NOVPUB
Chapter 472: Caught Them
Boom!
The ball exploded right in front of Arson’s face. It was actually filled with explosive powder, strong enough to injure an unprepared cultivator.
However, Wilmar didn’t wait to see the result. He immediately dashed toward the forest surrounding the mansion area, not hesitating for a second as he decided to use his final escape method.
He pulled out a small box-shaped artifact from his storage ring and was about to activate it, but before he could, a figure suddenly appeared beside him and struck at the hand holding the artifact with a dagger.
Tring!
Wilmar instinctively used the box to block the attack and kicked at the assailant, but the attacker dodged with agile movements.
Before he could catch his breath, another figure appeared from his other side and struck at his leg, aiming to disable him.
He leapt to avoid the blow—but the moment he rose, a heavy punch landed squarely on his head as another figure appeared right in front of him.
"Akh!" Wilmar grimaced as he felt his nose break. His body was flung through the air, rolling across the ground several times before he could steady himself.
But just as he prepared to use a technique to escape, another figure appeared behind him, grabbing his arm and neck in a tight hold, then slammed him hard into the ground.
The figure locked his movements, and yet another appeared to further restrain him. With swift, coordinated motions, they sealed Wilmar’s cultivation.
They picked him up from the ground, and one of them drove a punch into his gut.
"Ack!" Saliva spilled from his mouth as pain surged through his gut, nearly causing him to collapse. He tried to clutch his stomach, but both of his hands were already restrained by two assassins, and his cultivation had been sealed. He had no strength left to resist.
Once Wilmar was fully restrained, three more figures appeared at different positions, all turning their gaze toward him.
They were the Fingers of the Thunderous Shadow Pavilion. It was no surprise they had brought Wilmar down so easily with their coordinated assault.
Each one was an Emperor-stage cultivator, trained for swift, lethal strikes delivered with surgical precision.
"I told you, you’d feel pain if you didn’t give up," came Arson’s voice.
With a pained expression, Wilmar looked up at the approaching figure. Arson was still in perfect condition. Not a single scar or burn marked his body, despite taking a direct hit from the explosive powder. Even his robe remained untouched, still perfectly clean.
Wilmar gritted his teeth, fury flashing across his face.
"You dog! Don’t think just because you’ve become that bastard’s lackey you’ll escape retribution! I’ll make sure the world knows about you and your group. Let’s see how long you last once your victims come for you. Neither you nor that bastard will be able to stop the storm that’s coming!" he shouted, his voice sharp with rage.
Arson only shrugged.
"Well, we’re an assassin group, so of course we have enemies. But don’t act like you’re pure while we’re the only ones stained," Arson said. "When we were still working with you, we handled your dirty work and you paid us. It was business."
"If word ever gets out about your past sins, about how you used our services, do you really think the victims’ families will only come for us? No, they’ll come for you too."
Wilmar’s eyes remained fierce, but his chest tightened. He knew Arson was right. He had used the Thunderous Shadow Pavilion many times, and there were already countless victims because he had taken advantage of their services.
His confidence finally wavered as he began searching for a way out.
"Forget about asking for mercy. You’ll stay at this place until Master arrives," Arson said, his expression turning irritated. "Just remember, because you suspected us of working with the First Prince, without any evidence, you tried to eliminate us. Because of that, we had to hide for over a year."
"You truly are a snake, but oh well, I understand why you did all of that and why you felt the need to eliminate us. I don’t really blame you. But that doesn’t mean I’ll forget the struggles we went through because you hunted us down," Arson added.
He then leaned in closer to Wilmar.
"I know you came here because Master already ruined all your plans, forcing you into this desperate move. I have to say, you’ve got guts for targeting his group. I can’t wait to see how he’ll deal with you once you meet him. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Master is already thinking about how to torture you."
Arson pulled his face away from Wilmar and smiled at him.
"Take him to the dungeon, and you two, guard his cell until Master arrives," Arson said before turning and walking away.
"Wait! Wait, Arson! Release me! I apologize, Arson, Arson! You’ll regret keeping me here—ARSON!"
Arson Vuran didn’t even glance at Wilmar as he was dragged away by the two assassins toward the dungeon. Once Wilmar’s voice faded, the First Finger approached Arson.
"From how crazy he’s acting, Master must have already concluded everything in the capital. His fate is basically sealed," the First Finger remarked, earning a nod from Arson.
"It looks like we’ll hear news from the capital soon," he responded.
After this brief exchange, the assassins went back to their respective tasks.
--------------------------------- 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
At another location, in the midst of nowhere, there was a small village. Aldrian floated just outside, observing it. The village was located within Donovan Grand Duchy, near the border of the Empire’s central region, where the capital was located.
For that man to have escaped this far, the Grand Duke must have used a special escape artifact that teleports the user to a designated place.
What Aldrian saw was a typical village—nothing noteworthy. The villagers appeared to be common mortals, which left Aldrian wondering what that man had been doing in this place.
After receiving the heavens’ response with the locations of Wilmar, Grand Duke Donovan, and Carlson Harris, Aldrian decided to target the Grand Duke first. Although Wilmar had recklessly come to Caritas with ill intent, Aldrian wasn’t worried because there were enough powerful figures there to hold him off.
He could focus on catching the others, with the Grand Duke being his priority after Wilmar, as he was the mastermind behind the Gu outbreak.
According to the heavens, Grand Duke Donovan was in that village, inside one of the houses. True to the answer, Aldrian sensed his presence inside one of the buildings, and it seemed he was preparing for some kind of ritual. Aldrian instantly knew what he intended to do, as a summoning formation was drawn before the grand duke.
He wondered how he would activate the formation since Grand Duke Donovan was not a devil cultivator, and the formation would not work with any energy other than devil energy. However, Aldrian was not in the mood to wait, so he teleported directly in front of Grand Duke Donovan, who was pouring a set of stones into the summoning formation.
The Grand Duke, caught off guard by Aldrian’s sudden appearance, was truly shocked.
Before he could react or do anything, Aldrian delivered a powerful punch to the Grand Duke’s stomach, his fist imbued with golden energy. The punch caused the Grand Duke’s dantian to crack severely, destabilizing the energy within it. To make matters worse, the energy began leaking, albeit at a small rate.
Aldrian’s golden energy seeped into the Grand Duke’s body, instantly blocking the flow of energy from his dantian. Without hesitation, Aldrian grabbed the Grand Duke by the neck and slammed him into the ground, causing a small crater and the wooden house to collapse instantly.
The surrounding villagers were stunned by the sudden commotion coming from one of the houses and shocked to see that the wooden house had collapsed. Many of them began to gather around the house, wondering what had happened.
The only thing they knew about this particular house was that it belonged to someone from the big city, but the owner never seemed to stay there.
When the villagers arrived to check the house, all they found was dust and rubble. The only thing that stood out was a small crater, as if something had dropped there and destroyed the ground. There was also a strange red line, which appeared to form a symbol on the ground, but due to the destruction, they couldn’t make out what kind of symbol it was.
They looked around but found nothing else. Some thought someone might have been inside the house doing something, but with no sign of anyone, they were left even more puzzled about what had really happened.
------------------------------
Meanwhile, Aldrian was already in another place, holding the Grand Duke in his grasp as he choked him from behind by the neck. He had already moved toward the location where his next target was located.
