Chapter 116: Headless Mistake

The captain had accepted this contract because the payout was extraordinary.

The employer had promised a simple operation: infiltrate a school on an outer-boundary planet of the Astral Dominion, eliminate the designated targets, and extract before local authorities could react.

What could possibly be difficult about massacring a school? Local security forces were weak, and the planet was far from the Dominion’s central fleet territories. It had seemed like easy money.

Now, he was standing in front of an absolute monster who had wiped out dozens of armed Evolvers before he could even blink.

His thoughts raced desperately, searching for a way out. He couldn’t defeat the old man, he couldn’t escape through the hallway, and if the Lord had already eliminated the rest of his squad, no reinforcements were coming.

Then his gaze shifted to the side.

Ruby was still standing exactly where she had been from the start.

The little girl had remained strangely quiet throughout the entire violent encounter. She wasn’t crying, screaming, or attempting to hide; she simply watched the scene unfold with her book held loosely against her chest.

An idea flashed through the captain’s mind.

‘The old man is protecting her.’

That much was obvious. He had formed a spatial barrier around her before the initial breach, and his movements had kept her safely out of the crossfire.

Perhaps the girl was important to him. Perhaps she was his granddaughter, or the child of a high-ranking official.

It didn’t matter. If he could take her hostage, he might force the old man to hesitate.

And a second’s hesitation was all he needed.

The captain’s eyes hardened with desperate resolve.

‘Just grab the brat and use her to buy enough time to escape.’

Violent red mana erupted from his body. His muscles surged with artificial power as the enhancement serum forced its way through his bloodstream.

Energy concentrated around his legs, the floor beneath his boots cracking under the sudden pressure.

Then he lunged.

His body shot forward like a bullet train, tearing across the short distance between himself and Ruby in a fraction of a second.

Louis’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The captain was remarkably fast. For an ordinary human, the movement would have been impossible to track, and even lower-tier Lords would have struggled to react in time.

But Louis was a Tier V Ascendant Lord.

The captain crossed the remaining distance, stretching his gloved hand toward Ruby’s collar.

He was almost there. His fingers were mere inches from the little girl’s shoulder.

Then, the world spun wildly.

The captain didn’t understand what had happened. One moment he was reaching for Ruby, and the next, his vision was tumbling through the air.

He saw the ceiling. He saw the shattered wall. He saw the blood-soaked corridor.

Then, at last, he saw his own body.

It stood upright for a fraction of a second before collapsing onto the floor several meters away. His headless corpse struck the linoleum with a dull, wet thud.

Ruby stood exactly where she had been, not a single strand of her hair disturbed by the shockwave.

Louis flicked a drop of blood from his finger, his expression one of mild disappointment. “Attacking her was the most foolish decision you could have made.”

He glanced down at the fallen corpse. “And you should consider yourself fortunate that you attempted it in front of me, rather than in front of her family.”

His voice was quiet, but it carried a chilling, absolute finality.

Louis had no intention of allowing anyone to harm Seraphina’s granddaughter. The captain had been given every opportunity to yield, yet he had chosen to target a child. That decision had sealed his fate.

Louis turned toward Ruby, fully expecting to find her traumatized by the gory sight of twelve decapitated corpses.

Instead, he found the little girl staring directly at him.

Her green eyes were wide, but there was zero fear in them.

Only pure fascination.

Ruby tilted her head, studying the elderly Lord with renewed interest. Then, in a voice filled with genuine amazement, she asked, “So, you’re a Lord?… That’s so cool!”

Louis stared at her in complete silence.

The child had just watched him slaughter an entire mercenary squad, and that was her reaction?

For several seconds, the supreme Overseer of the Astral Dominion could only stare.

Then he released a long, inward sigh.

‘What an utterly bizarre family.’

….

Louis had spent the better part of the last few minutes trying to calm Ruby down.

Unfortunately, the task had proven considerably more difficult than killing twelve armed Evolvers.

”So you’re really a Lord?”

”Yes.”

”And you’re Grandma’s tutor?”

”Your tutor,” Louis corrected automatically.

Ruby blinked, her green eyes wide. She stared at him as though he had just revealed that the entire cosmos revolved around her bedroom. Her small, surprisingly mature mind struggled to process the sheer scale of the revelation.

”Then how strong are you? Can you destroy a planet? What about a star? Can you teleport anywhere you want? Is that how you killed those men? Did you use an Authority? What kind of Authority do you have?”

Louis stared back at her.

One question tumbled out after another without the slightest pause, leaving him with zero opportunity to answer. He had dealt with curious children across various worlds before, but Ruby’s clinical, relentless enthusiasm was something else entirely.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling a faint prickle of pride.

At least she was genuinely excited by his power, a reaction that was considerably better than her grandmother’s casual, commanding authority when she had forcibly drafted him into service without giving him the option to decline.

‘Perhaps teaching this child won’t be entirely unpleasant after all.’

Before Ruby could launch another rapid-fire barrage of questions, Louis’s personal communicator vibrated against his wrist.

He glanced at the incoming security signal and accepted the call.

A crisp holographic display materialized in the air, projecting the image of a young female officer in a formal Dominion military uniform. The moment she recognized the elderly man’s face, she snapped to attention and delivered a crisp salute.

”I greet the Great Overseer!”

Ruby froze.

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she turned toward Louis.

The Great Overseer?

The title echoed loudly through her mind. She looked back at the holographic officer, who was still standing at absolute attention, greeting him with a level of reverence reserved for legends.

Ruby slowly turned her head back toward Louis.

Wait. He is THE Overseer?

Her expression became visibly animated, her eyes sparkling with unhidden awe.

Louis caught her reaction and allowed himself a faint, satisfied smile. For once, someone in this unpredictable family seemed genuinely impressed by his standing.

He decided to enjoy the moment while it lasted.

”At ease,” Louis instructed smoothly.

The officer lowered her hand. “Thank you, sir.”

Louis raised the unfamiliar blaster he had confiscated from the fallen mercenary captain. “I have a weapon I need you to examine immediately.”

The officer’s demeanor shifted into sharp professionalism. “Understood, sir.”

Louis rotated the weapon slightly, allowing the holographic sensors to scan its structure. “I’ll send the physical unit to you shortly. I want a complete, top-level analysis of its design, energy core, manufacturing origin, and any modifications distinguishing it from standard Dominion-issued gear. Trace its supply chain if possible and deliver your report directly to me.”

”Understood, Overseer.”

Louis extended his hand. A subtle ripple distorted the air around his palm, and the heavy blaster vanished from his grasp.

A split second later, the weapon materialized directly into the officer’s hand on the other end of the transmission. She caught it securely, a momentary look of awe crossing her face before she refocused on the hologram.

”I will begin the forensic analysis immediately and report back as soon as we have actionable data.”

”Good. Contact me the moment you find a lead.”

”Yes, sir!”

The holographic display dissolved into light.

….

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