Chapter 164: A dark mountain turned into a crimson pillar
As he moved forward slowly toward Zu Master, the city was completely covered by a river of blood flowing backward.
Everything had been swallowed up by the strange river. There was no escape for Zu Master, who was struggling against the reverse flow of the river. The same was true for Audrey and Martha, who were advancing determinedly toward the mansion at the highest point.
The sky was turning increasingly blood red, taking on a dark hue, and blood began to rain down from the clouds. The matte black mountain was now completely stained red.
Kael continued walking forward with an indifferent expression, his steps calm, while tentacles protruded unhurriedly from the coin mask. From his space rune ring, he took out several bags of mana stones and began to absorb them, quickly recovering his mana essence.
With his mana pool restored to 100%, the rate at which it was being depleted was far too rapid.
Fortunately, Kael was wealthy enough not to worry about the expenditure of mana.
Kael continued advancing, step by step, closing the distance. He was getting closer and closer to Zu Master, whose figure writhed in despair.
The river of blood roared with a reverse flow, and its current slowly dragged him away, as if a thousand invisible hands were holding him from the depths to drag him toward the inevitable.
"No! No! Why can’t I move forward!?" His voice trembled, filled with fear and impotent rage. "What is this damn river? Why did everything suddenly change?"
Zu Master screamed, but his words were drowned out by the blood flowing with unstoppable force. Every attempt to free himself was futile; the more he struggled, the tighter the grip became, like a chain that tightened with every desperate movement.
The distance between him and Kael was getting shorter and shorter, second by second. For Zu Master, every moment was a reminder of his own fragility, a countdown to an end he could not stop.
The cold embrace of death surrounded him, and with each breath he took, he felt that relentless shadow closing in on his neck. Meanwhile, Kael advanced calmly, his figure upright, his steps sure, as if everything had already been decided from the beginning.
Not long after, Kael had Zu Master within arm’s reach.
He had gray hair, green eyes filled with despair, a robust body despite his age, and appeared to be approximately 5’10" tall.
Kael quickly grabbed him by the neck and lifted him with ease, then slowly began to apply force with his hand, causing the veins to bulge.
"Spare my life!" Zu Master screamed, his voice breaking, his words coming out between gasps and saliva. "Please!" I’ll tell you everything I know, everything, I won’t hide anything... I can become your slave, I can crawl like a dog, I can... I can eat manure in front of you, whatever you want... but don’t kill me, please, don’t kill me!"
His body shook convulsively. Tears and snot mixed on his face, his voice breaking with every word, transforming his plea into an incoherent lament.
He tried to cling to anything, any humiliating promise that could buy him one more moment of life.
The tentacles protruding from Kael’s mouth slowly slid down his face, cold and slimy. They brushed against his eyelids, cheeks, and forehead, leaving behind a wet and repulsive trail. Each contact made Zu Master shrink even more, trembling like a trapped animal.
However, begging for his life was useless because Kael applied even more force, strangling him mercilessly.
Zu Master moved desperately. He threw frantic punches and powerful kicks, but nothing worked. Each blow was absorbed as if he were hitting an iron wall. He even tried to summon his Zu, but it was useless: an invisible suppression kept them sealed away.
The veins began to stand out sharply on Kael’s arm, taut like black roots beneath the skin. In contrast, the old man’s face turned purple, his eyes swelled, and his mouth opened, gasping for air that never came. The lack of oxygen was consuming him second by second.
And then...
Crack!
A sharp, brutal crack echoed throughout the place, breaking the silence like lightning in a storm.
The rain of blood continued to fall from above, staining the scene red. Kael released the neck of the elderly man, now lifeless, and simply let him fall. The corpse was instantly devoured by the river of reverse-flowing blood.
Kael looked up at the sky and opened his hands, allowing himself to be bathed in the rain of blood, and a smile appeared on his lips as he severed the connection with the river of reverse-flowing blood.
...
With the rain of blood still falling, Audrey and Martha had arrived at the mansion where they could see some lifeless bodies of children, as well as adults, and more.
Audrey drew her rapier. Her gaze fixed on the figure waiting for them at the other end. That man, far from fleeing or hiding, maintained the calm of someone who had given up everything.
It was none other than Lucien, who had not left the scene.
He stood motionless, watching as the remains of his family were slowly devoured by the river of blood. The echo of his wife and children’s pleas still rang in his ears, a heart-wrenching litany that haunted him relentlessly. Yet his face showed neither pain nor rage.
His expression was that of a man who had already accepted death with absolute tranquility. There was no hope in his eyes, only a gray calm, like the stillness of a corpse that was still breathing.
Lucien was waiting. Waiting for his moment to leave this world. He wasn’t going to resist. He wasn’t going to fight. For him, the decision had already been made.
"It seems you have no intention of fighting," said Audrey, standing a few inches away from Lucien, who looked down to meet her eyes.
"Everything is lost now, everything has been swallowed up by that river of blood. What can I do?"
"Hmm... then you’ll tell me, who wants my head?" Audrey asked calmly, as if she had come to talk to a friend, and to someone she was about to kill.
"The Augustus royal family, you..." Lucien couldn’t finish his sentence. His body began to swell rapidly, like a wineskin filled with air that was about to burst. His veins stood out on his skin like black snakes, throbbing violently.
"It seems that the clause in the contract is taking effect."
With a long sigh and...
Boom!
His body exploded with brutal force, like a watermelon smashed under a hammer. Blood spurted in all directions, bathing the air and ground in an instant. Eyes, teeth, fragments of skull, and pieces of brain were thrown like projectiles, mixed with still-beating organs. Intestines tangled on the floor, hanging from the ceiling like grotesque streamers.
A piece of the heart fell to the floor, still twitching, while a severed hand hit a roof tile before slowly sliding down, leaving a crimson trail.
Audrey barely managed to cover herself with her arm, but even so, pieces of flesh and warm viscera splattered against her body, sticking to her clothes.
The metallic, fetid stench enveloped her immediately, as if she had been submerged in a mass grave.
Without cleaning herself, Audrey looked up at the city. The wind ruffled her bloodstained hair, and her eyes reflected the sight of the crimson river that was slowly ceasing to flow.
Although everything that had happened on this mountain had been too sudden, she did not consider it a loss. Among everything that had happened, she had gained something invaluable: certainty.
Now she knew, without a doubt, that she had an enemy in her own family, someone linked to her father’s lineage, someone who wanted her dead.
That knowledge was a double-edged sword... but also an opportunity.
With a steadfast heart, Audrey set her sights on her next destination: the Royal Mountain. The King’s family resided there, and that place was not only the center of power, but also the very heart of the Kingdom of Aragon, its capital. Going there meant entering the lions’ den.
The rain of blood slowly began to stop, each drop falling as if exhausting its last strength. The heavy, dark clouds dispersed reluctantly until the sunlight managed to break through. Golden rays descended upon the earth, but far from bringing hope, they illuminated a nightmarish scene.
The air was saturated with a metallic, dense, and suffocating smell.
Every form of life that inhabited the mountain had been devoured by the reverse-flowing river of blood. Birds, beasts, insects, even the most resilient vegetation—nothing had survived.
Across the entire expanse of Vigerth Mountain, not a single living creature remained. Only three figures remained standing: Kael, Audrey, and Martha.
The entire landscape was stained red. The black mountain, once imposing and gloomy, now stood covered in coagulated blood, as if it had been skinned and dressed in the skin of the dead.
A dark mountain turned into a crimson pillar.