Chapter 72: Conquest { XXXII }

Only after beating Fagin to his satisfaction did Ren let him go.Fagin remained on the ground, breathing really fast, his face swollen from the harsh punches Ren unleashed on him without mercy.

Ren glared at his flinching figure on the ground before grabbing him up again and pushing him toward his secret chamber, where he claimed the staff of authority was.

They passed through narrow passages with torches on the walls, lighting it up.

After walking for a few more seconds, they arrived in front of a door made of hard steel with a weird and secure-looking lock.

"This is the secret chamber," Fagin said immediately after they arrived.

"What are you waiting for then? Open the door and bring out the staff of authority," Ren snorted.

But Fagin didn't budge and only stared at the door, lost for words and unsure of what action to take next.

"You are wasting time. Do you want another round of beating to get your shit together?" Ren threatened.

Only after hearing the threats did Fagin make a move and pull out a key from his underpants, handing it to Ren.

"You must be sick in the head if you think I'll touch something that came out of your disgusting body," Ren snorted.

Fagin didn't respond and proceeded to unlock the door.

The steel door creaked open with an annoying noise, revealing the darkness within the secret chamber.

Ren quickly left to grab the torch he had seen on his way here, and then both of them entered the room.

With the torch, the contents hidden in the secret chamber were revealed—beautiful robes, large bags of copper coins, and a massive chest in the center of the room.

Ren couldn't help but gasp as he saw the contents of the secret chamber—he had been working in this place for a really long time but never thought such expensive treasures were hidden here.

"You had all this, and you never brought it out when we needed it for important developments?!" He berated Fagin.

At this point, Fagin was already too devastated and dejected to even respond.

Ren snorted and dragged him towards the treasure chest, where the staff of authority was obviously hidden.

Fagin told him where the key to the chest was—it was in a secret opening in the wall—Ren took it and opened the chest with it but was left dumbfounded afterward.

Both Fagin and Ren stared at the empty chest, their expressions dumbfounded.

"Someone has stolen it already!!" Fagin yelled out.

Before he could say another word, a loud commotion came from outside.

---

It was evening, and it was already getting dark in Glenwood.

Outside Fagin's place, Rowan sat on his house, analyzing the houses around him, observing the structures and materials used in building them as he made plans to replicate the design in Winterseed.

Nevertheless, as he brainstormed ideas, a group of men came running towards him with machetes, axes, and other farm tools, which were being used as weapons in this situation. Rowan counted, and they appeared to number more than fifty.

"You filthy rat, get out of Glenwood immediately and return to your godforsaken village!"

"You will not succeed, you little brat! You will pay for killing my son in battle!"

The men yelled, hatred and anger thundering in their loud voices as they approached Rowan.

Bryce and Josh saw the men approaching and quickly unsheathed their weapons, ready to engage in battle. Oliver and Bruce, who were at the back guarding, also heard the commotion and quickly made their way towards Rowan.

"Lord Rowan, stay back. We will deal with them for you," Oliver said as he positioned himself in front of Rowan.

But Rowan signaled him to relax as he rode his horse forward toward the men.

The men halted just a few feet away from him and pointed their weapons at his face.

"We will kill you and your captains here if you don't leave Lord Fagin alone! The staff of authority does not belong to you or your village!"

They barked at him while maintaining more than twelve feet of distance away from him.

Rowan observed them with a scowl and asked, "Are you done barking?"

"What!! This brat. Do you not know how to respect your elders?!"

They reacted instantly.

Thankfully, they succeeded in pissing off the already furious Bryce even more. "Brat? Who among you said those words just now?"

The men looked at Bryce and refused to answer.

Although Bryce had many wounds on his body, his huge figure made him really threatening to the men who hadn't been to war or had any sort of training beforehand.

"I asked a question!" Bryce barked again.

The men remained silent.

Rowan waved at Bryce to calm down before facing the men. He could tell that none of them feared him as much as they feared Bryce, thanks to his age and slim physique. But he had to prove them wrong—getting his ego trampled upon by monkeys was something Rowan would not accept.

"It appears none of you have any respect for me, so I will teach you how to respect me," he smirked.

Then he brought out his favorite dagger from his inventory.

The men looked among themselves in terror as they saw a menacing dagger appear out of nowhere.

"My captain asked a question earlier, and I need an answer right away," Rowan demanded in a cold tone.

[ Bloodlust boost has been activated ]

They all shivered at the coldness of his tone.

"Are you deaf?" Rowan barked at them.

Immediately, the men who had acted impulsively earlier pointed at the culprit in fear. seaʀᴄh thё nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The culprit looked at his fellow men, his eyes widening. He couldn't believe they had sold him out so easily.

'But why should I be afraid of him? He looks no older than my last son!' he concluded inwardly and stepped out with his machete.

"I said it!" he declared boldly and continued, "What are you going to d—"

Sadly, he wasn't able to complete his statement when the dagger in Rowan's hands darted toward him at a menacing and inevitable speed.

His eyes widened, and he tried to react, but it was too late. The blade of the dagger stabbed his neck, and he immediately began to choke, grabbing his neck and trying so hard to breathe, but it was impossible.

His body slumped on the ground, and he gave up the ghost.

"No... he killed Baba Solo!!"

"Baba Solo is dead!!"

The men behind him reacted fearfully, their eyes widened in terror and their bodies shivering.

Rowan observed their expressions with a scowl as he ignored the measly five evolution points he gained for killing the bastard lying on the ground.

'Just a mere five evolution points? So useless,' he noted inwardly and signaled to one of the men, "Bring my dagger to me."

They looked among themselves, and one of them summoned the courage to bring him his dagger, shivering as he dragged it out of his colleague and brought it to Rowan.

Rowan then asked him to clean the blood off the dagger with his own tongue, humiliating him in the worst way possible. He tried to plead, but seeing the dark look in Rowan's eyes, he didn't hesitate and hurriedly licked the dagger clean.

His colleagues watched his actions with disgust and horror.

Only then did they realize how scary Rowan was.

Rowan didn't even have to request that they disarm themselves before they began dropping their weapons and kneeling on the ground.

Rowan snorted at their actions as he kept his dagger in his inventory. He gave them a reprimanding speech and invoked more fear in their hearts.

As Rowan instilled fear in their hearts, the gate opened, and Ren and Fagin walked out.

Fagin wore a terrified and worried expression on his face and let out in a dejected voice, "The staff of authority has been stolen!"