Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 720: The Ceremony IV

The instant the pair arrived, utter silence blanketed the area near the table. The escalating tension was plain for all to see.

Curiously, a chill seeped into the air, erasing every trace of smiles from the faces around.

"How rude. Shouldn’t you greet me right now?" Alaric gazed at them impassively as he spoke.

Yet the biting sarcasm in his voice hung heavy.

"I only greet humans and animals," Varnos answered steadily, showing no hint of imminent rage.

Daniel exhaled in relief at the sight. His guild leader seemed to have mastered his emotions since yesterday.

He only prayed this composure would endure, keeping them from the trap's clutches too early.

"Hahaha, so you’re saying I’m neither human nor animal? Then what am I? A god?" Alaric mocked smugly, utterly unfazed by the barb.

"Something lower than an animal."

Alaric's features hardened anew at the comeback, yet the Goblin Guild leader restrained himself, violence not yet called for.

"My brother, even after you attacked him, still kindly invited you to this ceremony out of the goodness of his heart. And not only do you not thank him, you insult him too? Tsk tsk, how trashy," Jason, quiet until then, suddenly chimed in.

His words, however, targeted the onlookers, not them. The ploy succeeded brilliantly, pulling every stare their way.

Gazes flickered uncertainly between Varnos and Alaric, torn on allegiance. Still, to the crowd, the Everlight Moon Guild leader's conduct appeared inexcusable.

"I came today to welcome you. I wanted to show you the way," Varnos finally smiled, finger jabbing upward.

At first, the meaning eluded the others.

The ceiling? A higher floor? Or...? Sharper minds grasped it swiftly: "up" meant the afterlife.

Realization hit everyone quickly. Cold gasps filled the air. To threaten the Goblin Guild leader in his own domain? The audacity!

They had to respect Mr. Varnos's sheer courage. Few among them would dare such a feat.

"Haha, no problem. I wouldn’t mind paying a visit to your dear late wife. Besides, I’m sure she’s lonely right now and could use a man by her side," Alaric stayed calm, erupting into hearty laughter.

His retort, though, unleashed a momentary torrent of savage killing intent, fierce enough to quake the palace.

Just as abruptly, it faded away.

'Calm down and don’t fall into their trap,' Daniel transmitted mentally. He had quelled that lethal surge toward the foe in a flash.

Varnos's eyes still burned crimson, but he fought to steady himself, for the moment at least.

"I think your jokes are going a bit too far, Mr. Alaric," Mirael, who had observed quietly, remarked frostily. The slight targeted a woman like her own sister; silence was impossible.

"Oh, Lady Mirael, I didn’t even notice you were here. If what I said upset you, I apologize. But it was just friendly banter between the two of us, right?" Alaric whirled, beaming at her.

Then his eyes snapped back to Varnos.

Mirael yearned to respond, but a mental message interrupted.

'Don’t interfere and get lost.'

She scowled at Varnos. Eager to assist the ingrate, his dismissal proved too much; she stormed off.

Rivon, lingering nearby, felt the peril and withdrew discreetly. Friends with Varnos or not, he wouldn't doom his guild for it.

The Goblin Guild's dominance was assured: nation's top spot now, regional supremacy soon.

Everlight Moon Guild faced mediocrity—or worse, decline.

He slipped away quietly too, after the Goblin leader's mental warning to vacate, sweetened with promises of future alliances.

"Looks like your cowardly friends abandoned you," Alaric grinned, basking in triumphant superiority.

"They were never going to get involved in this from the start. This is between us," Varnos nodded knowingly. He had foreseen it.

He had ordered Mirael away himself. As for Rivon, years apart had eroded their once-strong bond.

"Anyway, I thought you’d bring your daughter too," Alaric shifted his gaze to the silent Daniel.

A frown marred his face. His scheme demanded Lana. Daniel was expendable—meant for James to slaughter, easing wrath and grudge.

Daniel's presence barely mattered to the core plot. Lana's, though, was vital; her absence threatened everything.

"Something came up and she couldn’t come. In her place, I brought my guild’s treasure," Varnos smiled once more. That scowl betrayed the foe's disrupted scheme.

Alaric seethed at the grin but bit back retort.

"How about bringing two glasses of our best wine for our guests?" He directed Jason.

Jason assented and hurried off. Alaric's stare returned to Varnos.

"The attack on me won’t go unanswered. You’re aware of that, right?"

"Of course. And I’d love to see what you want to do and what you can actually do. Because even if it doesn’t happen today, sooner or later you’re going to die."

With tension surging higher, Jason rushed back, tray bearing four wine glasses.

The brothers each grabbed one, offering the rest to Daniel and Varnos. Suspicion flickered in the pair's eyes.

Random picks and the villains' own sips dispelled doubts; they drank.

Concurrently, the hall doors parted again, revealing a youth in opulent garb.

None other than James, the ceremony's true centerpiece and Goblin Guild heir.