Chapter 53 - Wesley's Dread

"AAAAAAAAH!"

An extremely heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout Kader Manor. This scream was filled with so much pain that anyone who heard it could almost feel the worst pain of their own lives. Even those outside the Manor, including the guards, turned toward the building with confusion drawn on their faces.

Inside the main hall of the Manor, two figures stood facing each other. One of these figures was impaled by two earthen spikes, with three needles sticking out from his chest, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Wesley had never felt any pain comparable to what he was experiencing in that moment. The old expert's needles didn’t directly impale his heart; instead, they only scratched the outer edges of it. Yet, the pain was so excruciating that Wesley felt his mind teetering on the brink of collapse.

The old man was intent on torturing Wesley in the worst possible way. The needles were placed so carefully that they only grazed the edge of Wesley’s heart, ensuring he wouldn’t die too quickly. After each needle was inserted, the old man would wait a few minutes before pushing in another one.

He was clearly toying with Wesley, making sure that he felt each needle individually. Every time Wesley’s screams began to fade, the old man would push another needle deeper. The man’s ferocity was evident, as was his expertise in torture, demonstrated by the precise placement of each needle.

Wesley’s face had drained of all color as his blood pressure plummeted. A small streak of blood ran from his mouth, but he continued screaming for a full ten minutes. The old man simply stared at him, a wide smile on his face, as if he were enjoying a good show.

After Wesley’s screams subsided for the third time, he slumped lifelessly, his body held up only by the two spikes impaling his hands. His body could no longer endure the constant agony. The old man spoke again:

"Don't fall asleep yet. Tell me who sent you, and I'll end your pain."

Wesley, whose head was looking down as his entire body was suspended from the two spikes, suddenly started muttered something. However, what he was muttering was slightly incomprehensible. The old man listened for a few seconds but after not understanding, he frowned slightly as he spoke:

"Speak up child, I can't hear you."

Wesley continued muttering incomprehensibly. The old man frowned further as he bent over and brought his head closer to Wesley's face to better hear what he was saying. The moment, the old man was able to hear Wesley's mutterings, he heard:

"Go die."

Immediately, a dark fog spread out from Wesley's body and engulfed the entire hall within a sensing. The entire hall descended into darkness. This darkness was clearly unnatural and seemed to go one for dozens of miles. Wesley didn't dare cast earlier because the old man would never have given him the chance, but pretending to answer the old man's question gave him time to invoke his spell.

The old man's face immediately changed as he realized what happened. He immediately jumped back and muttered something. Almost a second later, as he landed on the floor, he immediately sank into the ground. He couldn’t see anything, so he wanted to leave range of this spell as soon as possible.

The old man sank into the ground at an astonishing rate. Another second later, he was almost neck deep into the ground and descending. However, before he could descend any further, a whistling sound rushed towards him from Wesley's position.

The old man instantly recognized this sound as that of a sword swing, except a little odder. He immediately turned his neck to the left. Less than a second later, the whistling sound reached him and his slashed across his face.

At this point, the old man has already disappeared from the hall. Wesley wanted to kill the old man with the surprise attack, but the old man's reaction and invoking time were simply too fast. Wesley was slightly surprised and regretful at this old man's prowess but he had no time to dwell on it.

His dark sword immediately flew back towards his left hand and he immediately caught it. The moment he caught it, Wesley's body was covered by dark elements and he immediately disappeared from his initial position and reappeared a few feet away.

Wesley used his Dark Port to escape his bindings. He immediately muttered something; soon enough, Wesley disappeared from the hall using a Dark Warp and reappeared a few hundred feet outside the Manor.

He instantly used another Dark Warp and disappeared from the area. Wesley did not dare remain even a second near this place. The second Dark Warp delivered Wesley to the small house he was staying in.

The house was about quarter of a mile away from the Kader Manor, so it was within Wesley's Dark Warp range. Wesley was also in critical condition so he needed a safe place to recuperate.

- - - - - -

In the Kader Family vault where the Kader and Blume family heads were staying, the two heads were currently sitting across from each other speaking about the agonized screams that were reverberating throughout the entire Manor.

Suddenly, from the roof of the vault, a gray robed figure of a man emerged. The figure immediately fell and hit the floor with a thud causing the two heads to jump up from their seats in freight.

They immediately thought that the assassin has reached the vault causing them both to feel intense fear. However, after a closer look at the figure, they both noticed that it was their Master Arnua.

Arnua's face was currently covered in blood and the entire right side of his robe was also covered in blood. His looked ragged as he held his face. He screamed loudly, however, his screams were those of anger rather than agony.

Arthur and Neya looked at each other with worried expression. Neither of them expected Arnua to be injured. After hearing those agonized screams earlier, they believed that the assassin was already captured and was being questioned by Arnua.

Arthur was the first one to organize his thoughts after half a minute, he immediately spoke with a shaky voice:

"M...Master Arnua...Wh.."

Arnua immediately turned to look at Arthur. A long bloody wound stretched from his right to his eye. His entire right eye was most likely gone. And although the wound was not too long, it was deep enough that the bone could be seen.

Arnua stared at Arthur with his one good eye radiating intense anger causing Arthur to take a step back out of fear. Arthur saw that Arnua was currently enraged beyond words, he worried that Arnua might take his frustration out on him.

Arnua growled slightly as he spoke:

"Don’t you dare say a word. I'll go find that bastard, then I'll come back and deal with you."

Arnua immediately sank into the ground and disappeared from the vault. Arthur and Neya were left with astounded looks on their faces. Arthur was worried about Arnua's 'I'll deal with you' however, Neya was surprised for another reason. She immediately spoke:

"A...Arthur. Didn’t you say that no one can use a spell to enter this vault."

Arthur who was in deep thought, was awakened by Neya's question. He immediately looked at her with a complicated look and spoke:

"I don't think a meager metal plate can stop an Elder from going where they want."

Neya was rather surprised. A regular made was already rare enough, and Elder's were those who stood at the peak of all mages. To meet such a figure was already astonishing enough, but that wasn't what surprised her. She immediately spoke again:

"Then who is able to hurt an Elder so badly."

Arthur was also thinking about this. Neither of them dared think that the assassin was an Elder, however, to be able to cause such a great figure like Arnua to be so ragged, they couldn’t have been simple. Arthur immediately replied:

"I don't know. But it seems our hidden enemy is extremely powerful. No one aside from the four kingdoms could wield such power."

"Indeed."

By using various methods, Arthur and Neya were able to get a glimpse of a web of intricate spy network weaved throughout the third district and perhaps further. From what they were able to see, these networks were laid by an expert and contained numerous traps and layers.

They reached the conclusion that this was established by a tremendous power with astonishing wealth over a few years. They suspected that this was established by a local power, however, they discarded that assumption now.

Aside from the four families, no other local power had nearly enough wealth to establish such a network. And now that they saw the level of the assassin sent by whomever is behind this entire thing, there is no one aside from the four kingdoms capable enough.

"Neya. I don't know what you'll choose to do, but I'll head to the sanctuary."

Neya's eyes immediately widened in surprise as if Arthur was speaking nonsense. She immediately spoke with some anxiousness:

"Arthur. It is not our turn yet. We won't be able to explain it to the predecessors."

"I know it is unconventional. But, I can't risk the survival of my family. What you do is unto you, but I'll be taking a few promising youngsters from the Ranes and Wayle families, then head to the sanctuary. We'll retreat there for a while, until things blow away."

Neya closed her eyes and frowned deeply. After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes with new conviction present in them and she said:

"I see. I'll go as well."

"Good. We'll leave immediately after Master Arnua returns."