Chapter 176 — The Likes Of You

[Meadowfield City - Ariana’s Family Home]

Ariana’s father, Takeshi Sterling, was a slim man with the same sharp features his daughter had inherited, his black hair streaked with silver.

Her mother, Yuki, was gentle-featured with kind eyes, her hands showing years of artistic work through minor scars from sculpting tools.

And their youngest daughter, Sakura, was fourteen years old – the same age as Luna – with her older sister’s facial structure but softer and less hardened by combat training.

When Ariana’s frantic call came, they’d reacted immediately.

Takeshi grabbed Sakura and practically threw her into a hidden closet they’d installed years ago during some chaotic times.

"Stay quiet no matter what you hear. Don’t come out until we tell you it’s safe."

His voice carried finality that made Sakura’s protests die unspoken.

The closet door closed with the hidden panel sliding into place, making it look like a solid wall.

Takeshi and Yuki turned around, both exhaling with relief.

"At least she’ll be safe. Whatever happens to us–"

A woman’s voice interrupted them, amused and cruel.

"How touching~ Protecting the child while sacrificing yourselves. Very noble~ Very... stupid~"

They spun around to find a woman sitting casually in Takeshi’s reading chair, one leg crossed over the other, a whip coiled in her hand like a sleeping snake.

She was beautiful in a sharp, predatory way with a noble bearing evident in every line of her body.

Her power radiating at B rank intensity.

"...Who are you? What do you want?"

Takeshi stepped in front of Yuki instinctively, his D rank Aura flaring defensively despite knowing it was useless.

The whip moved faster than his eyes could track.

CRACK.

The leather wrapped around his throat, tightening with Aura-enhanced strength, cutting off air and blood flow.

"Mind your tone, commoner~"

The woman stood slowly, her smile widening.

"The LIKES OF YOU have no right to question ME! You can’t speak to me unless given PERMISSION!

You don’t have any right to anything except having GRATEFUL acceptance of whatever I choose to do!"

She yanked the whip, pulling Takeshi off his feet and slamming him to the floor.

Then she started playing with him.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The whip struck repeatedly, each impact precise and each one designed to maximize pain without causing immediate death.

"AHHH!"

Takeshi tried not to scream but he failed. The sound tore from his throat involuntarily.

"Stop!"

Yuki tried to help but the whip caught her as well, wrapping around her ankle and pulling her down to join her husband.

"HahahaHAHAHA!"

The Noble woman laughed, genuine delight in the sound.

"Your daughter managed to enter Stormhold Academy. Quite the achievement for commoner trash.

But instead of becoming a proper subordinate to her betters, she joined that disgusting criminal organization. The ’Mafia.’"

CRACK

Another strike, this one opening Yuki’s cheek.

"I can’t touch that bitch inside the Academy. There are too many witnesses and too many rules against overt Noble-commoner violence. But... outside the Academy?"

Her smile became something monstrous.

"Why not kill everyone she holds dear? Why not break her emotionally? Turn her into the perfect obedient tool? She’ll have nothing left except serving Noble interests!"

She laughed with the sound being unhinged and horrible.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The beating intensified with Takeshi and Yuki’s screams blending together.

Then the woman’s eyes fell on the hidden closet.

Despite the concealment, her B rank perception had detected the girl hiding inside.

"Oh? What’s this?"

She walked over and found the hidden panel by running Aura-enhanced fingers across the wall, and ripped it open with casual strength.

Sakura huddled inside, her eyes wide with terror, her small frame trembling.

"Come here, little one."

The whip shot out, wrapping around Sakura’s hair, yanking her from the closet.

"NO!"

Both parents screamed simultaneously.

The Noble woman dragged Sakura across the floor by her hair, the girl crying out in pain.

Then... hurled her toward the window with enhanced strength.

"Die!"

The single word carried casual dismissal.

Sakura flew through the air, the window rushing toward her, death certain from either the impact or the three-story fall.

Time seemed to slow down.

Her parents screamed and she closed her eyes, accepting the inevitable.

Then... someone caught her.

Thud

Arms wrapped around her mid-flight, the momentum absorbed by someone impossibly strong and the trajectory changed completely.

She was set down gently at the side of the room, careful hands ensuring she wasn’t injured.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked up.

A young man stood there, dressed in a disheveled suit, breathing hard like he’d been running for miles.

Long crimson hair fell across his face. And eyes of the same color stared down at her calmly.

"Stay there and don’t move. This will be over soon."

His voice was gentle despite the circumstances.

Then... he turned toward the Noble woman, and his expression shifted to something absolutely empty.

The woman who’d been laughing moments ago paused, her instincts suddenly screaming warnings.

"Tsk tsk. Another toy has appeared for my fun. How lovely–"

She didn’t finish as the young man disappeared and reappeared directly behind her.

His Slaughter Intent exploded outward, translucent flames wrapping his entire body, the mental pressure slamming into her mind with B rank force.

’No time to waste. I need to end this fast...’

His physical attributes, already enhanced beyond human norms by the Devourer Body Art, activated fully.

His Aura also wrapped around his right hand with Aura Magnification pushing it to double intensity.

The Noble woman’s mind was still reeling from the mental attack, her B rank defenses barely holding against Slaughter Intent that shouldn’t exist in someone this young.

Puchi

Damian’s enhanced hand punched straight through her back and out her chest.

His fingers wrapped around her still-beating heart... and pulled!

The organ came free with a wet tearing sound and blood spraying out.

"Guh.."

The woman’s eyes went wide as her mouth opened but produced only wet choking sounds.

’What?’

Her last thought was confusion more than pain.

Thud

Damian let her corpse drop, her face hitting the floor still wearing that expression of incomprehension.

He walked to the window and threw her body and heart outside where Kuro waited.

The raven caught both with his enlarged mouth, swallowing the corpse whole and absorbing the death energy with visible satisfaction.

When Damian turned back to face the room, blood covered his suit, his face and his hands.

The Slaughter Intent still burned around him like invisible fire and his expression was empty of emotion.

Takeshi and Yuki pressed themselves against the wall, their injuries forgotten in the face of this terrifying presence.

This wasn’t a rescuer. This was something that killed a B rank Noble with casual efficiency.

Then his voice emerged, soft and almost apologetic.

"Relax, Aunty, Uncle. Take your daughter and leave for Tranquil City right now. You’ll be safe there."

He turned and jumped out the window, landing on Kuro’s back as both of them disappeared into the night sky within seconds.

Silence filled the room again.

Then Sakura spoke, her voice carrying wonder instead of fear.

"W-who?"

Her eyes were filled with stars, with adolescent admiration for someone who’d appeared like a hero from stories.

Yuki grabbed her daughter and held her tight, checking for injuries with shaking hands.

Takeshi just stared at the window, his mind trying to process what they’d witnessed.

"Who was that?"

"Our daughter’s friend."

Yuki’s voice was certain despite having never met the young man.

"Someone from that Mafia organization Arianna is part of."

Then... they packed quickly, moving on adrenaline and fear, leaving behind a home they’d lived in for twenty years.

Tranquil City! They would go to Tranquil City!

And never speak of what they’d witnessed tonight.