Chapter 240: End Of The Battle.

Kael, completely unaware of the internal conflict raging within Simon’s mind, simply stared at him.

Even if he had known what Simon was thinking, he probably wouldn’t have cared. What did it matter to him how much effort Simon had spent building the Dark Viper Guild to this level, or how many years he’d spent gathering members, resources, influence, and power?

None of it mattered to Kael.

The world wasn’t fair.

Had Kael been the weaker one, would Simon have chosen to spare his life after surrounding him with the entire Dark Viper Guild and completely subduing him? There was no need to waste brainpower thinking about it, the answer was obvious.

Kael raised one hand and pointed a finger directly toward Simon’s head.

Earth energy condensed at the tip of his finger.

The energy compressed further and further until it became a tiny, dense point of power. Then, without hesitation, Kael released it.

SHOOM!

The condensed earth energy shot forward at terrifying speed, crossing the distance between them almost instantly before smashing directly into Simon’s head.

His body barely had time to react.

The impact completely destroyed his skull, killing him instantly as his lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

Kael didn’t even spare the corpse another glance. His attention shifted toward the surroundings instead, and only then did he properly take in the destruction left behind by the battle.

The warehouse and the surrounding area had been transformed into the aftermath of a battlefield.

Crater after crater covered the ground, each one a reminder of the countless skills and attacks unleashed by the Dark Viper Guild members during the battle.

Several sections of the ground had been scorched black, while broken pieces of concrete and debris were scattered everywhere.

Parts of the surrounding structures had been damaged as well, leaving behind a scene that made it immediately obvious that a massive battle had taken place here.

Kael’s gaze moved across the corpses scattered throughout the area.

The Aura of Destruction was still spreading across the battlefield.

It continued to devour everything within its reach, slowly eating away at the remaining corpses. Some bodies had already vanished completely, leaving behind nothing. Others had managed to leave behind fragments of durable items, such as pieces of armor, weapons, and other equipment. Even those remnants weren’t safe, however, as the destructive aura continued consuming them bit by bit.

Kael watched silently for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

He didn’t bother deactivating the Aura of Destruction.

There was no reason to.

He simply left it active and allowed it to continue doing its work. Time passed, and eventually, every remaining corpse disappeared beneath the relentless destruction. Even the remnants of their equipment were gone.

When it was finally over, the battlefield looked considerably cleaner.

It still showed signs of the battle, but compared to what it had looked like before, it was almost difficult to believe that a complete bloodbath had taken place there.

Kael looked around once more before shrugging slightly.

"Well, that should make the Association’s cleanup job a lot easier."

Without another word, he turned around.

His attention shifted toward the far end of the battlefield where Morgan had landed earlier.

The man was still lying there.

Completely motionless.

Kael walked toward him, his footsteps steady as he approached the seemingly unconscious body. When he reached him, he stopped and looked down.

"Hey. Get up."

Morgan didn’t move.

Kael stared at him for a moment.

Then he sighed.

"Well, since you want to pretend you’re dead, I might as well make it come true this time."

The words immediately produced a reaction.

Morgan’s body stirred violently before he hurriedly pushed himself upright, panic written all over his face.

"Please, spare my life!" Morgan blurted out. "I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you who ordered the attack. I’ll tell you anything you want to know."

Kael simply looked at him.

"I’ve already given you a chance."

Morgan’s expression froze.

Kael took a step forward.

"Now it’s time to do things my own way."

Morgan stared at him in confusion, unable to understand what Kael meant.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Kael moved.

His hand shot forward and pressed directly against Morgan’s abdomen.

Morgan’s eyes widened.

A tremendous surge of mana suddenly erupted from Kael’s palm and poured directly into his body. The energy invaded Morgan’s abdomen with overwhelming force, travelling straight toward the core that allowed him to wield his awakened power.

Morgan’s body suddenly trembled.

Then came the sound.

CRACK!

Something broke deep inside him.

Morgan’s eyes widened as a strange sensation spread throughout his body. He didn’t feel pain. Instead, he felt something far more unsettling.

Nothing.

The power that had existed within him for most of his life was gone.

Morgan desperately tried to sense his mana, but there was nothing there. He tried to activate his abilities, only to find that his body no longer responded to them.

It was as though the power he had spent his entire life relying upon had simply vanished.

"What..."

Morgan’s voice trembled, as he felt as though he had suddenly become an ordinary human.

No.

Even that comparison was too generous.

An ordinary human at least possessed a healthy body.

Morgan had become something worse.

His mana core had been crippled.

The mana core was one of the fundamental components of an awakened human. Destroying it meant stripping an awakener of the very foundation upon which their strength was built.

Morgan had no idea how Kael knew how to do something like this.

The answer was the arcane knowledge Kael had recently acquired.

Kael hadn’t done this because he wanted to torture Morgan. He had a specific reason for crippling him.

Morgan was considerably stronger than the thugs Kael had dealt with earlier. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

If Kael allowed him to retain his power, there was a possibility that he could resist what came next.

Kael wasn’t interested in taking that chance.

With Morgan’s mana core crippled, Kael lowered his hand.

The shadow beneath him suddenly moved as something emerged from within it, the Shadow Construct Hive Mind.

Kael glanced at it before giving a simple command.

"Search through his memories."

The Hive Mind immediately obeyed.

Memories began flowing into the Hive Mind.

The Hive Mind searched through everything it could access, digging deeper into Morgan’s memories as it followed Kael’s command.

Morgan’s already weakened body began to tremble.

His consciousness grew increasingly unstable.

The forced extraction was simply too much for his weakened state to withstand. His eyes slowly lost focus, his body slumped forward, and before long, Morgan collapsed completely.

Dead.

Kael watched his body hit the ground without showing much reaction.

At least the Hive Mind had managed to retrieve something useful before that happened.

Kael slowly sorted through the information transmitted to him.

At first, his expression remained unchanged.

Then his face tightened.

His eyes narrowed.

Anger slowly surfaced within them as he processed what he had learned.

The reason he had dealt with the Dark Viper Guild in the first place had been Morgan’s involvement in orchestrating the attack against Ezra.

That alone had been enough for Kael to wipe them out.

But the more he knew, the more he wanted to do it all over again.

Not to get things twisted, Kael already knew the Dark Viper Guild weren’t actually good guys. A gang turned into a guild, it was pretty obvious what kind of dealings they’d still be involved in, even after rebranding themselves. But to this extent? It was completely mind-blowing.

There was practically no crime the Dark Viper Guild hadn’t committed.

Killing. Robbery. Rape. Extortion. Smuggling. Whatever came to mind, they had likely done it.

Sometimes they weren’t even acting for themselves. People with money and influence would hire the Dark Viper Guild to handle their dirty work, letting them keep their hands clean while the guild dealt with whatever problem they wanted removed.

The more Kael went through Morgan’s memories, the clearer it became just how much evil this organization had committed behind its respectable facade.

Kael couldn’t help but shake his head.

"Well, seems like I did the world some good by eliminating this trash of a guild."

He wasn’t exactly the type to lose sleep over killing people who had come after him first, but even Kael had to admit that the Dark Viper Guild had crossed far more lines than he had initially expected.

However, something else in Morgan’s memories caught his attention.

Kael’s brows slowly furrowed as he continued sorting through the information.

There were a lot of people who had dealings with the Dark Viper Guild.

Even people who were practically considered the definition of role models by the public.

Some had hired the guild to deal with competitors. Others had used them to silence people who knew too much.

Kael shook his head again.

This information alone was enough to turn the world upside down.

If he handed everything he had obtained from Morgan to the Hunter Association, the resulting investigation would be massive. The Dark Viper Guild’s connections ran far deeper than anyone would have imagined, and exposing them would undoubtedly drag numerous powerful people into the light.

Of course, Kael wasn’t planning to hand everything over for free.

He had already done the Association a huge favor by eliminating the entire Dark Viper Guild. If they wanted this information, then Kael was sure they could afford to cough up a few more Rifts.

He wasn’t a saint, after all.

With that thought, Kael pushed the matter aside and continued searching through Morgan’s memories until he came across a certain figure.

Lady Angela.

The woman who had ordered the attack on Ezra.

Kael’s expression immediately became more serious.

"Lady Angela..."

He carefully examined everything connected to her before his brows furrowed.

"This is quite troublesome."

Lady Angela wasn’t some random individual hiding in the shadows. Her name was tied to the Osborne Corporation, a massive conglomerate with connections spread far and wide.

For the average person, dealing with someone like her would be a nightmare.

Kael, however, wasn’t your average person.