Chapter 258: The Hostage Gambit
Chapter 258: The Hostage Gambit
Thousands of feet below the standoff, Stormveil City had descended into utter chaos.
The combined spiritual pressure of more than twenty Domain Master Realm powerhouses pressed down upon the outer districts like an invisible mountain range.
CRACK!
Roof tiles exploded off buildings.
The stone avenues of the eastern district spiderwebbed with fractures that ran for hundreds of feet.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
"The sky is falling! The Domain Masters are going to war!"
Tens of thousands of citizens and low-level cultivators poured through the streets in a screaming, trampling flood.
Spirit Manifestation cultivators who had strutted through these same streets a day ago were now crawling on their hands and knees, unable to even stand beneath the crushing weight bearing down from above.
If even a single blow was exchanged up there, the whole area would simply cease to exist.
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Inside a secure cabin on the Dawn-Breaker, Rhain, Seris, Liana, and Elara watched the escalating standoff.
Seeing the impending bloodshed that was about to engulf the city and her family, Elara’s intelligent blue eyes flashed with rapid calculation.
She quickly formulated a plan and turned to Rhain.
"Young master Rhain," Elara spoke urgently. "We must stop this fight. I have a plan."
She swiftly explained her idea.
Rhain listened, and gave a firm nod.
BANG!
The heavy cabin doors burst open, and a figure stepped out onto the deck.
It was Rhain.
But he was not alone.
In his firm grip was Elara Thunderwood, and pressed ruthlessly against her delicate throat was a razor-sharp knife.
The sight instantly stunned every single person present.
Especially Patriarch Thorian and the Thunderwood forces.
"ELARA!" Thorian roared, his eyes bulging in utter disbelief and terror as he saw his precious daughter held at knifepoint. "What is she doing there?"
Rhain put on a flawless performance.
He let out a dark, mocking laugh that echoed clearly across the sky.
"Hahaha! Patriarch Thorian!" Rhain sneered, adopting the persona of a ruthless villain cornered by his enemies. "Did you truly believe I would walk into a blockade of two great Noble Families without preparing something first? If you want your precious daughter to live, I command you to order your fleet to back off immediately!"
Thorian’s broad chest heaved with rage.
His Domain Master aura erupted with full might, shaking the clouds around him.
"Rhain Voss!" Thorian bellowed, his voice dripping with venom. "I once respected your strength and your courage! I never expected you to resort to such despicable cowardice!"
Rhain just let out another cold laugh, his dark grey eyes filled with malice.
"I am simply trying to save my own life," Rhain mocked. "A man must do whatever it takes to survive."
To sell the act, Elara let out a desperate, tearful plea.
"Father, please... save me!"
She subtly tilted her neck against the blade, allowing a tiny, convincing trail of crimson blood to trickle down her fair skin.
Seeing that thin line of blood on his daughter’s neck, Thorian’s heart practically stopped.
He could not bear to see his daughter harmed, not even a single hair on her head.
"STOP!" Thorian roared, raising his massive hand into the air. "Rhain, I swear on my ancestors that I will avenge this humiliation!"
He turned to his commanders, his face incredibly ugly. "Order the fleet to retreat! Let them pass!"
The Thunderwood forces reluctantly lowered their weapons and parted their massive war-skiffs, opening a clear path through the blockade.
Left entirely alone, Patriarch Caelan’s face twisted into an incredibly ugly grimace.
He knew perfectly well that without the Thunderwood fleet, his Valemere forces could absolutely not match the combined might of the Emberfords and the Academy by themselves.
"Curse it all! Retreat!" Caelan barked, waving his hand furiously.
As the two massive armadas began their humiliating retreat, Matriarch Seraphine stepped forward.
She turned to the Domain Masters of the Emberford Family and the Academy who had accompanied them.
"Stay behind," Seraphine ordered. "Ensure that the Valemere and Thunderwood forces do not attempt to follow us or launch a sneak attack from the rear."
"Yes, Matriarch!" the ten Domain Masters stood firmly in the sky to act as an impenetrable rearguard.
With the blockade successfully broken, the colossal golden leviathan, Dawn-Breaker, surged forward.
It blasted past the borders of Stormveil City, rushing at maximum speed toward the independent territory of Valdris City.
Inside the secure cabin on the skiff, the tense atmosphere suddenly shifted.
Elara’s cheeks flushed a rosy red.
She was pressed tightly against Rhain’s chest, his strong arm wrapped securely around her shoulder to hold the knife in place.
"Y-Young master Rhain," Elara whispered softly, her blue eyes darting away in deep embarrassment. "You can let me go now..."
She had never been this physically close to a man before, and the intimate proximity made her heart beat frantically against her ribs.
Rhain immediately withdrew the knife and took a swift step back, releasing her from his grip.
"My apologies, Lady Elara," Rhain said sincerely, offering a slight bow. "I hope I didn’t roughhandle you too much during the act."
Carmilla, Myrielle, Seraphine, and Lyra, who had followed them back into the cabin, stared at Rhain with wide eyes.
Rhain’s perfomance was so convincing that they had genuinely believed that he had taken Elara hostage out of sheer desperation to break the blockade!
"Wait..." Lyra muttered, her crimson eyes blinking in shock. "That was all an act?"
Elara shook her head, a graceful smile returning to her beautiful face.
"It was entirely my plan," Elara explained. "Young master Rhain merely played his part perfectly. You do not need to apologize, Rhain."
Elara then looked at Rhain with an earnest, pleading expression.
"Rhain, please do not harbor any anger toward my family," Elara asked softly. "My father was simply forced by the Emperor’s decree. He had no choice but to block your path today."
Rhain looked at her and gave a reassuring nod.
"I understand," Rhain promised calmly. "I won’t mind today’s events, provided the Thunderwood family causes no problems for us in the future."
Elara let out a long sigh of relief.
For the next few hours, the Dawn-Breaker tore through the skies without encountering a single obstacle.
They had covered a massive distance, leaving Stormveil City far behind.
The borders of the independent territory of Valdris City were only a short distance away.
If they crossed that line, they would be under the absolute protection of the Old Dean’s territory.
But just as they were about to cross into safety...
BOOM—!!!
The space around the colossal war-skiff violently locked down.
The sheer force of the spatial restriction was so overwhelmingly heavy that the Dawn-Breaker was forcefully halted in mid-air.
Everyone on the deck instantly rushed out, their auras erupting as they prepared for battle.
Hovering in the sky ahead, completely blocking their path, were ten figures.
They were dressed in unadorned grey robes, and every single one of them radiated the earth-shattering pressure of a true Domain Master!
Ten Domain Masters!
The Royal Court had dispatched an overwhelming force of assassins.
Rhain’s dark grey eyes narrowed dangerously.
He immediately recognized three of those figures hovering at the front.
They were the exact same assassins who had attacked him in the city the night before.
"It seems the Royal Court is truly desperate to see me dead," Rhain murmured, a chilling killing intent leaking from his voice.