CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: THIS SHIT’S GETTING OUT OF HAND

Chapter 39 – This Shit’s Getting Out of Hand

The guard—whose name, by the way, was Rome—couldn’t help but be stunned by Kaden’s question.

It was only when the words finally registered, only when he realized where he was and what just happened, that his eyes widened in shock.

"You... you’ve trespassed on the territory of the Celestial Empire," Rome said, bewildered. His gaze instinctively dropped to his body, searching for something. But he found nothing—just his near-naked form. Whatever uniform or talisman he once had? Gone.

"Do I look stupid to you?" Kaden scoffed, catching that panicked glance. "I might be new here, but I know the basics."

He was clearly referring to that little runic talisman most guards wore—something that was now missing.

"And what do you mean by trespassing?" Kaden added coldly as he stepped forward, stopping just an inch from Rome’s face.

"Do you think I’m here because I want to be?" His voice dropped, low and bitter.

Because truly, he was going through hell thanks to that fucked-up thing called Fokay’s Will, and this guy had the nerve to talk as if he’d chosen any of this?

"You are—!"

"Shut up." Kaden cut him off without hesitation.

He didn’t have time to listen. His trait—Wolf’s Instincts—was tingling.

Softly, but consistently.

And when that happened, it only meant one thing: danger was close.

He couldn’t afford to waste even a second more.

"I’ll ask questions. You’ll answer. If you don’t, you’ll feel so much pain you’ll wish you were dead." Kaden’s red eyes glowed with a wicked, unnatural light—so much so that Rome’s body shook on its own.

This is what happened when you dropped your guard—even in a supposedly safe place.

Because let’s be honest—if Kaden had faced Rome head-on, no tricks, no setup?

He would’ve struggled heavily against him.

Not just because Rome, as an Intermediate Rank, had better stats across the board. But because beings at that level awakened a second Origin Skill—and their first was boosted as well.

But Kaden had ambushed him.

Was that the Warborn way?

Hell no.

Warborns were brute-forcers, the rawest of raw. They hated tricks, despised deception. They liked it bloody, bold, and in your face.

But Kaden didn’t quite agree with their thinking.

Kaden believed in something else entirely—flexibility.

In battle, adapt or die. Even if it meant playing dirty.

Especially if it meant playing dirty.

So that’s what he did. And that’s what he was doing now.

"Where’s the exit?" Kaden asked again, cold and focused.

Rome stared back in defiance, lips sealed.

Kaden didn’t press again.

Instead, he tore a strip from his own shirt and stuffed it into Rome’s mouth.

Rome’s eyes bulged in horror. He thrashed, tried to fight, but the corrosive blood coursing through his veins left him too weak, too drained. His body was already halfway useless.

Then came the pain.

Kaden sliced his finger again—just slightly—and let a few drops of blood fall onto Rome’s leg.

Sizzle—

"Mhhhhh—!"

A muffled scream clawed its way out of Rome’s throat as his eyes widened in raw, animalistic agony.

He watched—watched his own skin bubble and crack as it turned from white to black, watched the flesh peel, watched his leg slowly wither.

It was slow.

Painfully slow.

Because Kaden was new to this trait, still learning, still growing—but that made it worse.

The slower it was, the deeper the pain dug in.

Rome screamed, or tried to. But his body had no strength left, and his mouth was gagged. All that came out were weak, broken moans.

And through it all?

Kaden stood there.

Still. Cold. Silent.

His red eyes didn’t waver. His bloody hands didn’t flinch. His mind didn’t juggle with ethics or right and wrong.

He didn’t care...as long as the man was not dead. He can suffer for all he wants.

What mattered was surviving—and if this was what it took?

Then so be it.

Minutes passed—minutes that felt like eternal damnation for Rome. By the end, his eyes were glazed, unfocused, nearly gone.

Kaden gave him a drop of healing potion—not mercy, just enough to keep his mind intact.

"Hey. Wake up," Kaden said, slapping his face once.

Rome blinked. The haze faded. And the moment he locked eyes with Kaden again, his body trembled—uncontrollably.

Kaden smiled.

"The next time I ask something and you stay quiet..."

He pointed.

His finger lowered—slowly, deliberately—toward Rome’s underwear.

"I’ll drop my blood on that little thing," he whispered, voice cruel, smile even crueler.

Rome’s entire being spasmed. He shook his head like a man possessed, like a chicken pecking frantically at the dirt. "Yes... yes yes, I’ll talk. Please don’t do that—please!"

"Good. Now. Where’s the exit?"

This time, Rome didn’t hesitate.

"It’s... it’s inside the golden castle. At the edge of the forest."

Kaden tilted his head. "The hell’s it doing there?"

"It’s... a teleportation portal."

Kaden frowned. A teleportation door?

Fuck.

"And where does this door lead?"

Because teleportation portals had fixed destinations. And if he jumped through only to end up in an even worse nightmare?

He’d lose it.

Rome hesitated. "There are two. One leads to the Knights’ Quarter of the Celestial Empire. The other..."

He trailed off, reluctant.

But one look at Kaden’s eyes—those eyes—and the rest came tumbling out.

"The other leads to Princess Sora’s private quarter."

Kaden froze.

He tilted his head back and looked at the cave’s ceiling—and for a brief moment, the urge to scream, to curse, to break something violently surged through him.

But he held it in.

He forced his mind to function.

Because obviously, the Knight Quarter was out of the question.

The Princess’s quarter...

Even worse.

He needed another path. A third option. Anything else.

And then—an idea.

Because if he remembered right... teleportation portals were built on rune constructs. Meaning if someone could manipulate the runes...

They could change the destination.

’If that’s true... I just need someone who can do that,’ Kaden thought, eyes narrowing.

But here came the catch.

He didn’t know jack shit about runes.

His family? Not their thing. They were brawn-over-brain, the kind of meatheads who couldn’t solve a puzzle if it was drawn in blood.

And rune crafting was harder than alchemy. Harder than smithing. It required intellect, precision and a great talent in that field.

Things his family didn’t have.

So Kaden turned back to Rome.

"You know how to modify the portal’s rune destination?"

Rome understood the question instantly—but still shook his head. "I don’t... but Princess Sora does. She’s known to be a genius rune crafter."

Kaden raised a brow. "You trying to set me up?"

He lifted slowly his hand, blood still dripping.

Rome’s body locked up. "No! No, I swear! On the Will of Fokay—I swear I’m not lying!"

That stopped Kaden.

Because swearing on Fokay’s Will?

Nobody fucked around with that.

Which meant...

’I’ve got a princess to blackmail.’

He exhaled slowly.

Really, this shit was getting out of hand.

—End of Chapter 39—