novelraw Chapter 167 : Threat
Chapter 167 : Threat
Chapter 167: Threat
The five-meter-tall gate bore golden patterns.
Yam could not understand what these patterns represented. He only knew that the designs were not symmetrical: they resembled strange characters that had been magnified to several meters in height and width. Upon closer inspection, he could even see faint flames flowing along the golden patterns, as if someone had transformed fire into some sort of liquid.
“‘Bloodline Proof’ has a very simple method of judgment,” Marquis Visen said, walking up beside Yam who stood in front of the gate, then pointed to the flame above. “Even the Hall of Spirits does not know what these patterns truly mean. But according to established verification methods, as long as you see elemental power flowing through them, it’s enough to determine what kind of power is needed to open this bloodline gate.”
“If flames flow within it, that proves the sealing verification power embedded here is centered around fire.”
“Red Eagle Territory does not lack bloodlines with flame-based abilities, but the most representative one is naturally the Bourbon Family—and only the Bourbon Family possesses such depth and wealth.”
Yam understood what Marquis Visen meant. “So, if the golden pattern had flowing water or something else instead of fire, that would mean it requires someone with a water-elemental or other matching bloodline to open it?”
“Yes,” Marquis Visen nodded.
“Then... how can one identify the specific matching bloodline?” Yam asked curiously.
“There’s no way to know,” Marquis Visen shook his head. “These things can only be judged through experience and regional rumors. …Have you heard of the Kingdom of Kis across the ocean?”
Yam shook his head.
“The Kingdom of Kis was originally just a small tribe. But they discovered ruins believed to belong to an ancient Bloodline Noble, blocked by a similar bloodline gate. One person in their tribe used bloodthirsty methods to kill tens of thousands, all to find the matching bloodline to open that gate.”
“Tens of thousands?!”
“They didn’t know the required bloodline was of the third tier or higher, so they killed even first and second-tier Bloodline Users,” Marquis Visen said indifferently. “The methods were brutal and cruel, but the rewards were immense. Inside was the Giant Bloodline, one of the Eight Golden Bloodlines. And the matching bloodline needed to open that bloodline gate was the third-tier Giant Owl.”
Yam turned back to the bloodline gate in front of him, feeling a tinge of fear. “Then, if everyone starts imitating the Kingdom of Kis…”
“Yes,” Marquis Visen nodded. “The Kingdom of Kis doesn’t consider it shameful. On the contrary, they treat it as a source of pride and have been actively promoting the story. It later incited many similar atrocities—not only on the other continent across the sea but even here on our side. …But you probably wouldn’t guess that it was all orchestrated by the Kingdom of Kis.”
“They did it to discover more bloodline gates?” Yam reacted quickly, his expression showing surprise.
“Correct,” Marquis Visen nodded. “Wherever there was a large-scale massacre, there was undoubtedly a ruin sealed by a bloodline gate. That’s how the Kingdom of Kis rapidly rose to become a major power on the continent. …Later, people got smarter, and such mass slaughters gradually decreased. But there are still those who would carry out slaughter in other places—or even in multiple places at once.”
Marquis Visen turned to look at Yam, his expression indifferent. “To obtain the legacy behind a bloodline gate, no one will show mercy. Those capable of sealing legacies in such a manner must be ancient and powerful Bloodline Nobles. …The Bourbon Family may not be ancient, but it is undeniably a powerful Bloodline Noble house. Two of the others among the ‘Four Extremes’ belong to the strongest imperial royal families in this world.”
“You should be grateful that it was me you encountered, Yam Bourbon. Otherwise, your Soderbell Family would have long since been wiped out.”
Yam remained silent for a long while before finally speaking slowly. “Marquis Visen, what is it that you want?”
Yam didn’t consider himself particularly clever, but he certainly wasn’t a fool.
The Kasein Family had discovered long ago that he “carried the bloodline of the Bourbon Family.” Yet, they didn’t act immediately, instead waiting and watching as he matured. He understood very well that if Marquis Visen’s injuries hadn’t worsened to the brink of death, he would never have revealed the truth. Instead, he would have followed the same approach as others who had discovered bloodline gates—massacres.
After all, to open a bloodline gate, only the corresponding bloodline was needed. Whether it was voluntary or not clearly didn’t matter.
They wouldn’t even have spoken this much with him.
Yam speculated that if it weren’t for that midnight conversation two and a half years ago—when he revealed the Senels Family’s conspiracy to Marquis Visen—none of this would have happened. It was even possible that the Kasein Family might have been wiped out by the Senels Family, instead of the current situation where the Senels Family was thoroughly destroyed.
However, if the Senels Family had ruled over Red Eagle Territory, Yam was certain his Soderbell Family would have become the sacrifice—assuming the Senels Family also knew the location of the Bourbon Secret Vault.
In a certain sense, Marquis Visen indeed had some credibility.
But that credibility must have been built upon the fact that he still sought something—from him, or more precisely, from the Soderbell Family. Ever since Yam learned that the Senels Family had killed Giggs, and saw Marquis Visen reconcile with Count Shuvaric for the sake of family interest—even seeing the Southern Duke plot against the vassals he was supposed to protect—Yam had completely lost any trust in these so-called high nobles.
When interests aligned, they became the closest of comrades.
When interests clashed, they became enemies that must be eliminated.
Thus, Yam never believed Marquis Visen was truly a benevolent man.
“I want to make sure the Kasein Family does not become a sacrifice, does not suddenly perish one day,” Marquis Visen said in a deep voice. “After my death, Red Eagle Territory won’t fall into turmoil immediately, but that situation can’t last long. So, I need your Soderbell Family.”
After a moment of silence, Yam finally spoke. “Marquis Visen, don’t you think too highly of our Soderbell Family?”
But to his surprise, Marquis Visen shook his head. “What I value is your former surname... You and Akar have outstanding aptitude. If it weren’t for your repeated injuries, you likely would’ve reached Third-Tier two or three years ago. …But you’re still young, only thirty years old, so you still have hope of reaching Fourth-Tier or even Fifth-Tier before fifty.”
Yam fell silent once again.
Marquis Visen regarded him as a bloodline heir of the Bourbon Family, even one with extremely high aptitude. But Yam knew very well that aside from Cindy, the rest of the Soderbell Family members—if not for that Demonic Sword—were nothing.
But such a thing was not something he could explain to Marquis Visen.
Naturally, Marquis Visen took Yam’s silence as a form of agreement.
“I have a great-granddaughter named Angelina. She’s ten years old this year. I think she’s quite suitable for your nephew Aches. What do you think?”
Yam’s heart tightened.
“An alliance by marriage, Yam Soderbell,” Marquis Visen said in a low tone. His gaze was no longer on Yam but had returned to that bloodline gate. “I won’t lay a hand on your daughter. But your nephew, and Akar’s son, must both marry women from the Kasein Family. Do you understand what I mean?”
Yam understood.
This was a threat.
In Marquis Visen’s eyes, the Soderbell Family had already become equivalent to the Bourbon Family. Their potential was astonishing. They had a shot at reaching Fifth-Tier, maybe even Sixth-Tier bloodline level. So if there was no marital bond to tie them together, then from the perspective of the Kasein Family, they would be just another Senels Family—and thus an intolerable risk in Red Eagle Territory.
After all, by then, there would be no Marquis Visen, a Sixth-Tier powerhouse, to act as a deterrent.
So if he didn’t agree now, Marquis Visen would likely not show mercy and would instead choose to completely wipe out the Soderbell Family—no matter how pleasant his words had sounded earlier. Judging from how Marquis Visen had been willing to make peace with Count Shuvaric for family interests, it was proof enough that he was not someone soft-hearted. For the sake of the Kasein Family, he would certainly cut out the root of any threat.
But Marquis Visen didn’t have many years left to live.
It had only been half a year since they last met, yet Yam noticed that Visen was already showing signs of aging. This was a sign of impending death for high-tier Bloodline Users: a Sixth-Tier Bloodline User could typically live up to two hundred years, but once the end of their life neared, they would begin to age rapidly and their strength would quickly decline. Once this process began, it meant death was already irreversible.
As for pretending to agree now and then reneging after Marquis Visen’s death?
That would not work either.
Because the Kasein Family still had three Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users: Tyrot Kasein, Wade Kasein, and Dean Seia.
Even if Yam and Akar did reach Fourth-Tier, the Kasein Family would still outnumber the Soderbell Family in terms of Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users. Moreover, by the time they reached Fourth-Tier, even if the eldest Tyrot Kasein had died, Monica would probably have reached Fourth-Tier by then as well—perhaps even begun preparing to advance to Fifth-Tier.
“Aches doesn’t need to go to Eaglehead Territory, right?”
“Once we leave, I’ll arrange for Angelina to go to White Mountain Territory. She’ll stay there for a while,” Marquis Visen said slowly. “As for the fiancée of Liam Soderbell, Monica will talk to you about that later.”
“Then, how should I open this gate now?”
“Do you see that circular indentation? There’s a blood groove on it. Just make a cut on your hand and place it there,” Marquis Visen said, pointing at the bloodline gate ahead. “It won’t kill you. The bloodline gate will only draw half of your blood.”
Yam knew he had no choice, so he didn’t hesitate.
He walked straight forward and used a short dagger to make a cut on his right hand, then placed his hand onto the indentation.
At that moment, his mind was still occupied with how he would explain all of this to his father, Aches, and Akar when he returned.
Back more than half a year ago, his father had already started looking for a suitable fiancée for Aches.
Their plan had been to choose the daughter of a wealthy merchant or a suitable girl from the families of several veteran Bloodline Users. But those matters were still only in the planning phase and had not yet moved forward. According to what they had found out, while Aches had been hanging around with his group of friends outside, he had met a girl. At that time, the girl had not known who Aches was, but the two had already taken a liking to each other.
Later, after Aches’s identity was revealed, the girl’s father came forward.
It was only because Jinna objected that the marriage hadn’t been finalized.
Now that Marquis Visen intended to marry off his great-granddaughter to Aches, Yam knew full well that Jinna would certainly agree. But Aches was another matter entirely.
With his attention completely scattered, Yam didn’t even notice that his blood was being rapidly drained. Even the golden glow on the bloodline gate was gradually growing brighter.
By the time Yam finally came to his senses, the golden patterns on the gate had completely vanished.
In their place, blazing flames erupted from where the golden lines had been!
In the next instant, with a clicking sound, the massive gate slowly began to open inward.
Marquis Visen quickly stepped in front of the gate. Watching the widening gap, a trace of excitement finally appeared in his eyes.