Chapter 195: Self Detonation

By the time the head of the Silver Lotus Elder rolled into the blood-soaked dirt of the central district, fully half of Kaelos City had already been reduced to smoldering ashes.

The catastrophic duel between two Martial Generals had shredded the city’s architectural pride into jagged teeth of broken stone and charred wood.

Towering pillars of black smoke billowed into the night sky, blotting out the stars, while the agonized screams of thousands of citizens trapped beneath the rubble slowly died down into an eerie, suffocating silence.

Thousands of lives had been snuffed out in a matter of hours, their blood soaking into the cracked foundations of the fallen metropolis.

High above the widespread devastation, resting on the velvet sill of Mayor Henar’s master bedroom window, Roy watched the burning cityscape unfold below.

A warm, radiant smile rested on his handsome face, his golden hair catching the flickering orange glow of the distant infernos.

"Isn’t it breathtaking to watch?" Roy asked softly, his voice carrying the calm, melodic cadence of a man admiring a quiet sunset.

He slowly turned his gaze back into the room, his golden-crimson eyes locking onto Mayor Henar once again.

"Watching your city tear itself apart from the inside... watching everything you spent a lifetime building crumble into ash in a single night... It’s quite fun, isn’t it?" Roy chuckled, a soft, dry laugh echoing through the dimly lit bedchamber.

"Why..." Mayor Henar choked out, his voice thick with raw, trembling bitterness.

The Mayor stood near the center of the room, his long broadsword drawn, but his tip was shaking violently against the rug.

For the past hour, Henar had felt the brutal, earth-shattering shockwaves of a mighty Martial General battle ripping through his streets.

He had watched from his window as his city was torn to shreds by an unknown monster.

Yet, he had remained completely paralyzed inside his own mansion. It wasn’t that his muscles were locked by magic or physically bound by ropes; it was his very soul that refused to move.

The divine, overwhelming entity standing in front of him emitted an aura so absolute that Henar’s survival instincts screamed at him with primordial terror.

He knew with unquestionable certainty that if he dared to swing his blade or channel a single thread of mana against this golden-haired intruder, he would be crushed into nonexistence before he could even blink.

"Why are you doing this?!" Henar roared desperately, tears of rage and humiliation welling in his bloodshot eyes. "What did Kaelos City ever do to you?!"

"Why am I doing this, huh?" Roy let out a long, quiet sigh, tilting his head up toward the vaulted ceiling. "Tell me, Henar... have you ever asked yourself that exact same question when your hunting squads slaughtered, bound, and imprisoned innocent beastmen like livestock?"

Before Henar could stammer out a self-righteous justification, Roy’s golden-crimson eyes flickered with a flash of cold, dangerous divine light.

"Ah, but there is no need to debate morality with a shallow-minded worm like you," Roy murmured, his tone dropping into a freezing, indifferent register.

"I did not come here to seek your understanding or listen to your excuses. I simply came here so that before your end, you would look upon the face of the man who authored your doom."

Roy pushed himself off the windowsill, standing at his full, imposing height.

"Kaelos City will fall tonight," Roy stated with supreme, absolute authority. "And there is nothing in this world capable of stopping it."

"You... You think so, do you?!" Mayor Henar suddenly broke into a hysterical, unhinged laugh, his sanity completely fraying at the edges.

"You think you’ve won?! You arrogant fool! Not while Lord Silver Lotus Elder is present in this city! He is an elite Elder of the supreme Glorious Mythical Sect! Once he senses your presence and learns of your existence, he will tear you and your wretched—"

THUD.

Before Mayor Henar could even finish his delusion, the heavy glass of the bedroom window shattered inward.

A tall, slender figure casually vaulted into the room, landing effortlessly on the hardwood floor.

Eurenia stood in her human form, her crimson ponytail fluttering as she dusted off her tunic. Without saying a word, she casually tossed a round, heavy object from her left hand.

The object bounced across the crimson rug, rolling straight to Mayor Henar’s boots before coming to a stop.

Henar gasped violently, stumbling back until his lower back hit his desk.

His heart seized in sheer, unadulterated horror as he stared down at the severed head resting at his feet.

The pale, wrinkled face was covered in soot and blood, the mouth frozen in a bitter scowl, and the hollow, lifeless eyes belonged to none other than the Silver Lotus Elder.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the bedroom.

"What were you saying again, Mr. Henar?" Roy asked smoothly, breaking into a rich, mocking laugh. "I believe you were telling me about what the Silver Lotus Elder was going to do to me?"

Mayor Henar gulped hard, his dry throat clicking as he desperately swallowed his saliva.

The last pillar of his hope had been brutally decapitated and thrown at his feet like garbage.

He looked from the severed head to the crimson-haired woman who had brought it, and finally back to the golden-haired monster smiling at him.

SWOOSH.

The shadows behind Roy suddenly rippled, and Alisa emerged gracefully onto the floorboards.

She dropped to one knee, bowing her head low before her master.

"My Lord," Alisa reported, her voice calm and sleek. "The evacuation is complete. Every single beastman held within the subterranean prison complex has been safely escorted out of the city gates by Duchess Eurenia’s vanguard.

They are currently heading toward the forest borders under heavy protection."

Roy nodded approvingly. "Excellent work."

He pointed a finger toward the stone hallway leading beneath the palace. "Alisa, head down to Henar’s secret library. Retrieve every manual, scroll, and codex stored within the vault.

Those abnormal mana manipulation techniques will be vital for the future martial growth of our Kingdom."

Alisa bowed her head until her forehead nearly touched her knee.

"I hear and obey, My Lord."

Without another second’s delay, her form melted into the dark floorboards, vanishing into the shadows to execute her task.

’Another Martial General?’ Mayor Henar frowned, ’Just who are these bastards?’

Meanwhile, Eurenia casually crossed her arms over her chest, leaning her back against the stone wall near the broken window.

A wicked, satisfied smirk rested on her lips as she watched the crumbling human Mayor.

Roy took three slow, deliberate steps toward Henar, stopping just out of arm’s reach.

"Now then, Mayor Henar," Roy said softly, his golden-crimson eyes staring down at the broken man with cold indifference.

"I could end your miserable life with a single flick of my wrist... but I am feeling generous tonight. I will grant you a choice."

Roy extended two fingers.

"Option one: you take your blade and end your own life right here, right now. Option two: I shatter your limbs, seal your cultivation core, and throw your bleeding body into the deep forest, leaving you at the mercy of the enraged, liberated beastmen you tortured and enslaved."

Mayor Henar’s face twisted into a horrifying grimace.

The mere thought of being ripped apart, mauled, and devoured limb from limb by the beastmen he had spent years brutalizing filled his soul with an unbearable terror.

He didn’t want to die—but he feared that nightmare even more.

"Damn you..." Henar spat, his voice trembling with finality. "Damn you to the lowest hells!"

Without a second of hesitation, Henar chose the first option—but he chose to execute it in the most violent, catastrophic way possible.

Instead of drawing his broadsword across his throat, Henar ignited every drop of his remaining Initial-enlightened stage mana core.

He forcibly reversed his internal meridian flow, burning his bloodline, his soul, and his life essence all at once to initiate a complete core overload.

"IF I DIE, WE ALL DIE!" Henar shrieked, his body glowing with a blinding, unstable golden light.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Mayor Henar’s self-destruction detonated like a high-tier mana bomb.

The catastrophic force of a Peak-Martial Master expanding his entire core destroyed the inner sanctuary.

The Mayor’s mansion exploded outward in a blinding flash of white-hot shockwaves, engulfing the sprawling estate, the high outer walls, and the surrounding administrative sector in a roaring, unstoppable sea of infernal flames.