Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Edric, the captain of House Lunei's forces, moved with frantic urgency.

Reaching the Family Head’s office in a single breath, he barely knocked before throwing the door open.

"Edric?"

Normally, he would have waited for Cayden’s permission to enter.

Seeing Edric’s behavior and the panic on his face, Cayden immediately sensed that something had happened.

‘Has High Chancellor Hail finally stepped outside the Lapel estate?’

He had been waiting for Hail to emerge to keep things from escalating.

He planned to kidnap him the moment he stepped out.

The House Lapel itself couldn't be compared to House Lunei.

They had many warriors, but the quality was low. Furthermore, the number of 4th-class or higher warriors, who formed the core of military power, was overwhelmingly small.

However, they couldn't be ignored.

Cain Lapel, the Head of House Lapel.

That man was a 6th-class powerhouse. Of course, Cayden was confident he could win; he himself had stayed at the very peak of the 6th-class for over a decade.

The reason for the standoff lay outside the two houses. The central nobility stood firmly behind Lapel as their patrons.

Thanks to that, the two sides were merely keeping an eye on each other while engaging in backroom schemes.

Cayden was waiting for Hail because he anticipated massive damage to both sides the moment the current balance broke.

But words that shattered that plan tumbled out of Edric’s mouth.

"It seems the Young Lord has broken into the Lapel estate!"

"What?!"

"I heard reports of two people infiltrating the Lapel estate, so I went to check on the Young Lord, but he's gone."

"If there are two... then Mitchell, what about that boy?!"

"He is also missing."

Then it was certain.

Grant might search for Hail every night, but Mitchell was a boy who stayed put, training day and night.

With both of them disappearing at once, it wasn't hard to guess who the infiltrators were.

"I'll go ahead with Loren. Arm everyone and bring them immediately!"

Before the words were even finished, Cayden’s figure vanished from the office.

He felt a powerful strength.

It was stable for now, but Mitchell sensed he couldn't hold onto it for long.

He immediately unleashed the Heaven-Shattering Flash.

A gray energy, incomparable to the one he showed during the day, flew forward.

"…!"

Seeing the attack flying with such intense momentum, the warriors of House Lapel poured their energy into their combined battle formation.

Boom!

Despite being in a formation, they couldn't fully dissipate the shock and staggered.

And those were just the ones who were prepared.

The warriors closer to Mitchell were run through by the attack.

"Huh? It looks like nothing happened?"

Just as some were feeling puzzled by how unharmed they seemed, the skin of the lower-ranked warriors began to turn dry and brittle, and they started to collapse one by one.

Those who hurriedly surged their Aura to resist suffered internal injuries and vomited blood.

The problem was that Mitchell wasn't much different from them.

Spitting out the blood remaining in his mouth, Mitchell muttered quietly.

"What, there’s still backlash? I thought I succeeded?"

[You did succeed. It’s just that you gathered more souls than you can handle. Consider yourself lucky you aren't dead.]

"Thank you for the help, Kallian."

[I see you know who I am.]

The correction of the Heaven-Shattering Flash's cultivation method earlier had erased any lingering doubt.

It was something absolutely no one but Kallian Lunei himself could do.

[Handle the matter at hand first.]

Mitchell gave a small nod and hurriedly gulped down a potion.

The pain from his internal injuries lessened, if only slightly. Just as he raised his sword to resume the fight, Grant came running.

"What was that just now? No, more importantly, how are you so fine?"

In Grant’s experience, the backlash of the Heaven-Shattering Flash grew stronger with the size of the energy used.

He had seen Mitchell use it just this afternoon.

'Even with such a small amount of energy, he had to rest until nightfall...'

Yet now, Mitchell only had some minor internal injuries.

If he had found a way to complete the Heaven-Shattering Sword...

'We can reclaim the family's past glory!'

Click.

Mitchell clicked his tongue at him and quickly turned his head to look where Barque was.

There was only a corpse lying there.

"You won?"

"I barely won because you created an opening. More importantly, how did you do it?!"

"Is that really important right now?"

Ugh—

Grant was desperate because completing the secret technique was vital for the family's revival, but they had to survive first.

Fortunately, everyone was terrified by Mitchell's attack from moments ago.

Just as it seemed they might be able to slip away, the sound of clapping echoed from somewhere.

Clap, clap, clap.

A middle-aged man was staring intently at Mitchell.

"Impressive. Even though the Aura I feel from you is faint."

"Cain Lapel?"

The name leaked out from Grant’s clenched teeth.

Mitchell tilted his head, hearing the name for the first time.

"Who’s that?"

"The Head of House Lapel."

"Dammit..."

When Mitchell muttered a curse, Grant’s expression soured.

"I heard the Lapel Head had gone to the capital."

"How foolish. Deceived by an underworld fixer and deceived by us as well. Though it works out for me."

Does he actually know anything accurately?!

Mitchell glared at Grant.

But for a moment, when Cain’s eyes turned toward him, a chill ran down his spine.

[He’s quite strong, nearing the level of a Master. Unfortunate, but this is as far as you go.]

Don't say such unlucky things...

But objectively, there was no way for Mitchell to escape.

Not only was the Family Head here, but he was accompanied by several mages who looked quite powerful.

"I haven't heard of someone like you being in House Lunei, so you must be an outsider. Come under me. It seems a good position just opened up."

Cain’s eyes drifted toward Barque’s corpse.

[How about listening to him? It seems you might live that way.]

"I'd rather not."

Mitchell gave his answer in a crooked tone.

It was directed at both Cain and Kallian.

"Are you looking for something like loyalty?"

"I wouldn't say it's not that, but more than that, if I go under you, won't I end up just like that guy eventually?"

[You're not a complete idiot. I thought you were, seeing how you were struggling to commit suicide by stuffing souls into your sword.]

Kallian was satisfied with Mitchell's words, while Cain’s expression hardened.

His face twisted like a demon.

'Is not coming under him really something to get that angry about?'

Mitchell wondered if Cain had a petty personality, but Kallian's next words made him realize that wasn't it.

[You are lucky. Someone quite strong is coming this way.]

—Grant!

He could tell who it was instantly just by the voice echoing from afar.

"It's Cayden! Gah!"

"Block him!"

Bang! Boom!

"There's a mage too! What on earth are our mages doing!"

"There are only two of them! Quickly, deploy the formation!"

The screams of the enemies rang out.

It sounded like Cayden had come with only Loren.

"Ha, did they set a reverse trap? Even using his son as bait? I suppose the Young Lord couldn't be this stupid. Don't tell me even the last incident... I see. It was a thoroughly planned game from the start."

I really don't think so...

Mitchell looked at Grant’s blank expression and shook his head. If that was acting, the man had real talent.

Agh!

Mitchell snapped out of his thoughts at the scream of an enemy.

Now was the time to focus.

'Think, Mitchell.'

Since Cayden was here, he would handle the Lapel Head.

Loren would take on the mages behind him.

That left the other warriors.

He and Grant had to deal with them.

Crash!

While he was thinking, Cayden arrived and clashed with Cain Lapel.

Loren, who came with him, began a fierce tug-of-war of power with the other mages.

Simultaneously, enemies trying to target the backs of Cayden and Loren approached in formations.

No matter how skilled they were, in a fight between equals, a small gap leads to death.

Just like the battle between Grant and Barque earlier.

He had to reduce those variables.

"Grant, we have to stop those guys!"

Grant nodded without a word.

He tried to run toward Cayden, but Mitchell stopped him.

"You go toward Loren."

"What? My father has more enemies on him! I should..."

Grant was a 5th-class Aura User. He was certainly strong—strong enough to beat Barque, who had sent Mitchell flying.

But it was different when dealing with common warriors.

Mitchell immediately surged and unleashed his aura.

Whirrrr—

A monster draped itself over Mitchell’s body.

On various parts of the writhing beast, human faces split their mouths wide open.

A monster fresh from hell.

Seeing that form, Grant shut his mouth and immediately headed toward Loren.

[Hmm... is that brat really my descendant? He seems to have talent, but I don't know why he couldn't inherit my legacy properly.]

"He's the Young Lord of House Lunei. I'll explain the details later."

[Fine. More importantly, what are you planning? No matter if you use the sword of death, your level is too low. It would have been better to send my descendant.]

Mitchell smirked at Kallian’s words.

"I have a plan. So, help me one more time."

[I cannot. Earlier was just pure luck. If you try again, you won't be able to endure it.]

"I can endure it. I have a feeling."

It was true.

His Aura Hole felt itchy.

He couldn't do it alone, but he was certain that if Kallian helped him like before, this itchiness would be resolved.

But Kallian mocked Mitchell’s confidence.

[Hmph, countless people thought like you and went mad after being consumed. I'll help when necessary, so just go and buy time.]

Hearing that, Mitchell was sure of one thing.

Kallian was worried about his well-being.

'Since we just met, it’s not because of affection.'

There was a reason he had to stay alive. He had a rough guess.

A soul doesn't have much room to move. For now, Mitchell was his only window of communication.

'In that case, I have a way.'

Mitchell raised his sword and charged straight at the enemy.

The ones pressuring the area around Cayden in their formations turned pale at Mitchell’s sudden charge.

Hadn't they seen clearly what happened to the allies hit by Mitchell’s Sword-Qi earlier?

In terms of sheer power, each of the Family Heads' attacks was stronger, but the fear etched into their minds made Mitchell look even more massive.

Mitchell dug into the formation in an instant.

First, he had to scatter them.

Clang, clang, clang—

While blocking swords flying from all directions, he pushed as many souls as he could into his sword.

He was preparing the Heaven-Shattering Flash.

"I'll trust that you'll help me!"

[Y-You crazy bastard!]

He clearly said it was dangerous!

This insane guy was using the energy regardless.

Kallian, flustered, hurriedly began to guide Mitchell’s energy.

"I knew you would."

Hearing Mitchell’s mutter, Kallian had the mysterious experience of feeling a headache while in a soul state.