Chapter 178: The Imminent Sacrifices

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: The Imminent Sacrifices

She began crying uncontrollably as she looked at the man she had been forced to marry.

"Has this day finally come?"

Her voice trembled.

"Desmond Hale, I don’t care what you do to me. I only beg you to spare my daughter. Please, let Maya go!"

"Now you want to beg me?"

Desmond Hale burst into laughter.

"Too late!"

He looked at Sarah with a cruel smile.

"You should have thought about that earlier!"

He was thoroughly enjoying their reactions. For years, he had imagined the day when the people who once looked down on him would finally understand what he was capable of.

Now that the moment had arrived, he felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

However, his expression gradually changed when he noticed something.

Xavier, Victoria, Mira, and Maya were all remarkably calm.

Not one of them looked particularly frightened.

Their reactions irritated him.

Why were they so composed?

Hadn’t they heard what he had just said? He was a member of the Abyss Cult, and he intended to offer them to his lord!

"Since you’re all so calm, I’ll use you as my first sacrifices!"

Desmond Hale let out a cold snort.

His figure suddenly blurred as he charged toward Xavier.

He had already assessed everyone present.

He knew the Shelby Family’s strength very well. Even Liam, despite having reached the Divine Power Realm, was no match for him.

Mira and Maya were still young, and their cultivation was far too weak to pose any threat.

Victoria had only recently broken through into the Divine Power Realm. As far as he was concerned, she was hardly worth worrying about.

That left Xavier.

The man’s true strength was difficult to judge, and Desmond Hale had no idea how powerful he really was.

He decided to test him personally.

Unfortunately, Xavier reacted even faster than he did.

"Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger!"

He raised his finger, and a golden force field spread throughout the villa.

Everything within its range instantly froze.

Desmond Hale was no exception.

He had been rushing toward Xavier when his body suddenly stopped in midair, leaving him completely immobilized.

Xavier’s gaze briefly shifted toward the man’s hand.

At some point during his charge, Desmond Hale had revealed a strange red whip. It was thin and flexible, almost resembling a fishing line.

Using a whip as a weapon was rather uncommon among martial artists.

Xavier didn’t waste much time examining it.

"Die!"

He drew his Dragon-Slaying Sword and thrust it directly toward Desmond Hale’s head.

Clang!

The blade struck with a sharp metallic sound.

But instead of piercing through, the sword bounced off Desmond Hale’s skull.

Xavier’s eyes narrowed.

His head was actually harder than the Dragon-Slaying Sword, an eighth-grade weapon!

He immediately redirected the blade toward Desmond Hale’s eye.

Even then, the sword only left behind a faint white mark.

"Interesting. An Abyss Cult follower really does have some unusual abilities."

Xavier wasn’t discouraged.

He didn’t want to unleash his attacks while everyone else was standing nearby. So, rather than continue striking Desmond Hale where he was, he kicked him into the air.

Then he activated the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Countless sword energies erupted in rapid succession, sweeping through the air like a violent storm.

Their brilliant light illuminated the entire villa, turning the fading daylight into a dazzling display of sword flashes.

With the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique amplifying its power, the Dragon-Slaying Sword unleashed its full destructive force.

Desmond Hale’s body was rapidly torn apart by the relentless sword energies.

Xavier frowned slightly and finally withdrew the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger.

The force field disappeared.

Pieces of Desmond Hale’s body fell from the air like rain, scattering across the floor.

But something was terribly wrong.

There wasn’t a single drop of blood.

Instead, the severed pieces glowed with an eerie red light.

Before anyone could react, those pieces began disappearing one after another.

"Mr. X, did you manage to kill Desmond Hale?"

Liam couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer.

While the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger was active, he had only seen Xavier send Desmond Hale flying. He hadn’t been able to witness what happened afterward.

"Mr. X, where did Desmond Hale go?"

Charles and Victoria asked almost simultaneously.

Xavier glanced at them before answering.

"I killed him. However, his body turned into a strange red light and vanished. Does anyone know what’s going on?"

Before anyone could respond, Sarah suddenly spoke.

"Desmond Hale can create clones. The person you were fighting was most likely one of them!"

As the person who had lived with Desmond Hale for years, she knew more about his abilities than anyone else present.

He had often boasted about his powers in private, revealing things he would never have told the rest of the family. Those conversations were also the reason Sarah had lived in constant fear of him.

Everyone immediately turned toward her.

But what she said next was even more alarming.

"Desmond Hale has secretly established the Nine Nether Abyss Formation throughout the Shelby Family manor. We have to leave immediately! There’s no time!"

"What?!"

Charles’s face drained of color.

"The Nine Nether Abyss Formation? That bastard intends to wipe out the entire Shelby Family!"

His voice was filled with anger and disbelief.

The Nine Nether Abyss Formation wasn’t something ordinary human formation masters had developed. It originated from the Abyss Demons.

Although the Abyss Demons were a different race, their intelligence was no lower than that of humans. They possessed their own civilization and had developed many extraordinary techniques. This formation was one of the clearest examples of their achievements.

It was an enormous formation that combined several different functions. It could imprison targets, launch deadly attacks, create illusions, and even summon powerful beings.

Once activated, anyone trapped inside would have to contend with more than just physical attacks. The formation could also interfere with their minds, making it difficult to distinguish reality from illusion.

However, its most frightening ability was its power to open a passage through which Abyss Demons could appear.

A renowned formation master had once described it as one of the highest-level formations in existence, claiming that no other formation in the world could surpass it.

It did have two major weaknesses.

First, constructing it was extremely complicated and required considerable preparation. Second, it consumed enormous amounts of demonic energy.

For that reason, even human martial artists who managed to learn the formation usually couldn’t activate it themselves.

Xavier wasn’t familiar with the Nine Nether Abyss Formation. However, the grave expressions on Charles’s and Victoria’s faces told him everything he needed to know.

This was no ordinary threat.

Fortunately, he had already made preparations for an unexpected situation.

"Sarah!"

Charles suddenly turned toward his daughter, his expression dark.

"You knew Desmond Hale was planning something like this. Why didn’t you tell us earlier?"

The thought that Desmond Hale had spent so long secretly preparing to destroy the entire Shelby Family filled him with panic.

If Sarah had informed them sooner, they might have had enough time to deal with the formation before it was completed.

"How was I supposed to tell you?"

Sarah gave a helpless smile.

"By the time I discovered what he was doing, the formation had already been completed. He was also keeping me under constant surveillance. I couldn’t find an opportunity to contact anyone without being discovered."

She had been living under Desmond Hale’s control for years. There was hardly any freedom left in her life.

"There’s no point arguing about this now," she continued urgently. "We need to get everyone out before he activates the formation!"

Having said that, Sarah turned toward Maya.

"Come here, sweetheart!"

Her expression softened as she reached into her belongings.

"Mom has something for you. I’ve kept it safe for many years. It’s a fragment of a space-type runestone. Take it and use it to escape!"

For the first time since they had arrived, Sarah openly showed how much she cared about her daughter.

She had always loved Maya. Her earlier rejection had never reflected her true feelings. She had simply been too afraid of Desmond Hale to acknowledge their relationship.

Now that he had revealed his true identity and turned against the Shelby Family, she wanted to give Maya the one thing she had secretly prepared as a means of escape.

It was the only hope she had held on to for years.

Maya was overwhelmed with emotions.

She wanted to cry, but at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling relieved. She was just about to respond when something strange happened.

The sky suddenly darkened.

"My dear wife, you really do understand me better than anyone else."

Desmond Hale’s familiar voice rang through the air.

"Unfortunately, it’s already too late!"

The entire Shelby Family manor was suddenly swallowed by the Nine Nether Abyss Formation.

A massive barrier formed overhead, its surface covered in intertwined black and dark-red energy. From a distance, it looked like an enormous bowl had been turned upside down over the entire estate.

A foul stench spread through the air.

It was similar to the smell of rotting corpses left to decay for days. The odor was so strong that it quickly filled every corner of the manor.

Then, strands of dark-red energy began descending from the barrier like drifting smoke.

The moment they touched the ground, a massive blood-red formation appeared beneath everyone’s feet, spreading across the entire Shelby Family estate.

Charles stared at the formation in horror.

"The Demon King’s Altar..."

His voice was barely audible.

"It’s the Demon King’s Altar!"

A triumphant laugh echoed from above.

"That’s right! I’m going to offer the entire Shelby Family as a sacrifice to my great Demon King!"

Desmond Hale’s voice was filled with excitement.

"How does that sound, Charles? Are you surprised? Are you pleased with the arrangement?"

This time, however, something was different.

Desmond Hale didn’t just speak through the formation. His figure appeared before them as well.

He looked exactly as he had before Xavier destroyed his body. There wasn’t a single injury on him.

It was as though the earlier battle had never happened.

Liam immediately lost his temper.

"Desmond Hale!"

He drew his sword and rushed forward, striking at the man’s body without hesitation.

But his blade passed straight through.

Desmond Hale wasn’t physically there.

He chuckled at Liam’s reaction.

"Easy there, brother-in-law. There’s no need to get so worked up. Can’t you see that this is only an illusion?"

Charles’s expression turned grim.

"Desmond Hale, have you forgotten the teachings of the Mountain Venerable? Is this how you intend to repay everything your father has done?"

"Don’t mention that old man!"

Desmond Hale’s smile vanished instantly.

"He’s my father in name only. I barely saw him while growing up. What guidance did he ever give me? What did he do to help me?"

His eyes narrowed.

"If anything, he’s partly responsible for the person I’ve become today!"

Xavier had no interest in listening to their family argument.

"Enough talking. If you have any way to protect your people, now is the time to use it. Otherwise, the Shelby Family is going to suffer a catastrophe."

After speaking, he moved toward Victoria, Maya, and Mira.

He had already activated the long-distance teleportation function of his rune armor.

Earlier, when Charles and the others had stopped him from entering the manor, Xavier had sensed that something wasn’t right. He had secretly activated the armor and recorded the necessary spatial coordinates.

He had done so as a precaution, in case the situation became too dangerous to handle.

Now, that preparation was proving useful.

"Trying to escape?"

Desmond Hale laughed.

"I spent more than a year constructing this formation. Do you honestly think anyone can simply walk out of the Nine Nether Abyss Formation?"

His voice was full of confidence.

But then he noticed something unusual.

"Wait... What is that?!"