Chapter 237: Chapter: 236 Fearless couple union.[6]
Jasmine and Kavin’s eyes widened as the scene unfolded before them.
For a brief moment, neither of them understood what they were seeing.
"M-mom...?"
Jake’s trembling voice reached their ears.
His frightened eyes met theirs. Blood slowly trickled from the corner of his lips as the color drained from his face. His body trembled weakly, and only then did the couple’s gaze finally lower toward his chest.
A black-gloved hand had pierced straight through his heart.
Fresh blood flowed over the dark fabric and dripped steadily onto the dirt road below. The crimson droplets stained the ground beneath him as the metallic scent of blood spread through the village.
Everything seemed to become quiet. Even Jasmine and Kavin found themselves unable to move.
The man calmly withdrew his hand. Blood followed as the gloved fingers slid free from Jake’s chest.
Jake swayed where he stood. His mouth opened slightly as though he wanted to say something but no words came.
Then his body collapsed onto the ground.
The dull sound of impact echoed through the silent street. He did not move again.
The man glanced at the corpse before speaking. "With this, I have avenged your son, John."
John’s gaze remained fixed on Jake’s body.
For months, he had imagined this moment. He had imagined the people responsible for his son’s death suffering.
During sleepless nights, he had dreamed of revenge more times than he could count.
Yet now that it had finally happened, the feeling inside him was far more complicated than he had expected.
Looking at Jake’s lifeless body did not bring him the joy he had once imagined. Instead, it reminded him of his own son. The memories he had spent months trying to endure came rushing back all at once.
He remembered helping his son learn how to work the fields. He remembered family meals. He remembered the laughter that used to fill his home before everything had been taken away.
His eyes became wet before he even realized it.
"Thank you..." he whispered. His voice cracked."Thank you for avenging my son."
Tears rolled down his cheeks as Emily stepped beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
Emily’s own eyes had turned red..She had not forgotten her brother either.
The sight of Jake lying in the dirt only reminded her of the brother she had lost months ago. Memories she rarely allowed herself to revisit suddenly resurfaced with painful clarity.
The man simply watched them for a moment.
Whether they were crying because justice had finally been delivered or because old wounds had been torn open again did not matter much to him.
"Now go inside."
John slowly nodded.
Emily helped him stand properly before guiding him toward their house. Their movements were slow, and both of them occasionally glanced back toward the village street.
The woman followed after them. Just before she entered the house, the man spoke again.
"Make sure they don’t remember about these two."
The woman nodded.
"Okay."
Without another word, she followed the father and daughter inside.
The door closed behind them.
Meanwhile, Jasmine had already fallen to her knees. Her eyes never left Jake’s body. Tears streamed endlessly down her face.
Her mind felt completely blank. The sight before her refused to make sense no matter how many times she looked at it.
A moment ago he had been alive. A moment ago he had been standing there.
Now he was lying motionless in the dirt.
The weight pressing against her chest became heavier with every passing second. She could barely breathe.
Her trembling hands reached toward him.
"Son..."Her voice was weak and unsteady.
She grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him.
"Jake..."
There was no response. She shook him again, this time with more force.
Nothing happened. The silence that followed felt unbearable.
A desperate hope lingered inside her heart, urging her to keep trying, urging her to believe that if she called his name one more time he would suddenly open his eyes and answer her.
But deep down she already knew. The realization only made the grief hurt even more.
Beside her, Kavin stood motionless. His gaze remained fixed on his son’s corpse.
Unlike Jasmine, no tears appeared, he was simply staring. The sight before him reminded him of something he had spent years trying to bury.
His daughter, he still remembered that day.
He remembered standing helplessly while her life slipped away.
He remembered the feeling of being unable to do anything. Most of all, he remembered the anger that had followed.
Years had passed since then, yet that wound had never truly healed.
Now another one had been carved open.
His son lay dead before him.
His daughter was already gone. The family he had fought to protect kept getting smaller.
Slowly, Kavin lifted his gaze away from Jake. It settled upon the man standing nearby.
The killer.
As soon as their eyes met, something inside Kavin snapped.
His grief and pain were quickly swallowed by a growing rage.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword until the leather creaked beneath his grip. Every instinct inside him screamed for revenge.
The man, meanwhile, stood calmly where he was.
His expression remained unchanged. That calmness only made Kavin angrier.
How could he stand there so casually after taking his son’s life?
How could he look so indifferent? The anger surged through him like fire. Without realizing it, he had already begun moving forward.
"Die, you bastard!"
The roar tore itself from his throat as he charged.
However, it was no use.
Kavin charged forward with a furious roar, swinging his sword with all the strength he could muster.
The grief of losing his son and the rage boiling inside him had long since drowned out reason. His blade flashed through the air again and again as he attacked like a man possessed, caring only about cutting down the person standing before him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to even graze the man.
Every strike missed.
The man avoided the attacks with almost insulting ease, shifting slightly to the side or lowering his head just enough for the blade to pass harmlessly by.
Kavin attacked relentlessly, refusing to stop even for a moment, but the difference between them was far too great.
Jasmine, kneeling beside Jake’s body, could see the gap between them.
Kavin wasn’t fighting an opponent. He was swinging at something he couldn’t reach.
The man appeared almost bored by the entire thing.
Eventually, as another slash cut through the air, he simply snapped his fingers.
The sound itself wasn’t loud, yet the effect was immediate.
Kavin’s body froze.
His sword remained raised halfway through the swing while every muscle in his body suddenly stopped responding.
He tried to force himself forward, tried to move his arms, tried to take another step, but nothing obeyed him.
A flicker of panic appeared in his eyes.
"Wh-what did you do?"
He struggled harder, veins bulging across his neck as he attempted to break free from whatever had been done to him. It felt as though his own body had become a prison.
The man ignored his struggle and calmly walked forward.
There was no hurry in his movements. He approached Kavin the same way someone might approach a tied-up animal.
"Don’t worry," he said, a trace of contempt slipping into his voice. "Your useless name and that ugly face of yours are about to become known throughout the Four Stationary Continents."
Kavin gritted his teeth. He had no idea what the man was talking about, nor did he care.
All he wanted was to move.
To swing his sword, to tear this man apart.
Yet no matter how much strength he used, his body refused to listen.
The man eventually stopped directly in front of him before raising a hand toward his hood.
Only then did Kavin’s anger falter slightly.
A strange sense of unease crept into his heart.
The man wrapped his fingers around the edge of the hood and slowly pulled it back.
Golden hair as shiny as sunlight spilled into view.
Then came a face so handsome that it almost seemed unreal.
His features were sharp and flawless, as though they had been carefully sculpted by a master craftsman.
Golden hair rested across his forehead while a pair of eyes, brighter than molten metal, stared directly into Kavin’s own.
They carried a metallic luster that made them appear less like human eyes and more like living gold.
For the first time since the battle began, Kavin completely forgot his rage.
His eyes widened, his breathing stopped.
The face standing before him was one he recognized.
A face that should not have existed in the four stationary continents.
The realization struck him so hard that his mind momentarily went blank.
"A... human?"
The words slipped from his mouth almost instinctively. The shock and fear in his eyes was palpable. Even Jasmine seemed to come out of her grife.....
"Yes," the man spoke with a small smile, he then spread his hands like announcing himself, "I’m a human...." he paused then a smile appeared on his face...the smile was very arrogant and obnoxious..
"I’m Julius Augustus Hayes, the next head of the mighty Hayes clan...and..."
"Rose’s husband!"
