Chapter 78: A Promise Kept In Cruelty
"Alright Luna!! I want to see why you are called a Mad woman on the battlefield!!! Show these old bones what he is missing---"
The SSS-Rank Earth aura flared, cracking the foundation of the estate as Tanaka desperately tried to summon his defensive domain. He had survived decades of guild wars, confident that his seasoned experience could outmatch the raw, unhinged power of a younger Awakened, but...
Tanaka froze, staring at Luna who was standing right in front of him, her smirk widened:
Her movement didn’t disturb the air. It bypassed the physical laws of velocity entirely, a terrifying hallmark of an assassin who had transcended standard elemental limits.
"Never wish for what you can’t control."
WHOOSH!
He only saw a flash of light, and the next moment, he was dropped to the ground, his arms and legs cut off. It took some seconds before the pain shot towards his brain. The sheer speed of the dismemberment temporarily cauterized the nerve endings, a surgical strike executed with a brutality that defied logic.
"ARGHHHHHHHH!!!"
Luna stood with a smirk, around her was red thread, sticking right out from her back, moving like living creatures. The threads hummed with a sinister, vampiric frequency. This wasn’t standard energy; it was a forbidden synthesis of life-force and aura manipulation, a closely guarded secret of the Starfire lineage’s first child.
"What are you?! I thought you’re a Wind Assassin?!" He yelled amidst the pain, blood pooling the ground.
"I am indeed a Wind Assassin, and if we are comparing elements, I have a huge advantage over you... But that isn’t the reason, it’s because I have something no one else has..." She moved her gaze around the estate, spreading her energy all over. Her sensory net expanded, bypassing the advanced wards of the Warsaw family as easily as tearing through wet paper, mapping the thermal and energy signatures of every living soul within the compound.
"There are a total of 58 people in this estate... Alright then." She lowered her gaze to him again, and grinned:
"I wanted the ring, but now, I will wipe out everyone in this estate."
".....?!!"
Before the two stunned bodyguards could even think about running, their heads flew into the air, but instead of hitting the ground, the red thread stick into the two bleeding heads, moving it towards Luna. The threads acted as parasitic tethers, instantly draining the residual spirit energy from the severed heads to fuel Luna’s expanding domain.
WHOOSH!!
Before the Horrified Tanaka, the threads scattered all over the place, moving upstairs, passing through the window, and any exit available.
__
[One Minute Later.]
"Wow, you are truly an SSS-RANK Awakened, even with this much blood loss, you aren’t dead." Luna said with a smile, creating more cut wounds on Tanaka’s body:
The immense vitality of an SSS-Rank was a curse in moments of torture. His enhanced cellular regeneration fought a losing battle against Luna’s continuous, agonizing incisions, keeping his brain perfectly conscious and aware.
"Tell me, where is the War Ring?" She asked.
"I will never tell you!! The ring will be buried with this family!"
"Oh."
Luna paused, as her thread moved back towards her, each holding a head of a human. Tanaka froze in shock, staring at the heads of his son, daughter-in-law, two grandsons, and all his workers and guards who were caught by Asher’s paralyzing skill.
Asher’s prior judgment had unknowingly set the stage for a perfect slaughter. Unable to move, fight, or even scream, the Warsaw family had been harvested like ripe fruit; their absolute helplessness made Luna’s gruesome job terrifyingly simple.
"You?!!! You are a monster!!" He screamed at Luna, tears rolling down his cheek.
"Monster?! You just called me a mad woman, is there any difference?" Luna asked with a sneer, and moved her fingers towards the stairs.
Tanaka forced his neck to the side, and his eyes widened in disbelief, staring at his granddaughter, a ten years old kid, getting dragged towards them by the thread, she was paralyzed, but conscious. The child’s eyes were wide with a silent, absolute terror.
"No!! Please don’t kill her!! I will do anything, please!!"
"Just tell me where the Ring is, I promise, I won’t kill her... I never go back on my words." Luna muttered, her tone deadly calm, as blood rain down the heads hovering all around them.
"In the kitchen store room, there is an underground door, the... The ring is there." He said with gritted teeth.
"Alright."
Two threads moved towards the location, and in less than a minute, brought back a box. Luna took the Box, and with a smile, she opened it, staring at the red ring inside. The holographic awakened system prompt glowed with a crimson light.
[War Ring: In time of war, there is no Peace, in Time of Peace, there is no true Peace.]
[Ability: +50,000 in all Stats. As long the ring is worn, you can see through all Stealth, sneak attacks, illusions and traps.]
[Second Ability: [Can only be used by SSS-RANK]: Once killed, you gain a second life at the cost of the ring, Half Mythic-Tier.]
’Half Mythic-Tier? You can say this ring was once a Mythic-Tier Equipment, but after the years, it declined... It’s no different from an Upper grade Divine-Tier equipment.’ She thought, and without hesitation, placed the ring in her finger.
"If you have given this to me from the start, none of this would have happened, their deaths are on you." She said, as her red threads vanished, dropping the heads on the ground.
"Don’t worry, I won’t kill your granddaughter, as I said, I never go back on my words."
She added, walking out of the estate, taking the little girl with her.
’I am sorry everyone.’ Tanaka thought, breathing his last.
__
Once outside, she placed the paralyzed girl on the ground, and turned towards the building.
"Master."
A dark figure landed behind her, dropping to one knee, his head bowed. The Shadow Vanguard of the Starfire family operated outside the bounds of the Awakened Association’s laws. They were the cleanup crew, the silent erasers of history who ensured no loose ends could ever trace back to the main branch.
"Good you are here... Destroy that kid’s core, and throw her to the slums, whatever fate awaits is on her... But make sure you don’t kill her in the process." She instructed.
Luna’s malicious compliance with her own promise highlighted the true cruelty of the world. A mortal child dumped in the Awakened-ruled slums was a death sentence far more agonizing than a quick blade.
"I obey!"
The man nodded his head, a small frown on his face, the girl before him was simply too young, destroying her core will surely get her killed, or cause some internal issues. But he won’t voice his worries, he was given a job, and he plans to complete it. His own moral compass had long been overridden by absolute obedience to the hierarchy.
"And second... Burn this whole estate, make it look like a huge battle happened here."
"I obey!"
Luna nodded her head, opened her umbrella again, and covered herself, walking out of the estate, and into the night.
’Finally done, I am coming baby brother.’