Chapter 61: End (II)
A few people even opened their mouths, seemingly ready to laugh at the audacity of this so-called criminal daring to address the Patriarch in such a manner.
But strangely.....
Not a single laugh came.
The reason was simple.
Markovich was here.
As long as that man remained present, no one dared act recklessly. If their laughter happened to displease him, their lives could disappear before they even realized what had happened.
So the mocking expressions remained frozen on their faces.
One by one, the gazes of the surrounding people shifted toward the lone figure sitting above the execution stage.
Markovich Saint sat there like an indifferent deity overlooking the world below.
His expression remained unchanged.
His eyes were calm.
His posture was relaxed.
It was as though the anger of an ant beneath his feet had nothing to do with him.
Cole’s gaze also remained fixed upon him.
His eyes were cold enough to make the surrounding air seem heavier.
Somewhere deep within his heart, perhaps he had been expecting a reaction.
Anger.
Displeasure.
Ridicule.
Anything.
But there was nothing.
Markovich didn’t even seem to regard Cole’s words as worthy of acknowledgment.
It was as though Cole didn’t exist in his eyes.
That indifference was somehow more infuriating than any insult.
Cole remained silent.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the man who had once been his uncle.
Just what was he thinking?
Why was he so calm?
Why hadn’t he even bothered to look at him?
Cole couldn’t find the answer.
Then...
Markovich finally moved.
His cold gaze shifted away from Cole and landed upon Amorpheus.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
That single glance carried a meaning so obvious that Amorpheus immediately understood.
Finish this farce.
Quickly.
Amorpheus’s heart trembled.
Cold sweat instantly appeared across his forehead.
He had been enjoying the spectacle moments ago, but under that simple glance from his father, all of his excitement disappeared.
He hurriedly turned toward the guards.
"What are you waiting for?!"
His voice suddenly became sharp.
"Quickly!"
"Send both of them to the afterlife!"
The moment those words fell...
The atmosphere changed.
An elite guard slowly stepped forward.
Thud.
His foot landed heavily against the stone stage.
The entire ground seemed to tremble faintly beneath his weight.
His body was enormous, with muscles packed densely beneath his armor like layers of forged steel. Every step he took carried an oppressive force that made the surrounding crowd instinctively retreat.
At his waist hung an unusually large katana.
Its blade was longer and wider than an ordinary sword, the polished edge reflecting a cold, merciless light beneath the surrounding lamps.
The guard’s hand slowly wrapped around its hilt.
Shing...
The blade slid from its sheath.
A sharp metallic sound echoed across the execution stage.
Cole’s gaze slowly shifted toward the weapon.
His eyes remained completely calm.
There was no fear.
No hesitation.
Not even the slightest tremor.
He simply watched the approaching blade as though he were observing something completely unrelated to himself.
Compared to Cole’s eerie indifference...
Trisha had completely lost control.
"No!"
She violently struggled against the chains.
Her already weakened body trembled as she desperately tried to pull herself free.
"Stop!"
"Please!"
"Don’t touch the Young Master!"
Her voice cracked.
She didn’t care about the blood flowing from her wounds.
She didn’t care about the chains digging into her flesh.
She didn’t even seem to feel the pain anymore.
Her entire attention was focused on Cole.
"Let him go!"
Her voice became hoarse.
"Please... let him go..."
She struggled again, using whatever strength remained within her body.
The chains rattled violently.
Clang! Clang!
Yet the heavy restraints didn’t move.
Her body simply grew weaker.
Blood once again flowed from the wound across her chest.
Still...
She didn’t stop.
Not once did she beg them to spare her.
Not once did she mention her own injuries.
Not once did she ask them to let her live.
Every word that escaped her mouth was about Cole.
Every remaining ounce of strength was spent trying to protect him.
Until the very end...
Young Master Cole remained more important to her than herself.
The elite guard slowly raised his katana.
The enormous blade caught the light.
Its sharp edge hovered above Cole.
The surrounding crowd held their breath.
The execution stage fell into complete silence.
The outcome seemed inevitable.
The blade began descending. Feeling the sharp edge of the katana slowly pressing against the back of his neck, Cole couldn’t help but close his eyes.
The cold metal touched his skin, carrying a faint chill that seemed completely out of place beneath the heated atmosphere of the execution ground. For the first time since entering the Saint Family compound, Cole didn’t try to calculate another possibility.
Is this really the end...?
The thought quietly surfaced within his mind.
This time...
Death felt certain.
On Earth, Cole had done almost every reckless activity imaginable. He had jumped from planes without parachutes, climbed mountains that ordinary people wouldn’t dare approach, and descended into the deepest parts of the ocean simply to experience what it felt like to stand at the boundary between life and death.
He had always believed he understood danger.
He had always believed that when death approached, he would remain calm.
But none of those moments had ever felt like this.
There had always been an escape route.
A safety line.
A parachute.
A piece of equipment.
Some tiny possibility that he could survive.
But now...
There was nothing.
His wrists were bound.
His body was surrounded.
The strongest expert of Blessed Moon City stood nearby.
And the blade resting against his neck belonged to an elite warrior of the Saint Family.
Cole suddenly realized something.
I don’t want to die.
The thought was surprisingly simple.
There was no grand ambition behind it.
No heroic declaration.
No complicated reason.
He simply...
Didn’t want to die.
Not yet...
He hadn’t explored the Bloodline Path.
He hadn’t uncovered the secrets behind his perfect fusion.
He hadn’t mastered the Lightning Arrow.
He hadn’t even figured out what the mysterious Cube truly was.
And Trisha...
He hadn’t saved her.
His fingers slowly tightened beneath the restraints.
I still have so much left to do.
Yet...
There was nothing he could do.
At that exact moment, the elite guard’s arms moved.
The enormous katana suddenly descended.
Whoosh!
The blade tore through the air at terrifying speed.
The sound was sharp enough to make several people instinctively shiver.
The surrounding crowd immediately became excited.
Countless eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Some people couldn’t contain their excitement and secretly pulled out Memory Stones, eager to record the execution of the Saint Family’s disgraced young master.
Who could have imagined that one day...
The son of the strongest physical-path practitioner in Blessed Moon City would die inside his own family’s compound?
For those who had long harbored resentment toward Cole’s father, this was almost a gift from the heavens.
Some couldn’t even hide their gloating expressions.
"The man who protected Blessed Moon City couldn’t even protect his own son."
Another voice immediately followed.
"Strongest in Blessed Moon City, my ass."
Laughter quietly spread through the crowd.
For a fleeting moment...
It felt as though time itself had stopped.
Cole’s consciousness became strangely clear.
In that single instant, he seemed capable of seeing everything.
The eager faces.
The mocking smiles.
The people holding Memory Stones.
The trembling figure of Trisha.
The indifferent expression of Markovich.
The satisfied gaze of Amorpheus.
It was as though the entire world had suddenly slowed down.
Then...
The katana descended.
Puchi!
The razor-sharp blade pierced through the skin at the back of Cole’s neck.
A thin line of crimson immediately appeared.
Blood spilled from the wound.
The katana sank approximately an inch into his flesh.
Yet...
Cole didn’t feel pain.
His body had already undergone a complete transformation through the perfect fusion with the bloodline of an Abyssal Race.
His flesh was no longer comparable to that of an ordinary human.
The blade had pierced his skin...
But the sensation was barely stronger than a faint itch.
Unfortunately...
That didn’t change the situation.
Cole was completely defenseless.
His wrists remained locked in chains.
His body had been restrained.
He couldn’t move.
He couldn’t dodge.
He couldn’t stop the blade.
Even if his physical body was strong enough to survive the initial cut, the warrior wielding the katana could simply apply more force.
Sooner or later...
The blade would sever his neck.
Cole understood this perfectly.
There was no miracle.
No hidden escape route.
No technique that could suddenly save him.
For the first time...
The A.I. Chip had given him a probability of zero.
And now...
Reality was proving it right.
Cole’s eyes remained closed.
Blood slowly trickled down the back of his neck.
The katana continued pressing deeper.
He could feel the faint pressure increasing.
His thoughts became strangely quiet.
Perhaps...
This really was the end.
Cole took one final breath.
Then...
He silently accepted his fate.
However...