‘I knew it...’ Shin’s lips curled down, partially amused that his predictions were about accurate. The Allfather, the powerful being that had brought the entire world to heel… His days were finally numbered.

There were many people, even elites in the Alliance, that believed that the Allfather was truly an Immortal Being. Or at the very least, they believed that he was an entity that was invincible in the modern era, with not a single Spirit Saint that could match his overbearing might. However, with Kin’s confession, the former Noble Beast had revealed a crack in the Allfather’s myth of invincibility. And that was…

“So he’s dying already, huh?” Lady Seph scoffed while folding her arms. If word got out that the Allfather’s days were numbered, the entire world would leap up into the air in celebration. And the elites within the room were no different.

“Hmph! Even the almighty Allfather can’t outrun father time.” Longyu Tian, the Saint of Time, chuckled. “Though… I’ll give him props for surviving this long. Living since the age of Spirit Immortal Dream is no mean feat.”

“Haha, so what if he’s good at living long? In the end, all living things fade back into dust,” Saint Atossa added with an air of jubilance wreathing around her. “Once the Allfather perishes, the entire Black Masks will fall apart. If that’s the case, it makes sense that they’ve been ramping up their operations.”

“Yes… That’s very true,” Saint Althea nodded. “That’s the troubling thing about having a central leader that can do no wrong. Once the brain is removed, everything else tumbles like dominos.”

“Hmph! Better to kill him now that he’s weakened!” Saint Thor’s voice boomed out. “As they all say, a cornered dog will always be the most ferocious. Now that the Allfather is weakened, I’m sure the Black Masks will go all out to complete this stupid Grand Scheme of theirs!”

“...” All of the Spirit Saints shared their own thoughts on the matter, each one bringing some merit to the table. However, Shin couldn’t hear a single one of them. All of his attention was focused solely on the Golden Fox, who had been flashing her gnarly teeth throughout.

“You said that the Allfather is dying… How many years does he have left?”

Kin lifted her snout out and got to thinking. It wasn’t long before she could give a number: “Maximum ten years. However, each time he expends his deteriorating mana, he loses a significant amount of his lifespan. Since he killed Momo with his curse… I bet that his lifespan has dropped a full year!”

“That much?” Shin raised his brow.

“You don’t understand,” Gin interrupted the conversation, ready to fill in his two cents. “The Allfather’s Spirit is special. It can prolong his life using overwhelming spiritual energies. It makes him omnipresent in places where his mana can reach. It can place curses on every single Spirit Beast or Spirit User that comes under his influence. But it all runs on one universal fuel...”

“The Allfather’s soul,” Kin finished her brother’s sentence. “In his prime, the Allfather was able to brainwash a Spirit Saint with just his spiritual energies. However, age and decay had made him vulnerable. Each time he pulls a fancy stunt, the Allfather would be further weakened. That’s why Kuro was so desperate to not rely on the Allfather, even though that is what we have been doing this entire time.”

“I see,” the black-haired Prince nodded. The Allfather, just like anyone else, had his own limitations. Destroying the continent, fueling an army of Umbras, placing his influence over a significant number of Spirit Beasts and Spirit Users… These were all things that would place a burden on the Allfather, even if he were at his prime. So, it wasn’t surprising to say that he was the weakest he’d ever been in centuries.

“Wait a minute, you said that Kuro is not planning to rely on the Allfather… What operations are you talking about?” Like always, Shin caught something and immediately stuck down onto it.

“Haha, I’m glad you asked!” Kin chortled, her face flushed crimson with both rage and grief. Now that she was free from the Black Masks and the Allfather, the Golden Fox couldn’t wait to leak information that would harm the entity who ripped her little sister’s soul apart.

“The attack on Saint Suhavis was just the beginning… The next Spirit Saint on Kuro’s list is… Saint Firebird.”

❖❖❖

The Neutral Lands. The Abyss. The Tree of Darkness. The Throne Hall.

[I fucked up...]

A brooding voice echoed through the ostentatious walls of the decadent chambers, turning the glorious atmosphere into a gloomy one. A man shrouded in a black cloak floated silently above the platform and next to the beautiful female statue that all Black Masks were required to respect. By his side, a white-haired boy knelt down, his face plastered on the floor while his entire being started to tremble.

“No, Allfather! It’s my fault! If I didn’t mess up, you wouldn’t have to clean up for me!” Shiro screamed, trying his best to gain the floating shadow’s attention.

[No need to take the blame, Shiro… I know that this was out of your control… Who could have anticipated that Momo would do such a thing?]

The Allfather consoled his trusted subordinate, never once pinning the blame onto him. Among all of the Nine Coloured Noble Beasts, the Allfather trusted Kuro the most. There was no dethroning the wolf that had stuck by him through thick and thin and had even seen the Allfather mature from a mere Spirit Practitioner to a powerful Spirit Saint. However, if Kuro held the number one spot, Shiro was no doubt the silver medalist.

Alongside Ao, Shiro was one of the longest-serving Spirit Beasts that the Allfather had. Of all the missions that the Allfather had assigned to him, Shiro had always executed them faithfully, without any complaints or grievances. Just excellence.

Therefore, it was truly hard for the Allfather to find any fault with the Mirror Deity, particularly when the Black Masks were in this critical juncture where the Allfather could simply not afford to lose Shiro.

[From the looks of it, Momo never trusted me completely...] The Allfather sighed.

[She placed chains on Kin and Gin, just in case I would attempt to detonate them with my curse. Who could have thought of that? It was my miscalculation… The Moon Rabbit’s powers are genuinely enigmatic...]

The shadow chuckled in self-deprecation. He’d always thought of the Moon Rabbit as an innocent fool, who knew very little of the world. With Kin and Gin as leverage, the Allfather thought that he could reign in the Moon Rabbit anytime he wished. Alas, the Allfather was way too complacent.

[Momo really gave me a tight slap on the face...]

Highly amused, the Allfather continued to laugh to himself. Even at this age, there were still failures that he could learn from. Quite an amusing notion…

Shiro wasn’t as amused as his almighty overlord though. Shaking, he asked: “Allfather, you killed Momo, but the twins are still alive and kicking. Not to mention, they’re in the Alliance’s base… Don’t you think that we should send someone to take care of them?”

[It’s useless… They’d probably leaked everything that they knew to the Alliance already. Even if we sent someone to kill them, the Alliance would know everything that we’d wanted to keep secret. Killing them would add nothing to our organisation.]

“Tsk… Those fuckers...” Shiro spat, incensed beyond any comparison. “So what… Are all of our secrets leaked? Just like that? Everything that we’ve built for the last ten years will now crumble into pieces?”

[Hah… It’s a shame...] The Allfather clicked his tongue. After turning silent for a good ten seconds, the Allfather asked Shiro one last question.

[Shiro, how many plans does Kuro have on deck?]

“A-Ah, just two, sir! The assassination of Saint Firebird and the attack on the Heigui Clan!”

[Mmmm… Alright...]

The Allfather closed his eyes, and a billowing smoke emerged from his invisible crown. In no time at all, a connection was established between the Allfather and his right-hand man.

[Kuro, you hear me?]

“Yes, Allfather! What do you need from me?”

[Shiro told me you have two plans… Execute them within the next twenty-four hours and immediately return to my side with all of your resources. If you succeed, great. If you fail, don’t push it. Right now, your return is of paramount importance! I’m I clear?]

“... Understood. Your wish is my command.”