High Lord Rashal pushed the trident down with every ounce of his remaining strength.
It was an agonizingly slow, brutal descent.
Not because he wanted High Lord Ursa to die a slow death—but he simply didn't have enough strength to make it quick. He could feel the anatomy of the kill through the sturdy handle. He felt the extremely stubborn resistance of the skin, fighting to remain whole.
And then the dense, corded strength of muscle tearing and yielding.
Finally, the sickening, vibrating hardness of bone as the prong forced its way into the neck.
Killing High Lord Ursa meant being closer to winning the Purgation Duel.
It meant securing his family, his fortune, and his power—the ultimate victory of his meteoric rise.
Once he overthrew High Lord Ursa, nobody else would dare look down on him ever again, even when he became a High Lord through military exploits. In fact, he might be replacing High Lord Ursa as the most dominant High Lord.
