Chapter 220: Ex Chief Adjudicator
"Release me!"
Auric looked at Trevor, who was being dragged away. It looked like he really needed to do one last thing.
If Trevor had survived, he would do something like this again. The only problem was how to make sure something like this didn’t happen again.
He could kill him and his family socially, but he needed to have some assurance.
’No. There might not be a need for me to do anything.’ Auric suddenly realized something.
He understood the ferocity of the people in the capital city. Judging from Trevor’s character and the way his family handled things, his family should have a lot of enemies.
’Once I kill him and his family socially, his family’s influence and power will wane. At that time, all their enemies will come and bite them back, cleaning them up for me... If it doesn’t happen, then I will do something...’ Auric thought. ’Instead, there is something that worries me a bit more.’
That was right. There was one problem that hadn’t been solved.
It was Ellia’s problem.
Because of his request, Ellia was in trouble. That was something that needed to be repaid for him to fulfill his principle.
After all, his principle didn’t apply only to his enemies. If his allies incurred a lot because of him, he should compensate them.
The only thing he could do was wait until Floyd fulfilled his side of the agreement. If he tricked him, then he was ready to fight Floyd as well. However, Floyd was also quite clever.
If he chose to betray Auric like this, he wouldn’t have given him the black card that seemed to be one level higher than the one Maya had.
In other words, this card was an assurance since Auric could do a lot of things by utilizing that card.
However, Ellia knew nothing about this.
"Hmm..." Ellia looked at the report with her hand on her forehead. Just looking at the report made her realize that the situation had become a mess.
"This doesn’t look good. At this rate, grandfather might call for a meeting." Ellia bit her lip. She was ready to fight her parents, but she couldn’t do anything against her grandfather.
After all, everything had been built by her grandfather. His words still mattered a lot in the family, even though the shares he possessed were minuscule.
"I’ve been clashing with my parents for a few days. It shouldn’t matter that much. Even though I can recover a portion of my shares, the group’s stock price hasn’t gone down that much.
"I could have recovered everything in the span of a few months. However..."
Ellia felt troubled. After all, she got a report that changed the nature of this battle.
"A third party has joined in. Looking at this trace..." Ellia clenched her fist. "It should be that playboy. Should I blame everything on my parents? After all, they’ve been planning to introduce me to him since I came back.
"No. Grandfather won’t care about it. If I do that, he will just get angry. After all, he only cares about the family’s interests.
"If allowing me to live freely helps the family’s interests, he will give me that freedom. But right now, the clash has allowed the third party to swallow two companies...
"Grandfather won’t allow this to happen." Ellia let out a long sigh. "Am I going to fail this time?"
Ellia knew that if she failed this time, she wouldn’t be able to leave the capital city anymore. At that time, her life would never be hers again.
"I need time. A time to fix all this." Ellia pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering what she needed to do.
Unfortunately, there was no time. She suddenly heard her phone vibrating.
"..." Ellia gulped and grabbed her phone.
[Family meeting at 7 p.m.]
As she expected, it looked like her grandfather had decided to intervene.
Ellia took a deep breath. "I guess... this is it. I will do my best, but I can’t guarantee anything."
Ellia couldn’t help but recall the time she spent in Thunderer City. For some reason, the past few months were truly enjoyable in her memory.
But the moment those memories resurfaced, Ellia slapped her own face.
Pak!
The crisp sound broke the silence in the room.
Ellia shook her head furiously before gritting her teeth. "Since when have I become this weak? I have been doing my best all this time, no matter how hopeless it looks. This time, it’s the same. The problem is just a bit bigger.
"Don’t give up. I don’t need to be sentimental. I should just solve this whole mess!" Ellia took a deep breath. Her mind became clear again as she started searching for a countermeasure.
Ellia’s condition was the exact opposite of Mathias’s.
Mathias laughed while looking at the news. Obviously, it was the news about Auric that they had produced.
"Hohoho." Mathias nodded, satisfied.
"Are you looking at the news again?" Genetia asked while bringing a box.
"This time, the news is about Auric and us." Mathias smirked. "Of course, I should take a look."
"That’s good, but... there is a package for you." Genetia brought the box to him.
"Hmm?" Mathias frowned. "A package? I don’t think anyone will send me something."
"Who knows?" Genetia shrugged.
Mathias was suspicious at first and closed his eyes, feeling the energy within the box.
There was no energy, so there shouldn’t be any danger.
"Hmm..." Mathias stood up and received the box. He put his finger on the seal and slid it down, using the energy coating his finger to cut it.
After that, he opened the box, only to be stunned by what he found inside.
Genetia took a peek and covered her mouth in shock. "Is this... real?"
Mathias and Genetia looked at each other. Mathias said, "It looks like I have to work for a bit."
...
Mathias didn’t bother to wait. Without hesitation, he called for the shadow guards and headed to his destination.
And that destination was none other than Trevor’s family’s estate.
"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to kill me?"
Mathias smiled. "Kill you? Oh, please. I’m not trying to kill you. I’m trying to exterminate your family, Solomon."
Trevor’s father, Solomon, frowned. "Are you insane, Mathias? If you are going to exterminate my family, you will pay a huge price. After that massacre, the country has been paying attention to you and your family!"
"And if I don’t care?" Mathias’s eyes turned cold. His killing intent soared.
"Then you need to fight me first, old snake." An aged voice echoed from the side.
"The snake is you, old hag." Mathias turned to the elderly woman. Her strength was leaking from her body, clearly showing that she possessed power equal to Mathias’s.
"If you wish to exterminate this family, then I can only fight with all my might. Even if I fail to protect this family, the Relesha family will be judged by the entire country. You are going to lose a lot of things." The elderly woman narrowed her eyes.
"Let me make it clear. Today, your entire family will be gone. And nothing will happen to me." Mathias smiled.
"Then try it!" The elderly woman released part of her power, applying pressure on Mathias.
"Old hag. I did respect you in the past. You were formidable back then, but your age has caught up to you. Despite overseeing everything, you let your son and his wife bring about the downfall of your family."
"Are you trying to pay such a huge price just for a boy?" The elderly woman gritted her teeth.
"As I said before, I’m not paying any price. Because this time, I’m just the executor. Today, I come to you not as the former head of the Relesha family."
"!!!" The elderly woman raised her eyebrows. "You..."
"I am here as Ex-Chief Adjudicator #001. I now sentence you and your family to death."
"I’m not going to play along with this bullshit any longer!" The elderly woman released everything she had, trying to kill Mathias.
Her avatar, an ice woman, appeared on her back. She also raised her hand, trying to unleash her power.
To her surprise, two blades suddenly came from behind. They moved so fast and stealthily that even someone like her couldn’t react.
One blade cut her arm, and the other cut her avatar.
The avatar, which shouldn’t have been able to be cut, actually split into two.
"Aaaahhhh!" The elderly woman screamed while clutching her hand. She turned around and saw five blue-armored people.
They were covered in full-body armor, but there was no indication of eyes even behind the helmet.
Instead, there were symbols on the helmet.
Those symbols were 10, J, Q, K, and A. Each of them was written in black with a spade on its chest.
"That’s..." The elderly woman widened her eyes in shock as if she recognized them.
Mathias smiled. "I told you, right? I’m not going to pay any price. I’m merely executing an order."
Mathias took out what he had received in that package. It was a blue card.
"Arcana..." The elderly woman gasped. "I’m not going to die just like this!"
She released every bit of her power, but Mathias simply poured his energy into this card and activated it. "Arcana Activate. Royal Flush."
In that instant, each armor unleashed an extraordinary amount of energy.
The armor with the ’Q’ mark pointed its palm at her. Suddenly, the energy that the elderly woman released disappeared as though it didn’t exist.
"Impossible. NO! NOOOOO!" The elderly woman shouted, trying to get away.
The two armors with the ’J’ and ’K’ marks sliced through her neck and lower body at the same time, killing her instantly. The armor with the ’10’ mark rushed toward Solomon, cutting him down before he could even react.
Then, the last armor with the ’A’ mark snapped its fingers. Those two had their bodies cracked and shattered like glass before disappearing into thin air.
"..." Even Mathias couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine seeing how powerful these five armors were. He muttered, "Blame yourself. You should have stopped your family’s actions. Now that it has caught that person’s attention, there’s nothing you can do. And now, I have to deal with one more pest."
Mathias just walked away.
The people in the capital city would soon be confused. Some people would say that Trevor’s family was devoured by the enemies they had made after becoming weakened. Some would say there was another force working in the dark.
All they knew was that the country had never said a single thing about the ’disappearance’ of this family.
...
Astler Family.
Ellia, her parents, and her grandfather sat down in a single room.
She and her parents could only stare at the floor.
Her grandfather, Xavier, glared at them, veins bulging on his forehead. Xavier shouted, "Are you still not done with your petty fight? I can look away if the Astler Group is weakened as long as it’s within the family.
"But look at this now! There is a fucking bug who is trying to swallow the Astler Group! It’s about to swallow two of our companies! Can’t you see what is happening right now?!"
"It’s because of Ellia, Father! She—" Her father, Christian, pointed at Ellia.
"Shut up! All you can do is blame, blame, blame, and blame!" Xavier gnashed his teeth.
Ellia took a deep breath. She grabbed a document from her bag and was about to present it. "I have prepared a sol—"
"Stop right there, Missy." Mathias’s voice echoed in the room.
"!!!" Xavier turned his head around. The others did the same, finding Mathias entering the room.
"I’m busy right now. I don’t have the heart to have a discussion with you, Mathias!" Xavier’s eyes were filled with killing intent.
"I’m here to bring you a present. You should open it first because it’s very important." Mathias gave him a box wrapped like a present.
Xavier was short of breath because of his anger. He still opened the box first. When everyone took a peek inside, they were startled.
There was a head and a hand along with blood that had yet to dry, as though it had just been cut a moment ago.
However, all of them recognized the face. Ellia asked inwardly, ’Why would Sir Mathias kill my father’s butler?’
"Are you going to start a war with me, Mathias? You have touched the butler of this family." Xavier glared at Mathias; his power erupted as well as his killing intent.
"A war? I’m not afraid of a war, but I already gave you a warning, and your son didn’t heed it. Besides, I’m here because I’m trying to help you, old friend. I’m trying to prevent your family’s extermination."
"What did you say?! One more word, and I’m going to kill you right now."
Mathias sighed and took out the same blue card as the one he had taken to eliminate Trevor’s family.
"!!!" Xavier’s body shook when he saw that blue card. The others seemed to be confused about the blue card.
"Ex-Chief Adjudicator #001 is now standing before you. I hereby sentence the Astler Group to a reduction of roughly 30% in its share price. If you fight back, that number will increase. If you don’t heed this warning, there will be no need for the Astler family to exist any longer."
"You..." Xavier was completely shaken.
While walking away, Mathias said, "You touched the wrong person. As for the reason why this punishment has to be given... Well, you should ask your son for that."
