—— Crimson Farewell ——
"Seraphine—!!"
Eren's roar tore through the heavens. Burning his magical energy, he became a streak of light, hurtling forward—but he was ultimately a step too late.
Torrential spiritual power wildly poured into Seraphine's cooling body, yet it could no longer hold onto the life swiftly fading from her.
"Eren… you finally came."
Seraphine's breath was a wisp, a tragically beautiful smile blooming on her lovely face:
"Eren… am I… beautiful?"
"Beautiful! You are the most beautiful in the world!"
Eren gripped her hand tightly, watching helplessly as her eyelashes fluttered shut.
"No! Seraphine—Open your eyes! Please!"
His energy still surged wildly, but her life slipped away like silent falling snow.
BOOM!!
An overwhelming tide of hatred detonated within Eren.
He hated Damien! He hated Vivienne! He hated all who had harmed her!
But the one he hated most—was himself.
If he hadn't misunderstood Seraphine back then, forcing her to face everything alone, this tragedy would never have happened!
Two streams of bloody tears traced silently from the corners of his eyes.
No one could understand his pain at this moment—
A pain a hundred times crueler than being pierced by ten thousand arrows.
"Seraphine! My daughter—!"
Vivienne stumbled forward, her cries tearing at her throat. "Mother was wrong… so terribly wrong…"
Only now did she finally understand—
Wealth, power, status… they were all worthless in the face of her daughter's life.
---
—— Sea of Wrath and Slaughter ——
"Eren, I'll kill you! If Seraphine didn't have feelings for you, she wouldn't have taken her own life! My life is ruined—I'll slice you into a thousand pieces! And Seraphi—"
His words were cut off—
"Damien, DIE!"
Eren's furious roar shook the sky. He descended like a god of slaughter, a single palm sweeping horizontally. Rampant magical power, like a celestial fissure or tidal wave, slammed directly into Damien!
"Outrageous! This is the Vale Estate!"
A Grandmaster-tier Warrior flashed forward to block, both palms striking out.
—BOOM!
The sound was like a thunderclap.
The Grandmaster's body instantly exploded into a mist of blood!
Silence gripped the scene.
Everyone felt their scalps go numb:
What kind of monster was this young man?
Damien felt a chill through his entire body, but he forced his arrogance to the surface. "Eren, I admit you're strong, nearing Great Grandmaster-tier… but do you understand the two-century strength of the Vale family? Show yourselves! Kill him!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Twenty Great Grandmaster figures landed simultaneously, an iron tide surrounding Eren completely.
Eren seemed not to see them, his gaze fixed solely on Damien, eyes that seemed to tear at his very soul. "You killed Seraphine. I will have the entire Vale family accompany her in her grave."
"Madman!"
Damien laughed wildly, pointing at him. "Do you see clearly? Twenty Great Grandmasters! Killing you is as easy as slaughtering a dog!"
"Die."
—Whoosh!
A Great Grandmaster's head flew through the air, tumbling several meters before hitting the ground!
The crowd was struck dumb!
"This kid uses evil arts!"
Damien finally panicked.
"No! It's a strange weapon!"
The Grandmasters, with their keen eyesight, caught the glint of a fine thread in Eren's hand.
"Die."
Eren flicked his wrist. The Silkworm Silk became an invisible venomous snake lunging towards another.
The target was prepared this time, explosive energy erupting to repel the thread.
"Hmph! We've seen through it now, your little trick can't hurt—"
Thud!
A streak of light pierced through his forehead. His words ceased abruptly.
The remaining eighteen no longer dared underestimate him, each treating him as a formidable enemy.
"Flying Swords—kill."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Nine streaks of light flashed past. Nine Great Grandmasters fell backwards, collapsing to the ground!
In less than ten seconds, eleven of the twenty Great Grandmasters lay dead!
"Retreat!" The remaining nine frantically pulled back, but the flying swords pursued them like shadows.
"Flying Swords? Those are Flying Swords!"
Someone finally recognized them, punching one flying sword away, but the impact sent his blood and energy churning.
"Is that all?!" He tried to rally morale—
Thud!
Another flying sword pierced his heart.
He died with wide, uncomprehending eyes:
Eren could control ten flying swords simultaneously!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Sword shadows filled the sky, light raining down like a storm.
The nine Great Grandmasters screamed, either pierced through the brow or with exploding hearts, all slain in an instant.
In less than a minute—
All twenty of the Vale family's Great Grandmasters were annihilated!
Damien completely broke down.
He thought twenty Great Grandmasters could easily crush Eren, never imagining they couldn't even touch a single hair on his head.
His father, William, face dark as iron, felt his heart bleed:
Twenty Great Grandmasters were enough to sweep through any force in the Novalis Sector, yet now they were all dead by the hands of one young man.
"Eren must die. Otherwise, the Vale family will become a laughingstock."
"Your turn, Damien."
Eren took a step forward. Ten flying swords pointed directly at Damien, their killing intent tearing at the heavens and earth.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
"Eren! Stop! Or do you not care about the orphanage, or whether Lyra and the others live or die?"
Damien shrieked.
The swords halted, a mere three centimeters away—
The air instantly turned to ice.
"What did you say?" Eren's voice was frigid. "You took Lyra and the others?"
Damien pulled out his phone, tapped an app. On the surveillance feed—
Lyra, Aveline, Kane, and others were visible, locked in a basement, bound and gagged.
A bloody light erupted in Eren's eyes.
He had always thought it was the work of a mysterious faction—to think it was Damien all along!
"Release them."
Eren gritted his teeth. "Or I'll make you wish you were dead."
Damien suppressed his fear, the confidence of a schemer returning to his face. "Fine. But kneel first."
He was certain Eren wouldn't dare act recklessly now.
Yet the next second—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ten flying swords instantly pierced through Damien's body, each strike carefully avoiding vital points, the pain enough to tear his soul apart!
"Make me kneel?" Eren's furious laugh was like a thunderclap. "You think you're worthy?"
The flying swords pierced again.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Damien was nearly shredded into a sieve amidst his screams.
The onlookers were so terrified they hardly dared to breathe.
—They finally understood:
Eren wasn't fighting a battle now; he was conducting a slaughter.
---
—— Defiant Blades of Fate ——
"Wretched beast, STOP!!"
William roared as he arrived, followed closely by two elderly men with white hair and beards. One short, one stout, their auras restrained, deep and terrifying like the abyssal ocean.
These were the Vale family's Ancestors—Great Grandmasters who had lived over a century, each standing at the pinnacle of martial arts, just a step away from the next realm.
"Father! Ancestors! Save me! Kill this madman, quickly!"
Seeing the Ancestors, Damien clung to hope like a drowning man.
The stout elder's pupils constricted sharply, a shocked exclamation escaping him. "Hah! Heaven-sent opportunity! Ten flying swords! This immense fortune—I shall claim it!"
He covered dozens of meters in a single step, his presence crashing down on Eren like a collapsing sky.
The pressure was mountain-like, yet Eren withstood it.
His spiritual power was depleted, his mental energy greatly consumed. There was no retreat: he could not step back, could not lose—otherwise, Lyra and the others would surely die.
His chest ached fiercely from the pressure. Grunting, he simultaneously sent all ten flying swords attacking the stout elder.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The swords struck his protective energy barrier, sparks flying, but failed to penetrate.
"Haha! Boy, your flying swords are strange, but they cannot break my protective energy!"
The stout elder's palm pressed down again, intending to force Eren to his knees.
But at that moment—
Fwoosh!
A flame ignited in Eren's palm, like a weak fire serpent, silently adhering to the stout elder's energy barrier.
The next moment—
WHOOSH!
The elder's protective energy barrier was instantly burned through!
"AH—?! What fire is this?! Why… why won't it go out?!"
The stout elder screamed in terror, frantically channeling his energy to extinguish the flames.
But this was no ordinary fire; it was the 'Thunderfire' Eren had been storing, capable of burning anything, impervious to energy barriers.
Roar—!
Within moments, the stout elder was reduced to ashes amidst his agonized roars!
The short elder was horrified, hastily retreating several dozen feet.
"H-how… even Second Ancestor… couldn't block him…"
Damien was scared out of his wits. Eren's methods were endless—flying swords, threads, thunderfire… each one lethally potent.
If someone said Eren was a monster from the abyss, he would believe it.
Without hesitation, Eren planted his foot on Damien's head, the force so great the scalp threatened to split.
He looked up, his cold gaze locking onto William:
"Release them. Now. Or I crush his head right here."
Damien trembled in humiliation, not daring to move.
William's face was dark with fury, hatred boiling within him, but he had to suppress his rage.
He asked in a low voice, "Third Granduncle… can you handle him?"
The short elder's expression was grave.
"This youth, so young, yet commands flying swords and possesses that unquenchable flame… his background is profoundly mysterious. Unless the Patriarch emerges from seclusion, none of us can kill him."
William's pupils contracted sharply.
A young man… so powerful that it required their Patriarch to intervene?
He gritted his teeth hard, his face as gloomy as a stormy sky.
"Eren, the reason I'm letting you go today—is not because the Vale family fears you, but—"
---
—— The Hostages Freed at Last ——
"Enough!" Eren's cold voice cut William off. "Release them now! If I don't see Lyra and the others within three minutes, you can prepare a coffin for Damien today."
"You—!" William was so enraged he felt his chest might explode, wishing he could tear Eren apart immediately, but he didn't dare gamble with his son's life. He gnashed his teeth. "Quillon, go. Release them."
Quillon didn't dare delay, immediately rushing towards the back.
Soon, a group of disheveled individuals was brought out—the orphanage children, Granny Lucy, Leopold, Lyra, Kane, Aveline… all the missing who had been taken.
They were pale, listless, covered in bruises and wounds. Even the young children trembled, bearing signs of torment.
When Lyra and the others saw Eren, their eyes simultaneously lit up, instinctively moving towards him.
Eren quickly raised his voice. "Don't say anything. Leave now—immediately! Leopold!"
"Yes, Master."
Leopold promptly led the group away; Vivienne was taken along.
Once the hostages were completely safe, William, suppressing his fury, spoke coldly, "Eren, they're released. Now you can let go of my son."
But Eren acted as if he hadn't heard, his gaze fixed solely on the bloody, mangled face beneath his foot.
"Damien." His voice was low, colder than a honed blade. "I'll let you keep your life today. I said I'd have your whole family accompany Seraphine to the grave—I always keep my word."
With that, he lifted his foot and kicked.
Thud!
Damien flew through the air like a ragged sack, crashing into William's arms and sending the man stumbling back several steps.
Without another glance, Eren gathered Seraphine's body into his arms and vanished into the night wind like a phantom.