In a dark room, a lone light, like a spotlight, shone down on a kneeling figure. Thick black chains and several black talismans with red writings bound and covered the figure.
The black chains were clearly made of anti-cast stones, and the talismans were magic seals that prevented the figure from rousing magic energy.
A woman's soft, almost narcotic voice spoke from within the darkness, addressing the kneeling figure. She said, "I never imagined we'd be in this situation, Disciple Tyr."
The figure, who was none other than Neo, lifted his head with great difficulty. Using his sensors, he tried to determine the voice's location but failed. Nevertheless, he was able to determine the owner of the voice. Though there were slight changes— because she sounded more mature than before— there was no doubt that the voice's sound frequency was still the same.
The Crown Princess, Haylee.
"Could have fooled me. I've dreaded this moment since you said you want to employ my services."
Haylee giggled at Neo's obnoxious reply.
"I find it hard to imagine the fearless 'Disciple Tyr' to feel dread."
"I'm good at hiding my emotions," Neo replied. If not for the chains that bound his body, he would have shrugged too.
The temperature in the surroundings dropped dramatically, and Haylee's voice turned cold, "Enough jesting, Tyr."
She had only removed one word when addressing him, but it meant a lot more. Before, she was still lenient in 'Tyr's' attitude toward her, but that was no longer the case after she addressed him using only his name.
"As much as possible, I don't want you to become a mere puppet," Haylee continued. "Swear allegiance to me, and I promise to give you enough freedom."
Neo did not respond. He simply recorded their conversation and tried to establish a connection with his master. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so. It was the same when the man with an ancient voice arrived at the Lumley Ancestral Hall. Before he could leave a recording of what happened there, his system failed to release it. As if an invisible barrier was preventing him from sending out any form of communication signals.
Haylee sighed when Neo did not respond, even after waiting for a few minutes.
"You have until tonight to think it over. If not, then I will turn you into a puppet."
Neo's expression distorted slightly from Haylee's choice of words.
Talk about irony. He was already a puppet. How could he turn into one again?
"Just so you know, it is already early in the morning," Haylee paused before adding, "I await good news."
Right after that, the temperature in the surroundings turned normal, and Neo was sure Haylee had left.
Neo closed his eyes.
His system already determined that he was in a dire situation and that his reaction should reflect a person determined to hide his fear. But as a puppet, he did not really feel fear. This was why the moment Haylee told him, 'he only had until tonight to make up his mind,' he already started scanning his database to find a way to break through the chains that bound him.
Frankly, the talismans were ineffective because they only sealed the magic circulating in his exterior parts. Several layers of high-quality materials protected his energy core to ensure it would not be easily damaged or detected by any type and form of magic device, item or spell.
The energy core could still circulate magic energies. However, because of the chains, Neo could not release it. Until he could create a powerful magic attack that the chains could not withstand, he could break free from the chains and then...
Neo suddenly tilted his head to one side.
Did he really need to come up with a powerful magic attack?
He suddenly remembered one of the things his master was good at.
Brute force.
Without any hesitation, Neo used his body's raw strength and broke free from the chains.
The thick black chains shattered like fragile glass. Its pieces were sent in every direction.
Neo stretched his neck to the left and then to the right while taking a deep breath.
"Master will probably be disappointed if he discovers it took me a few minutes to find out how to break free from those chains," he muttered while tearing the talismans off his body.
As he was deciding how to find his way out, his sensors suddenly detected an incoming danger, and he summoned the Void barrier at once.
A massive pressure that weighed down from above descended. Neo was forced to fall on his knees even with the Void barrier. Some of his internal circuitry crackled from the strain of the pressure.
"You really are something."
The ancient-sounding voice spoke from the darkness, and Neo frowned at once.
After Haylee left, Neo kept his sensors active to check if there would be mages nearby. To think that his sensors failed to detect the man's presence.
Then again, he also failed to locate the man when they were in the Lumley Ancestral Hall. Apart from that, it was impossible for Haylee to leave Neo on his own without a proper guard.
Still, Neo did not expect Haylee to have this man guard him. How much importance did she place on 'Disciple Tyr' for her to delegate such a powerful guard to keep watch on him?
"G-Give me a break, old man. It's not like I can escape from this place," Neo complained. "How do you expect me to think properly if I am bound like that?"
"Then continue to think in that position," the man responded matter-of-factly. "Her Highness may show leniency over you, but that is not the case with me. Rest assured, I will only use the bare minimum when using my magic pressure. This way, your body will not break."
"Y-You call this pressure the bare minimum?" Neo grumbled. "Who are you kidding?"
But he kept note of this and planned to let his master know as soon as he found a way how to send a message.
The man only chuckled in response and seemed to have left without lifting the pressure around Neo.
'Master, please find me soon. I don't think my body will hold much longer.'
*
Going back to a couple of hours...
After Ingrid received news of Tyr wrecking the Lumley, she sent word to her father about it before gathering enough people on her side to make a follow-through.
Her father, Wayde, informed their slumbering ancestor of the Lumley Family's fate at once, and the latter went to the Lumley Ancestral Hall.
Contrary to what the others knew, the 'slumbering' ancestor of the Boyd Family had long awakened. The moment Haylee succeeded in receiving the Soul Emperor's Inheritance, the Boyd Family's ancestor also woke up.
However, he had been occupied with recovering his motor skills for the past month. After all, he had been asleep for hundreds of years. He also had to be updated on the world's affairs. For this reason, the Boyd Family kept silent all this time and only chose to make a move after Haylee decided to move.
In any case, they only needed a few things done before they could really set their plans into full motion.
One of the few things they needed to do was to capture Disciple Tyr. As a matter of fact, they also needed the Lumley Family's cooperation. With Tyr killing most of their core members, their usefulness was gone.
The Crown Princess needed mages with high mage levels, after all. Now that the Lumley Family had lost their three Magus and Exalted, they were already removed from their plans.
They still had the Courtenay Family, who had three Magus and a few Exalted, so it was still fine.
Now, if they could have gotten the Conclave, Templar Code and Aureoule as well, they would have everything.
High-level mages, Array Specialists, Alchemists, and all kinds of resources.
Of course, what the Crown Princess wanted most of all, apart from Disciple Tyr, was the whole Regis Clan. This clan was the only one in the empire that failed to gather real information about their mages and combat mages' levels.
They only knew that Patriarch Aron was close to becoming a Magus and that their elders were all Exalted. The members of the Regis Special Force were also said to be all at the Grand Master level.
The Crown Princess, though, believed otherwise. Her reasoning was simple. The Regis Clan possessed the Regis Blessing. It was impossible for their members who possessed it to have a low mage level.
Why would the Crown Princess need them? This question could only be answered by her, and probably, Lira, her Royal Knight and most trusted aide.
Not even the Boyd Family knew. But that was unimportant to them because their loyalty to the Crown Princess would never be questioned.
Ingrid and several Boyd family members arrived at the Lumley Ancestral Hall.
Their expressions instantly turned nasty after seeing the sea of corpses littering the floor.
"He really did this alone?" Ingrid could not help but mutter.
The woman, who reported what happened, stood beside Ingrid and lowered her head, "Yes. At least, that had been the case before I escaped."
Ingrid's eyes narrowed as she studied the corpses. Only three of the corpses below showed signs of exploding. She already guessed that it was the handy work of their ancestor. This made her frown slightly.
'The ancestor definitely knew her Highness wanted the Lumley Family's high-level mages,' she thought. 'Why did he kill them?'
Even before the question formed in her head, she already thought of the possible answer. These three likely threatened Disciple Tyr's life. And as far as they were concerned, the latter was far more important than the rest.
Disciple Tyr's importance to the Crown Princess's plans was likely second only to acquiring the Regis Clan.
"No matter," Ingrid finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Clean up the whole place."
"Yes, Lady Ingrid."
All of them got to work and destroyed all the corpses.
Ingrid turned to the woman beside her and said, "Have you gathered the rest of the Lumley family members?"
"Yes, Lady Ingrid. A few are still on the way, but the remaining council and the Patriarch are already in the main house."
"Good," Ingrid said and turned to leave. "Let's leave no one alive."
"As you wish—."
"Such a scary thing to say."
A deep male voice suddenly spoke and echoed throughout the hall.
In an instant, Ingrid and the other Boyd family members took out their magic weapons and prepared for battle.
"You guys sure respond well."
Another male voice spoke.
Ingrid's brow furrowed at once because she failed to sense where the voices came from.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m