Amid the ruins of the street, Luca stood covered in blood.
His body was riddled with wounds, a truly horrific sight.
Seeing this, Orf’s beard and hair bristled in rage.
Right under his watch, his student had been injured to this extent—how could he not be furious?
His white robe billowed despite the still air, and with one foot, he pinned Kenneth down. The once kind face twisted into a fierce snarl.
“You damn wretch! Speak! Who sent you to assassinate my student?!” Orf’s boot ground into Kenneth’s chest, and the sheer force embedded him deep into the ground.
“Mmm… mmm…” Kenneth made muffled sounds, his one remaining arm flailing, but he couldn’t break free.
The gap between them was enormous, like a mountain looming over a shallow ditch.
To a high-ranking warrior like Orf, an opponent like Kenneth was hardly more than a child.
“Oh, fine! Won’t speak, huh? Quite the backbone! I’ll send you on your way then!” Frustrated, Orf let out a bitter laugh, sweeping his hand.
Mana surged through the air, forming golden magical runes that flashed quickly into existence.
In mere seconds, a golden spear several meters long materialized.
Its point aimed squarely at Kenneth’s head.
“Mmm!!!” Kenneth panicked.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk—Orf’s foot pressing down on his head just wouldn’t allow him to!
“Forget about him for now; saving Luca is more important. We’ll deal with this one later.” Bronte, who had just arrived, rushed to hold back the furious Orf.
“I’ll get back to you,” Orf spat, giving Kenneth a sharp kick before walking over to the battered Luca.
“Don’t worry about me, teacher… I’ll be fine…” Though Luca couldn’t move, his mind was clear, and he even managed to reassure Orf.
Having absorbed both the Heavenly Star Crystal Tree and the Undead Coffin, his healing and vitality were astonishing. Already, his injured organs and body were beginning to mend themselves.
Orf didn’t know all this, but his heart warmed at Luca’s words.
What a remarkable kid! At death’s door, and he’s still trying to reassure me.
This only fueled Orf’s anger further.
If he ever found out who was behind this attack, he’d make them pay dearly.
Orf knelt beside Luca, gathering his magic to inspect him.
He found that, although Luca was severely injured, his life force was astonishingly vibrant.
He sighed in relief, saying, “Thank goodness, he’s still got a chance.”
With that, he took a small bottle of golden liquid from his Storage Ring and carefully fed it to Luca.
“Superclass Life Elixir?” Luca recognized what Orf held.
Such a recovery potion was worth tens of thousands, at the very least!
He couldn’t help but feel moved by his teacher’s generosity and kindness.
After drinking the Superclass Life Elixir, a green glow enveloped Luca, filling him with a surge of life force that swiftly healed his injuries.
Combined with the terrifying regenerative power of the Undead Coffin, he was almost instantly pulled back from the brink of death. His wounds closed at an astonishing rate.
From his position on the ground, Kenneth watched in horror.
Was this kid a monster? How could he heal so quickly?
If he’d known beforehand that Lina wanted him to kill someone like this, he would never have accepted.
But now, it was too late for regrets.
Luca’s hand emitted a dark glow as black magic runes appeared, conjuring a massive, several-meter-long black sword. Dark mist swirled around it, gathering into ghostly apparitions that wailed in agony.
Shadow Judgment!
Without giving Kenneth a chance to plead, the massive black sword came crashing down!
Slash!
-34,800!
A blood-red damage number floated above Kenneth’s head!
The infamous Gold Grade assassin, a feared name across the Southern Territory, was struck down on the spot!
“You just…killed him?” Orf asked, taken aback.
He hadn’t yet found out who had orchestrated the attack on Luca.
“Teacher, I’ll handle this myself,” Luca replied as the massive black sword slowly dissipated from his hand. He had a few plans of his own regarding Lina. Besides, he’d recently run low on gold coins…
Orf and Bronte had no clue about Luca’s intentions; they assumed he simply wanted to take justice into his own hands. Admiration gleamed in their eyes.
Good lad! That’s the spirit I expected from the young man I took under my wing—truly fearless!
With Kenneth’s death, the danger to Luca was gone.
Having settled this matter, they turned to address the next problem.
“The Nightmare Cult sure has nerve, daring to stir up trouble in Southwind City! I’ll take this chance to settle scores with them, including the mess in Pure River Town!” Bronte’s gaze hardened as he turned to the dark Shadow Barrier. His figure vanished from sight, only to reappear above the barrier.
Seeing this, Luca could only pray Tia had managed to escape.
If she hadn’t, then despite being a shadow mage, escaping from a Superclass expert would cost her dearly.
In the skies above, fierce winds gathered as Bronte’s face remained cold. A green light flashed in his hand as he struck down on the egg-like Shadow Barrier.
With a loud crack, the black barrier, unbreakable to Ian’s efforts, shattered effortlessly under Bronte’s light blow.
The scene within the Shadow Barrier came into view. Tia was nowhere to be seen, while Ian was battling a swarm of dark shadow creatures, unharmed yet.
But clearly struggling against the overwhelming numbers and resilience of his enemies.
Luca let out a sigh of relief. Tia had indeed escaped. With her abilities, as long as she hadn’t been caught on the spot, even Bronte would have trouble locating her easily.
“Lord Marquis, what brings you here?” Ian’s face betrayed slight tension rather than joy at Bronte’s arrival.
Bronte didn’t respond to his greeting. Instead, he asked about Tia’s whereabouts, only to learn she had slipped away shortly after their encounter began.
“Those rats sure are fast,” Bronte muttered darkly, knowing it’d be difficult to catch anyone so quickly gone from sight.
Still, he couldn’t just let this matter slide—it would be a blow to his reputation.
Just as he was about to return to the city lord’s mansion to assemble troops and scour Southwind City.
Bronte’s eyes narrowed.
He turned to Ian, his brow furrowing, “Why would those people suddenly come after you?”
Ian’s heart skipped a beat. Forcing an angry expression, he replied, “I have no idea! We’ve never had any quarrel with them, no prior connections either. They approached us unprovoked, and I caught them sneaking around, so the fight started.”
“Oh, is that so?” Bronte cast a piercing look at him.
The Nightmare Cult had to be aware of the current situation. For Elder Tia herself to take such a risk to contact the Mora family, there had to be a compelling reason behind it.
A fly doesn’t land on an uncracked egg. Those cultists are no saints, and it seems the Mora family isn’t much better.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on this. Bronte waved a dismissive hand, sending Ian away, then took flight toward the City Lord’s Mansion, intending to handle the impact of the recent incident.
Orf, on the other hand, took Luca back to Red Maple Academy to recuperate. Throughout this ordeal, Luca maintained the appearance of an innocent victim, and no one linked him to Tia of the Nightmare Cult.
Luca wasn’t in a hurry to reveal Pandora’s plans, either. The exact situation at the meat factory remained unclear, and if the Mora family was able to operate right under Bronte’s nose, they surely had hidden tactics in play.
Recklessly divulging anything wouldn’t necessarily be effective and might even drag him deeper into trouble. That didn’t mean he planned to do nothing—this time, he’d operate from the shadows.
The matter was quickly resolved, impacting only a few unlucky bystanders and leaving little significant disruption.
The official statement from the City Lord’s Mansion attributed the chaos to a clash among high-ranking fighters, who had already been reprimanded. Few people knew the real story, and even fewer cared.
Under Bronte’s orders, Southwind City soon began a sweep targeting cultists and criminals. The crackdown extended beyond the Nightmare Cult to include other sects as well.
Luca wasn’t particularly worried. The Nightmare Cult had a special communication method to warn its members instantly, so he simply had to wait until the situation calmed down.
That same evening, Luca wrote two letters. One was sent directly to the City Lord’s Mansion. If everything went according to plan, the City Lord would soon launch an investigation.
The other letter was sent to the Franco family.
Noble District, The Franco Family Villa.
With a vicious slap across Lina’s face, Vasily roared, “How dare you?! That’s Orf’s student! How could you even think of ordering his assassination?!”
In the middle of the villa’s grand hall, Lina knelt, bound tightly, with her brother, Wester, holding her in place. The pity Wester once felt for his sister was now replaced by an icy expression.
The Franco family members had gathered around, seething with anger, their faces twisted in fury. They glared at Lina, wishing to punish this reckless woman who had endangered them all.
Regardless of Luca’s fate, her actions had brought a catastrophe upon the family.
If her plot were uncovered, no one in Southwind City would be able to protect them. Hiring an assassin was reckless enough, but targeting Orf’s student? It was as if she intended to drag them all down with her!
“Orf’s scouring the entire city for the culprit who tried to kill his student, so you better hope he doesn’t trace it back to you. Because if he does…” Vasily’s rage was far from spent. He kicked Lina, sending her sprawling to the floor, his voice a low growl, “…you’d better take your own life before you bring the family down with you.”
Lina’s face was ashen, and she remained silent despite Vasily’s fury. She hadn’t anticipated that even a Gold Grade assassin would fail to kill Luca and would instead die by his hand.
Despair settled over her.
If high-ranking assassins couldn’t accomplish it, how could she ever get revenge? Could she even think about hiring a Superclass warrior?
If Vasily had known what she was thinking, he’d likely have been driven into a fit of rage.
Even now, she still wanted revenge?!
Just as the family deliberated on how to appease Luca and Orf.
A servant entered and reported, “Master, someone has delivered a letter addressed to you specifically.”