Chapter 136: Is my husband, Kael, dead?
Seeing the state his daughter Elizabeth was in, tears of blood streamed down Aiden’s cheeks. His face was a mixture of helplessness, sadness, and rage. Nothing could accurately describe the pain that consumed him: seeing his daughter turned into a grotesque cauldron, dying in the most tragic and undignified way possible, and he, being so close, unable to do anything.
Now he had no doubt: Kael was a bastard of the demonic path.
But his doubts about Kael were minor compared to his doubts about himself.
Aiden didn’t know how to feel. His insides were in chaos: emotions too complex, too heartbreaking to express.
All he wanted was to tear Kael’s flesh with his own teeth, devour him alive like a rabid beast.
And yet, he couldn’t even do that. He had him right in front of him, so close and yet so unreachable. In that moment, Aiden felt pathetic. Pathetic as a father, pathetic as a husband, pathetic as a human being.
What was the point of his life now?
To live only as a rabid dog of vengeance?
To cling to the dead, whom he could never bring back?
To pray to a non-existent god, hoping for a miracle that would never come?
A broken laugh escaped his throat.
"Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"
That laugh was filled with everything: sadness, anger, despair, and an injustice that had broken his spirit.
It echoed throughout the chamber, filling the air like a grimace against the sky itself. His hands rose and covered his face, while tears of blood continued to flow.
"Why...? Why does fate punish me like this? WHY!? WHY!?"
His voice was a roar against an indifferent universe.
At that moment, buried memories came flooding back. The image of his first wife, the way she was beheaded before his eyes, the still-warm blood that splattered his face, like an eternal mark he could never wash away.
And the worst part wasn’t the death. No, the worst part was watching that damned member of the great families abuse his corpse in front of him, dragging his dignity into the vilest grave.
Aiden knew that fate could be cruel. But in his case, fate seemed to torment him over and over again, tearing away what little humanity remained inside him.
"..."
Suddenly, her laughter died away. The camera sank into a heavy, suffocating silence, as if an invisible entity had ripped all sound from its roots.
Aiden stood there, motionless, tears of blood still streaking his face. It wasn’t just rage burning in his chest anymore. There was something deeper, darker, something that was transforming him from within.
But it was broken again by Aiden’s words.
"Justice..." he muttered, his voice harsh. "What an empty word! They always teach us that if we do good, if we believe in the gods, if we fulfill our duty as parents, husbands, or warriors, there will be a reward... a hope."
He gritted his teeth, letting a trickle of blood fall from his mouth.
"Lies!" he spat violently. "The gods have never answered. Justice has never come. The world only smiles upon the strong, and crushes the weak, degrades them, uses them for entertainment."
His fists trembled, stained with blood.
"What is the point of morality? What is the point of clinging to something like ’what is right’ or ’what is fair’? My wife died like a slaughtered animal, my daughter was turned into a cauldron before my eyes... and would I dare to continue calling myself a man, a husband, or a father? Nonsense!"
Aiden let out a broken, deep, joyless laugh.
"Life isn’t kind, life isn’t fair. Life is a knife pressed against your throat day after day. Only strength decides who lives and who dies."
His red, empty eyes fixed on Kael.
"Kael... you are a demon. But seeing you... I have understood something. The world does not need gods, heroes, or faith. There is only one true path: the path of cruelty, of unrestricted power. Fate has stripped me of everything... and in doing so, it has given me a new freedom."
The air in the chamber grew heavier. There was something different in his voice: it was not the cry of a defeated father, it was the seed of a dangerous will, one that no longer recognized limits.
"If fate is cruel, I will destroy it. If the gods exist, I will make them bleed."
Aiden slowly raised his head, and although his tears of blood continued to flow, a twisted, almost inhuman smile appeared on his lips.
Natalia, upon seeing her husband, lost her mind; she didn’t know how to feel. She hadn’t expected the loss of their daughter to affect him to this extent, and she looked with hatred at Kael, who had a smile on his face, as if he were witnessing the birth of something beautiful.
Michel, on the other hand, opened his eyes in surprise; he never imagined in his life that he would witness something like this. This was the birth of something completely dark; he wanted to fight it right now; he could feel that Aiden no longer feared death.
And Kael... simply covered his mouth with one hand as he approached Michel, and couldn’t help but think.
This mountain really is full of surprises. Seeing such a scene reminded the man on Kiran Mountain of Said.
Standing next to Michel, he said with a small smile. "Take care of Aiden, since we’ll have to escape."
Michel simply nodded without saying a word.
At that moment, the entire camera shook violently. The wall behind Michel and Kael began to crack with a dull roar; stones split and cascaded down, kicking up dust and debris. Through the cracks, a cold night breeze burst in, whistling sharply as it entered, carrying with it the stench of damp earth.
"So, that’s the way out of the inheritance," Kael muttered loudly enough for Aiden and Natalia to hear.
With that, Kael didn’t hesitate. With a fluid movement, charged with absolute determination, he threw himself toward the opening. His figure disappeared into the dust and shadows.
Michel, upon seeing him, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. His brow furrowed, doubt burning within him like a smoldering ember. He knew that following Kael meant risking an uncertain fate.
But falling behind wasn’t that even more pathetic?
"Tsk..." A frustrated snort escaped his lips. Finally, he took a step forward and then another, more determined one, rushing after Kael.
Just as Michel crossed the crack, an eerie silence fell over the chamber.
Then, against the night sky filtering through the opening, an impossible silhouette appeared: a bird formed of stars, as if the heavens themselves had descended. Its wings were constellations stretching from horizon to horizon, and its gaze was deep and unchanging.
The feathers of the star bird crackled with white and blue lights, falling slowly.
And above them, Michel and Kael could be seen quickly moving away.
Aiden raised his head, bathed in tears of blood, watching as the bird quickly disappeared into the starless night.
...
With the moon shining brightly, the clouds moved slowly with the night wind.
Quian Mountain.
The tree branches swayed violently as if they were about to break, but they resisted, the trunks moving from side to side as if they were rocking chairs.
The sound of the animals was minimal; only the whistling of the strong wind could be heard as it blew through the leaves and branches.
At the highest point of the mountain was a medium-sized city, where there was a cable system throughout the entire place, which the citizens who lived there used.
Since strong gusts of wind prevent them from moving freely, they created this cable system to prevent people from being blown away.
In one of the most luxurious houses in the city, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, refined beauty and a capricious presence, rested elegantly. Her black silk pajamas, sprinkled with tiny sparkles like stars, clung to her skin like a second layer.
It was Liyana Medici. Her face was bathed in the dim moonlight, and her gaze was lifeless, with no trace of her obsession with Kael.
Knock, knock.
The sound of the door caught her attention, and she said in an empty voice,
"Come in."
The door opened with a sharp click, and a rather handsome man entered, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfect face. All he needed was armor to look like Prince Charming.
"Liyana..." He pronounced her name softly, his gaze fixed on her eyes. "You’re still thinking about that young man. He most likely died that same day."
He couldn’t continue speaking because Liyana gave him a murderous look, her eyes cold and empty. "Gabriel. Don’t you dare talk about him with that filthy mouth of yours. You’re not even worthy of thinking about Kael."
Gabriel’s face hardened for a brief moment, but he continued.
"Why won’t you accept reality? That young man you’re in love with died just like all the other members of your clan." Although her words were cruel, they were largely true.
Liyana’s expression darkened completely, but quickly turned completely loving.
"Dead? Is my husband, Kael, dead? He won’t die from something so simple. He’s a man to whom I gave my heart, my everything. He’s most likely wreaking havoc, and we’ll hear news of him soon."
Liyana’s gaze was completely obsessive. She refused to believe that Kael was dead because she knew he would not die easily. She just had to wait for her love, her husband, and the father of her future children.