Chapter 114: 110: Slaughter
Chapter 114: Chapter 110: Slaughter
“Ah!”
The power of the Blackstone Iron Dragon’s bloodline not only brought immense defensive power but also a terrifying life force.
Even with his heart destroyed, Arsh hadn’t died completely. Instead, he swung a slightly weakened punch furiously toward the “Baron Kesse” in front of him.
The heavy fist possessed a dreadful force capable of crushing a human body, yet the “Baron Kesse” easily dodged it with a sidestep.
“I’ll kill you, you bastard!”
Arsh still believed his attacker to be his nephew, Baron Kesse, and roared as he took a deep breath. The next moment, he spewed out a significant amount of black flames from his mouth.
The black flames had a strong corrosive nature; mere contact with human skin could make life a living hell in an instant.
However, like a bird taking flight, Chris suddenly leaped up, lightly bounding to the rear without any intention of further entanglement.
He disappeared from Arsh’s sight at an extremely fast speed, without a trace.
“Damn it!”
Anger filled Arsh’s eyes, but he still didn’t give pursuit.
Frantically, he pulled out an expensive life-saving medicine from his chest pocket and took it, only to discover with horror and trembling that his shattered flesh showed no signs of healing at all.
“Why?”
Fearful, yet unwilling to give up, Arsh collapsed on the ground and slowly began to lose signs of life.
Although the life force of the “Blackstone Iron Dragon” bloodline was potent, ultimately, he could not keep going forever.
After a while, “Viscount Garcia,” “the servant,” and “Baron Kesse” converged and swiftly dealt with the body.
After leaving the horse racing course, they arrived at a carriage parked in a deserted area and quickly departed Black Mountain Town.
Theo was the driver, and the three impostors in the carriage were the disguised Byrne, Chris, and Vanessa.
Byrne breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “Good, it went very well.”
“However, it won’t be long before Arsh Kesse’s disappearance is noticed. We must act before the Kesse family can prepare their defenses. Tomorrow night is the best opportunity!”
—-
The Kesse family’s manor, set in their family’s territorial village, looked strikingly grand and respectable, utterly unlike the village houses crammed and rudimentary.
The village was exceedingly poor, almost suffocating those who lived there.
Constant severe taxation by the state and the relentless exploitation by the Kesse family left the villagers with no room to breathe—a disaster often resulted in starvation.
The Kesse family had always ruled ordinary people with an iron fist, annually scraping all they could from beginning to end, squeezing out every last drop of blood.
In recent years, many villagers had fled to the cities and towns of the East Coast Province, becoming factory workers, thus reducing the Kesse family’s exploitable resources.
With large sums due annually to the Garcia family, on top of maintaining their lavish family lifestyle and various developments, the Kesse family urgently needed a new source of income.
Fortunately, the Fischer family had provided an opportunity.
As night fell, a cool breeze swept through the manor, rustling the leaves softly.
The Kesse family guards patrolled as usual, while the family members rested in the estate house, only Arsh Kesse had not returned from outside.
With the Red Moon and the Silver Moon hanging high, in the cool, quiet and dark night, seven Extraordinary Exponents robed in black gathered in the alley outside the Kesse family manor.
They were core members of the Fischer family, sent to “solve the problem”: Byrne, Irene, Chris, Theo, Vanessa, Archibald, Erik.
Byrne took a deep breath and commanded gravely, “We mustn’t let a single person escape. Remember, we have to place the forged Sea God Cult insignia throughout the Kesse family manor.”
Through his Extraordinary trait “Artisan” on the Path of Forging, Erik had gained technical abilities akin to those of a decades-old master craftsman.
Using the templates in Byrne’s memory, he could almost perfectly replicate many of the Sea God Cult’s statues, sculptures, and emblems.
Although many would suspect the Fischer family of orchestrating the fall of the Kesse family, it was still essential to pin the blame on the Sea God Cult.
If everything went south later, this ploy would serve as an important insurance.
Irene cast a surreptitious glance at Vanessa then pinched Chris, who was beside her.
Chris nodded with understanding.
He didn’t want Vanessa, filled with a sense of justice, to see the Kesse family’s children. It was critical for him to take care of those targets first.
She might try to protect those innocent children, or she might not, but either way, she would be tormented by the ordeal for a long time.
He didn’t want Vanessa to be caught in a moral quandary, so he had to do it quickly.
Cradling the sacred object in her arms, Irene took a deep breath, her eyes revealing a fierce devotion.
She touched her dyed black hair and spoke solemnly,
“The time has come to annihilate our enemies. Tonight is the Kesse family’s fated moment of doom. Have no fear, the great Lord of the Lost will protect us!”
“Praise the great Lord of the Lost!”
Each member of the Fischer family offered a prayer, then uniformly pulled out the fake-spirit cards distributed by Chris from their robes.
Byrne waved his hand slowly, and each card burst into flames in the night air.
They burned to ash in the blue fire, scattering as embers, and in the darkness, the figures in the alley took on entirely different appearances.
Byrne, who had assumed the guise of “Baron Kesse,” touched his throat, his voice becoming grim and serious.
“Remember, in addition to eliminating the Kesse family and placing the Sea God Cult’s items, the last thing we must do is find Theo’s son, who is likely confined in the manor’s cellar.”
Theo’s expression was one of immense solemnity. For three whole months, he had been filled with anxiety and pain.
At last, he was about to bring his son back home.
After Byrne had made the situation clear, he nodded firmly and said with gravity:
“All right, action!”
They cleared the guards around the periphery of the Kesse family’s manor with lightning speed; because they had conducted extensive training exercises beforehand, everyone managed to perform quite flawlessly despite the tension.
But, an accident quickly occurred!
In an inconspicuous corner of the manor, a Mysterious rare artifact responsible for sounding alarms suddenly emitted a piercing screech!
“Buzz!”
Byrne suddenly looked up, understanding that in any operation, even with thorough preparation, there would still be unforeseen mishaps.
He couldn’t have predicted every contingency, what came next was to adapt on the fly!
“We’re under a night attack!”
“Hurry, counterattack!”
Two Bloodline Knights, who hadn’t managed to put on their armor, ran out from the manor and immediately rushed to Byrne’s side, for he was the spitting image of “Baron Kesse.”
“Lord Baron, what exactly has happened?”
“Is it an attack? Are the assailants evil cultists or from the Fischer family?”
Byrne shouted firmly, “Follow my orders! Protect me by my side!”
The two Bloodline Knights didn’t hesitate or show caution, rushing to stand by Byrne. In the next moment, they were enveloped in raging flames, screaming in agony as they madly rolled on the ground, the fire instantly spreading to the grass as well.
Byrne gestured sharply with his hand, and the fire intensity grew; soon, it would engulf the entire manor.
“Who are you!”
One Bloodline Knight quickly stilled, while the other, not yet completely burned to death, rose painfully, drew his blade, and attempted to strike Byrne.
But his blade was easily blocked by an invisible force, not making a single dent.
That was an invisible mirror Byrne created using “Mirror Deflection.”
“Aaaaahhh! Damn it! Who exactly are you!”
The Bloodline Knight engulfed in fire stared with eyes wide in fury, continuously roaring in hatred as his sword strikes proved futile.
“Burn even hotter.”
Byrne watched him calmly, and a more intense fire finally brought the knight to his knees, gradually reducing him to char.
The rest of the Fischers had already breached the manor, and besides Vanessa, who hesitated, they began a merciless, bloody slaughter.
Chris, now in the form of Arsh, held daggers in both hands, slaying one after another as he hurried to the cellar entrance.
“Ah! Don’t come any closer!”
Two trembling guards shot at him but he easily dodged their bullets, and in the next moment, two heads flew through the air, with copious amounts of blood spurting out.
Chris took the keys, unlocked the cellar door, and went inside, soon hearing the voice of Theo, the Guards Captain, from outside.
Theo arrived outside the cellar, and instantly shouted anxiously, “Have you seen my son, Young Master?”
He didn’t hear Chris’s reply, and his heart quickly rose to his throat; then he remembered that Young Master Chris was a man of few words and he sighed in relief.
Theo was about to enter the cellar when he saw Chris silently emerging from inside. Chris suddenly held out his hand to stop him at his chest, as if he didn’t want him to go inside.
“I, I need to go down, where is my son? Young Master, have you seen my son?”
Theo asked bewilderedly, but Chris just shook his head, pushing hard against him with his hand to prevent him from proceeding to the cellar.
The middle-aged man froze.
“No, this isn’t what we agreed upon…”
As Theo mumbled a few words, his face growing paler, he instinctively raised his arms, trying to push past him to see the situation in the cellar firsthand, but suddenly he collapsed as if his legs had given out.
Chris immediately supported Theo, and the middle-aged man wept in the younger man’s arms like a child.
“Ahh! Ahhhh!”
Under the dark sky, the flames continuously consumed the manor, the towering inferno illuminating the entire heavens, casting a suffocating red light that lit up the village, devouring the darkness.
Byrne stood watching the manor engulfed in flames, listening to the wails and screams surrounding him, feeling something within him growing ever more resolute.
This night would not be the end of the carnage but the beginning of all madness.
He suddenly spotted a dark figure rushing out at great speed and heading into the distance.
Byrne’s eyes filled with cold determination, he immediately gave chase without a moment’s hesitation!