CHAPTER 299: CHAPTER 298 - VICE-SQUEAKTRIARCH.

Before Argon had made his move on Zephyr, confronting him about everything last night, there was a talk between Raven and him.

Raven had warned Argon about how he was bound to lose, but Argon hadn’t believed it.

Still, Raven had gone on, telling him that even if he didn’t want to believe in it, he should listen to what he should do in case he did lose.

He had told Argon that after retreating, he, along with all the other elders, should hide in the Cradle, and once he gave the signal, they should come out.

"What signal?" Argon had asked.

"Well, you’ll know without me telling you."

That was all Raven had said, and true to his words, Argon and the elders knew when they had to come out.

That whistle from Raven was the signal.

Since then, everyone—including the elders, branch family heads, and Argon—saw everything that went on, including the persistence of the squirrel army, which made them wonder if they could ever be that good.

The main thing they were witnessing, however, wasn’t the squirrel army, but the defeat of the forces even they had failed to face at the hands of a group from the younger generation.

Now, however, everything had ended.

Dust still hung over the courtyard, lit gold by Raven’s chains as Zephyr lay broken in the crater.

His siblings knelt in defeat, the undead army hogtied in squirrel knots, and on the rooftops, the once-mighty elders stood frozen, their presence suffocating—yet tainted with hesitation.

They had been brought here as judges. But now, as Argon stepped forward, it was clear they were only witnesses.

Zephyr’s cracked lips moved.

His eyes, bloodshot, darted from Raven to the figure above. "No... No, this... this can’t be..."

His voice rasped like broken glass. "Argo—Father... You—You planned this? From the start?"

He wasn’t foolish enough to not realize what was going on.

Their timely and calm arrival, and Raven being aware of their presence, meant only one thing: Raven and Argon were in this together.

Argon’s eyes, however, didn’t flicker.

Even though Zaphyr called him father, and this time it wasn’t filled with sarcasm, he still didn’t blink.

Zephyr had used up all of his chances last night.

So, when he replied, his voice was as flat and merciless as the steel he carried.

"This battle was never about your grudges, Zephyr. It was a trial. The deciding factor for who would be vice-patriarch. The heir who will one day stand as patriarch."

Truthfully, it wasn’t.

This was something Argon came up with on his own because he wanted Raven to get more out of this than he had thought.

For Zephyr, however, those words rang like a funeral bell.

His chest seized, the reality crashing down on him.

He wasn’t Raven’s rival.

He wasn’t the protagonist of this story.

He was the stepping stone.

Laughter spilled from his mouth, bitter and forced. His eyes were dead as he wondered if he should’ve accepted the demon’s offer when he had the time.

Maybe that would’ve given him some advantage.

Poor guy was now having delusions, as he couldn’t accept whatever was happening.

But he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t.

There were a few more of them.

One elder, long-bearded and robed in crimson, stepped forward from behind Argon. His voice was sharp, trembling with unease.

"P-Patriarch, forgive me, but... this is madness. That boy—" he jabbed a finger at Raven, who stood silent and unyielding, "—already wields power beyond reason. If left unchecked, he’ll eclipse even you! Can such a child be trusted with the family’s future?"

Their worries weren’t unwarranted.

After all, being too powerful wasn’t good either.

Above all, Raven was still not old enough to wield power like this. What if it got into his head and made him do things that wouldn’t be considered good?

Another elder, eyes sunken with paranoia, hissed from the side. "Perhaps... Perhaps we should bind him. A slave seal—"

BOOM!

The air cracked.

A pressure slammed the rooftop.

Tiles split like glass. The elder who had spoken found his body hurled flat, blood spraying from his lips as he collapsed under the invisible weight of Argon’s aura.

The courtyard shook with the echo.

Argon’s voice was cold as a winter blade. "Did you forget who I am? This is not a council. I do not ask for your opinions. I make decisions. And my decision is final."

Silence crushed the rooftop. No one dared breathe.

Because everyone knew that Argon rarely spoke so much, so if he did, he meant it.

Raven didn’t flinch. His golden eyes flicked upward, calm but sharp, the chains fading from his hands.

Argon’s gaze met his son’s. For a moment, the patriarch’s mask softened, but only slightly.

"No matter how strong he, my son grew... He will not turn against the family. Not if the family stands with him."

Raven smiled at that, his expression clear.

As everyone looked at him now, they couldn’t imagine him getting blinded by arrogance.

Then, with a single step, Argon leapt from the rooftop.

His black cloak snapped like a banner as he landed in the crater beside Raven, the earth trembling beneath the weight of his arrival.

The world held its breath.

Argon raised his hand, his voice carrying across the courtyard, across rooftops, through every whispering shadow of the Cradle.

"Hear me. From this moment forth, Raven Von Vaise is Vice-Patriarch of the Vaise family. His words are my words. His judgment is my judgment. And should any among you dare to oppose him—"

His eyes sharpened as the great sword on his back trembled, his aura flaring in a killing tide. "—You oppose my blade."

The announcement fell like thunder.

Siris’s grin stretched ear to ear, eyes wild. "Vice-Patriarch, huh? Ooooh, that makes me the Vice-Vice-Patriarch’s girlfriend. That’s hot."

She twirled her dagger gleefully.

Clara exhaled through her nose, calm but proud. A quiet smile played on her lips. "Finally... recognition."

Lia’s eyes softened, and her hands folded against her chest. "He deserves it. More than anyone."

The warmth in her voice carried like a lullaby, though her gaze sharpened at the rooftop elders, daring them to protest.

Jessy folded her arms, mouth twitching between disbelief and reluctant awe. "...Great. Now the guy’s got an official title to go with his smug face."

Rufus whispered, his nano-helmet whirring. "Vice-Patriarch Raven... I mean, it does roll off the tongue. But damn... isn’t he like, way too scary already?"

"Way too scary!" Alex shouted, practically vibrating with excitement. "BRO JUST WENT FROM ’COOL REBEL’ TO ’POLITICAL POWERHOUSE.’ BLARGH, THIS IS AN ANIME ARC SHIFT, ISN’T IT!?"

"Most certainly," the symbiote gurgled proudly, magma bubbling. "I suggest theme music."

Jake said nothing. But his shadows curled protectively at Raven’s feet, quiet loyalty radiating stronger than words.

Cluckles ruffled his feathers, scarf catching the breeze. "Cluckles proclaims... history is written today. The chick has become the eagle."

Chatterfang, standing atop one of the bound undead, raised a paw. A tiny sign materialized: "Vice-Squeaktriarch."

The squirrel army erupted in squeaks of approval, tails waving like banners.

Valeria stood apart, her smile gentle, eyes soft as she gazed at Raven. Pride shimmered on her face.

’I’m happy for you, Raven,’ she muttered inwardly.

For just a heartbeat, her red eyes glowed gold before fading unnoticed.

Zephyr, on the ground, stared at it all. His limbs trembled. His mouth opened, but no sound came.

He could only watch as the position he had dreamed of was stripped from him—not by accident, not by chance, but by a plan woven from the beginning.

The platform he stood on had crumbled.

The stage was Raven’s now.

’I don’t have a place here anymore,’ he concluded.

He knew that only suffering awaited him if he stayed here, so he closed his eyes, letting himself fall into darkness.

The next second, his breathing paused, and his body, which had been spasming for a while, trying to keep up with the pain, went still.

With so many people present on the battlefield, it was inevitable that something like this would go unnoticed.

Silence swallowed the battlefield.

One by one, eyes widened as they realized—Zephyr was gone.

His chest no longer rose, and his battered human form was now turning colder.

Clara’s lips parted in shock, as she hadn’t expected him to go like this, while Jessy’s brows knit tight.

Even Siris stopped mid-grin. Argon’s face remained stone, and Raven merely stared at the dead body of Zephyr for a second before he turned away.

Everything was now over.