The moment that so-called Ancestor dropped his absurd demand, the entire arena went silent. Every single person, including me, stared at the old man with our mouths open.

“What the fuck is that bastard spouting?” I roared, my eyes burning with anger.

“What did you just say, you old fossil?” Hana muttered as an intense crimson aura surrounded her.

“From the continuous disrespect you have shown me, Elder Hana, should I assume that you believe that the Guardian’s family is above the main family? Since you’re not giving me any face, I should do the same then.

Guards, disrobe her and subjugate them if they oppose. Everything will be cleared once she is bare.”

Even the protection guards, who always had dark expressions on their faces and seemed less like living beings and more like killing machines, flinched from the monstrous order of Ancestor.

“My… my lord, is this really necessary?” the head of the guard asked, his lips shivering.

“IMPUDENCE! You dare question my judgment? Have you forgotten the oath your family took before you?

Follow every command of the clan Ancestor. This is the oath that has never been broken for the past hundred years. Do you want to be the stain on your family’s honor?”

The guard bit his lips and reluctantly moved toward Ume and Hana as the other guards followed him.

“If you dare touch a strand of my daughter’s hair, the entire fox clan will turn into a bloodbath,” Hana announced, the nails of her hands elongated, turning into sharp claws.

“You won’t be doing anything,” the old man said, drawing a red-colored zade box from his robe.

He rotated a key on the box, and the moment he did, the air in the arena turned thick, and an insane amount of Soulforce pressure leaked from the box, targeting directly at Hana.

She fell to her knees, the ground beneath her split, and blood spilled from her mouth due to the sheer pressure.

“That’s-that’s the Absolute Decree,” a loud voice came from the crowd.

“Ma… ma… ma… MAD, the Ancestor has gone mad,” another one shouted.

“Stop the Ancestor,” the audience roared.

Several of them ran towards the platform where the main family was standing, while the others jumped into the arena to stop the guards.

“Hmph, just some flies,” the old man muttered and rotated the key of the zade box further.

A wave of energy emerged from the box and spread towards the protesting people, slamming them into the surface.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the guard said as he walked towards Gumiho, his voice laced with a hint of guilt,

“Our hands are tied, Elder Hana. Please forgive us.”

He raised his hand, reaching for Gumiho’s skirt.

Gumiho clenched her fist, taking trembling steps backward, a petal of plum blossom emerging from her palm as the guard’s hand reached hair length.

And then came a loud scream filled with pain,

“Aghhhhh!”

The arm of the guard that was coming for Gumiho lay on the ground, completely severed from his shoulder.

“Come any closer… and… the next thing I slice will be your head,” Hana muttered, her claws dripping with blood.

“I can’t believe it. She… she is trying to seal the Absolute Decree,” Yahiko shouted.

Hana had drawn a large circular pattern on the ground, which was absorbing the pressure from that strange box.

“Hmph, your arrogance knows no bounds, Elder Hana,” the old coot said as he rotated the key further.

The pressure on Hana increased severalfold, the pattern she drew broke, and her whole body slammed to the ground. Blood splattered. Bones shattered. Her eyes turned white.

“She won’t cause any more trouble. Do it now.”

“Don’t hurt my mother,” Gumiho screamed.

Several plum blossoms emerged from both her palms, and following the movement of her hands, they flew off, bolting directly towards the guards surrounding her.

“Hahaha, are you creating the environment to strip you by throwing flowers?” Yahiko laughed.

“No way this family is mentally stable,” I whispered, my ears refusing to believe what they just heard.

However, he would have never thought that these flowers weren’t for decoration. Instead, they would be used for the funeral of his protection guards.

The moment the flowers grazed the guards’ skin…

BOOM!

Eruptions occurred. Screams echoed. The ground turned crimson, and just like that, the protection guards fell, their skin melting with third-degree burns.

“Elder Hana, you are truly impressive. You managed to hide her true powers so well,” the old man exclaimed with a sickening smile. “If she had grown any further, you would have truly surpassed the main family.”

“Is-is this the reason… for your atrocities?” Hana whispered, barely conscious. “Were you afraid… that we would take your position… as Head of the fox clan?”

“Hahaha, don’t sully my honor, Elder Hana. I’m only trying to bring out the true demon you’ve kept hidden all these years,” the Ancestor scoffed, and then, staring down at his fallen guards, he muttered,

“Tch, you’ve disappointed me. I’ll have to do it myself.”

He jumped off the platform and announced, as he rotated the key of the box in the opposite direction, withdrawing the energy that suppressed the crowd,

“Witness everyone, this is the demon hiding behind the face of an innocent child.”

He then rotated the key again, compressing all the pressure at a single location—the place where Gumiho stood crying.

The ground around her tore asunder, creating a several-feet-deep hole.

But to everyone’s disbelief, the place where Gumiho stood was still intact. The epicenter of the ground was unfazed. All the pressure from the box was brushing past Gumiho’s body.

“Look, the Absolute Decree isn’t affecting her at all,” the crowd whispered.

“I’ve heard that Absolute Decree contains the spirit of the almighty fox goddess. So no one in the fox clan can oppose it.”

“Is she… is she really a demon?”

“So even the full pressure of the Absolute Decree can’t affect you,” the old man laughed. “But I don’t think your mother can withstand it.”

He directed the focus of the pressure from Gumiho to Hana.

Her body began flattening under the increased pressure as she screamed in agony.

“Please stop harming my mother,” Gumiho pleaded. “I-I will do it… I will undress, so please stop.”

“No, Ume… don’t do it… I beg you…” Hana whispered before falling unconscious.

“Then stop wasting my time and strip, otherwise your mother will be turned into a piece of meat.”

I knew all of this had already happened. That I was just an observer of her past.

But still, the helplessness I was feeling at that time couldn’t be described in words.

I didn’t know Gumiho that well. The only persona I had of her was as a cursed beast or as a cute, playful girl.

But does knowing her even matter in this situation? No kid deserves this kind of humiliation, whether they are human, beast, or demon.

I desperately tried to snatch the zade box from that bastard’s hand but my hand just passed right through it.

Clearly knowing that it wouldn’t happen, yet I tried. Again, again, and again…

On the other side, Gumiho, completely broken down, began sliding down the straps of her skirt from her shoulders.

The audience, even when they were suspecting Gumiho, couldn’t bear to look at her.

The zade box in the Ancestor’s hand vibrated violently as Gumiho’s skirt began sliding down her body.

The moment her dress fell, before anyone could lay their eyes on her bare body, the zade box split open and, from within, a spirit of a fox emerged and its tail wrapped around Gumiho.

The fox spirit roared, its voice cracking the sky above and shaking the ground beneath.

It forced every individual present in the arena to their knees… including that old bastard.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep