Chapter 173: Preparations In Effect | 50 GT Bonus

Elias gazed down at Berman, who was kneeling on the bloodstained ground with his head hanging forward, one hand trembling against his wounded neck.

Blood continued leaking between his fingers and spilling down his chest, while every breath came out as a wet, choking rasp.

Elias walked over, picked up Hellcaller from the ground, and stepped directly in front of him before grabbing the knight by his hair and forcing his head upward.

Their eyes met.

"Not so haughty anymore, huh?" Elias said, his voice quiet.

Berman’s lips twitched into a crooked smile, but the expression immediately turned into a choking chuckle as blood bubbled from his mouth and sprayed across his chin.

"Kh... khahaha... I... may have... khk... died..." Berman choked out, struggling to force each word through his ruined throat. "But... now... my master... needs no other reason... kh... to kill you..."

His eyes narrowed as another wet cough shook his body.

"You... have committed... treason..."

Elias immediately understood what he meant.

Berlic could twist the entire situation however he wanted. If Berman’s corpse was discovered here, Elias could easily be painted as a rebel who had murdered one of the City Lord’s trusted knights after refusing to obey him.

However, that would only happen if Berman’s body remained behind.

Elias leaned forward until his mouth was beside Berman’s ear and whispered coldly, "For that, he needs to find your corpse, does he not?"

Berman’s eyes trembled.

"W-What...?" he choked, his voice barely audible.

A cold glint appeared within Elias’s eyes.

He pushed Hellcaller forward.

The pitch-black blade pierced directly through Berman’s chest and sank into his heart.

Berman’s entire body jerked violently as a strangled, choking sound escaped his throat.

"Kh...!"

His fingers twitched once against Elias’s arm before going completely limp.

The light slowly disappeared from his eyes, and his head fell forward.

Elias remained silent for a moment before exhaling heavily.

Then he pulled Hellcaller free and stored Berman’s corpse inside his Inventory.

He straightened himself, though his battered body immediately protested. Every muscle ached, his wounds still burned, and blood continued soaking through his clothes, yet he forced himself to move.

One by one, Elias stored everything scattered across the ruined training ground.

First came Berman’s sword.

Then the Rusted Reaper’s corpse.

Then Charles’s corpse.

Then Belthon’s sword.

And finally, Lastbane and Hellcaller.

After storing the weapons, Elias’s gaze shifted toward the corpse of the fallen knight who had been pushed farther away during the battle.

Elias’s expression darkened as he walked over and knelt beside him.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the knight’s face, then he lowered his gaze and mumbled dryly, "I promise that I will bury you in your homeland."

He stored the honorable knight’s body inside his Inventory before rising to his feet.

His heart should have been filled with joy.

He had finally awakened Aura.

After years of training, struggling, failing, and being treated as though he were worthless, he had finally crossed the threshold that had once seemed impossibly distant.

Yet there was no joy.

Only guilt.

Elias took a few steps across the ruined training ground.

Then an orange system screen suddenly appeared before him.

[The connection with Envy has been destroyed.]

Elias halted.

A faint smile appeared on his bloodstained face.

"It worked, huh..." he murmured.

However, before he could think about what had happened, an overwhelming wave of fatigue suddenly crashed over him.

"What...?" His knees buckled.

Elias staggered forward before collapsing toward the ground.

His vision blurred.

Through his barely opened eyes, he saw an orange screen hovering before him and a woman dressed entirely in black walking toward him.

[A connection beyond time-space is being formed between Elias Crimson and Natasha Sephila.]

’Wha...’

Elias’s eyes slowly closed.

Then everything went dark.

A few minutes earlier.

Natasha sat beside the window of the hall, staring toward the manor gates with an impassive expression.

Why are we just sitting here?

Stella pushed the notebook toward her face.

Natasha glanced at the words before taking the notebook and quill.

Elias told me to do this.

Stella furrowed her brows, snatched the quill from Natasha’s hand, and wrote beneath it.

You should call him husband.

Natasha stared at the words before looking toward Stella with deeply furrowed brows.

She was about to write a response when something outside the window caught her attention.

A figure had stopped at the manor gates.

Natasha’s hand stopped, and her eyes trembled.

She didn’t recognize the man’s face, but she recognized the armor.

Elias had specifically told her to remember it when he had met the two knights two days ago.

Natasha immediately rose from her chair, grabbed Stella by the wrist, and pulled her away.

"What is wrong?" Stella asked with a confused expression.

She dragged Stella toward the staircase before looking upward.

Stella tilted her head, placed a finger against her lips, and then pointed toward the upper floor.

Natasha nodded.

"Okay! Let’s go to husband’s room," Stella said cheerfully as she crossed arms with Natasha and began climbing the stairs.

At that same moment, Daemon pushed open the manor gates and strode inside with a faint frown.

His gaze immediately landed on Sermus, who was tending to the overgrown grass.

Daemon’s eyes sharpened as he approached.

"Gardner," he called.

Sermus turned toward him.

"Yes?" he asked in his usual dry voice.

Daemon’s hand moved toward the hilt of his sword.

"Where are Lord Elias’s wives?" he asked threateningly.

Sermus blinked several times before shaking his head.

"I do not know."

"What?" Daemon muttered.

"Today is my first day working here," Sermus explained.

Daemon’s brows furrowed.

"So you are useless... huh."

"You can say th—"

Daemon suddenly drew his sword and slashed.

The blade carved a deep diagonal wound from Sermus’s chest down toward his waist.

"Ahh..." Sermus let out a short scream before placing a hand over his mouth and collapsing face-first onto the ground.

"Pathetic," Daemon muttered as he turned away.

He walked into the manor, his gaze sweeping across the hall before settling on the staircase.

For nobles, it was common to have their private chambers on the first floor rather than the ground floor, so he immediately began ascending.

Upstairs, Natasha quietly closed the door behind herself and looked toward Stella.

The woman stared back at her with innocent confusion and worry.

Natasha’s jaw tightened.

She reached for the pouch Elias had given her before leaving for the Grade One spatial rift.

Inside were ten Extraordinary Sugar Fruits and a folded piece of paper.

Natasha took out one of the fruits and handed it to Stella.

"Sugar Fruit!" Stella exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with innocent greed as she licked her lips. "Can I eat it?"

Natasha couldn’t hear what she was saying, so she simply pushed the fruit closer to Stella’s mouth.

Stella immediately gulped it down.

As the woman began to immerse herself in its taste, Natasha crouched beneath the bed and pulled out the long wooden box resting underneath it.

"Ugh," Stella suddenly groaned as she held her head and stumbled against the bed.

The fruit had finally taken effect.