Time continued to pass…
Since Petras arrival, only twenty minutes had passed, but in this short span of time, not only had nearly half of the buildings on the Azurefell family's land been destroyed, but nearly the entire family had been poisoned in one way or another.
Since arriving in the capital, Petra had been told over and over again to avoid the Azurefell Family, to run away, to leave and hide. It was no secret that the Azurefell Family was an extremely terrifying force, but even after knowing this, Petra did not heed their advice. In the end, Lily and Luna were taken, she was forced to show up, and things had escalated to this point.
In fact, the Azurefell Family, or the small group of elders who had secretly orchestrated the kidnapping, could never have imagined that Petra would be this terrifying! None of the other heroes had displayed the sheer destructiveness that she had shown, but even this possibility was 'still' taken into consideration, but they could never have guessed that Petra completely lacked the righteous heart of a hero and any shred of common sense! She was a vengeful little monster with an unimaginable sea of bloodlust bottled up, just waiting for someone to take the bait. Even if the entire power concealed within the capital were to show up tonight, she didn't care at all!
Even with the self-imposed restraint of not massacring the entire family, she had easily spread her 'claws' throughout the entire territory upon arrival.
Those who were lucky fell unconscious or were paralyzed, but those who were an eyesore or didn't know their place were either spewing out all their secrets or screaming in incomparable pain. As for those extremely unlucky few, they were dragged away by the ant army and disappeared completely.
Finally, the experts of the Azurefell Family…
These old fellows, whether they were elders, outsiders, or something else, all of them were immediately incapacitated after appearing. This was because Petra had temporarily unsealed one of her most terrifying methods.
Between the blue, red, yellow, and purple clouds, a completely transparent, tasteless, scentless, strange mist had begun to spread. This undetectable poison, and all of its derivatives, were something that Petra wouldn't normally use because it was too difficult to clean up. Since she had used it, with her lazy personality, this area would definitely become contaminated for a very, very long time in the future, and perhaps never recover.
Mm, as for the effects of this poison, well—!
This poison had one very simple purpose, and that was to level the playing field and cripple everything above the Golden Core level! If one had a much higher level of cultivation, such as the fifth or sixth order, then they could try to fight off the poison and expel it from their bodies, but without a cure, it would be nearly impossible to completely resolve!
This naturally meant that experts between the fourth and sixth level were doomed after entering the Azurefell Family!
* * *
After some time had passed, Petra eventually found a clue about Lilly's whereabouts and began to make her way to the depths of the Azurefell Family's ancestral land (Backyard). Looking forward, in the distance, she could see a small artificial mountain, and from this mountain, she could see the mouth of a valley, leaking a faint fog.
She began making her way towards the mouth of the valley, but just then—
Her steps slowed down.
"Annoying…!" She muttered under her breath, then glared over!
The air around her seemed to sink, as her surroundings began to heat up.
Then, someone stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"…That's far enough, don't you think, little girl?"
Petra stopped, facing this old acquaintance.
For the first time in a while, she properly looked up. A young man stood there, blocking her path. His stance was steady, his back was straight, but the tension in his shoulders gave him away, allowing Petra to tell at a glance that he wasn't here willingly, at least, not completely.
This was…
Dilan Dimebeck!
He met her gaze, then slowly sighed, forcing himself not to step back.
Even for him, he had to admit that the coldness reflected in Petras eyes was frightening. It would seem that his initial suspicions back in Imai were correct! This little girl was just like his grandfather, a complete monster in human skin, a wolf in sheep's clothing!
Petra understood that this was one of the fools who was called over by the Azurefell Family to assist with the 'cleanup' and 'control' the situation…
She didn't know if he had an obligation or had come purely for some friendship, but it didn't matter.
"…I'll apologize in advance," he said, his tone strained but firm. "I don't fully understand what's happening here… but my instincts are telling me I have to stop you if I want this to end tonight, right?"
Petra nodded, she didn't intend to hide it.
What a sharp intuition.
It's a shame that he used it in the completely wrong place…
There was a moment of silence, leaving only the screaming of the storm and the static of the rain.
Petra tilted her head slightly, her eyes flickering as they swept the space behind him for a brief moment, then returned to the red-haired warrior…
A faint smile appeared on her small face.
"…So brave," she muttered in a quiet voice.
It was soft, almost gentle, but for some reason, it sent a shiver down Dilan's spine!
"To come here tonight, to block my path... You want to end tonight's chaos, aiming straight for the source? Indeed, you, as the young master of the Dimebeck Family, possess an extraordinary insight!" Petra nodded to herself, even looking back at Luna for a moment, who likewise nodded.
She paused, taking a breath, before continuing.
"To come here, to willingly fight for another family and face me! Hehe! I understand, I understand very well! It's your type I like the most! You're here, willing to sacrifice yourself, to risk capture, completely disregarding the possibility of 'falling!'"
Dilan felt his eyelid twitch.
What did 'fall' mean…?
Petra continued in a raised voice, her eyes spinning with suppressed emotions.
"Haha! To risk having your arms and legs crippled, to not fear dismemberment, transformation, or being refined and modified! To not even care about the possibility of becoming a seedbed, a sac of useless flesh whose only purpose is to serve as an incubator! Nyahahaha! Good, good! Then come, noble soul! I look forward to your challenge!" Petra, in a childish voice, burst out laughing!
Petras eyes swam with madness!
It was impossible to tell if she was spouting nonsense, but—
"NOPE! NOPE-NOPE-NOPE! Nothing! I want nothing to do with this!" Dilen instinctively took a massive step backward, his skin crawling as the image flashed past his mind! He had no idea what she was talking about, but even without knowing, the sense of danger he felt was enough to terrify him!
What the hell was wrong with this little girl!?
Why were such simple words capable of making his soul tremble!
"Ah?"
Petras' face returned to normal after a quick blink.
She fluttered her eyes like a cute child.
"You don't want to play with me anymore?"
Dilen madly shook his head!
"Absolutely not! I'm good! I've done enough! This is where I draw the line! Haha!" he let out a dry laugh as he took another step backwards.
Petra: "…"
After a long moment of silence…
Swoosh! Dilen disappeared with a flash of red light!
Petra didn't chase him.
She simply frowned, walked forward, and passed where he had been as if he had never appeared.
Luna followed in her footsteps.
It would seem as if he really wasn't the last boss in tonight's instance…
* * *
Around the same time—
Several members of the Azurefell Family were quickly moving together, their expressions tense as they carried a small, unmoving child.
Upon closer inspection, this was Lilly!
Her eyes were open but empty, seemingly unfocused as her body hung limply in one of their arms. Her fingers faintly trembled, and where her nails should have been, there was nothing but torn skin and a bloody mess, which was clearly self-inflicted.
Aside from a faint glow that seemed to draw in the surroundings, she was no different than a corpse…
* * *
Moonlight spilled across the earth like a thin, silver veil, illuminating the night...
Luna followed Petra forward, eventually reaching a deep valley that stretched beneath the blackened night, its vast form carved between two towering cliffs that rose like dark walls beneath the stormy sky. The world was painted in soft shades of cool colours, concealed within a fog, and the moonlight filtered down in harmless layers, brushing over the treetops and tracing the winding path through the valley.
The forest ahead was not large, but it was very dense.
The canopy swallowed most of the light, leaving only scattered patches of pale moonlight to spill across the ground like broken shadows of unformed silhouettes.
The wind felt cool, but at the same time, it carried a certain heaviness that permeated the air.
In this strange artificial space, sound didn't travel far, and even the smallest noise seemed to quickly fade, swallowed by the walls of the valley. It created a strange sense of isolation, as if this place existed slightly detached from the rest of the capital.
In the far distance, just beyond the narrow ending of the cliffs—
A small temple stood tall in the haze, concealed by the fog…
Petra stepped forward with Luna, walking for some distance… then stopped.
She turned to see Luna stiffen and her expression twist.
It was subtle, but Petra caught it.
For the first time, pure hatred surfaced on little Luna's face.
"…Hm?" Petra, despite seeing her emotions almost explode, didn't ask in the end. She didn't need to ask, because the cause of her change was right in front of her!
She turned her head, already with her answer.
Looking forward, another figure had blocked their path, but this one was far less genial.
Petra had already seen him, or at least, she knew who he was…
A man stood beneath a beam of moonlight, perfectly still, as if he had always been there, waiting for their arrival. His robes were unblemished, completely untouched by the destruction consuming the land. Around him, nine chains drifted slowly through the air, each ending in a long, narrow blade that gleamed faintly under the moonlight, swaying like serpents that twisted around his body.
He was the current head of the Azurefell Family, Lily and Luna's father!
Petra glanced back at Luna from the corner of her eye.
Seeing her expression, that was enough, because to Petra it was no different than giving her permission!
She walked forward, grinning!
Ka-Ka-Kacha—BOOM! Lightning lit up the sky!
-
"…So, it's come to this?" the middle-aged man said calmly, his gaze settling on Luna. "You've come here, but do you really understand what's past here? If you had taken this opportunity to run, you could very well have escaped! Foolish daughter! Past this point is the land of no return!"
He ignored Petra's slow approach, instead choosing to chastise his useless daughter.
Luna didn't respond.
Her hands clenched at her sides, trembling faintly.
The man sighed, almost wearily in a weird way.
"You were always like this! You're too difficult, too short-sighted!" His voice was steady, almost patient as he spoke like a father. "Everything we've done… everything this family has endured… it was necessary! Only through sacrifice can we continue to grow! Only then will there be hope!"
"You will never understand our family's backing! Even the Ancestor isn't aware!"
"I still remember it, the day that woman appeared and 'informed' me to become the next Patriarch! Back then, I couldn't even look her in the eyes! I only understood that the Ancestor was already abandoned that day! Can you imagine? Can you imagine how I felt!"
Petra stopped a short distance away from him.
Her eyes were half-lidded, unimpressed by this man's hypocrisy.
In the end, didn't he just want to use his daughters like a tool? Why the long story? If he didn't have twins, wouldn't Luna be in the same place as Lilly right now? Why was he trying to make excuses?
The man shook his head.
"Do you think I'm targeting you and your sister? No, not at all! Even the ancestors know this pain! Like you, his sister was destined to serve as a sacrifice to the Guardian! Even knowing this, he still chose to silently sit back and do nothing!"
Luna pursed her lips.
"Sigh, you're just like your mother! She refused to, forcing me to personally act!
His eyes darkened.
"It did hurt me, but there was no alternative!"
Luna: "!!"
The man didn't react to her glare, instead, his gaze slightly sharpened.
"Even if you defeat me… you won't save her! Why do this? Do you really want to condemn the family?"
Luna's breath faltered as her father continued.
"It's already too late to save her… Give up!"
Boom!
His last words were a roar, pushing back the fog!
-