"That is not what I want. I want to have the same power as you to dominate the world!" Woods raved
wildly, as his eyes flashed with a crazed gleam.
"You have definitely gone off the deep end..." Rocky muttered, shaking his head in dismay.
"Cut the crap! After I catch you, everything will be easily solved," Woods insisted as maniacal laughter
escaped from his lips.
"What are you waiting for? Come at me then!" Rocky waved the Flaming Blade in his hand, as his face
grew darker and darker with each step he took. He felt slightly guilty because he had made a grave
mistake. If he hadn't helped Woods become the Timber Deity Empire's emperor, perhaps Woods
wouldn't have become like this. Therefore, he had to redeem himself. He had to prevent Woods from
drowning further in power and desire.
"You know what, there is a secret that neither you nor my sister knows." As he spoke, Woods suddenly
took out a weapon that resembled a wooden ruler from his sleeve. Rocky could sense that it was full of
strong evil aura, so it must have contained countless original souls.
"It's the Demonic Ruler!" When Glutton, who had been watching from the sidelines, saw the weapon,
its eyes flashed with recognition and bone-deep fury.
"That's a forbidden item!" Rocky's eyes turned cold at the sight of the weapon, as he immediately
recognized it as a forbidden item.
At first, it seemed incredibly strange that Woods had a forbidden item. But Rocky thought of one
possibility. This forbidden item very likely belonged to the Wood Clan. Elder Evita had told him that it
was impossible for anyone to find their forbidden item. Perhaps, it was because the forbidden item was
in Woods' body.
"This Demonic Ruler has been sealed in my body since I was born. I didn't know that until our patriarch
told me this secret before Alston attacked the Wood Clan more than a year ago. Only then did I find out
that I have been used by the Wood Clan as the furnace to seal the ruler. I can't become a spirit
manipulator because of the ruler," Woods said resentfully.
"Who helped you take out the ruler?" Rocky knew that Woods didn't have the strength to take out the
Demonic Ruler, so someone else must have taken it out for him.
"You should know who it was," Woods sneered.
"Alston?" Rocky asked coldly, although he already knew that he was right.
Woods nodded smugly and added, "It is thanks to him that I have this great power now. Even though I
am not powerful enough, sooner or later, I will also have the kind of power that could intimidate even
the spiritual race, just like you."
As soon as Rocky heard that, he immediately understood that Woods became like this because of the
forbidden item. The more evil one was, the more easily he would be controlled by the forbidden item.
Back then, in order to save Lena, Rocky was controlled by the power of the Evil-fight Divine Bead. But
fortunately, Marcia helped him remove the power of the bead. Otherwise, he would have died.
"Stop it. It's not too late," Rocky persuaded Woods keenly, for he didn't want to hurt him for Alyssa's
sake.
"No, it's too late." Woods shook his head with a bitter smile. He also knew that the Demonic Ruler had
full control over him right now. Nobody could save him.
The next moment, he became violent again. He waved the ruler in his hand, and the ground in front of
the palace suddenly rumbled and trembled. Rocky felt that his body was getting heavier and heavier as
if a mountain was bearing down on him.
When the spirit manipulators at the Immortal Stage and the spiritual masters saw that Rocky had been
suppressed by the Demonic Ruler's power, they exchanged glances with each other and immediately
rushed forward, intending to take advantage of Rocky's momentary weakness to kill him. They knew
that if they didn't kill Rocky, Rocky would definitely kill them instead.
However, just as they were coming closer, the black light all over Rocky's body suddenly flashed. The
flame wings on his back started flapping hard until he was soaring into the sky. The next moment, the
huge Flaming Blade in his hand made a few flame strikes, which fell to the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The flame strikes covered a range of several hundred meters after they landed with a few loud bangs.
They enveloped the spirit manipulators at the Immortal Stage and the spiritual race members, and the
flames soared into the sky like a beacon.
Then, Rocky dived down and rushed towards Woods aggressively. Between one blink and the next, he
disappeared and reappeared in front of Woods.
Woods didn't even flinch in the face of Rocky's breakneck speed. He waved the Demonic Ruler in his
hand again, and a tremendous force immediately suppressed Rocky.
At that moment, Rocky felt a tremendous force pressing down on him, but his current strength was still
above Woods'. Even though the Demonic Ruler was very powerful, it couldn't hurt him at all.
In an instant, Rocky broke through the shackles of the great force and rushed in front of Woods. He
waved the huge Flaming Blade in his hand.
To his shock, Woods didn't use the Demonic Ruler to resist. Instead, Woods met the Flaming Blade's
slash with open arms.
"What... why?" Rocky was shocked to see that Woods didn't resist at all.
Woods slowly raised his hand and handed the Demonic Ruler to Rocky. He had a bittersweet smile on
his face, as he gazed up to Rocky.
"At last, I can finally get rid of it. The power of the forbidden item is too terrifying. It's not something that
humans can resist. I'm afraid only you can withstand it," Woods said as he laughed bitterly.
Hearing that, Rocky was taken aback. He immediately understood that Woods had been ready to die,
in order to get rid of the power of the forbidden item. Therefore, he took the Demonic Ruler from Woods
without hesitation.
After that, Woods turned into ashes and disappeared in the air with the gently blowing wind.
"No! Woods!" Out of nowhere, an anguished voice suddenly cried out.
Rocky turned his head as soon as he heard, recognizing the voice as Alyssa's. She was staring down
at him with wide, glassy eyes, as she clumsily flew down and got off her spiritual beast. Obviously, she
had witnessed her brother's death.
Alyssa stopped in front of Rocky, looking lost and betrayed. She was still staring at the spot where
Woods had faded into nothing. But then, she seemed to gather herself. She turned to Rocky and asked
in a hoarse voice that was filled with anguish, betrayal, and anger, "Why?! Why did you kill my
brother?"
Rocky knew that Alyssa must have misunderstood what she had seen. She didn't know that her brother
had fallen under the control of the forbidden item, but he didn't bother to explain. It would be useless.
And it would not lessen the pain she was in. Besides, he had done the right thing.
"Why don't you answer me?" The heartbroken Alyssa grew angrier when Rocky didn't utter a single
word. At that moment, she could accept any reason that Rocky told her, but Rocky kept silent, which
made her confirm that he had really killed her brother in cold blood. She couldn't accept the fact that
Rocky had killed her brother, who was her only family in the world!
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