Chapter 82: Devastate Everything

The man walked calmly through the corridors, his eyes sharp, accompanied by two other men.

"Darius... are you sure about this? Xenovia has already started looking for her," Dominic said, walking a certain distance behind him, with Virgil by his side.

"What harm would it cause? She's weak," Darius scoffed as he continued walking. "So weak she's already found two hideouts," Virgil muttered. Darius stopped and turned.

BONK!

Virgil received a punch to the stomach, sending him flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground. He coughed and writhed in pain as Darius stared at him with an icy gaze.

"Darius, are you out of your mind?" Dominic exclaimed, rushing to help Virgil up. "He's just concerned! Look at the mess you've gotten us into with your recklessness!"

Darius remained impassive, anger flashing in his eyes. "Concern? I have no time for cowards who doubt my decisions. We need to move forward. Beatrice is the only weak link we can exploit now, and that's how it will be done, even if I have to tear her apart and send her to that idiot," Darius said firmly, causing his two brothers to tremble at his words.

"His greed is blinding him..." Virgil, still on the ground, thought. "If this continues... we'll all die..."

Was Virgil a coward? Not exactly... but ever since Strax humiliated him and proved he wasn't what they accused him of, a bad air hung around him, as if... he was defying death itself... he felt it, but continued following Dominic and Darius nonetheless, even after his sister refused to help them, knowing she was one of the smartest... It was all a huge mistake.

Struggling to catch his breath, Virgil pulled himself up, leaning against the wall. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and glared furiously at Darius. "Darius, we're making a mistake. I bet Xenovia will tear you apart when she finds out what you've done," he said. Darius chuckled, a cold, cutting sound.

"Strax is too wrapped up in his own emotions to care about what we do. Besides, he can't stop us; he's weak, and Xenovia can't do whatever she wants. The rules still apply," he said, turning to Dominic. "Let's go. We need to ensure our plan proceeds without interruption."

Dominic looked worriedly at Virgil, who nodded, indicating he was well enough to continue. They followed Darius through the dark corridors of the abandoned facility, where the sounds of their footsteps echoed ominously.

The dark corridors finally gave way to a heavy metal door, relatively new-looking. Without hesitation, Darius pushed it open forcefully, revealing a room. In the center, tied to a chair, was Beatrice, looking devastated. Days had passed, and she had lost hope after being moved twice before, this being the third time.

She knew Strax was looking for her; otherwise, these bastards wouldn't be so desperate to change hideouts.

"Darius! We have a problem!" a man shouted, hastily opening the door. Darius released Beatrice, causing her to fall onto the chair, which broke, and she collapsed to the floor. Her entire body ached; she might even have suffered a bone injury, but he didn't care. As she groaned in pain, he turned to the man.

"What happened?" he questioned. The man, or rather the subordinate, quickly bowed and spoke frantically. "The Sword Ceremony has been moved to this afternoon!" he said, panting.

Darius, Virgil, and Dominic looked alarmed. This shouldn't have been possible at all. Quickly, Darius asked, "How was it moved? Is that even possible?"

"Lady Xenovia... changed her return from direct competition for Heiress to opening the Garden," he murmured. Darius frowned. "She wants another sword?" he questioned. "She wants to give a sword to Strax," Dominic said. That meant...

"They already know," Virgil spoke, and Darius walked ahead, his aura beginning to affect the environment as he moved, his heavy footsteps echoing and leaving Virgil and Dominic behind...

"What are we going to do?" Virgil asked. Dominic just shrugged and looked at Beatrice. "Leave her here, let's go," he said and walked away. It was already too late to turn back; whatever happens, will happen now. And this was the beginning of a big, a huge problem that no one would know how to fix. Virgil gave one last look at Beatrice and locked her up again.

"You will all die, you will all succumb at the hands of my Husband, if you think this family will protect you, you are very wrong, my husband is not someone you should deal with, or can deal with, it will be funny to see your bodies mutilated, spewing blood in the most disgusting way possible," she said, as if casting a curse.

Beatrice wasn't enraged before, she was accepting the situation; it was the risk of loving that man. But upon hearing that he was coming, she already perfectly understood what was happening.

"I want to see you soon, my dear... I don't want you to become a man-devouring beast, you're my beloved husband," she said, as if delirious, something completely accepted. She had been hurt, not eating, drinking, or sleeping for a long time; she was already falling into an abyss of madness, but...

"It's good to know you haven't abandoned me, my dear," Beatrice murmured, closing her eyes to finally have a moment of peace. She was chained, bound, and injured, but she succumbed to exhaustion and accepted that everything was alright. "See you soon, my love," she whispered and fell asleep peacefully.

On the other hand...

"I've expended my last resource for you, Brother. Take the strongest sword of all, this is an order," Xenovia said seriously, her purple eyes consuming everything she saw; she no longer had patience to hold Strax back, now it was purely up to him. "These swords give strength to us.

The moment you wield one of the strongest swords, make an absolute contract of equality, and everything will be fine," she explained.

"From there..." she murmured... "Lay waste to everything."

The expression she saw on that man was easily one of the most terrifying things she had seen in her entire life.