Chapter 202: 202: Ingrate...?
"I don’t think you’re any fun anymore like this. I’m already bored. So what do you suggest I do with you now?" he asked with a smirk.
"You... let me go..." Marquis Dean was now crying as he rolled around in immense pain, struggling to move.
"Beg. You should at least beg for your life if you’re that desperate. Don’t you think so?" Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"Never. I’ll never. I’ll never beg a bastard like you! Let me go now!" he yelled while still bleeding in pain.
"Guards! Someone bring in the guards and take down this bastard! Someone come and kill this fool now!" Marquis Dean screamed at the top of his voice.
But it was to no avail, because the Marquises standing at the door didn’t plan on coming to his rescue. They only stared in horror, trembling at the scene.
No one wanted to take the risk of challenging Adrian at that moment. They knew how brutal he was, and none of them wanted to risk their lives.
"Sure. Since you’re not going to beg, then you might as well face the consequences," Adrian smiled. "Because either way, even if you beg or not, I’ll still take you to see your ancestors."
He raised his sword higher, adjusting its direction to know where it was going to land. "Where should I start now... or should I just end it? Which would you prefer? Slowly or just quick?"
Marquis Dean didn’t say anything. He just lay there on the floor, groaning in pain.
"Say your last words, because you might not have the chance to do that soon after I’m done with you." It was a cold threat.
"Do your worst!" Marquis Dean laughed. "I’m sure you can’t even do anything at all!" he spoke confidently now.
Marquis Dean laughed again—he laughed like a psychopath while lying on the floor, bleeding. "Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Marquis of Silvana! One of the most flourishing lands of Valencrest! I can’t be taken down that easily! The King would question you on such an act! If you try to lay a finger on me, you’ll have to answer to the Emperor and to the nations—"
Immediately after he finished his words, Adrian sent his blade through his neck, silencing him as blood gushed from the cut.
He began choking as he bled from the mouth, nose, and the deep slice across his neck. Marquis Dean now lay there, moving his head and body like a chicken that had just been slaughtered.
And while he moved, Adrian stared at the sword in his hand—the sword that had been dirtied in the blood of Marquis Dean.
He casually sighed as he muttered to himself, "How bothersome." He didn’t even bother looking at the man who was struggling for his last breath.
Marquis Dean was losing every bit of life in him, slowly and painfully, gripping his neck and choking.
The other Marquises froze at the scene as they slowly began stepping backward. They had expected this—they expected him to kill Marquis Dean—but they hadn’t expected it to be this... brutal.
They now stared at Adrian, who held the bloody blade in his hands and looked down at the dying man on the floor. "You should have stayed within your limits. Because now you can’t even have the position of Marquis you thought you could get. Not in the underworld."
He smiled as he looked up at the other Marquises who stood at the door. They were already trembling at the sight of Adrian staring at them.
"And for you all, brace yourselves to face the consequences of plotting against the Grand Marquis. I know you all. Because you’ll either face death or face the wrath of the Emperor," he said with a cold expression as he turned his back to them.
The Marquises stood there, trembling in fear. Their plan had fallen apart without success, and it had backfired hard against them. They couldn’t even beg Adrian because they knew he would never listen.
He would rather kill them instead.
Adrian now turned to stare at Eden, the bloody blade still in his hand.
Eeden stared back at Adrian and then smiled faintly. He was still recovering from the shock of the brutal scene he had just witnessed, and now he realized that Adrian still didn’t like him.
Adrian had always wanted to kill him. And now, with a sword in his hand and his killing mind already activated, Eden feared that he might actually try killing him.
And he didn’t have a plan—any plan—against it.
"What do you want to do now?" Eden asked him. He subconsciously began stepping back in fear of what Adrian might do to him, and Adrian also started approaching him slowly, step by step.
"What... what do you want...?" Eden asked, raising his palms toward Adrian. "I can kill... I’m a wizard with powers, so... step back, else I’ll kill you now... don’t even think of coming close..." he said, panicking.
He had no powers at the moment. So he knew that if Adrian actually decided to strike, he’d be doomed.
"You... ungrateful brat. I saved you and this is how you—" He was about to accuse Adrian for wanting to have his head even though he had risked his own life to save him.
But Adrian interrupted. "Why did you do it...?"
Eden paused. He blinked and stared at him. "Huh?"
"Why did you save me...?" Adrian’s expression was uncertain. He had a confused look—curious and oddly soft at the same time.
He stared at Eden as though he was a puzzle he was trying to solve. "You could have easily gotten rid of me. You could have just used this opportunity or just left me... why did you come all the way here to save me...?"
He asked, truly genuine and curious to understand why Eden did it. Because the devious wizard of El he knew and heard of wouldn’t necessarily do something this nice for him.
He wasn’t that good of a person, Adrian recalled. So he wanted to understand why he had done something so contrary to how the wizard of El was traditionally described.