Chapter 28: Mother's Life and Death
Linley cautiously glanced to both sides, then said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I’ll dismiss those outside.” With that, Linley walked to the door and directly barked at the two guards outside the hall: “Both of you, leave. Without my orders, no one is to enter the courtyard.”
“Yes, Lord Linley.”
The two guards respectfully departed, and the entire private courtyard was left with only Linley, Clayde, Melite, and Ransem.
“Creak.” Linley quietly closed the door.
“Linley, what matter is so mysterious that you have to close the door?” Clayde said with a smile.
Linley glanced at Clayde, sneering inwardly. He knew very well that Clayde had already been poisoned with Hemolytic Poison. The poison posed no harm to the body, only obstructing the flow of battle qi. As long as Clayde didn’t circulate his battle qi, he wouldn’t discover he’d been poisoned.
“This matter is indeed very important.” Linley’s expression turned solemn.
But at this moment, Ransem quietly moved closer to Clayde. As the king’s personal attendant, Ransem sensed that the current environment was somewhat threatening. In his view, with His Majesty’s strength as a rank 9 warrior and his own as a rank 8, no one here could threaten them.
Still, caution never hurt.
“Your Majesty.” Linley looked gravely at Clayde. “My mother passed away when I was very young.”
Clayde nodded. He had investigated Linley’s background. Linley’s mother had died from complications during childbirth when giving birth to Linley’s younger brother, Wharton.
“In my memories, I never felt much maternal love. All I remember is a strict father. My father was very hard on me, whether in warrior training or in the various aspects of noble education. His demands were high and severe.”
Linley looked at Clayde as he spoke slowly.
Clayde was somewhat puzzled. He didn’t understand what Linley’s story had to do with the so-called important matter. But as a king, Clayde had the grace not to interrupt Linley.
“I’m sure Your Majesty also knows. My Baruch clan is the Dragonblood Warrior clan.” A hint of pride appeared on Linley’s face.
“Yes, one of the four ultimate warrior clans—the Dragonblood Warrior clan. A glorious ancient family.” Clayde praised.
Linley shook his head and said, “That’s just past glory. My clan has declined to the point where we’ve even lost our heirloom treasure. For centuries, every generation of the Baruch clan has sought to reclaim that treasure, but none have succeeded. Your Majesty, do you know what my father said to me on the day I was admitted to the Ernst Institute of Magic, the day I left home?”
“What did he say?” Clayde looked at Linley.
“My father said that if I didn’t reclaim the clan’s heirloom treasure, he would never forgive me—even in death!” Linley’s body trembled slightly.
Clayde, Melite, and even Ransem couldn’t help but widen their eyes. A father saying such a thing to his son? “Your father went too far,” Clayde said.
“No.”
Linley shook his head solemnly. “I understand my father’s wish. The Dragonblood Warrior clan has languished for centuries, with no true strong warrior emerging. My father knew that I would be the strongest in centuries. The hope of centuries rests on my shoulders. Tell me, could my father tolerate my failure?” Clayde began to understand.
“My father’s lifelong hope was to see the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ return to the clan.” Linley’s voice grew sharper. “At the Ernst Institute, I never dared to relax. I trained relentlessly, always carrying my father’s hope and his command!”
Clayde and the others began to grasp what Linley was feeling.
“About half a year ago, after my ‘Awakening from a Dream’ stone sculpture was auctioned, I returned home. That time, I brought the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ back with me.” Linley’s voice rose.
Clayde, Ransem, and Melite were stunned.
Because they knew that by then, Linley’s father had already died.
“But when I rushed home in excitement, I was met with the news of my father’s death. He died without ever seeing the warblade ‘Slaughterer.’ I didn’t even get to see him one last time. All those years of hard training, hoping to make him happy—but in the end…” Linley’s face began to twitch, his expression terrifying.
Clayde and the others understood the depth of Linley’s feelings.
“Linley, don’t be too sad,” Clayde said with a sigh.
But Linley gave a cold smile. “But do you know how my father died?”
Clayde, Melite, and Ransem were taken aback.
“My father was killed by Your Majesty’s younger brother, Duke Patterson!” Linley’s eyes reddened.
“What!” Clayde was shocked. Melite and Ransem were also greatly surprised.
“So I killed Patterson!” Linley’s voice turned sinister.
At that moment, Ransem was the first to sense the shift in the room’s atmosphere. He warily moved closer to Clayde, constantly on guard against Linley. But then, Ransem heard a whoosh of wind. As a rank 8 warrior, he knew he couldn’t turn in time, so he raised his arm to block.
“Crack!”
A sharp pain shot through him, and then Ransem could no longer feel his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw—
A magebeast, shaped like a rat and half a meter long, stood before him with blood dripping from its mouth. Besides its bloodstained fangs, he noticed its rapidly swinging claws. At such close range, Ransem had no time to dodge.
Too fast!!!
“Pfft.”
The claws directly tore through Ransem’s throat. Ransem stared blankly at the scene as his vision slowly dimmed.
He couldn’t understand where this half-meter-long magebeast rat had come from. He had carefully scanned the room upon entering. He had only noticed a palm-sized shadowrat lying on the carpet.
A palm-sized black shadowrat—was that a threat?
To a rank 8 warrior, it was no threat at all. Ransem hadn’t been on guard.
And so, caught off guard, this rank 8 warrior was killed so easily by the shadowrat, Bebe. In truth, he didn’t die unjustly. Given Bebe’s strength, even in a direct fight, Ransem probably wouldn’t have lasted many moves.
“Ransem!” Clayde and Melite were both horrified.
A rank 8 warrior, dead in an instant. They both stared in shock at the magebeast shadowrat. Under their gaze, Bebe shrank back to palm size and finally jumped onto Linley’s shoulder.
“Bebe, well done.” Linley stroked Bebe’s little head.
Bebe squinted his eyes in enjoyment.
Linley turned back to look at Clayde. The coldness in his gaze sent a chill through Clayde’s heart.
“Linley, what are you doing?” Clayde shouted coldly, simultaneously trying to circulate his battle qi. But at that moment, Clayde felt that his normally smooth meridians were now completely blocked.
His vast battle qi, which once surged like a tidal wave, could now only trickle like a small stream, sometimes even breaking off entirely. At this point, Clayde’s battle qi was barely one percent of its peak.
“Your Majesty, don’t shout or resist. Resist, and you die,” Linley said calmly.
Clayde instantly understood his situation.
Now, he could only rely on his physical strength. At his current level, he was barely as strong as a rank 6 warrior. But that little shadowrat on Linley’s shoulder had just killed a rank 8 warrior in an instant.
Clayde had no doubt that Linley and his magebeast could kill him instantly.
“Linley, you dare—you dare to assassinate His Majesty?” the terrified Melite couldn’t help shouting.
“Shut up,” Linley said coldly, glancing at Melite.
Melite’s physical strength wasn’t great, and now his battle qi was nearly completely blocked. His physical strength barely matched a rank 4 warrior.
Melite also realized his situation and didn’t dare shout at Linley, but he still tried to persuade him: “Linley, you have a bright future ahead. You could become a high-ranking member of the Radiant Church, maybe even the next Radiant Pope. Why throw it all away now? Linley, I believe His Majesty will surely forgive you for killing Patterson. He brought it on himself by going after your father.” Melite looked at Clayde as he spoke.
Clayde also nodded. “Linley, we can pretend this never happened. Patterson is dead, and that’s that.”
“Linley, His Majesty has said it. Don’t be foolish!” Melite quickly added.
“Shut up!” Linley suddenly swung his hand.
Linley’s fingers, like steel claws, grabbed Melite’s throat and lifted him off the ground.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Melite stared at Linley in terror, pleading with his eyes.
“Linley,” Clayde called out.
But Linley sneered, tightened his grip, and then let go.
“Crack!” Melite fell to the ground, clutching his throat, making faint choking sounds. In his dying moments, he couldn’t believe that coming here with King Clayde today would end like this.
In his final instant, Melite recalled scenes from his life. What came to mind most were women.
“If I’d known Linley would kill me, I shouldn’t have let that Alice go that day,” Melite thought at the very end.
Linley sneered as he looked at Clayde.
“Linley, why are you targeting me? Haven’t I treated you well?” Clayde looked at Linley, but inwardly he prayed: “Snow Lion, bring people quickly. Hurry, hurry!!!” As a rank 9 warrior, Clayde also had a magebeast.
Snow Lion, a rank 8 Ice Snow Lion from the north, usually stayed in the palace.
Through their soul contract, Snow Lion and Clayde were connected. The moment Clayde encountered danger, Snow Lion had already sensed it. Clayde knew that what he had to do now was… stall for time, as much as possible!
“Yes, you’ve treated me well. But what about my mother?” Linley stared intently at Clayde.
If Clayde hadn’t sent people to abduct his mother back then, his father might still be alive, and his mother would still be at home. Both his parents should still be alive! But because of Clayde’s actions back then, he had lost both parents.
“Mother? Didn’t your mother die in childbirth?” Clayde asked, puzzled.
“Childbirth?” Linley laughed, a wild, manic laugh, then glared coldly at Clayde. “That was just a cover-up lie. Clayde, after my mother gave birth to my brother, she and my father went to the Radiant Temple to pray. But that very night, back at the inn, she was kidnapped.”
“Clayde, have you forgotten? Twelve years ago, you ordered Patterson to kidnap my mother?” Linley stared coldly at Clayde. “Don’t deny it. Patterson confessed everything.”
“That… that was your mother?” Clayde was completely stunned.
“What, remember now?” Linley’s eyes blazed with murderous intent. “Tell me, what happened to my mother? Is she alive or dead?”
Clayde said calmly, “Your mother, I handed her over to someone else. Someone you can’t afford to offend. Someone I can’t afford to offend either.”
“Someone else?” Linley was completely confused.
At the same time, a glimmer of hope rose in Linley’s heart. A person even Clayde dared not offend had taken his mother. There must be an important reason. Perhaps… his mother was still alive.
Clayde sneered and said, “But I can tell you this: your mother is already dead. She’s definitely dead.”
“No.” Linley’s eyes widened.
“You don’t believe me?” Clayde laughed, even at this point.