"Is that so?"
He curled his lips into a smile devoid of warmth, shifting his gaze to his older brother's face. "Is that how it is?"
"Perhaps," Arthos smiled gently, though a hint of unconcealed smugness lingered in his eyes. "She is indeed a very beautiful young lady—"
Gerald kicked the table over.
The hard slate tabletop instantly shattered into powder. The wine bottles and glasses on the table were blown into fragments by the powerful impact, scattering everywhere.
"Are you crazy?"
"What are you doing?!"
Everyone hastily stood up. Even though they deployed shields to block the debris, they completely lost their former elegant appearances.
Arthos looked at him in shock. "What is wrong with you?"
Gerald met his gaze coldly. "Actually, I'm quite curious. If I didn't offer my research results to you as charity, how would you deal with your teacher?"
Arthos's expression darkened slightly, but he maintained his smile. "What are you talking about? Have you had too much to drink—"
Hearing this, the others looked at them in disbelief.
Someone was the first to sneer. "As if Arthos would care for your results? What could you possibly research?"
Gerald tilted his head to look at the man, then suddenly gave a sharp wave of his hand.
A bloody line abruptly appeared across the man's neck. His head and half of his neck slowly slid along the cut and fell to the ground.
The surroundings instantly descended into chaos.
However, before they could even attempt to flee, several of their bodies were suppressed by terrifying spatial magic—
They were either sliced into dozens of pieces, had multiple gaping holes carved out from within their bodies, or simply lost half of their torsos.
In an instant, the dead bodies of several people littered the floor.
"You!"
Arthos was pale with fright, his cheeks as white as paper. "You're insane, you've gone mad—"
"Hmm, perhaps."
The blond youth tilted his head, looking at him. His right hand dropped to his side, and a delicate silver hammer slipped out from his sleeve, its curved, claw-like tip glinting with a cold, icy light.
"I thought about exposing you in front of these people, letting more know exactly what kind of trash you are—"
Gerald said indifferently, "But thinking about it carefully, these people... these mundane, vulgar, talentless fools, what meaning do their opinions hold anyway?"
"No, don't come any closer—"
The blond young man screamed, putting up a brave front. "Don't force me to fight you!"
Arthos had indeed relied on his younger brother's work to become the dean's disciple, but that didn't mean he knew nothing at all, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to complete his daily studies.
However, he also knew very well that if a fight broke out, he would have absolutely no hope.
"Then make your move," Gerald said softly. "Let me see what you're capable of. But I think you're just like your father, only good at shouting. You see, I'm actually quite glad. I spent some time finding out that he is only my uncle. He swallowed up my parents' estate, swapped out the child with his own dead infant, and made people believe I was the baby that caused your mother's difficult labor. For so many years, I always thought I was the reason for mother's poor health. I endured the scoldings from that couple, thinking it was what I deserved to bear. From childhood to adulthood, time and time again..."
Arthos's face completely changed color.
Evidently, he also knew this truth.
And at this moment, the thing he feared most had already happened.
Gerald looked at him calmly for two seconds, and the moment Arthos tried to run, he broke his arms and legs.
"...You built your fortune using my parents' inheritance. To make me focus on research, you gave me a house, and even put on a charitable front. That money probably wasn't even a fraction of the inheritance, was it?"
The blond young man screamed as he collapsed in a pool of blood. The tendons in his limbs were completely severed, leaving him unable to even crawl.
Gerald looked down at him and raised the hammer in his hand. "This face is truly beautiful. She would probably like it too, considering you look a bit like me..."
The youth raised his hand and smashed it down.
The hammerhead landed on a cheekbone. A muffled sound of shattering mixed with the crisp crack of bursting gums, sending bloody molars flying.
"I 'saw' your father's memories. He once tried to poison me, in my house..."
"What's interesting is that the poison contained blackheart wood seeds. In all of Yasuo, there is only one place to get such a thing..."
"Maritas Academy. Hah, guess who gave it to him? Oh, no need to guess, I've already seen it in the memories."
He could have actually smashed the other's head open with a single blow.
However, Gerald controlled his strength, choosing to smash down repeatedly, over and over again.
With every fall of the hammer, new flesh and blood splattered. Cartilage pierced through the skin like broken branches, and muscle fibers were exposed within the torn flesh.
Those beautiful green eyes had been crushed into bloody pulp, and that face was unrecognizable from what it used to be.
Only mashed bloody paste hung on the exposed bones, as a thick stench of blood spread through the air.
Blood dripped continuously from the luxurious silver hammer onto the ground, its carved grooves filling with an eerie crimson.
The blond youth took a deep breath, blood staining his pale cheeks red.
There was no joy or enjoyment in those dark green eyes, only a secretly boiling anger.
Then, he heard footsteps.
A group of holy knights galloped down the street and entered the courtyard below.
He saw his own "father" among them, pointing at him tremblingly.
Gerald curled his lips, pulling a joyless smile, and then lifted his brother's corpse.
He threw the headless, ruined body down.
He heard his father's wails and curses.
A group of holy knights stood in the courtyard, likely a squadron. Every one of them was fully armed and armored, radiating abundant battle aura.
The leading captain drew his long blade, pointing it at an angle towards the youth on the balcony. "Gerald Weiss, you are accused of using heretical dark magic—"
Gerald bent down and fished a sword out of the pool of blood, belonging to some unlucky deceased person. "...Oh, yes, I fucking did."
The next second, the holy knight captain's figure appeared in mid-air. The armor on his body reflected a cold, stern light in the scorching sun, and the battle aura on his blade surged like white waves.
Blade and sword clashed in the air.
The surging battle aura rolled out to both sides like a tide.
The ringing hum of clashing metal shook the courtyard, making the glass lamps under the eaves rattle. The battle aura whipped up a visible, ring-shaped shockwave.
The holy knight captain retreated three steps in a row, the battle aura beneath his feet condensing to keep him afloat, a look of horror appearing in his eyes.
The blond youth flipped his wrist and spun gracefully, the blade gleaming with a cold, silvery-white radiance.
Then he raised the sword and slashed downwards at an angle.
The space was silently severed.
The holy knight captain had also experienced many battles and faintly sensed the danger, but it was too late to dodge. He only felt a crushing pressure coming from all directions.
He was forcibly pinned in place.
And then—
A cold, numbing sensation spread from his waist, as if he had lost all feeling in his legs.
The holy knight captain looked down. His platinum armor had split open at the waistline. Before the blood could gush out, his upper and lower body had already slowly slid apart.
At the same time, invisible spatial rifts extended throughout the courtyard.
The holy knights below still maintained their shield-raising stances, but their bodies had been neatly sliced open from shoulder to waist, blood and internal organs spraying across the bluestone slabs.
The rose trellis on one side of the courtyard was cut in half. Blooming flowers and vines fell together, and even the insects hovering among the blossoms were severed in two.
Fragments of the fountain statue crashed into the water.
Gerald discarded the sword. He lowered his eyes to look down at the utter devastation in the courtyard, patted the letter in his pocket, and vanished from the spot.
...
Inside the Red Oak Tavern in White Bay Town.
Su Cheng looked at the chef in front of her in astonishment. "What?"
"I can read," the blond man said in a muffled voice. "I've read books."
Su Cheng understood. "Oh, you know about similar magic. Well, that's pretty much how it is—"
Grutnis looked at her with a heavy gaze, his ice-blue eyes locked onto her face. "Your battle aura is quite impressive."
Su Cheng hesitated before speaking. "Yours too. In a sense, the other people I've met whose battle aura can rival yours don't usually make a living with their hands."
He gave a slight nod. "...Thank you. If your warning comes with a price, please let me bear it."
"Huh?" Su Cheng froze for a moment, then waved her hand. "No, I guess it's fine as long as I only say this much..."
She had a good impression of this chef and planned to stay here for a while to observe the situation. Perhaps she could even buy a house nearby.
And gather more information about this era.
She stood up, preparing to leave. "I'll come back tonight."
"...Alright."
The blond man replied in a deep voice, "Is there anything else you'd like to eat?"
Su Cheng blinked. "Fried potato balls."
The corners of his lips curled up imperceptibly. "Okay."
Then he turned around to wash the potatoes.
Su Cheng walked out into the main hall. A few workers were dead drunk, asleep in the corner.
A group of clerics in white uniforms walked in from outside, talking and laughing.
They all possessed abundant battle aura, and judging by the ornaments on their clothes, their ranks were not low.
The two sides brushed past each other.
"Wait!"
The leading cleric suddenly shouted. He pulled a translucent, pyramid-shaped crystal from his waist, which radiated a bizarre silver-purple light in the air.
"The power of the Void False God!"
The man pointed at Su Cheng. "A Folder!"
The others drew their weapons without hesitation and charged forward without another word.
They didn't even plan to interrogate her!
There was no attempt at conversation; their first moves were genuine killing strikes!
Su Cheng: "?"
Fortunately, it wasn't her first time facing such a situation.
Moreover, these people weren't particularly strong.
But she knew the Church had its methods, and reinforcements would arrive quickly. If she killed them here, the aftermath could be very troublesome.
Although full of doubts, her recent training had made her extremely familiar with spatial magic, cultivating an instinct for using this power.
Before the clerics' prayer attacks and combat skills could land, the girl's figure had vanished without a trace.
Three seconds later, Su Cheng stood on soft green grass.
According to her plan, she had intended to appear on the outskirts of White Bay Town, about two kilometers away from the tavern.
The books had mentioned this issue: teleportation via spatial magic was easiest when targeting a place one had visited before, and the shorter the distance, the less likely things were to go wrong.
If the path between your teleportation's starting point and destination happened to be one you had walked before, crossing through space would be even easier.
Of course, different schools of thought had different explanations, just like those theories that made people forget the concepts of distance and direction.
Now, it seemed something had gone wrong.
Su Cheng stood in the amber sunset, surrounded by the scent of soil and vegetation.
In front of her was an exquisite three-story house.
Smoothly polished lead-gray rocks formed the walls, flower vines twined around the courtyard fence, and patina-green moss peeked through the gaps in the bluestone path.
Two children were playing with wooden swords in the garden. As their blades clashed, their moves already looked quite decent.
Su Cheng: "???"
She had taken a walk around White Bay Town earlier, and the architectural styles there were largely the same; there were no houses like this one.
This place was situated on a highland, allowing her to see the spires of distant houses. Curling smoke rose into the twilight sky, and there were many pedestrians leading mounts on the streets.
At this moment, the two children in the garden noticed her.
The slightly taller one walked over, curiously tilting her face up. "Good evening. Are you here to visit our mother?"
"...Good evening," Su Cheng turned to look at them. "No, actually, I was just passing by. I'm a bit lost."
They were both very beautiful and looked about sixty or seventy percent alike, clearly sisters.
The sunset glow flowed through the little girls' silvery-white curly hair, and their fair cheeks carried a rosy tint, making them look like two delicate porcelain dolls.
Neither of them was short, yet they still had some baby fat on their faces, appearing to be around ten years old.
"Where do you want to go?" the younger child asked. "I can help point the way. We are both very familiar with this area—"
"Thank you," Su Cheng said. "I actually want to figure out where this is. I'm a mage, and I had an accident while conducting an experiment..."
She had intended to gloss over it, but the two children were very curious and stared at her eagerly.
Su Cheng had no choice but to start making up a story again.
To make it sound more interesting, she even blended in a few real events.
"...Anyway, when we tried to proceed to the next stage of our research, everything spiraled out of control, and when I woke up, I was here."
"Wow!"
Because she had mixed in many profound technical terms, they probably didn't fully understand, but their faces were filled with even more admiration.
"So," Su Cheng spread her hands, "where is this place? Also, your accents sound very familiar, so this is Imperial territory, right?"
"Yes, this is Iron Cage Town," the taller child said. "I am Carol Vane, and this is my younger sister, Corinna Vane. We are the mayor's daughters—"
The two sisters puffed out their chests quite proudly.
Carol was about to say something else when her eyes suddenly lit up. She jumped up and waved into the distance. "Big brother!"
Su Cheng had also heard the sound of horse hooves earlier.
At this moment, she took two steps back, tilted her head slightly, and looked toward the silver-haired young man approaching against the light.
Su Cheng: "......"
The moment she saw his face clearly, her mind went blank with a thunderous shock.
