“Kid, you should feel fortunate that two Level Four Beast Masters are here to see you off,” Sly, confident of his victory, couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly is your connection to my son Robert’s death?”
As Charles activated the fragment of jade tablet, he responded, “Well, you’ll find out soon enough when you see him yourself!”
“Still so arrogant at death’s door! I’ll show you how I crush every bone in your body!” Sly wasted no more words and, along with Kevin, made his move.
However, before they could get close, a formidable presence erupted from the fragment of jade tablet in Charles’s hand. A spectral figure appeared in their path!
The true form of Joshua, the Snake Man, towering at ten meters and wielding a black supreme spear, brought a terrifying pressure that made the surrounding dense leaves tremble incessantly.
“What, what is this!” Sly was shocked beyond measure but had no time to retreat and had to press on.
Sly’s full-powered punch was effortlessly caught by the spectral figure, completely blocked.
Not only that, with a slight squeeze of his palm, Joshua crushed Sly’s fist to dust!
Then, with a kick, Sly’s leg bones snapped in two, white bones piercing through the flesh and protruding out.
“Aaaaah!” Sly’s agonized screams filled the air.
Kevin, too terrified to look, turned to flee. He knew that after Sly had taken the supermiracle drug, only a Level Five Beast Master could subdue him!
Charles, however, was fully focused, channeling all his energy into the ice and fire supreme spear. Like throwing a javelin, he hurled the spear.
The intertwining energies of ice and fire wrapped around the spear shaft, whistling through the air like a meteor, unstoppable as it impaled the fleeing Kevin to the ground.
In just the blink of an eye, Sly and Kevin were left in a pitiful state—one with his legs utterly destroyed, the other pinned mercilessly to the ground.
Despite their desperate situation, neither man gave up. Kevin, thinking quickly, decided to deactivate his Beast Mastery Embodiment, intending to have the Lightning Demon Ape pull out the ice and fire supreme spear to enable his escape. Sly, seeing this, also hurriedly ended his embodiment, hoping to have his mystical beast carry him away.
But as soon as their mystical beasts appeared, Joshua’s spectral form shot several purple beams of light that embedded into the bodies of the beasts. They collapsed to the ground as if poisoned, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
After these events, the spectral image of Joshua slowly dissipated, and Charles looked down at the fragment of jade tablet in his hand.
Fragment of Jade Tablet [Orange Quality]: Can be activated by infusing any type of energy. Although it’s just a remnant of Joshua, it has the combat power comparable to a Level Five Beast Master. Usage remaining: 2/3.
Although one usage had been expended, the mystical beasts summoned by Sly and Kevin were paralyzed by the poison, not dead.
Charles quickly commanded Max and Mousie to finish off the incapacitated beasts:
[Ding! Your mystical beast Max Lv. 22 has defeated Lightning Demon Ape Lv. 32, experience +80!]
[Ding! Your mystical beast Max Lv. 22 has defeated Steel-Spiked Hedgehog Lv. 32, experience +80!]
[Ding! Your mystical beast Mousie Lv. 22 has defeated Swift Wind Wolf Lv. 32, experience +80!
Ding! Your mystical beast Mousie Lv. 22 has defeated Swift Wind Sparrow Lv. 32, experience +80!]
…
Regrettably, even the experience from eight mystical beasts was not enough for Mousie and Max to level up. The higher the level, the slower the progress.
“Charles, I was wrong, truly wrong, please spare my life,” Kevin pleaded in utter despair. Two Level Four Beast Masters had been turned into easy prey by a Level Three, slaughtered effortlessly in retaliation.
Unlike Kevin’s reaction, Sly, with blood-red eyes and only one arm remaining, was still trying to support his shattered body.
Seeing this, Charles decisively crushed Sly’s last arm underfoot.
“You’ll not die well! I will kill you, kill you!” Sly’s screams were ghostly, painfully splitting the air.
A bone-achingly cold blast from Charles’s hand slowly descended, disintegrating Sly’s body into ash, bit by bit.
Meanwhile, Kevin, still pinned to the ground by the ice and fire supreme spear, trembled, unsure if it was from fear or pain.
“Charles, please don’t kill me. I will give you all the wealth of the Draven family if you spare me!”
“Are you foolish? After I kill you, all of that will be mine anyway. Besides, how much money does the Draven family even have left?”
“Don’t kill me, and I’ll tell you!” Kevin, pale-faced and bleeding continuously from the wound inflicted by the ice and fire supreme spear, was on the brink of collapse.
“Alright, I won’t hit you anymore,” Charles answered earnestly.
“It’s in the safe behind the wall in my office. There are 3000 silver coins and some materials,” Kevin strained to give the location, his face filled with hope as he continued to plead, “You made a promise. Please, save me!”
“Save you?” Charles feigned confusion, “Didn’t you hear what I said? I only agreed not to hurt you anymore. I didn’t say I’d save you.”
“You—you said you wouldn’t kill me!” Kevin, feeling weakness spreading through his body, suppressed all his resentment and anger, continuing to beg, “You gave your word, please save me.”
Charles stepped back and crouched down, observing the blood flowing from Kevin, and said, “I said I wouldn’t kill you, but I never said I’d save you. If you die from blood loss, that’s not my fault.”
Kevin opened his mouth to say something more, but he had lost too much blood. Drained of all strength, he eventually died staring wide-eyed.
With the battle over, Charles began to clear the battlefield. Although none of the mystical beasts were of Gold level, their ranks were still quite decent, and their materials could fetch a good price.
[Received 1 Lightning Demon Ape Hide!] content-hosted-on-NovelFire
[Received 4 Swift Wind Wolf Canines!]
[Received 6 Swift Wind Sparrow Feathers!]
[Received 1 Wind-Attribute Beast Core!]
[Received 100kg of Wolf Meat!]
…
Charles also meticulously searched Sly’s body, hoping to find the formula for the supermiracle drug but, unfortunately, found nothing.
As it was getting late, he sent out several bone-achingly cold blasts from his hands to incinerate all the bodies before heading back to Lsengard.
Charles had barely had a moment to rest when a call came in from Raj,
“Charles, where are you? Are you outside the city? I just received word that Sly and Kevin have left town!”
Hearing the concerned inquiry from the other end, Charles felt a warmth in his heart but also found it somewhat absurd. Sly and Kevin were already dead, and Raj’s side was just getting the news of their departure—a painfully slow update indeed.
After a moment, Charles responded slowly, “I’m back in town now, nothing to worry about!”
“That’s good to hear, that’s good. It looks like they weren’t after you. Still, try not to go out much for a while.”
Unable to hold back, Charles said, “No need, it’s already been taken care of.”
On the other end of the phone, Raj was perplexed and then a thought struck him. When Charles said it was already taken care of, did he mean he had dealt with Sly and Kevin? Could it be possible? Two Level Four Beast Masters taken down by a Level Three?
It seemed unbelievable if it were anyone else!
But considering it was Charles, Raj pressed on, “Charles, did you run into Sly and Kevin when you were out today?”
“Right, you can tell David and Henry that the pharmaceutical business inside Lsengard, as well as the ventures of the Taylor family and the Draven family, are up for grabs,” Charles didn’t directly answer but made his point before hanging up.
Holding his phone, Raj stood in a daze. He understood what Charles implied. Without Sly and Kevin, who could snatch their business away?
Only with both of them dead could the Draven and Taylor families’ enterprises be taken over without cost.
Realizing the possibility, Raj immediately called David and Henry to discuss urgent matters. He also sent people to watch all entrances to Lsengard, to see if Sly and Kevin would return.
Meanwhile, Charles wasn’t dwelling on these complexities. With more than an hour before he needed to pick someone up at the station, he had enough time to retrieve the money Kevin promised from the Draven family.
Using the darkness cloak, Charles effortlessly transferred the last of the Draven family’s money and materials into his storage space.
The haul wasn’t significant—only 3000 silver coins, equivalent to 3 gold coins, along with some materials. It was sufficient, though, even if he didn’t encounter Thomas inside the Draven family. Following his principle of thoroughly eliminating threats, Charles wouldn’t have minded sending him to join Kevin.
As for the Taylor family, Charles decided not to bother checking them out—if the Taylor family still had money, they wouldn’t have sought loans.
After wrapping up everything, it was already 3:40 PM by the time Charles showed up at the Lsengard train station’s exit, waiting for the person from the photo. After a long wait, the individual still hadn’t appeared.
“Could it be that the person looks too different from the photo, and I didn’t recognize them? No, that golden hair should be easy to spot.”
As the last of the passengers from the current train batch filed out, Charles still hadn’t seen a woman with golden hair.
Just as he was about to message Ezra to ask for details, a few texts came through:
[Charles, where are you? I, David, and Henry didn’t see you at the villa.] The sender was Raj.
[I’m at Lsengard station, picking someone up who’s going to Cyber Academy with me. It’ll be a while before I can get back.] Charles replied.
[Got it, we’ll come to you. Should be there soon!]
[Okay.] After sending the final message, Charles pocketed his phone and continued watching the station exit.
About ten minutes later, a stunning woman with golden hair and blue eyes, escorted by police officers, walked out from inside the station.