Chapter 73: The Price of Arrogance
"How are you still alive?!!" Caleb stood up, his eyes wide open. Caleb’s mind completely failed to process the anomaly standing before him. The calculated trap in the dungeon was supposed to be an absolute death sentence.
"And how did you advance to SSS-RANK?! Weren’t you just B-Rank yesterday?!!" He added in shock.
’Impossible! How did he survive?! Lady Luna even sent one of her men, then how?!’ He thought. The sheer absurdity of the timeline broke every established law of Awakened progression.
There was no way Asher was strong enough to survive an SSS-RANK, when he was just B-Rank, so seeing him standing here, was too shocking to Caleb.
His father stared at Asher, then at the bodies of his men. From his Son’s current behavior, he could tell these two were enemies, but those who would dare go against his family, even killing his guards, wouldn’t be from weak families. The young man’s strength proves this, so he placed a forced smile on his face. The patriarch’s political instincts immediately took over, attempting to calculate the risk and de-escalate the terrifying silence radiating from the boy.
"What should I call you Young man?" He asked.
"Oh, I am honored you even remembered my previous rank." Asher said with a smile, standing by the door, completely ignoring the man; his gaze fixed on Caleb. Asher’s disregard for the patriarch wasn’t just arrogance; it was the chilling detachment of a predator eyeing its confirmed prey. The hierarchy of his old world meant absolutely nothing to him anymore.
Caleb gritted his teeth, and looked over his shoulder at his father, then nodded, a smile appearing on his face:
"Dad!! He is Asher, the useless waste from the Starfire family... Luna sent us to deal with him because he publicly disrespected her, I didn’t expect him to show up here causing trouble!" He yelled, quickly justifying his actions as helping an older sister teach her younger brother some manners.
"Is that so?" His father slowly nodded his head:
’So he is that bastard that just got married... But if my guess is right, he should be E-Rank, not B-Rank, and definitely not SSS-RANK, how did he advance this much in just one month?’ He nodded his head, and opened his mouth:
"May I know why you are here, and I also need an explanation for my guards." The patriarch attempted to leverage his social standing, entirely misjudging the monster he was negotiating with.
Asher stared at the man, then pointed at Caleb: "He sent people to cripple me in a Dungeon, I am here to do the exact same thing to him... If you let me break something, I will overlook this battle." He said with a smile, and added:
"Of course, I am going to break something from both of your sons." His terms were absolute. There was no negotiation, no room for maneuvering—just the raw, uncompromising mechanics of revenge.
"Insolence!!"
The man smashed his palm on the small table, instantly shattered it, as his aura of an SS-RANK burst out from him, spreading all over the place.
"What do you take my family for?!! If my son sent someone to cripple you! At most, we can compensate you with money, and some evolution stones or weapons, nothing else!!" He yelled. The father’s response highlighted the rot at the core of the Noble families. They believed resources could simply buy away the consequences of murder.
"Old man, it seems you don’t know your standing."
Asher took a step forward, and the next moment, his aura burst out, spreading all over the sitting room like a tide, creating cracks all over the place.
THUD!!
The father and Son dropped to their knees under the pressure, their faces turning pale. The gravitational weight of an SSS-Rank aura was a physical manifestation of dominance. The difference between SS and SSS wasn’t just a tier; it was an evolutionary chasm.
"When an SSS-RANK speaks, those below can only listen." He added coldly.
"You are very arrogant kid!!!"
"...?!"
Asher clenched his fist, and sent a straight punch towards the light heading towards him.
BOOOOM!!
The wave of the attack forced him right back out of the mansion, into the front yard:
"Oh, you must be the guardian." Asher said, staring at the old man standing at the door.
"Grandfather!! Make sure you teach that Bastard--"
SLAP!!
The slap echoed all over the place, throwing Caleb to the ground, he and his father blinked, both stunned.
"Haven’t you caused enough problems for once!!" He yelled, pointing a finger at his useless grandson.
"But Dad, he is just playing--"
"--If you complete that sentence, I will take away your position as the head of this family!" The old man snapped his gaze towards his son, freezing him in place. The true pillar of the Warsaw family understood the catastrophic reality they were facing.
Survival trumped familial pride.
’These bastards!! I am an Earth Warrior Awakened, and also an SSS-RANK, there aren’t many people that can block a single punch from me. But this kid blocked it, and only moved twenty meters back at most, his arm isn’t even dislocated... He might be young, but his powers are greater than mine.’ He thought, staring fully at Asher:
"Young man, I heard everything you said, but can you see the brighter picture and spare the two young masters... I promised, they will be punished." He said, joining his hands together.
"Brighter picture? Do I look like a painter to you? And spare those two? Let me ask you. If his plan had worked out as he planned, and I died in that dungeon, what will happen to my own family? Answer this question, and I might spare them." He said, his gaze cold. Asher’s logic was impenetrable, forged in the fires of abandonment and betrayal. Empathy was a luxury he could no longer afford.
"You bastard!! My grandfather is giving you a way out!! How dare you refuse--"
Caleb instantly froze as Asher appeared right in front of him, almost like he teleported. Before he could scream in shock, a punch smashed right into his abdomen, easily shattering his core, and crippling all his strength, turning him into an average human... Asher went further, and activated Sword Sovereign, sending a wave of red aura all over, which washed over the entire estate, stunning everyone in place. The dismantling of a high-tier Awakened took less than a second, executed with surgical, unfeeling precision.
"You?" Caleb gasped in terror.
They were all dumbfounded.
"How dare you?!!!"