“I have a message for you, Lady Drishti.”
“Tell me,” Slowly rising from her bed, taking calculated and elegant steps toward her throne as she passed beside the kneeling man.
Already aware of the change in the body language of her subjects, an obvious one, she observed.
His whole body was trembling, clearly affected by some trauma, yet he was present here to deliver a message from someone he was eager to kill.
‘Hope, it should be something interesting,’ She had given more than ten hours of her time just to see some satisfactory results, postponing her curiosity about learning that lost language.
“Here,” the kneeling man said, with trembling hands, a result of the torment, as he stretched his palm with a small orb on it, carrying a voice message for the woman now seated lazily on the regal throne.
The whole room’s interior was black, with her throne much darker than it, adorned with several treasures lying around the place.
SWISH
Her delicate finger, resting on the armrest, slightly lifted, causing the orb to slowly elevate before floating towards her and falling into her palm.
Holding it, her long eyelashes made way for her deep amber eyes to observe the marble before infusing some mana into it.
Beeeeep
A sharp sound accompanied a message in a familiar voice that filled the room.
:: Our first meeting wasn’t very memorable, was it? Everything happened too soon for us to have a good conversation, which I would like to have tomorrow at the same time. But for now, I am leaving a gift of your interest in exchange for another compensation. ::
SWISH
A sudden sound caused the woman’s eyes to lift, and at that moment, the world condensed into a sharp, distorted reflection.
Within the depths of her pupils, tiny nerves quivered, mirroring a gleaming sword, no larger than a needle’s distance, directly pointing towards her retina.
Each minuscule detail of the blade was captured in the reflection of her eyes; time seemed to slow down at an unprecedented level.
SPLASH
CLANK
Another sound reverberated as the sword broke apart like mirror pieces, with a black-cloaked body turning into blood mist, still unable to taint her milk-white skin.
“Sigh…” A soft breath escaped her parted, rosy lips, now adorned with a smile. Her eyes slightly lowered as her elbow rested on the armrest, supporting her tilted head in her palm. ‘It’s a pity.’
Her gaze may be fixed downward, but her mind was looking towards the individual who seemed invisible to her eyes, yet her mind already pondered the loss she would have to withstand after that young man’s death.
The message was clearly a challenge for her to meet him tomorrow night, which could have instantly led her to make a move. But now, it seemed she could control herself for today.
After all, just now, one of her most loyal subjects dashed at her with killing intent, ignoring all the oaths and breaking the loyalty that was etched on his soul until now.
What could be the most interesting thing for her to know right now than the reason or way that caused such betrayal?
But she was patient enough to wait for tomorrow, though disappointed.
Since her mind expected something more entertaining than just having a young man’s ego blocking his senses and making rash decisions to provoke her.
knock knock
“Come in” Hearing the sudden knock on the door, Drishti’s gaze still looking down, commanded already knowing about the people.
“L-lady Drishti, forgive us, but Young Maste—” Dreck, heading with four other branch members, entered the room, sweat beads visible all over his face.
Even though they knew that killing a Devereaux member while carrying the same bloodline would cause instant death, each one of them had shivers running down their spines seeing a lone figure seated calmly on the black regal throne.
“Kill yourselves.”
Another voice resonated centered from the throne, directly sending shivers down Dreck’s spine before he swiftly distanced himself from his fellow branch members.
SWISH
SCHLKT!
Screeech
In the middle of the air, a sound reached his ears while he had distanced himself to some point, legs sliding on the floor before stopping at a distance, lifting his gaze to only see two individuals following him had pierced the hearts of others.
‘!?’
“Kughh…..Y-you!?” Looking at their own comrades piercing their swords through their hearts, a surge of emotion filled their minds.
Even those who held the grip of the sword, knowing their fate, felt their hearts stopping any moment.
Their bodies were not in their control. It felt like surrounding energy was penetrating their nervous systems and directly controlling them.
Each one of them EPIC-ranked powerhouses, standing helplessly.
‘!?’
“L-lady Drishti….T-this?” Dreck’s eyes widened seeing all four people whom he brought directly killing each other with their own hands, a suicidal attack.
tap tap
Tapping her thin fingers on the armrest, Drishti’s face formed a small smile looking at the remaining man who was looking at her with a horrified gaze before some soft words resonated inside the room.
“Meet my butler; he will provide you access to my spire’s energy crystal.”
.
.
.
.
.
Inside the expansive grounds belonging to the Crawfords, a few individuals moved towards the central part of the place where a huge mansion was present.
“This way, Young Master,” Adrian made way for Ryuk, who seemed to become the center of attention by the crowd slowly gathering outside the mansion.
Previously prepared for battle but blocked by the main family’s army, now they just wanted to see their new Young Master.
Two years ago, several flagbearers joined hands with other branch families, while some tried to form bonds with the Crawfords too, but were rejected by the family head, who was already determined to support Lady Alisia’s son.
All of these people were here after hearing about yesterday’s battle and wanted to see the young man who would again bring back the legacy of the Crawfords, who stood among the top three major branch families.
‘Not all of them are in Phase 2.’ While moving, Ryuk noticed that among the thousands of crowds, not everyone had entered Phase 2.
It seemed these people were more like natives than warriors.
Soldiers or direct members of branch families were mostly strong enough to be considered under Phase 2.
Moving inside the main gates of the mansion, they all entered the long hallway hidden behind a fake wall, leading towards another metal gate where two EPIC-ranked soldiers were standing.
“Please come in, Young Master,” Adrian directly led Ryuk inside the room, which seemed like a small room but was in reality…
CREEIK
With a vibration, the whole small room-like structure started to move downward, proving it to be an elevator leading to an underground space.
‘Everything is working on Ether here.’ Noticing the power source, even for the lift, seemed to be based on Ether instead of mana.
Thud
Finally stopping at the ground level, the elevator’s gates swung open, revealing an enormous space completely made by cutting through the ground, a hollow space supported by huge metallic pillars infused with Ether and some runic inscriptions.
But instead of those things, Ryuk’s eyes fell on a fleet of battleships, which were not completely countable from where he stood due to their colossal size, making him look like an ant against elephants.
“This is our Battleship’s base, Young Master!” Adrian announced with pride, his eyes glimmering in anticipation of praise.
Ryuk also noticed his enthusiasm. Even though he could see all of the ships devoid of any energy, he still felt the need to congratulate him but waited since he felt someone’s familiar presence here.
He called out in a specific direction, “Mia, what are you doing goofing around here instead of the work I assigned you?”
