CHAPTER 286: CHAPTER 285 - THE FAMILY FACE-OFF.

While Raven was moving and planning his next moves, Argon, who had decided to end things on his end, was doing the same.

Even if it was midnight, the moment he returned to the Vaise main estate, he called for a hearing.

Every attending member was called, as it was a summons from the patriarch.

The bell tolled in the estate.

Its hollow clang echoed through the Vaise stronghold, reverberating against the stone walls of the great courtroom where the family gathered.

Torches burned low, casting long shadows across the marble floor.

Argon sat upon the throne at the head of the hall, his greatsword leaning against the armrest like a slumbering predator.

His eyes, sharper than steel, glinted in the firelight.

On his left sat Mariane Ros Vaise, crimson-eyed matriarch of the Ros branch, her posture rigid and regal.

To his right was Joseph Wal Vaise, blue-eyed, cold, and ever-measured.

Argon had personally gone to call them here some hours ago, so they were here, carrying themselves with the weight of heads who had lived too long beneath the shadow of Argon’s dominance.

The chamber buzzed faintly with the hushed voices of elders and branch leaders until—

Clack.

The doors swung open.

Zephyr Von Vaise, the eldest son, strode inside. His black hair fell like a curtain around his shoulders, his purple eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.

Behind him, others filed in—elders, cousins, retainers, and finally Valeria, Argon’s second child, who kept her distance yet watched everything with unusual sharpness.

For some reason, she was feeling quite uneasy today.

She felt like something was going to change today.

But it was not just her who thought that. Everyone in the courtroom had the same thought passing through their heads because this summons was unusual.

It was then that Argon’s voice cut through the murmurs, cold and commanding.

"Zephyr. Step into the center."

The eldest son paused, tilted his head faintly, then complied with unhurried grace, his boots clicking against the polished stone.

He stood tall and languid, his eyes never leaving Argon’s.

Argon gestured, and an attendant presented a velvet case.

Inside lay a sigil of silver and obsidian, pulsing faintly—the Vaise Family Seal, relic and lie detector, a mark that bound every drop of Vaise blood.

"Take it," Argon ordered. "You will answer before your family with no deceit."

For a moment, Zephyr merely looked at the seal. Then his lips curled into something between a smirk and a sneer.

"...And why," he asked slowly, "should I do that?"

The air shifted.

Mariane and Joseph stiffened, their brows furrowing.

Even the elders who thought that Zephyr was the best among the next Patriarch candidates paused, exchanging glances and whispering.

No one ever spoke to Argon in such a tone. Not his children. Not even other heads.

Argon’s frown deepened, his voice low and dangerous.

"Because I—your patriarch—command it."

But Zephyr only tilted his head further, a lazy chuckle escaping him. "No. I don’t feel like it."

There was a stunned silence once again, only for it to be shattered when Argon’s aura exploded—a tidal wave of pressure crashing down like a mountain collapsing.

The torches flickered violently, the marble groaned, and several elders staggered under the weight.

But Zephyr?

He didn’t flinch. He didn’t bow. His hair swayed faintly in the invisible storm, and then he yawned.

"Enough pretending, ’Father.’" His voice was smooth and casual, but it cut sharper than any blade. "We both know why you’ve gathered us tonight. You think to root out betrayal, to finally address all my little... misdeeds you’ve never spoken of."

He was calling Argon father. However, it was not with love, but sarcasm.

He shrugged. "Well, too bad. You’re late."

A ripple spread through the courtroom. Valeria’s fingers curled against her skirts, her eyes narrowing.

’W-What’s going on?’ She didn’t understand anything.

She knew that Zephyr was evil and that he didn’t care about anything but power, but even he knew his limits, so why was he blabbering so much?

Did he not know that he would die if he didn’t stop?

Zephyr, unbothered by what others were thinking, stepped forward, and when he did, his own aura flared.

It was an eighth-plate aura, and it wasn’t equal to Argon’s storm, but it carved its presence into the air, undeniable.

"If you’d called me when I was younger, when I was weaker... perhaps I would have listened. Perhaps I would have bowed."

His eyes gleamed, cruel amusement flashing in the purple depths. "But I am strong enough to take care of anyone who comes my way."

He strolled across the center like it was his own hall, the seal left untouched.

"I should be honest. I’ve already decided that I’m going to kill you."

The words landed like a blade in the silence.

Gasps rang out.

A few elders erupted with shouted curses, while others recoiled in disbelief.

Mariane rose halfway from her seat, her crimson eyes burning. Joseph’s hand twitched toward his blade.

Zephyr’s grin widened, his gaze sharp as a dagger. "Keeping you alive is dangerous. Who knows when you’ll break past Plate Ten and escape the curse binding the Vaise? If you do that, every plan I’ve made crumbles. So, it’s safer if I cut you down myself."

He spread his arms, aura rippling violently. "I stalled long enough. Your reputation as the strongest man alive kept others trembling. But now..."

His eyes narrowed to slits, his voice dripping with venom. "...the strongest man is my enemy. Which means it’s time to take care of you."

The room erupted.

Auras flared like a storm of wildfire.

The walls shook.

Cracks spread through the marble as half a dozen Plate-level presences ignited at once, roaring against Zephyr’s declaration.

Mariane’s killing intent burned like a crimson blaze. Joseph’s aura was a cold, cutting frost.

Elders bellowed accusations of treachery, their voices clashing in chaos.

But Argon?

Argon remained seated, unmoving, his aura steady and controlled, though it rippled with quiet devastation.

His eyes locked on Zephyr, unreadable, a predator studying prey that had bared its fangs.

He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.

Only silence. A silence heavier than any shout.

In that silence, every Vaise in the chamber knew what this was.

This was betrayal.

Zephyr, on the other hand, merely tilted his head. "Do you all think I would get scared if I saw numbers?"

The silence after Zephyr’s words felt like the world itself was holding its breath.

Every torch sputtered, every ember hissed, as if even flame dared not intrude.

Then—

Footsteps.

Three figures moved.

One after another, the rest of Argon’s children—save for Valeria—crossed the floor.

They did not hesitate. They did not look back at the throne.

They moved to stand behind Zephyr.

The gesture was as loud as a declaration.

Gasps broke out among the elders, and the courtroom rippled with disbelief.

For the first time in centuries, Argon, the immovable mountain of Vaise, stood alone at the head of the family while his blood chose another.

Valeria’s lips parted faintly.

Her hands trembled in her lap. She couldn’t even bring herself to breathe.

"Children..." Argon’s voice cut through the chaos, low and deadly calm, colder than iron dragged across stone.

His eyes—blood red, edged with shadows—hardened into something merciless.

He wanted to talk to the other three, but he knew that it wouldn’t matter now. The die had been cast.

But Zephyr only smirked, purple eyes glowing in the firelight.

"Don’t look so surprised, ’Father.’ You pushed us away long ago. You ruled us with fear, with silence, with nothing but the weight of your sword. And me?"

He spread his hands, fingers twitching with amusement. "I pulled them toward me. I offered them a place at my side, where they weren’t suffocating under your shadow."

He tilted his head lazily, grinning wide enough that his teeth showed.

"Now you see. Not a single one of your living children stands with you."

The words crashed like thunder.

Several elders rose to their feet in outrage, their voices thundering over one another—accusations of betrayal, shame, and dishonor.

Others remained seated, but their gazes flicked, uncertain, toward Zephyr’s side of the chamber.

Then—movement again.

A handful of elders stepped forward.

Slowly, deliberately, they crossed the hall to stand beside Zephyr.

Their faces were sharp with calculation, their eyes bright with ambition.

The chamber erupted into shouts.

"Traitors!"

"Have you lost your minds!?"

"You would side with him—against the Patriarch?!"

The clash of words was deafening, and yet Zephyr’s low chuckle slid through the noise like a blade through silk.

He raised his hand, mockingly gentle, as if calming a restless crowd.

"Don’t worry. You think the difference between sides is too great, yes? That you still outweigh me?"

He snapped his fingers.

The doors at the far end of the hall creaked open.

Then, they came.

Figures draped in black, their skin pale as bone, their eyes empty, lifeless.

They walked with eerie silence, dozens of them, then hundreds—filing into the hall in perfect, unnatural formation.

Their steps made no sound, their faces no expression. They swarmed behind Zephyr like an endless tide of ants, filling the space until the walls themselves seemed to shiver with their presence.

The Vaise elders recoiled. The torches guttered under the oppressive weight of their arrival.

Zephyr grinned widely, his teeth gleaming like a wolf’s in the dark.

He spread his arms, the black-dressed throng stretching behind him like wings.

"How is it now, ’Father’? Still think your side outweighs mine?"

The tension snapped like a bowstring.

Argon moved.

It wasn’t a rise—it was an eruption.

The throne shuddered as he stood, his greatsword scraping across the marble with a sound like thunder splitting the earth.

His aura flared—Plate Ten, heavy and absolute, swallowing the air in a crushing storm.

The torches bent away from him. The walls groaned. The ground itself trembled beneath the surge.

As he moved, so did everyone else.

The chamber became chaos incarnate.

Elders ignited their auras, colliding with the traitors who had crossed the floor.

Mariane’s crimson blaze roared as she drew her blade, clashing with another elder’s sickly green aura.

Joseph’s icy frost exploded outward, freezing one of the pale figures into brittle shards.

The black-dressed swarm surged like a tide, hurling themselves at Argon’s loyalists with inhuman disregard for pain.

Their dead eyes never blinked, never faltered. They broke bones and tore flesh even as their own bodies were ripped apart.

Zephyr’s laugh cut through the storm, high and sharp, his purple eyes gleaming as he advanced, savoring the collapse of Vaise’s heart.

"Beautiful, right? Your precious estate, your precious legacy—collapsing in one night!"

As he said that, the estate crumpled.

Walls cracked, stone splintered beneath the weight of colliding auras, beams split, and the ceiling rumbled as if the heavens themselves were protesting.

The once-proud Vaise stronghold became a battlefield of blood, fire, and ruin.

Through it all, Argon merely walked forward, swinging his great sword just enough to cleave through the black-clothed people’s bodies like paper, his aura consuming everything in its path.

His eyes were locked on Zephyr, not even glancing at the ones getting slashed by his sword.

His presence alone was devastation incarnate.

But even in that chaos, there was one person who hadn’t moved from their stop.

Valeria—she sat frozen in the chaos.

Her hands gripped the edge of her seat until her knuckles bled.

Her breaths came shallow and quick. Her eyes darted between Argon—unmoving mountain, merciless patriarch—and Zephyr—smirking predator, draped in shadows and betrayal.

Her chest ached. Her stomach churned.

She hated them both.

She hated Argon’s coldness, his endless rule of fear.

She hated Zephyr’s cruelty, his hunger for power that cared for nothing and no one.

She was unsure which was worse—to stand with a tyrant she despised or a brother who had become a monster.

Her lips trembled as the thought struck her like lightning.

"...What do I do?"

But no answer came. Only the roar of clashing titans and the collapse of everything she had ever known.