thinking. ’So the Forbidden Knight pretended to be a god? Or... was he actually a god?’

Vale’s heart skipped a beat. ’No, that’s impossible. He might have been someone so prominent that they worshipped him. There are people who worship the Emperor! But this is strange. I’m sure now that the True Blightfur was the monster I saw with that figure who’s most likely this Crimson Lord’

’Does this mean I have the inheritance of the Crimson Lord? But wait, is he also the Lord of the Eternal Pyre? Are they the same? So the fire and moon belong to this Lord of Crimson, but the Pactbinding and Shadowforge are from the Infernal Dominion? Or are the two interlinked?’

Vale took a deep breath. ’I’ll process all this later. For now, I should hear all I can from this guy’

"Then where are the True Blightfur?" Vale asked. ’Since they’re connected, I might be able to get answers from them. Maybe... since I’m tied to all this, they might even be willing to follow me’