Heretic Trainer: The Gym Is My Cultivation Method-Chapter 431: Daddy Issues Become Political Crisis

Darius’s fingers tightened slightly around the armrest of the throne.

"How dare you speak that way in my hall," he said coldly.

His voice remained controlled, but the anger underneath it was clear.

Garion didn’t seem bothered at all. He shrugged casually and looked around the hall. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"What?" Garion said with a relaxed tone. "I’m just being honest."

He tilted his head slightly toward Dahlia. "Looking at the situation, you’re the reason your clan lost a genius."

A few of the Draconia guards shifted uneasily where they stood.

Some of them looked at Dahlia, others glanced nervously at Darius, unsure how far this conversation would go.

Garion continued speaking calmly. "Not my fault, by the way, that the genius came to me and grew stronger under me."

He placed one hand on his hip and looked straight at Darius. "So what do you think about that, Patriarch Darius?"

The words were said almost casually, but the meaning behind them was sharp.

"In a way, it could be said that you’re the sole reason for the fall of the Draconia Clan."

The hall became completely silent.

Darius’s eyes darkened. His aura didn’t explode, but the pressure around him grew heavier.

Several guards instinctively straightened their backs as the air in the room seemed to thicken.

"You speak boldly for someone standing inside my territory," Darius said slowly.

Garion smiled. "That’s because I can back it up."

Dahlia folded her arms and stepped half a step forward. Her eyes remained fixed on the man sitting on the throne.

"Yeah," she added calmly. "We can back it up, Darius."

The moment she said his name directly, several guards in the hall stiffened.

Calling the patriarch by name without title was something almost no one dared to do.

Darius’s expression darkened immediately. "You..."

Dahlia shrugged as if his anger meant nothing to her.

"What?" she said flatly. "You’re no longer my father."

Her voice did not rise, but every word landed clearly in the hall. "The moment Mother died and I walked out of this clan... that relationship ended."

She pointed slightly behind her with her thumb toward Garion. "You are nothing compared to my master."

The words hung in the air like a slap.

Darius’s composure finally cracked.

His aura exploded outward in a wave of pressure, the dragon energy around him filling the hall.

Several guards instinctively stepped back as the temperature in the room seemed to rise. "How dare you speak to me like that!"

The dragon aura pressed down toward Garion and Dahlia like a heavy weight.

But Garion only smirked. "Is that it?"

He casually stretched his neck once and then released his own aura.

A dense and heavy pressure spread out from him instantly. It wasn’t fiery like Darius’s dragon aura.

It felt heavier, like gravity pressing down on everything around it.

The two auras collided in the middle of the hall.

Darius’s eyes widened slightly.

For a brief moment, his dragon aura stopped advancing.

Garion stood there calmly with one hand in his pocket, completely relaxed.

Darius stared at him carefully now. "So..."

His voice lowered slightly. "You’re stronger than I expected."

Garion shrugged. "Of course I am."

He tilted his head toward Dahlia again. "Didn’t you just hear what she said?"

He gave a small grin. "She learned from me."

Dahlia rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it.

Instead, she crossed her arms and looked directly at Darius with an expression that carried no respect at all.

Sorien let out a short laugh.

"Ah," he said while shaking his head slightly. "Darius, it seems you are not as impressive as you used to be."

Several Draconia guards stiffened at the comment, but Sorien didn’t seem concerned.

The smile faded from his face as he stepped forward, his posture straight and composed.

His tone changed immediately. "And I must add something."

He looked directly at Darius now, his eyes calm but firm. "Did I not warn you not to provoke God Gym?"

The hall became silent again.

Sorien continued, his voice steady. "So explain this to me. Why did the demonic dragon Navrel appear in God Gym territory?"

He clasped his hands behind his back. "As far as I know, the first patriarch of your clan defeated and sealed that dragon decades ago."

His gaze sharpened. "So why was it there?"

Dahlia spoke before Darius could answer. Her voice carried a faint trace of annoyance. "It’s simple."

She glanced at Garion briefly before looking back at her father. "They wanted us gone."

Darius frowned immediately. "What do you mean?"

Dahlia shrugged slightly. "I saw who released it."

Her tone remained calm. "It was Darrell."

The name made several people in the hall freeze.

"He brought supplies and tried to negotiate with the dragon," Dahlia continued. "Probably hoping to use it to attack God Gym."

She paused for a moment before adding the rest casually. "But it didn’t go well for him."

Garion chuckled quietly.

Dahlia finished the sentence without emotion. "He got eaten."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Darius’s eyes widened slightly before his expression turned dark. "What the hell are you talking about?"

His voice carried real shock now. "How could something like that happen without my knowledge?"

He stood up slowly from the throne, his aura rising again though not explosively this time. "You’re telling me my own son went to release Navrel..."

His jaw tightened. "And died without anyone informing me?"

The hall remained completely silent.

Dahlia suddenly let out a short laugh.

It wasn’t loud, but it was sharp enough to break the silence.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked calmly.

Her eyes stayed locked on Darius as she tilted her head slightly. "Or are you just pretending not to know?"

A few murmurs spread among the guards standing near the pillars.

Dahlia continued, her voice steady. "Because we already found out quite a lot."

She took a slow step forward, her boots echoing against the stone floor.

"I followed Darrell myself. I saw him through all the things that happened there."

Darius didn’t respond immediately. His face remained hard, but the tension in his jaw was obvious.

Sorien stepped forward beside Dahlia, his hands folded behind his back.

His calm expression returned, but the pressure around him made several Draconia members instinctively straighten their posture.

"There is no need to pretend ignorance," Sorien said evenly.

His eyes rested directly on Darius. "Not when the evidence is already clear."

He paused briefly before his tone sharpened. "How dare you work with a demon?"

The accusation hung heavily in the hall.