Path To Godhood Begins With Marrying Wife And Gaining SSS Rank Skill

Chapter 275: 275:The Hunter Became The Prey

“You are going to marry a Princess!” Randall said, his face frozen in shock.

“Tell me this is a joke?” he shrieked.

“Sadly, it isn’t,” Ethan replied, shaking his head slowly.

“Do you even know what kind of trouble this will bring?” Randall snapped. “And didn’t people always say the King is foolish? You could have delayed it, changed the topic, twisted the words. I don’t believe that old fool could outsmart you.”

“Old fool, my ass,” Ethan spat, his voice dripping with disgust.

“Huh?” Randall froze, completely taken aback by Ethan’s words.

“There is no way that man is a fool,” Ethan said coldly. “That old man is a wolf wearing sheep’s skin. If you are not careful, you will not even know when he has eaten you alive and left no bones behind.”

“How?” Randall asked, his voice tense.

“Think, Uncle. Think carefully.”

“He ordered Simon to be imprisoned, not killed.”

“Do you really think a prison can hold Simon?” Ethan continued. “A King-tier Knight. A man who stands near the top of the entire kingdom. Who exactly can imprison someone like him?”

Randall’s expression slowly changed.

“It was just a guise,” Ethan said quietly. “A show to spare him openly.”

“Once time passes and people forget, he will walk free.”

Ethan closed his eyes, suppressing the chill that crept down his spine.

The King.

He looked weak, old, frail, and foolish. Yet Ethan could feel a terrifying presence behind that mask. A suffocating pressure that never revealed itself openly.

That man wielded power with frightening precision. He pretended to be foolish and fooled everyone, while pulling invisible strings from the shadows.

The marriage was a concession.

Yes, it was the result of a silent game between him and the King.

You entered my land.

You disturbed my peace.

You defied my authority.

And you vented your anger by beating my hound.

Marry my daughter, and you walk away unscathed.

Refuse, and face the consequences.

“So will we just let him go like that?” Randall asked, clenching his fists.

“Who said that?” Ethan smiled faintly and stood up.

“I don’t have a habit of leaving loose ends,” he said calmly. “I will finish things properly.”

“How will you do that?” Randall asked.

Ethan only smiled.

“Just watch.”

……..

A man walked forward, escorted by guards who trembled with every step. They did not dare meet his eyes.

“It’s… it’s that place,” one of them muttered, pointing at the prison.

They did not dare put cuffs on the huge, burly man. Fear alone kept their hands frozen.

“Lord Simon,” one guard said nervously, “if you need anything, please call us.”

“Hm,” Simon replied indifferently as he walked inside.

The prison was anything but a cell.

It was a spacious chamber with a bed, lamps, a table, and shelves lined with documents. It looked more like a private study than a holding cell.

As Simon entered, a withered man jumped to his feet.

“You’re here!” Steven shouted. “Damn it! How did you lose to that bastard?”

Simon’s eyes narrowed.

The air turned heavy.

Steven felt a chill stab into his bones. His legs moved back on instinct.

Simon shoved him aside and sat down on the bed, interlacing his fingers slowly.

“That man hides deeper than I thought,” Simon said in a flat voice.

Steven wanted to ask more, but the words died in his throat. He sat down helplessly.

Simon glanced at him.

“What’s the situation?”

Steven swallowed. “The supply has collapsed. The people we had stocked were freed by that son of a bitch.”

“All orders are frozen. Our credibility is gone. Everything is in ruins.”

Simon remained silent for a long moment.

“We cannot target the western region anymore,” he finally said. “We need a new place.”

“What?” Steven jolted up. “You still want to proceed?”

“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” he shouted. “We don’t have enough power, and that bastard is watching us like a hawk.”

“If we make a move, he will strike again.”

Simon’s eyes flashed with a chilling, inhuman light.

“I have heard enough of him,” Simon said quietly. “He can do this. He can do that.”

“Do you think only he can act while I cannot?”

“What can you even do?” Steven scoffed. “He beat you thoroughly.”

A slow, sinister grin spread across Simon’s face. It was not the grin of a man, but of something colder and far more dangerous.

“I may not defeat him,” Simon said calmly, “but I can kill what he loves.”

Steven’s breath caught.

“You mean…?”

“Yes,” Simon replied without hesitation. “I have already sent assassins after his family.”

Steven’s eyes widened in horror.

“By the time we finish talking,” Simon continued, madness flickering in his eyes, “half of his family might already be dead.”

“He will pay dearly for offending someone he never should have,” Simon laughed softly. “He will shed tears of blood.”

“Kekke.”

“Oh, I see,” Steven suddenly said, his tone shifting.

“Yes—” Simon paused.

Something felt wrong.

He turned his head.

Steven was no longer trembling.

He sat casually in the chair, smiling.

“That’s a great plan,” Steven said calmly. “A very good plan indeed.”

Simon’s pupils shrank.

“However…”

Before Simon could react, Steven’s face twisted unnaturally. His features melted and reshaped.

In seconds, a familiar figure sat before him.

“Blankkk!!”Simon gasped in horror.

“Shape shifting magic….No it’s not that.”

“It’s the human skin of Steven.”

“Did you really think I was an idiot who wouldn’t take precautions?” Ethan asked quietly.

Simon’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Shock rippled through him, but his expression remained cold and controlled.

“If you think you are safe because of the Duke and Duchess,” Simon said slowly, “then you are overconfident.”

“Two Master ranks won’t be enough.”

Ethan smiled faintly, his eyes dark.

“Who said I relied only on them?”

The room fell silent.

For the first time since his defeat, Simon felt something unfamiliar.

Not the feeling of being afraid.

But the realization that the hunt had already begun, and this time, he might be the prey.