Chapter 77: Ch 77: Devastation
The quiet street outside the shop was bathed in the pale silver light of the twin celestial moons. Raidan held Naida’s hand gently, their fingers intertwined as they walked the remaining few steps toward the storefront. The lingering warmth of the fine wine and the sweet memory of their perfect day out still enveloped them like a protective cocoon.
Naida walked softly beside him, her head resting lightly against his shoulder, a faint, contented hum slipping from her lips.
Then, Raidan stopped dead in his tracks.
His high perception stats immediately picked up an abnormality in the ambient energy of the street. The delicate, protective wards that Naida had woven into the heavy wooden doorframe were no longer pulsing with their soft, familiar amber light. Instead, they were violently flickering in jagged, broken sparks of static before dying completely into gray ash.
The thick oak door, which had been securely locked with both physical deadbolts and complex runic arrays, hung loosely on a single shattered hinge, swinging slightly in the cool night breeze with a haunting, metallic creak.
Naida gasped, her humming cutting off instantly. Her hand tightened around Raidan’s fingers until her knuckles turned completely white.
"Raidan... the wards. The protective barrier is gone."
Raidan’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He pushed her gently behind his back, his posture instantly dropping low into a tactical stance. The carefree joy of the evening evaporated in less than a heartbeat, replaced by the lethal, razor-sharp focus of a seasoned hunter.
He reached out with his left hand, pushing the heavy door fully open.
The sight inside was nothing short of a complete disaster.
The cozy, aromatic apothecary shop they had left hours ago was entirely destroyed. The glass shelves lining the white marble walls had been violently smashed to pieces. Hundreds of rare potion vials lay shattered across the floor, their precious liquid contents mixing into a murky, foul-smelling sludge that seeped deep into the cracks between the cobblestones.
Crushed herbs, powdered monster cores, and dried celestial flowers were scattered everywhere, trampled carelessly under heavy, mud-caked boots.
The massive brass cauldron Naida used for her most delicate brews had been knocked off its iron stand, dented severely, and left lying on its side like a piece of discarded junk.
Naida stepped past Raidan, her hands covering her mouth in complete, unadulterated horror.
"No... no, no, no. Our precious shop!."
She collapsed onto her knees right in the doorway, completely uncaring of the sharp glass shards digging into the fabric of her blue silk dress. Tears welled up in her amethyst eyes and spilled uncontrollably down her flushed cheeks.
Seeing her broken, weeping state triggered something dark and terrifying deep within Raidan’s chest.
A dense, suffocating aura suddenly erupted from his body. It was an involuntary leak of his Master Verde persona, a wave of pure, unadulterated killer intent that caused the air in the room to turn ice-cold.
The temperature plummeted so rapidly that frost began to form along the edges of the broken glass on the floor. The ambient mana in the room vibrated violently, reacting to the raw, surging fury of an entity whose sacred space had been utterly violated.
His eyes, usually warm and gentle whenever he looked at Naida, flashed with a dangerous, glowing emerald light. His hands curled into tight, white-knuckled fists, the joints popping loudly in the silent room.
"Who did this?" Raidan asked, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying octave that vibrated through the floorboards.
Naida shivered, not from the sudden cold, but from the terrifying pressure radiating off her betrothed. She reached out with a trembling hand, weakly grasping the hem of his dark tunic.
"Raidan, please... calm down. Your magic is tearing the room apart."
Hearing her soft, frightened voice acted like a splash of ice water on his flaming temper. Raidan forced a deep breath into his lungs, manually suppressing the overwhelming tide of digital green energy that threatened to blow the remaining roof off the building.
He knelt beside her immediately, wrapping his broad arms around her trembling shoulders and pulling her tightly against his warm chest.
"I am sorry, my love. I am right here. I will not let anyone hurt you ever again. Look at me."
He gently lifted her chin, wiping the warm tears from her face with the pads of his thumbs.
"Stay right here by the door," Raidan instructed gently but firmly. "Do not step on the glass. I am going to check the back quarters."
Raidan stood up, his heavy boots crunching loudly against the broken glass and pulverized potion bottles. He stepped carefully through the destroyed storefront, his eyes scanning every single inch of the room with analytical precision.
This was not a simple burglary.
A common thief would have targeted the cash drawer or stolen the high-value potions and fled silently into the night. But the iron lockbox containing the week’s gold coins was sitting completely untouched behind the counter.
Instead, every single vial of healing elixir, every jar of rare medicinal sap, and every single bundle of celestial herbs had been deliberately smashed, burned, or stamped into useless dust.
Whoever had done this came with one single goal: complete and total psychological destruction.
They wanted to ruin Naida. They wanted to send a terrifying message.
Raidan stepped through the slashed velvet curtain into the private living quarters. The bedroom was in a similar state of chaotic ruin. The silk curtains had been shredded, the wooden wardrobe had been overturned, and the soft down mattress they had shared only hours ago had been ripped open, spilling feathers everywhere like fallen snow.
As Raidan surveyed the bedroom, his sharp eyes caught a subtle, dark discoloration on the wooden bedpost.
He approached the bedpost and leaned down close.
A faint, foul stench of corroded mana wafted from the wood.
Someone had carved a crude, jagged symbol directly into the solid timber using a blade coated in black void magic.
The symbol was a stylized serpent wrapping around a broken hammer.
Raidan’s memory immediately flashed through the dark underground lore of Olympus and Vanir. The Serpent’s Guild was a notorious syndicate of illegal potion peddlers, black-market alchemists, and violent enforcers operating in the underbelly of the God city.
They had no idea who she was engaged to.
Raidan reached out and touched the carved symbol. His system interface instantly flickered to life in his vision, radiating a cold blue glow.
[ Perception Skill Active: Mana Tracing. ]
[ Analyzing residual magical signature... ]
[ Signature Identified: Corrupted Shadow Mana. ]
[ Tracking trail... Distance: 1.2 miles southwest. Location: Lower Slums, District 9. ]
A cold, merciless smile played across Raidan’s lips. The perpetrators were so arrogant, so confident in their petty criminal status, that they hadn’t even bothered to cleanse their residual mana from the crime scene. They had left a direct path straight to their front door.
Raidan walked back out into the main storefront. Naida had managed to stand up, using a broom she found in the corner to clear a small patch of floor, but her hands were still shaking so badly that she could barely hold the handle.
Raidan walked over, gently taking the broom from her hands and setting it aside. He pulled her back into his arms, letting her rest her head against his chest once more.
"They did not just break into a shop, Naida. They ruined our day. They destroyed the sanctuary you built with your own hands. And they left their mark."
Naida looked up, her eyes filled with worry. "Who was it, Raidan? Was it the syndicate?"
"The Serpent’s Guild," Raidan confirmed. "They thought you were alone. They thought they could break your spirit and force you onto your knees."
Naida let out a bitter, heartbroken breath. "They destroyed decades of work, Raidan. Rare seeds from the floating gardens, ancient recipes you given to me, potions that take months to brew... all gone in an instant. I cannot rebuild this overnight."
"You will not have to rebuild it alone," Raidan promised, his hands framing her face. "In fact, you will not have to pay a single copper coin to replace any of this. The Serpent’s Guild will pay for every single drop of spilled potion, every broken glass vial, and every single tear you shed tonight."
Naida’s eyes widened as she recognized the dangerous, lethal look in his eyes.
"Raidan, no. The guild is massive. They have hundreds of thugs and crooked guards in their pocket. It is too dangerous to go after them in their own territory. We should report this to the city council."
"The city council is slow, corrupt, and useless," Raidan stated flatly. "If we report this, they will file paperwork for three weeks while the guild laughs at us. That is not how I handle threats, Naida."
Raidan stepped back and closed his eyes for a brief second. He tapped into his internal system network, opening a direct communication link across realms.
[ Faction Communication: Summon Subordinate. ]
[ Target: Leo. ]
In less than ten seconds, a swirling vortex of dark shadow energy materialized in the center of the ruined shop. The shadows parted, and Leo stepped out, kneeling instantly on the glass-strewn floor. His black robes billowed around him, and his void daggers were already drawn and ready for combat.
"You called, Master Verde?" Leo said, his voice echoing with absolute devotion.