CHAPTER 396: ANOTHER KIDNAPPING

When Daniel spoke those words, the White Whale’s expression stayed calm, with only the faintest frown. But Andreas’s and Selera’s faces immediately darkened, filled with shock.

In a single moment, countless questions appeared in their minds. The most important one: Why? Why would the Corruption Worshipers want to kidnap Ilaris?

"Could it be the elves hired them, and they want to forcefully bring Ilaris back to the elf race?" Andreas asked in a harsh tone.

He couldn’t think of a better explanation, especially after learning the elves had actually sent a general to capture Ilaris. That only made him more suspicious of them.

And now Ilaris was truly kidnapped. It seemed like the most logical possibility.

"I don’t think so," Daniel denied. He actually had a very different idea.

Besides, the elves would never do something like cooperating with the Corruption Worshipers. That would be no different from suicide.

"Then what else could it be? Why would the Corruption Worshipers want to kidnap that elf?" Selera frowned slightly as she asked.

"To answer that, you first have to ask why they wanted to frame you, and more importantly, why they wanted to pit me and Andreas against you." Daniel said with a smirk.

Selera fell into thought. She wasn’t a foolish girl—her talent and mind were the reason she had made it this far.

"Anyone in the Lionheart family knows how much that girl means to Ilaris. If they wanted to frame me, then their goal was to make you and Andreas hurt me—or even kill me if possible."

"Bingo." Daniel smiled.

"This means... they wanted both me and Selera completely removed from the succession race." Andreas’s eyes narrowed, killing intent sparking within them again.

Killing other family members was forbidden—especially candidates for inheritance. The kidnappers’ goal was clear.

Worse still, if Daniel hadn’t been here and events had unfolded this way, Andreas might really have killed Selera.

"Interesting... so this is interference in our family’s politics." The White Whale, who had been silent until now, finally spoke coldly.

The chill in her voice made both Selera and Andreas feel an icy tremor run through their bones.

It was obvious—this woman was angry.

"That’s right. In fact, I think you already know who’s behind this." Daniel nodded.

"Tormyn... I always knew there was something strange about that boy, but I never thought he’d become a dog of the Corruption Worshipers." The White Whale sighed.

"So what should we do now? If it really is Tormyn, should we just go after him directly?" Andreas asked with concern.

"Probably. Though that would reveal to the Corruption Worshipers that their plan has failed, and they might make a new move. But we don’t really have another choice."

They all exchanged glances. Without hesitation, the White Whale waved her hand, and in the next moment they appeared before a magnificent palace.

It was none other than Tormyn’s residence. The guards immediately kneeled at the sight of the White Whale and opened the way.

They ignored the guards and walked in calmly, as Daniel’s spiritual senses and the White Whale’s divine senses swept through the entire palace.

"Looks like he’s not here." Andreas and Selera both scanned the place too, but they couldn’t find anything.

"It’s like he was prepared for us to come." Still, Daniel managed to find a letter inside Tormyn’s bedroom.

They all looked at it. The paper was pitch black, sealed with the mark of the Corruption Worshipers, which instantly deepened everyone’s frowns.

The letter was opened, and Daniel began reading it.

It revealed that even Tormyn had been kidnapped. The Corruption Worshipers demanded that if they wanted to get back both the elf girl and Tormyn, they had to bring a large amount of money and the key to the Demigod’s Tomb that Daniel had obtained, to the address provided.

The meeting time was set for two days later. If they failed to show up, then the Corruption Worshipers would kill both Tormyn and Ilaris and send their severed heads back.

After reading the letter, the atmosphere around them turned heavy. Even the White Whale’s face lost its usual calm indifference.

They had thought Tormyn was the one behind it all—but now it seemed he had been kidnapped as well?

"Looks like we were wrong..." Selera murmured, and Andreas nodded in agreement.

But Daniel still felt something was off. He never makes mistakes in such matters.

Besides, if Tormyn really had been stolen and he wasn’t responsible, then the idea that the Corruption Cultists were trying to pit Andreas and Daniel against Sera wouldn’t make any sense.

So there were two possibilities here: either he had been mistaken and the Corruption worshipers never had such a plan, and everything that happened was truly just coincidence—

Or the scheme was deeper than he thought, and the goal wasn’t simply to turn them against each other, but to create an opportunity to get rid of them altogether.

Of course, all of this could also have been Lioran’s scheme to completely get rid of them, but this time Daniel felt that wasn’t the case.

Because for Lioran to pull something like that off, he would have to take a lot of risks, and on top of that, he’d need to actually know Ilaris and have plenty of spies and connections inside the family—which, considering he hadn’t returned for so many years, was pretty much impossible.

Daniel also doubted that guy would ever risk having any kind of ties with the corruption worshippers.

"How did they infiltrate this place so easily and kidnap two people without anyone noticing? One of them even held an extremely important position here." He turned to the White Whale and asked.

"I don’t know. The arrays still seem active. There are no signs of a struggle, and I couldn’t sense any spatial fluctuations, portals, or the breaking of space. Either they’re far stronger than me—which doesn’t make sense, because there are those stronger than me in the family protecting this place— or they’re extremely skilled at what they do. and there’s a spy."