Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Massacre in the Mansion
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Bishiri Cascadia.
Tibel's eldest son, not to mention most of the forces dispatched to completely crush Melissa, had been reduced to scattered bloodied corpses overnight.
No one knew what had happened to that powerless boy.
But the crucial fact was that Tibel had lost the bulk of his forces.
He hadn't borrowed just one or two contingents in preparation for any potential crises.
Though Tibel Cascadia was also at the mid-level Sword Expert realm like Bishiri Cascadia, he had no intention of staking his life now that multiple mid-level Experts had already fallen.
"First, we head to the capital. Let's secure our safety and plot our next move."
His second son, Bibel Cascadia, wore a faintly dissatisfied expression.
At the height of his talents blooming, he couldn't stomach fleeing like a chased rat.
"Don't worry, Father. If they push all the way into this mansion, I'll cut them down in a single stroke."
"I appreciate even the words."
Replying curtly with a hardened face, he then shouted to the knight who had just entered.
"What of the items in the basement?"
"We've already dispatched men to handle it. No need for concern. We're disposing of what must be destroyed and salvaging what we can. The mansion won't bear a single trace."
Originally, everything should have been destroyed outright.
But there were far too many valuables to simply discard.
"Especially the elves—ensure nothing leaks out. Burn them all to ash without a trace."
"Understood..."
It was right then.
A peculiar sense of the once-bustling mansion falling eerily silent crept in.
"Hm? Why's it so quiet? We need to move fast while Melissa's distracted by the monsters."
Eerily quiet.
The knight drew his sword, cloaking his body in aura.
"Family Head, something's off. I'll scout the situation—please stay put and wait here."
As the knight rushed off, Tibel—still seated—found himself engulfed in a strange unease.
"Father?"
"Don't worry. It's nothing serious."
That's what he believed.
Until he realized ten minutes, then twenty, had passed with no sign of the knight returning.
"Father, something's wrong."
"......"
Tibel's face stiffened as he snatched up his sword without another word.
"Follow me."
The mansion was unnaturally silent.
Even so, countless servants still remained within its walls.
And there were knights and private soldiers siphoned from the count's household.
Yet it was far too quiet.
Something was terribly amiss.
"Gasp?!"
Emerging from the office at last, Tibel Cascadia and his second son, Bibel Cascadia, could only stare in horror at the hellscape littering the corridor.
Everyone was dead.
No servants' bodies in sight, but knights and soldiers alike—no one stirred with life.
A gruesome stench of blood saturated the air.
When had this happened?
No—how?
As they fought to steady their churning emotions and reached the lobby—
There lay the knight who had gone to report, collapsed in a pool of his own blood.
And beside him stood a boy, back turned, perfectly still.
"Tibel Cascadia."
A chilling voice crushed the air around them.
"You... you bastard, don't tell me..."
The boy slowly turned his head.
Sky-blue eyes, utterly frigid in stark contrast to his father's, radiated icy menace.
"Leon? Leon, is that you?!"
"Uncle, looks like you've already forgotten your nephew's face."
"......"
Leon? Preposterous.
Tibel Cascadia demanded with a rigid expression.
"Did you... kill them all?"
"Who else? Of course it was me."
"You... you demon!!!"
He roared.
"Slaughtering them every last one!! Are you even human?!"
"Come on, why the dramatics? You're the one who kidnapped your nephew, threatened him, and persecuted innocents. Don't worry—I left the unrelated servants alone."
Leon leveled his silver sword, where dark-red aura churned formlessly.
A half-wit who couldn't wield aura.
Not one capable of exuding such crushing pressure.
To Tibel, the scene defied all reason.
Hiding his strength?
Even then, he couldn't have overlooked that subtle shift.
"You must be deranged, begging to die by my hand! Before this atrocity leaks and they drag you out!!"
Tibel menaced, unleashing flawless sword energy.
He'd become an Aura User, it seemed. Impressive pressure for some reason, but still just Aura User level.
Nothing a mid-level Expert like him couldn't handle.
Besides, his second son Bibel brimmed with talent.
It was then.
"Looks like you've stashed something fun in the basement."
"......"
"Why bother burning evidence? And yet you call me the demon? What about the royals or the nobles propping you up—do they know you've got slaves and elves locked underground?"
"You—how do you know that?!"
Well, you should've cultivated better loyalty. To the dead, Tibel was merely a paycheck, nothing more, nothing less.
"I'll spell it all out for you kindly. Our Bata Kingdom bans slavery—you knew that. Planning to smuggle them overseas? Not ordinary slaves, but elves? You'd start a war with the World Tree elves?"
"Father!"
It was then.
Bibel Cascadia stepped forward to Tibel's side.
Not yet beyond Expert, but a peerless genius given his age.
"I'll take his head."
From the moment he'd silently cut down the mansion's knights and soldiers, things weren't normal—but Bibel failed to grasp that basic truth.
The sight of that half-wit runt spewing aura in a threat was simply ridiculous.
Or perhaps he sensed the anomaly but refused to accept it.
Bibel thrust his sword forward with a savage grin.
"Never thought I'd live to see you throwing a tantrum. Still just a defective dud."
"Bibel! Fall back!!"
"Hmph! Father! It's merely Leon! That dud you always talked about! This has to be some dark sorcery!"
In truth, Bibel's exceptional talent had long fostered deep contempt for the count's siblings.
Melissa was decent enough, but Leon?
A brainless half-wit who couldn't handle aura, now threatening his father and him? Intolerable.
For years, Tibel had drilled comparisons into him.
Leon was an utterly incomparable failure. No matter how he strained, he'd never surpass Bibel—that conviction was ironclad.
"I'll pardon your arrogance with one arm, Leon."
Bibel was far younger than Melissa or Leon, yet he trusted his gifts implicitly.
No fellow Aura User could best him—that judgment held, for his talent was genuine, unmatched among peers.
Of course, unlike green Bibel, veteran Tibel sensed ominous vibes.
Sorcery or not, the boy who'd wiped out their forces was a threat.
"N-No!! Bibel!! Stop!!"
Bibel lunged in a flash, sword thrusting like a burrower, while Leon scarcely budged.
Tibel—aware of the wrongness—shouted desperately.
Just before Bibel's blade met Leon—
Tibel beheld a horrifying sight.
As if Leon's time had accelerated in that instant, his form dissolved into shadow, cleaved his precious son's arm, and rematerialized.
Bibel's sword sliced only empty air.
Bibel's talent shone bright, but raw potential didn't equate to strength.
Merely swift growth.
The folly and hubris of talent-obsessed fools.
"Arrrrghhhh!!!"
A guttural scream erupted as Bibel crumpled, blood gushing while he thrashed on the floor.
"One arm for forgiveness? Guess two it is."
"Arrrghh!? You... filthy bastard... guk...?!"
His other arm sailed away; armless now, Bibel shrieked in choking agony.
"Stop this, Leon!!"
"And if I refuse—what then?"
Leon raised his head calmly, locking eyes with Tibel.
"F-Father, it's wrong... s-save... me."
Boom!!!
A brutal kick sent the fallen Bibel flying; he blacked out from the impact.
Peerless talent, unawakened, was just an unscratched lottery ticket.
"Bibel!! No!!! Leon!! We can't let you live. Should've killed you years ago!"
"Not that you didn't—you couldn't."
"You insolent wretch!! Do you grasp the colossal power you're defying?!"
"Let's get one thing straight. I didn't start this—you lot poked the bear. Shamelessly."
With those words, Leon took a single step forward.
Thud!!!
A heavy pressure detonated from his foot, slamming down in all directions.
An Aura User's aura output? Absurd.
That was a monster. No doubt why the main forces, Bishiri included, had been annihilated.
Fighting head-on was a desperate last resort. But he'd severed his son's arms.
Gnashing his teeth, Tibel ignited his sword energy.
"My rage won't cool until I gouge your eyes and crush you."
"If kin mean so much, why brutalize your own blood's family?"
"Leon!!!"
Enraged by his son's wounds, Tibel unleashed his full Sword Expert might, hammering Leon relentlessly.
Leon matched Expert level, but his bodily reinforcement had long exceeded mortal bounds.
Harnessing vast aura demanded mastery of control—no issue for Leon.
A storm of blades erupted at blinding speed.
Mid-level Expert prowess proved no empty boast; Tibel's sword assailed without respite.
Clang!! Slash!!
Kakaka!! Slash!!
Swords clashed at insane velocities, shearing massive chunks from the aura coating Leon's blade.
Vast aura drained, yet Leon's surged forth like an inexhaustible ocean.
Tibel's onslaught looked ferocious, but every strike was parried or whiffed harmlessly—he couldn't budge Leon a single step.
On the contrary, Leon's counters sporadically scarred Tibel's body.
"What the hell!! Why won't your aura run dry?! Impossible!"
By all logic, an Aura User sans sword energy would burn through reserves just defending.
Clashing with sword energy? One or two exchanges would empty them.
An ironclad truth, genius or dullard alike.
Yet Leon's aura betrayed no hint of waning.
Worse, Tibel's own began to flag.
"Die!!"
With a guttural roar, he repelled Leon's sword and plunged his blade toward the heart.