CHAPTER 125: ATTACK ON FREEHOLD (4)

The elder’s previous smile was replaced by confusion at Lionel’s serious tone, "Yes... there’s nobody who can stand against her there. In fact we have also sacked a lot of elders’ estates."

The other two elders nodded unabashedly, causing Lionel to frown even deeper. He didn’t understand their desire for petty wealth. All these were going to be useless compared to what they’d see at the capital...if they were allowed into the fold.

He was a bit angry at the moment, but not at all surprised. Unless they could show some other use, these elders were very likely going to be discarded because of their loyalty that could easily be swayed. That was the reason why Lionel had chosen them specifically in the first place.

It was no surprise that there wasn’t even any single elder of note among them. Lionel knew none of the Elders with real power could be brought over to his side, so he didn’t even bother trying.

Even for these few, he only attempted influencing them with ideas after watching them for years upon years just to be sure. He’d had more than enough time for that anyway.

For all the other reputable Elders, he had chosen to seal them right from the get go with the powerful artifacts he’d held for years. They were artifacts made by the Exalted, and given only to very special people—and even then, in limited quantities. The fact that Lionel had enough in hand to seal every single important elder spoke much of his status in the capital.

But even with these powerful artifacts—artifacts that needed only a split second to be deployed and they’d seal any Tier 6 of their world comfortably—the elders on his side had still nearly flunked it.

Lionel sighed lightly. It wasn’t like he could blame them though... Things had nearly gone haywire when he had been sealing Maximus too... And that was while using a superior artifact too.

Lionel’s mood soured after thinking of it, and he turned his attention back to the elders, pointing at one of the older ones, "Find Dana, and get her to come immediately. We have more pressing matters at hand than material wealth!" he ordered with a slight tinge of actual disappointment in his voice.

Of all the Elders he was going to discard, Dana was the only one he had thought highly of. He’d felt she had drive and motive. Her lover had been killed right in front of her by someone of the Freehold Sanctuary. And she had burned with intense hate at the moment of his death... but now?

He shook his head lightly. Animals... the whole lot of them... they’d still return to their base nature...

"Prepare for the Exalted One’s descent!" He ordered the rest of them with a wave of his hand, turning to face the young specialists who were hard at work monitoring the readings of the geode.

"Ah!" he snapped his fingers, "I just remembered. Someone go kill that Veronica girl. I don’t want any unsightly display when the Exalted One descends," he added like it was an afterthought.

.

.

The elder that was sent to bring Dana flashed towards the Crestwood Estate in short bursts, tearing through space in ten to twelve meter intervals. Even as an Elder, he could only handle that much.

They were all called Elders, but in reality there were vast differences in all their strengths. He was one of the oldest, yet also one of the lowest-ranking in strength. His rank was so low that even Grandmaster Oswald, a member of the lower council, was stronger than him by a wide margin.

As he jumped, he remembered the look of shock that colored Oswald’s face before he was sealed. The operation, orchestrated with meticulous care by Lionel, had appeared completely natural. The elder’s role was simply to observe the lower council’s meeting as was a routine thing.

The artifacts had been prepared in the meeting hall beforehand, all he had to do was just observe and collect the artifacts afterwards.

It had filled him with such joy watching Oswald get sealed... Perhaps because of his inferiority complex towards the Grandmaster.

As he got closer to the Crestwood Estate, passing through the chaotic city palpating with panic and littered with debris of fallen buildings and stalls, he stared up at the pillar of violent spatial destruction being held back by the barrier with a slight shudder.

"What insane power...?" He muttered, feeling even more glad and sure of his choice to side with Lionel and the Exalted.

As he reached the vicinity of the Crestwood Estate, he could immediately see the signs of Dana’s break and entry. The spatial barrier that obscured their Estate was torn open, leaving a flickering gaping hole that was weak enough for anyone to walk right into.

He chuckled, beginning to think he might even be able to loot a thing or two. But as he crossed through the weakened barrier, the greedy look on his face was wiped clean.

The Crestwood Estate was in a wreck.

It was like a massive battle had taken place. A battle on the scale of Elders.

He went into full alert, weaving a few spell models into the air around him, they glowed with a golden light, waiting to be activated at a moment’s notice.

Who could Dana have met that would cause destruction of this level? He blipped further into the estate, checking for any signs of life, searching through the wreckage of fallen buildings.

His search continued for a while without finding anything of note. Not even a single body. Just wreckage up on wreckage. He could tell there had been a massive fight here for sure—blast marks, clean cut buildings, slashes all over the ground, were enough to put any doubt to rest.

He had just blipped the short distance behind a large chunk of concrete debris, thinking about where Dana could be, when his eyes spotted her figure hanging on a massive, pole-like sword that extended from the ground. The blade had skewered her right through the chest, with her blood trickling down its length like a living sacrifice.

His sense for danger flared at the sight, and he immediately activated his prepared spell models, conjuring a force field barrier to block a metal sword he sensed zipping at him at near-sonic speeds.

Hiss!

He sucked in a breath through his teeth as his side was grazed by the sword that went right through his force field almost like it wasn’t there.

His force field was meant to kill the momentum of the sword to a stop, just like a thick, invisible sludge. But contrary to his expectations, the sword had only slowed very slightly. If he hadn’t moved quickly enough, he would’ve been skewered right on the spot right there and then.

Blood seeped through his dark colored clothes and trickled onto the ground as he stared at his opponent with full wariness.

Who the hell was this?!

Didn’t Lionel say he had accounted for every single powerful person in Freehold?!

"Ah... It didn’t hit." A soft, feminine voice spoke with a tinge of disappointment. "Troublesome..." the figure shifted uncomfortably on his feet, watching the Elder like he was a nuisance.

It was Florian.

He ran a hand through his hair with a very casual sigh, almost like he had just come out of bed. He was bare-chested, with only his pyjamas pants still on, and he was even barefooted too.

If not for the blood that was smeared all over his hands and chest, he would’ve really passed as someone who just woke up from bed.

The Elder stared at Florian with increased vigilance and slight fear, preparing himself for a battle to the death. The way the young man looked at him was uncanny... without any fear or any...thing at all. It was almost like he wasn’t looking at a living person.

Where had the Crestwoods been hiding such a monster all these years?!!