Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Massacre
That desperate order barely left the Sandguard captain’s mouth before Kai moved.
"You boys are trespassing," Kai stated loudly, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling.
He stomped his boot down again, sending another vicious wave of blue frost exploding across this already frozen floor.
This luxurious suite turned into a deadly ice rink in a fraction of a second.
"Hold your ground and box him in," the captain yelled, trying to keep his men from falling over.
"You should have knocked first," Kai laughed, skating forward with terrifying speed while his voidglass dagger flashed in the torchlight.
Armoured boots lost traction instantly, causing their disciplined formation to break into chaos as guards slipped and stumbled over each other.
"Watch your footing," a young soldier cried out, flailing his arms to stay upright on the slick surface.
Kai didn’t give them a single chance to recover their balance.
One guard tried to thrust a gilded weapon at him, hoping to pin Kai against the frosted wall.
Kai caught the wooden shaft with his bare hand, letting his magic freeze it solid mid-swing.
"Too slow," Kai taunted him, shattering the frozen weapon with a casual backhand.
He drove his purple blade straight up under the man’s chin, punching through soft tissue and out the top of his skull.
Warm blood sprayed in a wide arc across the room, painting a gruesome red streak over the blue ice.
[System: Enemy Eliminated]
[Frustrated Hunger Passive: +42% Combat Boost]
"Kill him," another guard screamed, charging forward alongside a partner to flank their target.
"Do you even know who you are fighting?" Kai asked with a mocking smile.
"You are just a male concubine," the guard spat back, swinging his spear wildly.
"I am your worst nightmare," Kai corrected him, dropping low to sweep their legs with a spinning kick.
Both men crashed hard onto the slippery ice, groaning as their armour slammed against the frozen floorboards.
Before they could even attempt to stand up, Kai created two jagged ice spikes right above their heads.
He dropped those magical constructs like spears, impaling both men through their chests with wet, crunching sounds.
[Experience Gained: 450 XP]
"My system practically feeds on your arrogance," Kai noted, watching the blue prompt flash in his vision.
"Monster," the captain roared, finally reaching Kai and swinging his weapon with years of trained fury.
"I prefer the term survivor," Kai replied smoothly, dodging the wide swing with a graceful pivot.
"Keep bringing them," Kai challenged the captain, parrying another strike. "I need more practice before I kill your queen."
The captain’s face turned purple with pure rage.
"Treason," the captain shrieked, swinging his spear with wild desperation. "You will die for speaking such treason."
"I hear that a lot," Kai shrugged, letting his freezing mana turn the incoming wooden shaft solid in an instant.
He snapped the weapon in half like a dry twig and punched the broken end straight through the captain’s chest plate.
"You call me a monster, but you came into my room uninvited," Kai whispered, stepping closer to look into the dying man’s eyes.
"Our queen will mount your head on a spike," the captain gasped, his eyes wide with shock as his life faded away.
"Your queen is going to beg me for mercy," Kai promised him, twisting the broken spear and ripping it back out.
He let the lifeless body slump to the floor, turning his attention to the remaining soldiers.
Panic spread rapidly among the surviving Sandguards.
"Sound the alarm," one guard yelled, reaching for a brass horn tied to his belt.
"We need reinforcements right now," another shouted, backing away from the carnage.
Kai threw a spinning ice disc that sliced cleanly through the first man’s wrist, severing his hand before he could even raise the horn to his lips.
That guard screamed in agony, clutching his bleeding stump while Kai casually closed the distance.
"Too loud," Kai muttered, ramming his voidglass dagger right through the man’s eye socket.
Seeing their elite squad decimated so easily broke the final shreds of their courage.
"Run," a remaining soldier shouted, turning toward the broken doorway.
"Nobody leaves this room," Kai called out, sealing the exit again with a dense wall of blue ice.
He hunted them down without a single ounce of mercy, enjoying the thrill of the chase.
He froze one man’s feet securely to the floor, walking up slowly behind his trapped prey.
"Please don’t do this," the frozen guard whimpered, dropping his broken sword. "I was just following orders."
"Bad orders get people killed," Kai noted, driving his dagger right into the base of the man’s skull.
Only one final guard remained, dropping his weapon and falling to his knees on the bloody ice.
"I surrender," the young guard begged, pressing his forehead against the frozen floorboards. "I have a family back in the lower rings."
"Everyone has a family," Kai said quietly, looking down at him with cold, empty eyes. "But I don’t take prisoners."
He drove the voidglass blade straight through the top of the man’s head, pinning him to the frozen floor like a captured insect.
Silence finally returned to the room, broken only by the sound of Kai’s steady breathing.
He stood alone in the middle of a literal slaughterhouse that used to be his luxurious suite.
Twelve bodies lay scattered around him, consisting of six hired assassins and six elite guards.
Red blood pooled on the ice, sending faint wisps of steam rising wherever it met the freezing surface.
Both walls and ceilings were painted red, creating a gruesome mural of his lethal efficiency.
Expensive silk sheets and woven tapestries hung in ruined tatters, shredded by flying blades and jagged ice.
He was covered from head to toe in blood, making him look like a demon fresh out of a nightmare.
His black silk robe hung in ruined strips off his broad shoulders, barely covering anything anymore.
Fresh cuts burned across his arms and torso, but his magical core kept the pain at bay because none of the wounds was deep.
Kai walked slowly over to his copper washbasin, dipping his hands into the cool water.
He began washing the drying blood off his arms with slow, deliberate movements.
He let the cold water run over his knuckles, feeling the sting of a poisoned scratch on his wrist.
His ice magic surged automatically to neutralise the foreign toxins before they could reach his bloodstream.
’Yena warned me this place was a snake pit,’ Kai thought, watching pink water swirl down the brass drain.
’She was right, but these snakes lack any real venom.’
He splashed water onto his face, scrubbing the grime from his jawline while his mind raced with tactical possibilities.
’They really sent the palace guard after me,’ he mused, reaching for a clean linen towel.
’These noblewomen must be getting desperate to risk sending royal soldiers into my quarters.’
He looked at the torn shreds of his black silk robe.
’She gave me this outfit to make me look like a pet,’ he considered, wiping his face dry. ’Now it just looks like a butcher’s apron.’
He remembered the way she ground against him on the bone throne earlier today.
’Or maybe this is just another test,’ he realised, tossing the towel onto a pristine chair.
’Perhaps our crazy queen sent them herself to see if I could handle a real ambush before her little ritual tomorrow.’
’Her obsession is blinding her to the obvious threat,’ Kai concluded, feeling a cold smile form on his lips.
’She thinks her power gives her total control over my life.’
’She thinks a magical array will bind me to her will forever.’
’But she doesn’t know my core is colder than the void.’
He looked up at his own reflection in the polished copper mirror.
His eyes glowed faintly with stolen starlight, looking cold, ruthless, and remarkably hungry for more violence.
A new system window suddenly appeared in his line of sight, projecting bright blue text across the bloody room.
[System: Massacre Completed]
[Twelve Elite Enemies Eliminated]
[Frustrated Hunger Passive: +68% Combat Boost]
[New Title Acquired: "Blood on Silk"]
[Scarlet Matriarch’s Obsession: 94%]
Kai smirked at the glowing notifications, feeling a twisted sense of satisfaction.
He flicked a few lingering drops of water from his voidglass dagger, admiring the sharp edge.
"Ninety-four per cent," Kai said aloud to the empty room. "She is going to lose her mind when she sees this mess."
He turned his back on the slaughtered guards and walked out onto his balcony again.
A cool night breeze washed over his bloodstained body, offering a soothing contrast to his burning magical core.
Far out in the distance, the royal tower glowed with an unstable, erratic red light.
’Come and get me then,’ he thought, gripping the stone railing tight enough to leave indentations.
’I’m ready for whatever you throw at me.’
Below him, the sprawling city of Sunfall Oasis remained blissfully quiet.
But that peace shattered a moment later when distant alarm bells began to ring wildly across the inner palace courtyard, signalling that someone finally discovered his brutal handiwork.
