They disappeared.

Yes, Vaela and Kaden took back the same runic teleportation formation, with Vaela's blood as fuel, and disappeared from The Nest.

It might look like a cruel and heartless act. And it was.

Kaden would have acted on his own if he had been alone and had not had Vaela to temper his most unintelligent impulses. But Vaela was there, and she became the voice of reason.

He didn't like it. In fact, he hated the fact that because of his weakness he had to leave children behind to go through this hell, through this conditioning to make them heartless, mindless puppets to follow orders of some beings who think they own the goddamn world.

They didn't own it.

But it seemed it was quite difficult for them to realize that.

Still, the moment they were gone, minutes later a being entered the room.

It was a very, very old man with a hunched back, hands and face wrinkled until you could not even properly recognize his features — except the blue eyes and blue hair that even at his age shone with unnatural brilliance.

He walked while leaning on a blue staff, loud against the white floor, with white runes etched across every inch of it. Entering the room, he stopped for a brief second, looking around.

He raised his head and sniffed the air, seemingly able to smell things others couldn't.

And it was true.

"That little lass was here," he spoke. His voice creaked like an old wooden door in the wind.

It was unpleasant to hear.

He gave a toothless grin then strode forward, smelling the air again.

"Another one was here with that lass. Hmm… younger? Weaker? Yes, way weaker. But… death?" he continued to mutter as he walked around the chamber, then stopped at the place where Kaden and Vaela had been hugging on the ground.

Just beneath the blue curtain.

He crouched down, his bones cracking but he paid it no mind.

Sniffing that spot like a dog, his grin widened.

"How… interesting. That lass Brain would love to know this but…"

"I won't tell him." He cackled like a madman, the sound grating as it echoed. He sat on the main chair of the office, leaning back comfortably, his old mind drifting to the past.

When Vaela and Brain and all of them were still young, scarless and… full of innocence. As all children were.

After all, no children are born evil. They are raised evil. And you would hardly find a household better for that in this domain than the Cerveau.

The old man shook his head.

"Fate… it's the fate of all of us, Cerveaux. We are not meant to be loved. We are not meant to love. We are meant to control, to dominate, to rule over the peasants, over the unworthy. That's the law of nature. That's how this world is."

"All men are not created equal."

"And you are not meant for love, little lass Vaela. You… one closer to fate than most must know that better than us. So why?" he asked, but it was clearly rhetorical.

He shook his head, feeling pity. Because he could see it…

History will repeat itself.

Vaela… you were not the only one seeking love in a family where the very concept of family is a taboo.

You were not the first. You won't be the last. But all of your fates would be the same.

Gnawing agony until you accept the bitter truth.

The truth that…

No Cerveau was made for love.

None.

After all, why would fate have given them such a vicious power if they were to be like any other men out there?

He cackled again, this time so hard he began to cough.

All of this while a little yellow rat with red eyes watched in silence before disappearing.

As if it had never been there.

But was it even there?

…

Kaden appeared back in his house. He went directly toward his chamber, finding Sabine in front of the door, her expression as calm and composed as ever.

He gave her a small smile, murmured a hello, and entered the room directly. He locked it.

He took off all his clothes, then entered the bathroom. Inside there was a wide, circular bathtub made of glass. It was transparent and striking, with runic formations inscribed at the bottom.

He positioned himself inside, poured his mana through the runic formation, and water immediately started to erupt and fill the bathtub.

He could make it hot, by using one rune of the formation, but instead he made it cold.

Extremely cold.

Steam began to rise from his mouth as he exhaled, calming his mind.

He stayed there, without moving an inch, eyes closed, breathing steady, for half an hour. Then he opened them.

His mind was now free from any rashness that was clouded it.

He sat to recall all that had happened today.

After coming back to Waverith, Vaela had immediately transported him in front of his own dungeon in Fokay.

That's when Kaden learned of the realm beyond grandmaster rank.

The Epithet Realm.

Vaela didn't tell him much, but Kaden had already guessed the core of this realm from its name.

Epithet… titles.

The titles he had thought useless would be the core to step into that realm. And as Vaela had shown, the beings of that realm did not have to spawn in the same place they had left Fokay.

They could go anywhere they wanted as long as they stepped foot there, or were in company with someone who had stepped foot there.

And they could bring with them one or two more persons.

It was madness. Kaden was more than surprised at that time. He asked for more information about that realm, but Vaela was reluctant for some unknown reason. She just gave him one single advice.

Be careful of what kind of title you obtain.

He was quite perplexed by that, but he nodded, intending to give it some thought later.

In the end he abandoned that line of questioning and instead asked her to bring Alea to the dungeon.

She did.

Now Vaela, Nasari and Alea were all inside that dungeon.

They didn't know each other. They wore their masks and had their hair tainted blood-red. Still, some could guess the identity of the others.

Except Nasari.

No one knew where he had come from and the man was not one for fancy, mindless talk. If it wasn't about swords and how cool his master was, of course.

Alea, in contrast, was very loud.

Kaden almost made her ugly again just to make her shut up.

But he didn't, fortunately for Alea.

"Many things happened…" Kaden muttered as he made himself more comfortable in the bathtub.

Now, more than ever, he needed to be a Master. War was coming. And no matter how exceptional he was, he was still a goddamn Intermediate rank being.

A worthless cannon fodder.

He needed to be stronger.

He needed his organization to be stronger.

He needed his family to get ready, alliances to be formed and maintained, tactics to be developed and applied.

Everything else was now useless except one single thing.

Be stronger in order to kill more cruelly, more ruthlessly, more mercilessly.

Kill. Kill. Kill.

The intent was clear.

The direction was set.

"Ocean of blood…" Kaden whispered, his eyes glowing with a sinister red. He stood up from the bathtub, water droplets flowing down his naked skin.

He took a step out, took his towel and went out of the bathroom. His eyes focused.

It was time to be a Master.

And they would realize.

They would want to stretch their mouths and beg for mercy, for forgiveness, for whatever flowed through their minds they could offer to get out of that situation. But they won't.

Everything their mouths would do was make gurgling sounds as they choked on their own disgusting blood.

They think others are beneath them. That they were made to rule, to control.

But do they not know?

If we cut them, they bleed red. Like any beggar sleeping on a piss-soaked bed in the slum, eating dirt and worms to not die from hunger.

If we cut their heads, they die. Like any goddamn butchered chicken on a farm.

And if they don't believe those simple facts… he would show them.

He would be pitiless.

He would slaughter them all and let them know that in the end…

…they were just men.

Not goddamn gods.

—End of chapter 229—

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