"Yet, before any of that," Amon said, his tone measured but carrying weight, "you must pass a trial."
The moment Cain heard those words, his eyes grew cold, and the full pressure of his psychic power was released. The golden light and crimson flames within them deepened into something heavier, darker—an all-swallowing power that seemed ready to engulf Amon whole.
It was true that Cain sought to forge alliances, and he would be in great danger if he did not succeed, but he was not some fledgling cultivator who would leap through hoops like a trained beast just to earn the approval of another Archdeity. The Scarlet Alliance belonged to him. While he would take the opinions and advice of others into careful consideration, he was its ruler.
And what kind of precedent would it set if he humbled himself, running about completing trials for others to "allow" them to stand beside him?
