novelraw Chapter 914: Massacre (4)
Chapter 914: Massacre (4)
Chapter 914
Bang—!
The massive double doors swung wide open, allowing the afternoon light from the corridor to filter into the hall, revealing a gruesome sight.
One of the guards previously positioned outside was desperately dragging his mangled body across the floor.
His torso was nearly gone, shredded by some unseen force.
A look of frantic determination gripped his features as he stared into the room, gasping out a final warning:
"Lord Bale, there’s an intr—"
His voice cut off abruptly, his eyes bulging as he spotted the intruder already standing in the center of the chamber.
And drinking?
Whooosh—!
Something invisible blurred through the air at a blazing speed, slamming into the guard’s skull with clinical precision.
It penetrated through the bone instantly, leaving a clean hole in his head.
He collapsed to the ground with a final, hollow thud as the blood from the massacre outside began to wash into the room like a dark, rising stream.
Everyone present was horrified to unimaginable heights, their breath hitching in their throats.
However, the terror was most acute for Bale and Janet.
That was because they, and they alone, truly understood the identity of the monster standing before them.
"G—G—GREY?!"
"Ah... you remember me, huh?" Grey heaved a soft sigh, cradling the goblet of red wine in his hand with a casual grace.
"That’s good. For a moment, I thought I would have to begin introducing myself, which I have to admit, is a real hassle."
"Yo—yo—you are alive?!" Janet shouted, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and revulsion. "I—I—I thought you w..."
"... Dead? Ha! Man... I keep getting this same reaction throughout the day." Grey chuckled once, the sound cold and mirthless, before taking a deliberate sip from the goblet.
"You know? Ah... this is good stuff," the mage uttered, savoring the vintage before looking up at his enemies.
"Right. You know? In order to kill me, you need to be stronger than a god itself. So no, I’m not dead, and I won’t die until my mission is complete."
He twirled the vessel, causing the wine to roll around the inner curve as he focused his gaze on the town lord.
Bale was squeezing the armrests of his throne, his hands shaking for several moments while Grey calmly enjoyed the stolen drink.
Then, Grey looked up at the man behind the mask, his expression shifting.
A chilling, predatory smile flashed across the mage’s face.
"By the way, it’s been a while since I last saw you, Bale. How’s your face?"
Flashbacks surged through Bale’s mind like a tidal wave.
His teeth grit in immense, burning fury as he recalled how his visage had been scorched by a fifteen-year-old Grey in this very hall years ago.
He remembered the humiliation of screaming in pain all because the mage required information.
He remembered the shame of seeing all his men slaughtered that day while he lay helpless.
All for what?
Because he had kidnapped Max?
Why the hell did the kid have to interfere?
After regaining consciousness back then, he had questioned himself over and over until he reached a warped conclusion: it was all Cedric’s fault.
If the man had simply handed over the town’s deed and hadn’t hired the brat, Bale wouldn’t have lost so much.
It was then and there he decided he would murder Cedric, kill Grey, and ruin Kiten.
But with Grey in town, he knew he couldn’t move openly. If he had lost once, there was no guarantee of victory in a second bout.
So, he waited.
Month after month, he spent his time strategizing in the shadows until Janet’s message finally arrived.
Grey was dead.
Bingo! It was the opportunity he had craved.
When the second piece of intel arrived—that Cedric was heading out—he struck, leading to the death of Kiten’s lord.
Obviously, the information had been catastrophically wrong.
Grey was alive and well, and if Bale wasn’t imagining things, the youth seemed infinitely more powerful than before.
The mage finished the wine in his goblet, lifting the empty glass to scan the room with a terrifyingly calm demeanor.
"I need more."
Before anybody could blink, Grey vanished from view and reappeared directly before another official.
In a sudden flash, the man’s hand was gone.
His goblet tumbled through the air, only to be snatched effortlessly by the Supreme Magus, who blinked away to a safe vantage point before a single drop could spill.
All of this transpired in less than a second.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Piercing screams of agony tore through the hall.
The officials glared at Grey with a mix of hatred and terror, but the mage was merely sipping the stolen wine, acting as if the entire situation were nothing more than a minor distraction.
"Kill him! Get him! All of you! Kill him!" the twelve officials screamed in a desperate, bloodthirsty unison.
The hundred men in the room snapped back to reality, surging forward at full speed.
Meanwhile, the remaining five elite guards remained composed, walking calmly behind the wall of hundred men and refusing to join the initial, frantic charge.
Even with such a staggering number of mages bearing down on him, Grey tilted the cup to his lips and took a long, measured sip.
One eye remained focused, tracking every minute movement in the room.
It was then that the mages unleashed a synchronized volley of elemental strikes in his direction.
The torrent of magic rushed toward him with lethal velocity.
Yet, he remained unnervingly still.
Just inches before the magic could make contact, the mage casually waved his hand through the air.
An ashen portal manifested instantly, swallowing the incoming attacks like a hungry, primordial beast.
"Sp—spatial magic? Ho—how? That’s a special magic. One of the big four!" Bale shouted, recognizing the rare affinity with mounting dread.
Grey smirked and snapped his fingers.
A second portal tore open directly above the charging soldiers.
The exact same torrent of elemental fury they had sent at him was immediately unleashed back upon them—at double the speed.
Bang! Bang! BOOOM—!
Severed limbs flew through the air, followed by a thick wave of blood that misted into the atmosphere.
Screams of pain erupted as the majority of the mages were caught in the devastating counter-attack.
However, about forty of them managed to avoid the blast, successfully closing the distance to reach the Supreme Magus in the blink of an eye.
"Hm?" Grey mused as the forty warriors lunged at him, their close-range elemental strikes surrounding him from every angle.
BOOOM—!
The combined attacks detonated fiercely, kicking up a thick, choking cloud of dust that obscured the entire area.
"Huh?"
The men stood paralyzed with confusion as the dust settled, revealing that Grey was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey champs, over here!" Grey shouted from above.
Everyone glanced upward to see the mage perched high in the air, balanced near the ornate chandelier.
His goblet of wine was positioned precariously on the edge of the fixture, shaking as if it might tumble at any moment.
"I wouldn’t want to spill my fine wine, now would I?" Grey smirked.
He descended, landing back on the ground smoothly as the hem of his crimson robe flapped softly against his boots.
Shimmering around his hands, a pair of crackling lightning swords materialized in his grip, while Ki flooded his feet, making the air around his legs vibrate.
"Now... where were we?"
BANG—!
He rocketed forward with blazing speed.