Armipotent

The darkness engulfed the arena once more, and the darkness cut everyone's sight as a deep silence descended. People could not see what happened on the stage, but they guessed Argari would win the fight. The spectators thought so because of the darkness caused by Argari. As the darkness wore off, noise could be heard from the spectators, asking each other who won.

"That Argari guy is dead," Tang Shaoyang informed the people in his booth. While the darkness blanketed everyone's eyes, his Spirit Eyes could see what happened on the stage. He saw Kado Taukai cut Argari's neck within fifteen seconds after the darkness.

Everyone's sight returned, and sure enough, there was a headless body lying down in the middle of the stage, and it was Argari's body. The Uprising Guild's member was not in his monster form anymore, and Argari's head was right under Kado Taukai's right foot.

Gasps of shocks rang within the arena as no one expected Kado Taukai would win the fight. They thought Kado Taukai would die just like Masamichi Taukai. The darkness cut not only their vision but also their hearing. Without their vision and hearing, anyone who faced Argari was bound to lose.

Before the spectators could react to the shocking result, Kado Taukai raised his right hand and caused even more confusion within the spectators, "The Taukai Family surrenders!"

Kado Taukai's decision shocked and confused the spectators. He won the fight flawlessly, but the Taukai Family surrendered instead to fight back. Even Wei Xi could not understand such a decision as he thought Kado Taukai would continue the fight, at least, until killing one or two more Uprising Guild members.

"He is poisoned," Tang Shaoyang glanced at Wei Xi, "I'm kinda disappointed that my Vice Supreme Commander does not notice that. How could you not see the wound?"

Wei Xi examined Kado Taukai once more and noticed the kimono sliced open, and dark blood came out from the wound. Kado wanted to continue the fight, at least, until he killed one more member. However, he was not in the condition to avenge his family member. If he continued the fight, he would die, not from the fight but the poison.

There was a cut wound on Kado Taukai's left shoulder. While it was not bleeding too much, it was visible to the eyes. Wei Xi failed to notice it because he was shocked that Argari lost the fight. His brain was thinking hard about how Kado Taukai won the fight despite the circumstance. It was the same for everyone else.

Tang Shaoyang looked back at Lu An and motioned the young man to come over. Lu An came over, and he whispered something to the Intelligence Division's head. There was a pause on Lu An's reaction, but he nodded his head. The barrier was turned off, and Lu An left the Tang Empire's booth. With Lu An's subtle movement, the other spectators did not notice someone leaving the Tang Empire's booth. The attention was on Kado Taukai.

"Where is he going?" Zhang Mengyao asked. She could not hear what they were talking about. Wei Xi's eyes followed Lu An's movement, and he quickly found out Lu An's destination. The destination was the Taukai Family's booth.

"He is going to recruit the Taukai Family. Kado Taukai has great potential. We can't lose him to the World Government." Tang Shaoyang watched the fight, so did the spirits inside him. After the battle was over, Zaneos made a ruckus, saying he wanted to take Kado Taukai as his disciple. That was why he planned to fly to Japan and assassinate Kado Taukai.

"Even so, The Taukai Family is part of the World Government. I don't think he will join us." Zhang Mengyao furrowed her brow. She could not see the fight, so she did not quite understand why he wanted to recruit the Taukai Family. "Moreover, we have the Tachibana Clan from the Japan region, so I don't think we need to recruit another faction from the same region."

"Huh!? Why not? The Tachibana Clan is our vassal, not the other way around. They have to listen to us, not the other way around." Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brow. "If they don't like being an ally with another faction from the same region, I don't care. They have to adapt to the change if they still want to be our vassal."

"What if they betray us because…." Before Zhang Mengyao finished her words, Tang Shaoyang replied in a stern tone, "Then don't blame me if I wipe them out. I will not show mercy to someone betraying me."

"I agree with Boss this time. They have to accept it whether they like it or not. We can't think of their feelings each time we make a decision to expand our faction," Wei Xi voiced his agreement. "It's not our duty to convince them, but it's their responsibility to listen and accept our decision. Unless we make a decision that will bring a disadvantage to their faction, then we can think of compensation for them. We can't let them control us for what we should or should not do."

Zhang Mengyao dropped the issue after hearing that from Tang Shaoyang and Wei Xi. They were right, and it was her train of thoughts that was wrong. She regarded the Tang Empire and The Tachibana Clan were in equal stance while, in fact, the Tang Empire was above the Tachibana Clan. It was not like they treated the Tachibana Clan unfairly too. "I understand."

*** ***

The spectators were disappointed by how the fight between The Uprising Guild and the Taukai Family ended. However, Kado Taukai did not care what other people thought of him or his faction. If he lost his life in this arena, there was a big chance that the other factions from his region would swallow his faction. If that happened, he could not guarantee his family's safety.

"I have been poisoned." Kado showed his shoulder to Murai Taukai, the Elder of the Taukai Family, or people would call him the Vice Leader. That was his position in the Taukai Family. "Can you ask Sir Hines to give me the antidote?"

Murai looked at the wound, the skin around the wound turned black, and Kado's face paled with sweat. He nodded and ran toward the World Union's booth and returned two minutes later with an antidote. Kado Taukai reached the vial and furrowed his brow. "This is a low-rank antidote. It does not work against this poison." Kado shook his head. "I have drunk the same antidote, and it did not work."

Murai did not say anything as he rushed back toward the World Union's booth. Instead of coming back with a vial of antidote, he returned with a scroll in his hand. "Where's the antidote!?" Kado urged Murai, but the latter shook his head and showed the scroll to the Family Head.

"What is this? The poison is spreading fast. I need an antidote, not a f*cking scroll!" Kado Taukai lost his temper for the first time. He showed his emotion on his face as veins bulged out around his eyes. He was at the limit; he could no longer suppress the poison.

"Sir Hines Myers asked you to sign this, then he will give you a high-rank antidote." Murai Taukai looked down in shame. He tried to argue, but Hines Myers did not budge.

Kado Taukai's frown deepened as he read the scroll. It was a system contract, asking him and his Taukai Family to join the World Union. Yes, The World Union, not the World Government, meaning Hines Myers wanted to swallow up his family to be the World Union's members.

"What!? He dared to propose this to me!" Kado Taukai reached the scroll and tore it apart. The barrier was not turned off, so everyone in the arena could hear his scream. "I have sacrificed three men to kill one Epic Rank from the Uprising Guild. I am in this state because of your ridiculous request, yet now you refuse to give me the antidote!?" He did not show any fear as he confronted Hines Myers.

Hines Myers glanced at the Taukai Family, showing no expression on his face. "You are asking for an extremely rare antidote, so you have to pay the price for that even if you are part of the World Government."

'Heh!? You are about to die. Let's see if you can still act tough like that, Kado.' Hines Myers thought to himself. 'The World Government does not need a wild hound, but a tamed beast. If you don't sign the contract, then you will die. It does not matter regardless of your decision, The Taukai Family will fall into the World Union's hands.'

"Bastard! I will pay any price for the antidote, but you ask to disband the faction I have made and join your World Union!?" Kado Taukai's eyes bulged as the veins on his forehead became even more apparent.

"Actually, we have another option, Master Kado." All of a sudden, Murai Taukai interrupted. "Someone came to me earlier, and he told me that he could repel the poison inside your body."

Kado Taukai looked toward Murai. "Who?"

"The Tang Empire," Murai told Kado that someone from the Tang Empire came to him when he was about to ask for an antidote from Hines Myers. At that time, he thought the World Government would help them, but he did not expect that Hines Myers would use this chance to swallow the Taukai Family.

"Don't you dare to interfere with the World Government's internal affair, Tang Empire!" Hines Myers shouted toward Tang Shaoyang, but the Tang Empire's barrier was on.

"We are just offering help to the people in need." Lu An responded to Hines Myers.

Before Hines Myers could say anything, Kado Taukai responded to Lu An, "I will agree to whatever your condition is. Repel the poison, and the Taukai Family will be at the Tang Empire's command!" He did not hesitate to change sides. He was not going to give a second thought after receiving such treatment from Hines Myers.

"That's kinda a quick response." Lu An nodded and took out a scroll from the inventory and handed it to Kado. "If you don't care about the condition, then you can sign this. After you sign that contract, we will bring you the person that can repel your poison."

Kado Taukai bit his thumb and dropped his blood onto the contract. He did not read the contract as he immediately signed it. He did not care about the condition, but one thing he knew about the Tang Empire. The Empire was in conflict against the World Government, so if he became part of the Tang Empire, he would have a chance to destroy the World Government. Yes, his biggest desire was to destroy the World Government now. He was not going to let the World Union slide after this.

Lu An was surprised that Kado Taukai really did not read the contract. He nodded his head at Kado and put the contract back into his inventory. "Follow me. The person that will cure you in our booth."

Kado remembered about the Tachibana Clan that came to the Tang Empire for an antidote as well. He remembered that it was a man with an ancient robe that made the antidote. He looked toward the Tang Empire's booth, but he did not find the man with long hair.

Lu An brought Kado to the Tang Empire's spectator booth. He waved his hand at Kang Xue. "I brought you a patient, Sister Kang Xue."

Kang Xue nodded her head and looked toward Tang Shaoyang. "So I just need to inject the Light Elemental into his body, and it will repel the poison?" She did not know that she could heal the poison; she knew about it just now.

"Yeah. It's not a poison, but more like harmful energy that poisons us, humans. Your Light Elemental should be able to repel the poison." Tang Shaoyang replied without looking back. That was supposed to be true since he got to know that from the Revenant Spirit.

Kado Taukai looked at the woman in front of him before looking at Tang Shaoyang's back. From their conversation, he could tell that the girl had never repelled poison before. 'What is this? Do I become an experiment subject?' Before he could question it, Kang Xue poured her Light Elemental into him.

Kado's eyes widened in surprise as he felt warm energy enter his body. The warm energy entered his head and started to spread to his body. It was so comforting and pleasant. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation. Three minutes later, He felt a string of acute pain on his chest. He opened wide and puked out black blood. It was like blood but much thicker than blood and dark in color. It got thicker and turned into something similar to slime.

"Hmmm, that should be the poison or the Revenant's Dark Energy." Kang Xue muttered in a low voice before asking Kado. "So, what do you feel, Sir?"

The pain was slowly going away, and he felt like the energy had returned to his body. He stood up and tried to move around. "I think I am fine."

"Good. You have to wait here for a moment to make sure you are, so for the time being, you can talk with our Prime Minister." Kang Xue smiled and pointed at Li Shuang. "You must understand what it means to be a vassal, and you must know the regulations too."

*** ***

Hines Myers gritted his teeth and clenched his palm into a fist. He felt like destroying something. His plan to absorb the Taukai Family into the World Union failed, and all of that was caused by the Tang Empire. It was not just the World Union's loss, but the World Government's loss. On top of that, the Tang Empire did it openly like that, which pissed him even more. There was an urge, telling him to jump into the Tang Empire's booth and massacre all the people in the booth. But he managed to keep his sanity and hold back.

*** ***

It was just a small episode between the Uprising Guild, The World Union, and the Tang Empire. People quickly changed their attention to the screen when the System started the draw for the third round of the top sixteen.

[Tang Empire]

When the first faction appeared, the spectators' gasped. The Major Faction became the center of attention from day one, easily passing into the Playoff Stage. Then they opened an evil business, healing the fighters for money, The Tang Empire then declared war against the Suzhou Survivor Establishment, and lastly, the Empire took a faction from the World Government.

Then the System randomized the second faction that would fight against the Tang Empire. For some reason, they felt like the draw was longer than usual. All eyes were at the giant screen above the arena, and a name appeared on the screen.

[Amazon Guild]

The whole arena buzzed in a discussion because this would be the first clash between the Major Guilds. Even though Amazon Guild lost against The Belem Guild, they were still one of the strongest factions.

At this moment, Hines Myers jumped out from his seat. He looked so happy with the draw result.. "You must kill all five participants from the Tang Empire, Guild Leader Sylvanus! If you can do that, then I will give you this Epic Rank Spear!" Hines Myers took out a light blue spear from his inventory.