Chapter 77: Intruders
— Inside the Thorne Mansion —
"Hey... is cultivating really that hard? Because Emily has been in there for a very long time, and I’m starting to get extremely worried," Caroline said, pacing back and forth in circles outside the bedroom door.
"Mom, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. This is actually normal. When I broke through to the Late Stage, I kinda took my time too. But now she is actively pushing to the Peak Stage of Skin Refining, so of course it would take much longer," Emma said, leaning casually against the wall by the door, trying to reassure her. "Mom, you can go and rest. You must be tired from all the heavy estate work you have been doing alone."
"Yeah, maybe you are right..." Caroline said, tiredly rubbing her forehead. ’I have been feeling deeply uneasy lately,’ she thought, looking at Emma with a worried expression. ’Well, maybe it’s just my imagination.’
"I really hope she doesn’t take too long. When she is finally done, tell her to quickly pack her things. We are going to the Main House tomorrow morning for Adam’s birthday banquet," Caroline instructed, finally turning and walking away down the hall.
"Okay, Mom," Emma said, sitting down by the door.
Sniff... sniff...
’What is this God-awful smell coming out of her room?!’ Emma suddenly thought, completely covering her nose with her hand. ’It’s so disgusting!’
Knock! Knock! .....Emma quickly knocked on Emily’s door.
"Emily, are you okay in there? I’m kinda worried!" Emma called out. "And what the heck is that awful smell coming from in there?!"
"It’s nothing, Emma! I just successfully succeeded in my breakthrough, that’s all!" Emily’s excited voice echoed from the other side of the room. "And I guess that awful smell you are smelling is just the hidden physical impurities actively coming out of my body’s pores! You will probably experience the exact same gross thing when you finally reach this level!"
"You can go back to your room now. I will try to quickly wash up and freshen up, since I definitely can’t walk out smelling like this," Emily added with a nervous laugh. "Oh! And by the way, thank you for guarding outside and not letting anyone disturb me while I was in here!"
"Oh, there is no need for you to say that! You would have done the exact same thing for me," Emma smiled, standing up. "And don’t forget, I will also break through to the Peak Stage in the future!"
"Yeah, I know! I will cover the door for you too!" Emily replied warmly.
"Oh, by the way, Mom told me to tell you that you should start packing your clothes. We are leaving for the Main House tomorrow morning," Emma informed her.
"Yeah, I know. I easily heard her talking at the door a few minutes ago," she said.
"Well, if that’s the case, I should probably get going now to pack my own things..." Emma said, finally walking away down the hallway.
...
— At the Main Gate —
Two heavily armed guards were standing lazily by the front gate, quietly chatting under the afternoon sky.
"Man, that guy is just so damn lucky," the first guard complained, leaning heavily on his spear.
"Sigh... what is it now?" the second guard asked, rolling his eyes. "If you are gonna complain about the new Head Guard again, I swear I would..." he trailed off in frustration.
"Of course! Who else would I talk about?!" the first guard said angrily. "The guy is literally younger than me! I have been working my ass off guarding this family for three straight damn years, and this guy just shows up here, hasn’t even been here four full months, and just gets a massive promotion out of nowhere! And now he is just randomly going out on long trips for no reason. Where do you even think the guy went?"
"We have been over this a hundred times now. It is genuinely getting annoying," the second guard sighed with an angry look. "He just happened to— thock!"
The second guard suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence.
"Huh? You know I heavily hate people who just stop talking in the middle of their— huh?!"
The first guard slowly turned around, only to see his partner completely pierced through the chest with a black-fletched arrow. Blood was rapidly pouring from his mouth.
"INTRU—!!!"
Thock! The guard immediately gripped his sword with both hands, frantically trying to yell for the intruders, but before the warning could even leave his lips, he was violently struck by a second arrow directly through his throat. The arrow was heavily coated in red Aura.
"You see, newbie? This is exactly how you do it. You are incredibly lucky that your specific target wasn’t wearing any heavy iron armor under his uniform, or your weak, cheap shot wouldn’t have killed him. You either hit the head, or you hit the throat," Number 44 criticized, standing perfectly still in the shadows.
She turned to a quiet, masked boy standing next to her. "And you didn’t even put much Aura on your arrow, either. Don’t think I didn’t notice."
"I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s just... I’m a dagger user, not a trained bow user," the guy, Number 86, mumbled in a low voice, looking down at his boots.
"Huh? Are you seriously talking back to me right now?" 44 asked, her voice instantly dropping into a dark, threatening tone. "For a simple Third-Stage Aura user, you sure show some balls. Do you want to die?"
86 started shivering uncontrollably when he heard the pure malice in her voice.
"That’s enough, 44," Number 10 interrupted, heavily massaging his temples as he stepped out of the shadows. "And why are you actively tormenting the newbie?"
"What did you expect me to do? You guys purposely brought me along on this incredibly boring mission! The absolute least you could do is let me have some fun with my new toy... Oh, sorry, I meant comrade," she smiled wickedly, roughly rubbing the top of 86’s head.
"For fuck’s sake... ’If you weren’t directly related to that terrifying woman, I would have killed this annoying bitch a long time ago.’ That is exactly what you are thinking right now, isn’t it?" 44 laughed, staring directly into 10’s masked face.
"Your completely pissed-off expression says it all! Well, too bad for you, I am related to that woman! So don’t even think of telling me what to do!"
She turned away dismissively. "Come on, newbie," she ordered, heading straight toward the open iron gates.
Number 32 just stared at 10 in absolute silence. He shook his head slowly and started silently following them.
’Why the hell did they even assign this crazy bitch to my specific team anyway? Every big shot went directly to the Main House for the real hit, while I’m stuck here babysitting a lunatic,’ 10 thought angrily, staring at his teammates casually waltzing through the front gate, ruthlessly shooting down every single guard they saw on sight.
’What if she accidentally dies here by mistake?’ he thought, a cold sweat breaking out under his mask. ’No... no... no... what am I thinking?! I should definitely get that stupid idea out of my head entirely! I would absolutely die either way if she dies here. That woman would just brutally kill us for not keeping her safe!’
Then, a dark realization suddenly dawned on him. ’Wait... what if that is the exact reason those guild bastards sent her here with me? They were terrified for her safety if she went with them to the heavily guarded Main House, so they put her here on the easiest part of the job.’ Number 10 just sighed heavily and started to follow behind.
"Or they are just scared of being controlled by her and it will hurt their pride. If so then what about my pride." He muttered
"INTRUDERS!! INTRUDE—!!!"
Thock! Another screaming guard was ruthlessly shot directly through the head while running across the courtyard.
"Nice shot, my precious student," 44 said, happily rubbing 86 on the chin.
’Does this crazy bitch even know that I am a Third-Stage Aura user?! And with my actual age, why the hell does she treat me like a small boy?! I’m literally older than her! It’s so embarrassing,’ 86 thought angrily, though he didn’t dare say a word as 44 treated him like a pet toy.
"But, ma’am, didn’t the strict mission parameters say we should only kill the Thorne family members and get out?" 86 asked hesitantly.
"Call me Master," 44 ordered flatly.
"What?"
"I said, call me Master. Didn’t I just beautifully teach you how to properly use a bow? So I am officially your Master now," she said proudly, waiting by the massive wooden front door of the mansion as she admired the gruesome scenery of bleeding bodies laying across the dirt.
"Okay then... Master. Can you tell me..." 86 stammered, deeply embarrassed. He quickly looked around to see if anybody had heard him, only to see 32 walking behind them, dead serious, actively stabbing the leftover guards on the ground to make absolutely sure they were dead.
"It’s quite simple, my dearest student. I just found that the specific mission we were given was way too boring! Why don’t we heavily spice things up a bit and just kill absolutely everyone in this entire estate? Including the little maids, and even their horses if we have to," she said with a deeply wicked look in her eyes. Framed by the dark mask on her face, the crazed intent made her look even scarier.
"..." 86 didn’t even say anything back. He was completely shocked by what he had just heard. ’She really is completely crazy... exactly the same as the dark rumors say back in the Guild.’
"By the way, hey 32! Where the hell is old man 10? Did I hurt his fragile feelings when I said those true things to him?!" 44 yelled loudly, not even remotely keen on keeping quiet during their mission.
"I’m right here, you idiot! And please stop yelling!" 10 hissed, appearing right behind her, a vein practically ready to burst on his forehead from her reckless shenanigans.
"Ohhh... there you are! Since everyone is finally here, let’s head in," she smiled, casually pushing the heavy double doors open.
But as the doors swung wide, her smile faltered slightly.
Sitting completely still on the grand wooden stairs in the main hall was a woman. She was clad from top to bottom in heavy, dark black iron armor, with only her face exposed to the light. Beautifully engraved on the dark iron chest plate was the proud insignia of the Thorne House. Standing defensively on the steps just below her were three heavily armored male guards wearing shining silver armor.
"Wowww... what a nice, dramatic welcoming! I never expected the weak lady of the house—who is only a measly Second-Stage Aura user—to be actively waiting for us in full armor," 44 taunted, a crazy, bloodthirsty smile returning to her face as she looked at Caroline.
"..."
Caroline didn’t answer her. Her face was completely devoid of fear. She simply raised her armored hand and sharply signaled with two fingers.
Instantly, the three silver-armored guards drew their swords and violently charged down the stairs directly at the intruders!