Novel Full Chapter 986: Bad News
Chapter 986: Bad News
He stepped down from the air, now fully recharged.
And he moved on.
…
The marble floors of Aurelion’s private estate echoed with the click of polished shoes, but the usual calm luxury of the place was suddenly shattered by unwelcome news.
“Lord Aurelion!” a servant burst into his lounge, panting hard, eyes wide with dread. “The prison alarms are going mad! All sectors are lighting up! W-We don’t know why!”
“What?” Aurelion, lounging in a silken robe, stiffened and slammed his jeweled goblet down. “What do you mean, lighting up?!”
“I-It’s a total alert, sir! Magic wards are breaking! The central hall’s core alarm was triggered. We think it’s an invasion by a great force!”
Aurelion’s heartbeat jumped.
“Then where are the elite wardens?! Call them! Now!”
Before the servant could move to do as told, another man rushed in, bloodless and barely breathing. “T-The w-wardens… sir… they’re dead!”
The room fell silent.
“… What?”
“Their mana signatures… they’re gone. All three. High Warden Kessil, Elian, and Tyroth. T-They’ve… been slain.”
Aurelion’s face turned the color of bone.
He stood from his throne but instantly stumbled backward a step, falling back into the seat.
“No… impossible. That can’t be right! That prison is only for disciplinary cases! I gave all my important prisoners to ’him’ and he got betrayed by the damned Duke so I got fucked over by proxy!” He slammed his fist into the armrest. “That means no one important’s in my useless little prison! No one could be worth sending such a force in!”
A horrible feeling sank into his gut.
His vision blurred, mind spiraling through possibilities. What kind of person could storm a prison that well-guarded and leave no survivors?
Was this a Consortium power play? One of the other factions? Maybe someone in Finance was trying to take him out?
But… no. No one in Finance would be this overt. This theatrical.
And then it hit him.
A memory.
A nightmare in flesh.
Raika.
Black Fang’s fist, her loyal enforcer, or rather, rabid dog.
She had visited him once. That woman stood in this very estate, letting her bloodthirst fill the room with such terrifying killing intent that he couldn’t sleep for a week. He vomited blood for three days. Couldn’t eat for five. His healers thought he was cursed.
Her words echoed even now in his head:
“Leave Devil alone. He belongs to Lady Black Fang. If you interfere again, I’ll bash your skull in.”
He had obeyed!
He never sent anyone to approach Devil with offers of recruitment. He’d told Jasmine to drop the plan of his seduction. He backed off.
So why?
Why now?!
Why this?!
He didn’t know.
And then his stomach turned as another realization clawed up his spine.
Jasmine.
His daughter.
She was still in that prison.
She was supposed to be learning a lesson… being reminded of her place… a little time in solitude, away from comfort, from that smug defiance in her eyes.
But whatever was going on in that place, she’d been caught up in it. There was a high chance they’d enslave her, if not outright execute the woman, depending on their goals.
He didn’t feel grief.
He felt loss.
A valuable asset, gone.
She had such potential. Such charisma. Her gift for negotiation and the art of trade brought in more gold than entire teams of experienced merchants. And he didn’t even have to pay her salary for doing so! The Gilded Exchange would suffer without her.
“Tch!” Aurelion hissed through clenched teeth. “No matter what is going on, I must survive. If she’s dead, I’ll mourn the loss of future profits later.”
He spun on his heel.
“You!” he barked at the first servant, “Gather my elite guards. Every last one. Tell them to prep for emergency retreat.”
He turned to the second. “You, ready my carriage. NOW!”
Aurelion didn’t wait for their answers. Instead, he spun on his heel and stormed down the hallway with robes flaring behind him and sweat glistening on his brow.
He had a vault to open.
Essentials to grab. Scrolls. Artifacts. Gold. Escape routes.
He flung his chamber doors open and strode inside, the magic lanterns flaring to life as he approached his desk.
*Click.*
The door creaked shut behind him.
But no servant had touched it.
Aurelion froze.
Slowly… very slowly… he turned his head.
And paled. His heart skipped a beat.
The temperature in the room felt colder than death, and yet sweat poured freely down the back of his neck.
There were people in his private chambers. Not one. Not two.
A whole group stood there in chilling silence.
And somehow, he hadn’t sensed a single one of them when he entered.
“W-Who…” he croaked, staggering backward.
His gaze swept the room, trying to make sense of it.
Several otherworldly gorgeous women stared back at him with unmoved expressions. A pair of elven eyes glinted like twin moons. Beastkin with unnaturally sensual curves.
And then… his eyes stopped. Locked onto one human in particular.
A woman in black and crimson armor, hair as dark as ink, a katana at her waist. Even as he quaked in terror, he recognized her.
“Ayame… Fujimori?” he rasped.
He had only seen her once from a distance. But her beauty—her aura—was unforgettable. Even now, her presence radiated danger, and her narrowed gaze cut through him like a sword.
Why was she here? What did the deposed duchess of the Fujimori clan want from him?
He took another step back.
“Eveliana Mirabelle Althea Greenvale?!!!” He screamed when his eyes recognized Lucille. The woman had aged since he last saw her decades ago, and her appearance had been changed in subtle ways, but he still recognized her.
But he wasn’t allowed to think further because now his eyes had been stolen.
A tall figure stood among them.
Broad-shouldered. Muscle-bound. Dressed in black. Crimson eyes glowed with the fury of ten thousand graves. He didn’t even need to speak to command the air itself.
That man…
Aurelion didn’t recognize the face, but every instinct screamed at him.
That’s him.
That’s Devil.
“No…” Aurelion breathed. “Impossible…”
The edges of his vision darkened. His knees nearly buckled. That… that expression… This Devil was staring at him as if he were vermin that needed to be exterminated.
Then, as if reality itself demanded it, his head snapped toward a new presence.
White hair. Cold, red eyes. A twisted, unhinged grin.
Vex the Hexblade.
He recognized her instantly. One of Black Fang’s lieutenants, Raika’s colleague.
No… no. Not her. Not again.
First Raika. Now Vex?
His voice turned shrill. “W-Why are you here?! I-I obeyed! I didn’t touch him! I didn’t break the deal! I backed off!!”
Vex said nothing.
She just smiled.
Wider.
Madder.
Like a guillotine made flesh.
His blood turned to ice.
And then…
“Hello, Father.”
The voice cut through his panic like a whip.
He froze.
Slowly, painfully, his eyes turned.
Jasmine.
His daughter.
Alive. Dressed in clean clothes. Her hair was tied into a ponytail. Her eyes…
Calm.
Cold.
No longer afraid.
Aurelion stumbled backward, horror rippling through him.
“J-Jasmine…?” he choked.
But she only walked forward. One step, two, three.
And smiled.
“Long time no see.”