Chapter 189 — Relaxed

Slish Slish Slish Slish

The chain contracted, the blade edges cutting from hundreds of angles simultaneously.

Rubious’s body separated into pieces, blood spraying across the obsidian ground and chunks of flesh scattering.

The execution was instant and absolute.

Lyandra and Alaric released both Domains, the mental construct and the physical restrictions dissolving with reality snapping back to normal.

The compound returned to normal space and time.

Alaric immediately grabbed Lyandra and pulled her into an embrace, his silver eyes showing heat that had nothing to do with violence.

"You looked so hot today. Just like the old times."

His voice was appreciative, almost playful.

"Watching you dominate an S rank mind manipulator, making him suffer appropriately and defending our son with such coldness... I fell in love with you all over again."

Lyandra smiled despite the blood covering her hands, her expression softening just for him.

"Flatterer. You just enjoy watching me work."

"Guilty."

They kissed deeply, passion mixing with the adrenaline of violence completed.

Then... Alaric activated his spatial manipulation, and both of them were teleported away, leaving the compound behind.

Three seconds after their departure, something happened to all the people who’d been frozen when Alaric unsheathed and sheathed his katana.

Every single one of them – hundreds of Noble family members who’d been held motionless – suddenly moved.

But... only their heads.

Every head separated from every body simultaneously, the spatial cuts so precise that blood didn’t even begin flowing until they’d all already fallen.

Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud

The sound continued for several seconds as hundreds of heads hit the ground in a chorus.

The entire villa had been turned into a nightmare in less than ten minutes.

The mighty Kestrel branch, hundreds of people including multiple A rank and even the S ranked Branch Leader, eliminated completely.

By two people who’d never even raised their voices.

The Twin Terrors had earned their legend by slaughtering Monsters.

And they’d just reminded the world why that legend persisted.

****

[Stormhold Academy - Eastern Garden]

Damian sat on a stone bench in the eastern garden, moonlight washing over his bare torso, his mind processing everything that had happened since leaving Norrington City.

The Kestrel Family was just one of a hundred Noble families that served beneath the thirteen Imperial families.

Just one.

Not particularly powerful in the grand scheme or especially influential compared to houses with stronger Imperial connections.

Yet that single family had almost killed him tonight.

Four A rank operatives attacked him with coordinated assault.

They first played mind games designed to break him psychologically before the physical execution.

All that happened with Zavier’s family was to break him. It was an open scheme.

If the Unnamed Four hadn’t intervened at exactly the right moment, he would be dead.

His body would be disposed of. His organization would collapse without leadership. His family would receive news of his death and never know the full truth.

’I was arrogant when I thought I understood the scope of what I was challenging. I thought building the Mafia and surviving the portal made me strong enough to face whatever came.

But I’m still just C- rank. Still just a student and still vulnerable to anyone with sufficient power and motivation.

Every decision I make creates consequences for people who trust me. And... I don’t know how to protect them all.’

But now things had changed.

The Unnamed Four – legendary fugitives who’d agreed to join his organization, who’d saved his life without asking for anything in return.

Four S rank level awakeners who could protect Tranquil City better than anything he could arrange himself.

’At least the families in Tranquil City are safe now. Now the orphanages and the people under Mafia protection have actual guardians.

That’s one positive thing in all of this chaos.’

Beep Beep

His communication device chimed with an incoming message.

Damian looked at the sender’s name and felt surprise.

It was Alaric.

He had just finished talking with Lyandra an hour ago, and now Alaric was messaging him.

He opened the message, reading the text first.

"Kiddo, your parents aren’t weak. Sometimes you should rely on us as well. Next time someone tries to harm you, let us know."

Confusion flickered across Damian’s face.

Then he saw the attached video file and opened it.

The footage showed a lavish villa, hundreds of people standing frozen like statues.

A man suspended by chains in what looked like a mental Domain, his face twisted with terror.

That man – Rubious Kestrel, Mara’s father, the one who’d orchestrated everything tonight – being forced to tear out his wife’s heart and consume it while fully conscious.

Then the video shifted to show hundreds of bodies throughout the compound, heads separated from necks with surgical precision, blood pooling across expensive floors.

The entire branch with every adult member... Eliminated in what couldn’t have been more than minutes!

Below the video, another message:

"These are the people who were responsible for the attack on you and Zavier’s family tragedy. Share this with Zavier. He shouldn’t carry hate in his heart. He is avenged."

Damian sat completely still for several long seconds, his mind trying to process what he was seeing.

’What the...’

His parents did this in the hour since he called. They tracked down the Kestrel branch responsible, infiltrated their compound, and slaughtered everyone responsible.

Hundreds of people, including the mastermind. Eliminated like it was nothing.

He forwarded the video to Zavier without additional comment, knowing his friend needed to see justice delivered even if it wasn’t achieved by them.

Then... he just stood there in the garden, looking up at the night sky, and sighed deeply.

"Sigh..."

He’d been sitting here planning revenge. Thinking about how to strike back at the Kestrel Family. Worrying about protecting his people from future attacks.

And his parents... had already solved the problem.

They didn’t just defend or just warn the enemy. They completely eliminated the threat at its source.

’Although it’s just one branch of the Kestrel Family, it was only this branch that attacked us directly. The main family might retaliate, but for now... the immediate danger is gone.’

A warmth spread through his chest, unfamiliar but welcome.

’I’m not alone... Not really. I have parents who can slaughter entire Noble family branches within an hour of sensing I’m in danger.

Parents who can protect me without needing to be asked. Who understands what needs to be done and does it without hesitation.

I also have the unnamed four to protect the Mafia now...’

For the first time since the portal, since Brian’s family, since Zavier’s parents, Damian felt himself relax.

Actually relaxed!

The constant tension that had been coiled in his chest for months finally loosening.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

And his breathing technique activated on its own.

The Aura circulation pattern that usually required conscious effort suddenly moved naturally, responding to his emotional state rather than his will.

Aura from the surrounding environment began flowing toward him, drawn by the change in his internal energy.

It wasn’t forced or pulled through technique. Just... attracted.

Like iron to a magnet. Like water flowing downhill. Completely natural and inevitable.