East of the Holy Sun Continent.
In the Central Grand Estate of The Ravencar Household, inside one of the mansions.
A beautiful woman in her mid-twenties sat on a sofa, her posture seemed relaxed, but her expression was contorted in rage and…anxiety?
"How? Where? Just where the fuck did Mary disappear to? For two days, there hasn't been a single contact from her!"
She was Azaria, the sole princess of House Ravencar, but her usual confident expression couldn't be seen on her face; it was replaced by anxiety.
Her maid, who had been a mother figure to her, had suddenly disappeared. Some people had spotted her being dragged into the Silverleaf forest.
Hearing the news, her heart thumped hard in her chest. She quickly sent her guards to search for her, but strangely, even they had disappeared! Not leaving even a single trace.
Finally, on the third day, she could not hold it any longer and gathered a bunch of her guards. All at the peak of Origin Realm!
The six-person team set out to search for the Maid in the Silverleaf forest.
"Young Lady, there's a blood trace here!" One of the cultivators shouted, instantly, all of them gathered and spread their [Mana Senses] thousands of miles.
"Young Miss! There! I can sense Mary's [Mana Signature]!" One of the guards shouted, pointing toward the deeper part of the forest.
"Young Miss, are you sure it's safe?" One of them asked hesitantly. Even with seven peak Origin Realm cultivators, he still felt uneasy about this situation. Not to mention the wild demonic beasts!
"There's no need to worry; if anything unusual happens, retreat at once!" Azaria clenched her fists. If even this search fails, she would have no choice but to rely on her parents.
"Now, follow it!" Azaria ordered, and soon all of them rushed deeper inside the forest. Unbeknownst to them, the moment they set foot inside, a small, untraceable array lit up.
…
"Mary! Mary! Where are you!?" Azaria shouted, the [Mana Signature] had led the team here to an open area inside the Silverleaf, with tall trees surrounding them in a ring from afar.
"Hey! Look here!" one of the Origin Realm cultivators shouted and pointed toward a stone, which had blood traces on it.
Azaria dashed towards the stone and bent down to see. The moment she touched the stone—
Clap Clap Clap
All of them turned towards the source of the noise. But when they saw 'what' was approaching, Azaria's eyes reddened with fury!
Even the Origin Realm guards were shaken; they clenched their fists.
A man with a black mask was walking towards them. Aside from his eyes, nothing else was visible on his body, but that's not what enraged them.
In his right hand, he was dragging a body by the hair; the body resembled that of a woman. She was bloodied from head to toe, her fingers missing, one of her eyes was brutally gouged; her arms and legs twisted and turned at a brutal angle.
Her face was full of despair, but she was still alive. Evident by her [Mana Signature]. The masked man seemed unbothered.
He swept his cold gaze among the cultivators. A dense, suffocating killing intent burst from Azaria, threatening to flatten half the forest if she willed it. The amount of coldness radiated was immense; a mile radius was already covered in snow.
Even the Origin Cultivators were not standing idle; one by one, they took out their weapons, and strange spots began to light up on their body. The reason they did not attack immediately was that they couldn't sense this man's cultivation at all!
"Wh-what did you do to her!? You monster!!!" Azaria screamed at the top of her lungs, and a dense Ice sword slowly began to form in her hands.
"Take a single step and see whether this woman breathes the next second", the man in a black mask finally spoke. Instantly, the Ice sword vanished from her, and she gritted her teeth.
"Do you even know who my parents are? It would take mere seconds to locate and end your miserable existence!?"
She could not bear to see the sight of her mother-figure in that state any longer. So she threatened him.
"Are your parents here right now? No right, so pipe down, bitch" The masked man replied, then turned toward the Origin Realm cultivators.
"Throw your weapons and storage rings right this instant, or the bodily torture of this woman is the least of your worries"
He lifted the bloodied Mary by her neck, his hands slowly grabbed her breasts, kneading them roughly, which elicited a painful whimper from her.
Mary slowly opened her eyes, feeling the pain and when saw the scene in front of her; her face contorted as bloody tears fell down her cheek.
"Y-young M-miss, please go. D-don't w-wo-wory about…me," she stammered, forcing the words from her throat.
"BASTARD!! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER! DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW!!!" Azari's eyes reddened further. Icy blue veins had already spread across her body, and not even her face was spared. But to her dismay, she received no response.
She instantly turned back, and what she saw was enough to freeze her already frozen blood; her eyes widened in horror. There lay bodies, or what used to be—mutiliated pieces of flesh and gore…unrecognizably spread all over the ground.
"H-how!?" Azaria stumbled; it was the first time in her life that she had experienced such a scene, which caused trauma inside her.
A deep sense of fear and despair washed over her body,"W-what do you want?" falling on her knees. She finally lost her courage and turned towards the masked man helplessly.
"Hmph, so much for calling you a princess of Ravencar House, you are a stain on that name" The masked man snickered at her sorry state.
"But we are not here to discuss that, are we? We have already wasted enough time as it is, now let's get down to business" Towering over Azaria, he spoke coldly, earning a nod from her head.
"Did anyone else know you were coming?"
"No"
"Did you tell your parents about this? And if you dare lie to me, I'll rip her breasts off"
"I-I..I"
"SPEAK LOUDER"
"N-No d-dont! I didn't tell anyone else, I-I swear on my physique!" Clutching her head, she forced out those words from her throat.
"Good", the masked man nodded and tossed the Bloodied Mary aside.
"Now you can sleep", he said. Instantly, her eyes began to blur, and within seconds, she collapsed on the ground with a dull thud.
The moment she collapsed, the reality around her shattered like glass!
…
(A/N: Dear readers, this is the last free chapter of this book, I hope you all have enjoyed it and please continue to support me!)