Even those in the kingdom’s interior were still densely populated, this wasn’t normal at all, it was probably some plan of Merlin’s, Kayden didn’t care about that.
The process of crossing the border was smooth and Kayden didn’t even need to say his name to do so, just Thomas’ emblem was enough for him to get in, they only traveled a few dozen kilometers before Kayden detected a person in his spiritual sense.
"Apollo, it’s been a while now," Kayden murmured to the wind that carried his words for a few kilometers when driven by mana, the prince was surprised, he expected to catch Kayden off guard.
"Indeed, I see that you are still a monster", the prince said as he got closer, he had the same friendly and calm smile he always had, but his expressions and features were those of a grown man who has been through a lot.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freeweɓnøvel.com.
"You’ve gotten better too", Kayden said and just waited, he didn’t introduce any of the people to him, he didn’t see the point in extending a friendship with the prince, he no longer cared about other people’s strength.
"I got six lightning bolts, it took me a while but I caught up to you, can we do a strength test? I admit that you were my imaginary rival during these centuries" Apollo tried twice as hard to see someone unknown take the lead in the world of geniuses, his ego was hurt, and his beliefs were destroyed.
"Of course, come on," Kayden said nonchalantly making the prince feel slightly insulted, he began to gather mana and... instantly found himself kneeling on the ground supporting the mana of a mountain on his back.
He couldn’t even react, he didn’t see Kayden manipulating the mana, he was kneeling on the ground without knowing how he got there. When he looked up, he saw Kayden calmly, flying in the air in an unshakable and omnipotent manner. A few seconds later he felt the pressure leaving.
"You are still a monster", Apollo had to admit, there was a sadness in his voice, he had tried hard all these years and still hadn’t succeeded, he was currently the strongest genius in existence, but it appeared that title was taken from him at that point.
"Does the Ashford family still exist? I plan on visiting them," Kayden changed the subject.
"Yes, my grandfather stopped anyone from touching them, he said that one time or another you would come back, we all thought he was crazy", Kayden mentally thanked the former king for doing this favor.
"I’m going to decimate them, I hope I don’t have any problems with the Sun Kingdom", Kayden’s tone was overflowing with arrogance, he didn’t say what he expected in a tone of request but rather in a threat, Apollo understood immediately and... just let it go On the other hand, he wasn’t a kid to get in trouble for that.
"Of course, come, I’ll take you to them, on the way we can exchange a little knowledge", the prince said in a friendly tone, the trip only lasted one day, but Kayden revealed almost nothing about where he was, while Apollo delved deeper the new relationship between them.
The five found themselves floating in the air on a huge plain with a small village in it, within the village were a few hundred people, mostly workers, while the rest were direct members of the Ashford family.
The houses were all perfectly balanced and structured, there were several gardens and sculptures made of gold and other precious materials, and the environment demonstrated wealth and power, something consistent with the position they occupied during the centuries in power.
Kayden detected Kevin in a room with two women, he also saw Duke Ashford, for these two Kayden would be a little more cruel, for the rest he just started throwing hundreds of aura cuts and massacring everyone.
There was no mercy, be it children or the elderly, everyone was being killed without mercy, the guards couldn’t even understand what was happening, and some third-party mages managed to react but were killed almost instantly.
Those in the fourth realm, which were about 4 people, a considerable increase from the last time Kayden was here, he left these mages for his subjects to train a little.
Meanwhile, Kayden pulled the two to the heavens, Kevin appeared to be middle-aged, and his aura was that of a fourth-realm wizard, Kayden could identify that he only managed to get where he was through abundant resources.
While his father followed the same pattern of red hair and yellow eyes, the difference was that he already appeared to be advanced in age, similar to someone in his 70s, Kayden also noted that he was a sacrificed wizard.
In short, the two were practically toys in his hands, logically he still needed to use all his ability to jump a rank so easily, but it was nothing to worry about.
Kayden didn’t say anything, the two recognized him and tried to free themselves from his control, they were going to start screaming at the young man, but the mana in their bodies began to be taken from within them, for the first time in their lives an unparalleled pain appeared.
For every second that passed, the pain worsened, Kayden maintained a constant suction and rest, and their bodies automatically took the mana from the environment again, and then Kayden took this small amount.
The minutes began to pass, and everyone around Kayden began to look at him in fear. The pain he was inflicting was palpable to everyone and the worst part was that he had no expression on his face. There was pleasure, anger, disgust.
There was simply nothing, it looked like he was doing a daily activity like making a cup of tea. Time passed quickly, the first to break was Kevin, he no longer had any reaction and his body absorbed a smaller amount of mana.
"One hour? How pathetic", Kayden muttered as he took all the mana out of Kevin’s body, this last step caused even the broken mind to show pain, it was something inhuman, everyone saw as Kevin began to bite himself to end it. your suffering.
Even his breathing was stopped and even though it was almost impossible to kill himself due to lack of air alone, he was very close, but Kayden stopped him from killing himself and continued taking away the mana. It was another 10 minutes of suffering before he died.
Kevin’s father lasted another hour and a half, much more resilient than his son, Kayden didn’t care and gave him the same treatment, the screams of pain caused sympathy in any of the people who heard it, it was something inhuman.
The pain seemed to come from the depths of the soul, even Apollo, who had his fair share of tortures, could not understand how they broke so quickly, normally it took a few days or weeks for those in the fourth realm.
As soon as this was over, Kayden began to burn the entire village, in a few minutes there wasn’t even a single structure standing, everything was charred to ashes, for a few minutes Kayden just remembered where it all started.
"Now you can rest in peace," he said softly as he remembered his brother, it was such a long time ago, but the images were still vivid in his mind. After a few minutes, Kayden recovered from his memories.
"We can go to the capital now, I have to talk to Sarah", Kayden said to Apollo, the mention of his first girlfriend’s name made Milena frown, but Kayden didn’t pay attention.
The trip there only took a few hours and Kayden saw the immense walls again, he noticed the absurd amount of people, there were at least twice as many buildings and almost four times as many people.
Kayden asked Apollo this and his only answer was that he didn’t know, not even Azir was sure, but those were the instructions they received from superiors, the prince couldn’t say directly, but Kayden knew he meant Merlin.
"I’m going to explore the place a bit," Felix said and disappeared into the shadows of Kayden and everyone’s spiritual senses. Apollo was surprised and then afraid to have such a strong beast walking around the city.
"You two are free to walk around or accompany me," Milena and Astolfo chose to stay with Kayden. He said goodbye to Apollo after exchanging a few more words and headed towards the duke’s house.
The house looked the same with several perfectly crafted statues, even after centuries Kayden couldn’t find any mistakes in these sculptures, the path was highlighted by several perfectly placed trees.
The green grass along with these statues gave a feeling of tranquility and peace, the path ended at an ancient Greek-style mansion. Kayden still had respect for other people and just buzzed in at the gate. As this was a noble area that few people had access to, the intercom was answered just a few seconds later. A strange voice, which was not strange to Kayden, came from inside.