My Clan Cultivation System: Only My Clan Can Cultivate

Chapter 82: The Gate Slaughter

— A Few Hours Ago —

Emily was just stepping out of the shower, wrapped in a towel. She paused, frowning as she sniffed her own arm.

"I practically don’t smell bad anymore, so why do I still smell that awful stench?" she muttered, sniffing her hands and looking around her bedroom.

She then spotted several dark, sticky puddles of black liquid staining the floorboards. "Oooh... so it’s this room that’s smelling bad. No wonder I was still smelling it. I should get changed quickly. I definitely can’t sleep in a room like—"

"Aaaaaah!!!!! INTRUDERS!!!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, terrified screams erupted both inside and outside the mansion, followed by the chaotic sounds of people frantically running down the hallways.

"What is going on out there?!" she gasped.

She quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed her sword, and threw her bedroom door open. She saw young maids sprinting down the hall in absolute terror, heading toward the backdoor of the mansion which led to the other wing.

"Hey, you! What is going on?!" Emily asked, grabbing the arm of a young maid who had just tripped and fallen to the floor with a terrified look.

"Y-Young Miss... The guards... at the... front gate... t-they are all D-DEAD!" she cried, stammering and shaking uncontrollably.

"Who killed them?!" Emily asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"I was... ou-outside when everything started! And... the moment they entered the gates... they just killed anyone they saw on the spot! And... my... my... sniff.. my sister was also..." The young maid couldn’t finish her sentence. She broke down, sobbing hysterically when she thought about her sister.

Without hesitating, Emily immediately dropped to her knees and hugged the crying girl tightly. "It’s okay. I understand now..."

The moment she said that, the maid cried even harder into Emily’s shoulder.

"What’s your name?" Emily asked softly, gently helping her to stand up.

"It’s M-Mellisa..." she said in a low, trembling voice.

"Mellisa, huh? That’s a really nice name. Why don’t I call you Melly for short?" Emily said, forcing a warm, reassuring smile to calm the girl down.

Mellisa just nodded weakly and didn’t say anything.

"Young Miss Emily! There you are!!" Dennis yelled, sprinting frantically down the hallway toward them. "Thank God I finally found you!"

"Monkey? What are you doing here?" Emily asked, seeing Dennis rush over to her, out of breath.

"I should be asking you that, Miss! Didn’t a guard come to strictly inform you that you are supposed to evacuate this building immediately?!" Dennis asked in a total panic.

"No... nobody came to inform me of any news like that," Emily said, shaking her head.

"Tsk... that must mean the bastard that was supposed to come here ran away instead," Dennis cursed, a deeply angry expression crossing his face.

’That bastard is lucky I didn’t see his face properly. Otherwise, if I ever catch him, I would...’ Dennis thought, aggressively folding his hands into tight fists. He then glanced at Emily, who was looking at him in confusion. ’Nevermind. At least she is safe.’

"We should get going and leave this place quickly. Miss Emma and the others are already waiting for us at the back gates," he said, quickly walking ahead of them. He glanced back at the crying maid. "You, can you keep up?"

Mellisa just nodded, wiping her eyes. Dennis immediately started running down the hall, taking the lead while the two girls quickly followed behind him.

"You said Emma is already outside?" Emily asked as they ran.

"Yeah, there was a guard sent to fetch her early so she could get outside safely. She escaped the main hall, but when she arrived at the back gates and didn’t see you outside yet, she completely refused to leave you behind. So, I came back to look for you in this wing of the building while Ivory and David went to search the other wings. My sister, was left behind to guard Emma at the gate."

"I see..." Emily said, still running. She quickly looked back and saw that Melly was panting heavily, struggling desperately to keep up with their enhanced speed.

"We should slow down a bit. We are already close to the outside anyway, there is no need to rush and leave her behind," Emily suggested.

Dennis glanced back at Melly, who was breathing incredibly fast, and he slowly reduced his running pace so she could catch her breath.

"Thank you, Miss," Melly gasped, looking at her gratefully.

"It’s okay, there is no need for that," Emily smiled softly.

...

— Outside the Back Gate —

Emma was standing completely alone in the dirt just outside the black iron gates, her entire body shaking.

’I heard that Mom was left inside the main hall actively fighting those Fourth-Stage guys,’ she thought, feeling terrified as hot tears formed in her eyes. ’Did she sacrifice herself so that we could escape?’

At that dark thought, the tears finally spilled over her cheeks. ’Is she gonna die today... just like Dad did?’

While she was lost in her grim thoughts, she suddenly heard the heavy footsteps of someone running toward her. She quickly started wiping her tears away so no one would notice she was crying.

Dion arrived, breathing heavily like she had just sprinted a full marathon, resting both her hands on her knees as she gasped for air.

"Young Miss... I didn’t find any horses at all at the stables..." Dion panted. She looked up at Emma, pausing for a second when she saw the young girl’s red, tear-stained face, but she forced herself to continue her report. "It seems some of the workers took advantage of the chaos and stole all the horses to escape on their own."

"There isn’t even one left?" Emma asked in a low, trembling voice.

"None, Miss. I’m so sorry..." Dion said, bowing her head apologetically.

"Wowww, this old man is really lucky this time to run into one of the precious daughters of this house," a raspy voice suddenly echoed from the shadows.

Number 10 stepped casually out of the trees, still wearing his dark, featureless mask.

"I knew this kind of annoying thing would happen. When everyone blindly attacks at the main door together, there will always be a few little rats that slip through the cracks," 10 chuckled darkly, slowly walking forward.

"Young Miss, get behind me right now," Dion ordered, immediately stepping in front of Emma and throwing her arm out to shield her.

"I really can’t wait to see the look on 44’s face when she sees the valuable rats she missed back here. Maybe next time she will actually have some conscience and listen to my advice," 10 mused, completely ignoring Dion as he stepped closer.

"Hey, you! I’m warning you, don’t even think of getting any closer!" Dion shouted, dropping into a solid punching stance.

"Ooooh... I’m so incredibly scared," 10 mocked lazily, throwing his hands up in the air in fake surrender. "Do you honestly think that I would stop walking just because a weak, non-Aura user told me to?"

The exact moment he took another step closer, Dion explosively thrust her fist forward, aiming a heavy punch directly at 10’s masked face while keeping both her legs firmly planted in the dirt.

But tragically, 10 effortlessly caught her fist in his open palm.

"That’s some decent physical power you have there, missy," 10 noted coldly, gripping her knuckles tightly.

"Just how...?!" Dion gasped in pure shock that her full-strength punch was blocked so easily. "Let go!" She immediately planted her feet and started desperately trying to pull her arm away.

"Is it really that shocking that I easily blocked your stupid punch?" old 10 asked with genuine, twisted curiosity. "I don’t have time to play with you, missy."

*CRACK! SNAP!*

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Dion screamed in absolute agony.

10 ruthlessly crushed her fist inside his grip. The sickening sound of her finger bones completely shattering echoed loudly in the quiet woods.

"DION!!" Emma cried out when she saw her being tortured. "LET GO OF HER!!"

Without thinking, Emma furiously rushed forward to punch the old man.

"What is it with the endless punching with you girls?" 10 sighed lazily. He effortlessly sidestepped Emma’s rushed attack.

SMACK!

With just a casual backhand slap to the face, Emma was sent flying several meters through the air. She violently crashed face-first into the thick trunk of a nearby tree and slumped to the dirt, groaning in pain.

"You just wait there a bit, little girl. Let me finish dealing with this annoying one first," 10 said calmly, not even looking at Emma.

"Aah... Young... Miss..." Dion whimpered in blinding pain, her knees buckling. The shattered hand 10 was still tightly crushing was starting to drip thick blood onto the dirt.

"You are quite one tough lady. Most people’s hands would start bleeding much faster under this pressure, but yours took a bit longer to break..." 10 noted, looking down at her mangled hand with cold fascination. "But I really should end this quickly."

With his free hand, he slowly pulled out a sharp hunting dagger and casually infused it with his Aura.

"HEY!! YOU BASTARD!! LET GO OF MY SISTER!!" Dennis roared at the top of his lungs.

Dennis had just arrived at the gates with Emily and Melly, only to see the horrifying sight of his sister’s hand being crushed by the masked assassin.

SLASH!

"Ohh!!! Oops," 10 chuckled softly.

Just as he finished saying that, 10 casually swung his glowing dagger and cleanly sliced Dion’s head completely off her shoulders.

Her lifeless body collapsed heavily into the dirt.

"YOU BASTARD!!! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!" Dennis screamed in pure, unbridled rage. Tears exploded from his eyes as he wildly charged straight at 10.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Number 10 threw his head back and laughed like an absolute maniac. "This right here... this is exactly why I absolutely love this job!"