Chapter 240 - 239 : Inside the containment ring

Chapter 240: Chapter 239 : Inside the containment ring

Inside the prison realm of the Containment Ring, there was no sky.

No ground.

No wind.

No sound.

Only endless nothingness stretched in every direction, an empty void so vast that it could make even the strongest mind lose all sense of time.

At the center of that darkness sat a single figure.

Adrian Evan Imperius.

The head of the Imperius Family.

The man once feared by countless nobles, guild leaders, and awakened warriors.

Now, he looked like nothing more than a prisoner abandoned by the world.

His once-refined clothes were torn and wrinkled, hanging loosely from his body. Dirt stained the fabric, while dried blood marked parts of his sleeves and collar. His long black hair had become disheveled, falling across his face in uneven strands.

If someone saw him on an ordinary street, they might mistake him for a homeless man who had lost everything.

But that illusion would disappear the moment they came close.

Black chains coiled around Adrian’s body like living serpents.

They bound his wrists, ankles, chest, and neck. Some wrapped around his torso so tightly that they dug into his skin, while others stretched into the darkness, disappearing into the endless void.

They did not merely restrain his body.

They restrained his mana.

His strength.

His very existence.

The chains held him as though they were binding a wounded beast capable of destroying the world if it were ever allowed to move freely.

And even in such a restrained state, Adrian’s killing intent remained terrifying.

Bloodlust rolled from his body in invisible waves.

The pressure was so intense that an ordinary person would die before reaching him. Their heart would stop. Their body would collapse. Their mind would break beneath the crushing weight of his presence.

Adrian sat in a meditative posture with his eyes closed.

His face was calm.

But beneath that calmness, rage boiled endlessly.

His amber eyes remained shut, yet the aura surrounding him was powerful enough to make the void tremble.

Two years had passed inside this prison realm.

Two years.

There was nothing to do.

Nothing to see.

Nothing to hear.

No enemy to fight.

No opportunity to escape.

Only the chains.

Only the darkness.

Only his own thoughts.

Adrian had become a prisoner.

And he knew what must have been happening outside.

The vultures who had been waiting for the Imperius Family to weaken must be circling them now.

His enemies would be smiling.

Rival families would be making their moves.

The people who had once feared the Imperius name would be testing its limits.

And the fact that he, Adrian Evan Imperius, had been defeated and imprisoned by a seventeen-year-old boy must have turned him into a laughingstock across the world.

His jaw tightened.

But he understood one truth better than anyone.

The weak were devoured.

The strong ruled.

And in the end, his own flesh and blood had defeated him.

Adrian slowly opened his amber eyes.

"Does he want me to rot inside this hell forever?" he asked in a low voice.

His voice echoed through the endless darkness.

"To remain here where I can neither die nor live, until my mind finally breaks?"

"Well, it will be a great sight to watch you break little by little."

A voice suddenly emerged from the darkness.

"I will relish every moment."

Adrian’s eyes widened slightly.

He knew that voice.

A thin smile appeared on his face.

"Arthur," he said.

The darkness before him began to distort.

Several figures slowly materialized inside the prison realm.

The first was a young man with dark hair and crimson eyes.

Arthur.

A sharp smile rested on his face as he looked at Adrian, as though he had come to visit an animal trapped inside a cage.

But Arthur was not alone.

Adrian’s gaze shifted toward the figure beside him.

For the first time since entering this prison, his expression changed.

A golden-haired girl stood beside Arthur.

Her amber eyes were identical to Adrian’s own.

Tears gathered within them.

Arina.

She stared at her father.

At the man she had always believed was invincible.

The man she had believed could never bend, never fall, and never lose.

Now he sat before her in torn clothes, covered in chains, trapped in a realm of nothingness.

For a moment, she could not move.

Then her eyes filled with tears.

"Father!"

Arina ran toward him.

She moved so quickly that Arthur did not even try to stop her.

Her golden hair flowed behind her as she crossed the empty distance between them. When she reached Adrian, she threw her arms around him as tightly as she could.

"Father..." she cried.

Her voice broke.

She buried her face against his chest and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Adrian froze.

For a few seconds, he did not understand what was happening.

His arms were bound by the black chains. He could not move them. He could not return her embrace.

He could only sit there as his daughter clung to him.

"Arina," Adrian said loudly. "What are you doing here?"

But Arina did not answer.

She only cried harder.

Adrian’s eyes shifted toward Arthur.

Then a loud clapping sound echoed through the prison realm.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Arthur stood several steps away, slowly applauding with an amused smile.

"Well, well," Arthur said. "If it is not a touching family reunion."

Adrian’s amber eyes locked onto Arthur’s crimson ones.

His voice became cold.

"Why did you bring her here?"

The chains around him rattled faintly as his killing intent rose.

"You hate me, do you not? Then take it out on me. Do not drag her into this."

Arina slowly stepped back from Adrian.

She wiped the tears from her face and stood beside him.

"Father," she said quietly, "I came here of my own volition. Arthur only granted my request."

Adrian’s eyes widened.

He looked at Arina.

Then back at Arthur.

A mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Have you come to see whether your dear father is still alive or not, boy?"

Arthur stuck out his tongue.

"Bleh."

The childish gesture made Adrian’s mouth twitch.

Arthur had clearly done it only to mock him.

And after seeing Adrian’s irritated reaction, his smile widened with satisfaction.

He flicked one finger.

A chair materialized in the empty realm.

Arthur sat down upon it with the relaxed posture of a king sitting upon his throne.

"If I wanted to kill you, old man, you would already be dead," Arthur said. "So do not flatter yourself."

His crimson eyes narrowed.

"Accept your defeat."

Adrian’s pride burned.

Even now, while chained and imprisoned, he could not admit defeat in front of his own son.

Especially not in front of Arina.

He raised his head.

"Worthless weaklings like you call deception victory," Adrian said. "You are the same as ever."

His voice echoed through the darkness.

"No matter how strong you think you have become, you will always remain a fly before me."

His amber eyes sharpened.

"Not until we fight properly. Not until one of us remains standing."

Killing intent filled the prison realm.

The chains around Adrian trembled.

"What do you say?" Adrian asked. "Are you man enough to fight me, boy?"

A sharp smile appeared on his face.

"If you defeat me, I will acknowledge that I was wrong. I will bow before you for how I treated you all this time."

His gaze did not leave Arthur’s face.

"What do you say?"

Arthur’s expression darkened slightly.

His voice became low.

"Do you think cheap tricks like that will work on me?"

Arthur leaned forward in his chair.

"You are trying to make me fight you on your terms."

He raised one hand.

The black chains around Adrian suddenly tightened.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The chains constricted around Adrian’s arms, chest, and legs.

Then his body jolted.

An unimaginable pain surged through him.

It felt as though something was being forcibly pulled from the depths of his body.

His blood.

His mana.

His strength.

Something more fundamental than all of them.

Adrian gritted his teeth, but the pain was enough to make veins rise across his forehead.

"Brother, please stop!"

Arina’s voice shook.

She turned toward Arthur with panic in her eyes.

"I will do whatever you want. Please stop. He is in pain."

Arthur looked at her.

Then, after several more seconds, he lowered his hand.

The chains loosened.

The pain stopped.

Adrian remained silent for a moment, his breathing heavy.

Then he slowly raised his head.

A stubborn smile still remained on his face.

"Is that all you have got?"

Arthur smiled.

"Are you trying to act tough in front of your daughter?"

Before anyone could react, Arthur grabbed Arina by the hair.

Arina gasped in pain.

Arthur pulled her closer.

A crimson blood dagger materialized in his free hand, its blade gleaming with a dark and dangerous light.

Adrian’s breath hitched.

For the first time, real panic flashed in his amber eyes.

"Leave her, Arthur."

His voice was no longer mocking.

"You hate me. Take it out on me. I was the reason for your misery."

The chains rattled violently as Adrian tried to move.

"At least keep your humanity. Do not hurt your sister."

Arthur smiled coldly.

"Why should I listen to you?"

The blood dagger moved closer to Arina’s neck.

"You are not the boss of me anymore."

Arthur’s gaze remained fixed on Adrian.

"I will do whatever I want. I will cut her into pieces if I want to."

"Do not worry, Father."

Arina’s quiet voice interrupted him.

Arthur paused.

Adrian froze.

Arina was still held by her hair, her face pale from pain, but she looked directly at her father.

"I am positive he will not kill me," she said. "No matter how much he has changed, he will not kill me."

For a moment, the prison realm became silent.

Arthur stared at her.

Adrian stared at her.

Neither of them had expected those words.

Then Arthur’s killing intent intensified.

"Is that so?"

Slap!

Arthur struck Arina across the face.

She fell to the ground.

Before she could recover, Arthur kicked her in the abdomen.

Arina winced sharply and curled slightly from the pain.

Arthur looked down at her without warmth.

"Do not get me wrong," he said. "Killing you people is not the problem."

His crimson eyes became colder.

"I simply do not want unnecessary trouble."

He looked toward Adrian.

"You will all become useful to me in the future."

Arthur rolled up his sleeve.

Then he walked toward Adrian.

He stopped directly in front of him.

Their eyes met.

"Your dear wife is quite desperate to see you, old man," Arthur said. "The Imperius Family is collapsing day by day."

Arthur tilted his head.

"What are your thoughts on that?"

Adrian’s expression hardened.

"That is your mother you are talking about, boy."

Arthur’s gaze did not change.

"There is no mother, and there is no father. There was only an orphan they discarded when he had nothing to offer.

I learned to walk alone because no one came when I fell.

So I will climb alone.

I will seize the power I was denied, carve my own path, and stand upon a summit built by my own hands.

And when I finally look down from there, I will not see the Imperius Family beneath me.

They will not be my family.

They will not be my enemies.

They will simply be strangers from a world I have already left behind."

Adrian stared at Arthur.

For the first time, he did not try to argue.

He saw the determination in Arthur’s eyes.

Determination built from loneliness.

From abandonment.

From hatred that had been carried for too long.

The boy from the past was gone.

And Adrian understood that trying to control someone like Arthur was now pointless.

"I see," Adrian said quietly. "You have chosen your path."

He lowered his head slightly.

"Then walk through it."

His eyes met Arthur’s.

"Never look back."

Arthur’s expression did not soften.

"I do not need you to tell me that."

In the next second, Arthur grabbed Adrian’s shoulder.

Adrian’s body tensed.

Arthur closed his eyes.

’System, are you ready?’

[ For you, always, Host. ]

Arina’s eyes widened.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Arthur did not look at her.

"Shut the hell up," he said. "And just watch, if you do not want him to die."

Arina immediately fell silent.

Fear filled her eyes.

Arthur smiled.

"Rejoice, old man."

His grip on Adrian’s shoulder tightened.

"You are going to become a stepping stone in my journey."

A familiar mechanical voice echoed throughout the prison realm.

[ Origin King Bloodline Activated ]

[ Traits Engaging: Blood Absorption / Bloodline Extraction / Bloodline Assimilation ]

[ Target Bloodline Detected ]