Chapter 21: My Rules
All things in the world are in constant flux within the river of time. The sun rises, the moon waxes and wanes; seas change to mulberry fields; plains wither into deserts under drought; lava solidifies into islands within seawater. Even the seemingly eternal towering peaks will eventually collapse in a violent tremor, and the world itself will ultimately return to destruction.
But some things never change.
Facing the wave of despairing shadows surging toward him like a tide, Colin let out a terrified shriek. The over-fifty-year-old vice deputy lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to look directly at the figure in midair. He turned his head in panic toward the man he served—the second son of the Suwold family—but found himself as if strangled, unable to utter a single sound.
"Ahhh—"
An invisible, twisting current of air enveloped Cleiman in an instant. This promising middle-aged noble hadn't even managed to speak half a sentence before his entire body burst into fierce flames. He felt no pain, for the searing heat ignited his skin and flesh in an instant, vaporizing his bones and organs. In the blink of an eye, Cleiman turned to ash, scattering into smoke.
From midair, a voice came.
"You are not innocent either."
It was a voice like the clashing of steel—resonant, cold, and ruthless. Upon hearing it, Colin felt as if he were plunged into a sea of fire. An unimaginable heat tore at his soul. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, not daring to open them again. The image of Cleiman turning to dust in the blink of an eye replayed in his mind, filling the man with boundless fear and despair.
Joshua, who had long since arrived above the manor and heard every word of their conversation, coldly gazed down at the middle-aged man kneeling and trembling on the ground in the half-destroyed estate. In a calm voice, he said, "But I do not kill indiscriminately. Six of my subordinates died, so I will only kill six. Tell me who the other masterminds are and where they are hiding, and I will spare your life."
Although most nobles had residences in the Imperial Capital, not everyone lived in the Three Mountains Holy City. His Majesty the Emperor's power enveloped the entire city, rendering all schemes and conspiracies impossible to conceal. Both the Feltao family and the Suwold family had manors and vacation villas in cities and suburbs near the Imperial Capital for their daily affairs.
Adeiman Carlos, though a power-hungry and foolish young man, had worked by Alfonso's side long enough to know some information—such as the location of the Suwold family's suburban manor.
"Lord Count... Lord Count, we are not the masterminds..."
Amid the crackling sounds of the burning manor and bursting timber, Colin struggled to open his mouth, forcing down his fear, and stammered, "The Feltao family—the Feltao family is the real mastermind! Although we reached a cooperation agreement, it was them who made the moves!"
If the man hadn't yet realized the identity of the other party, he would never have risen from a commoner to become the vice deputy of the Suwold family's Imperial Capital representative. The warrior who had killed Cleiman without hesitation could only be Joshua von Radcliffe—the infamous Northern Territory lord, the Dragon-Slayer, a warrior capable of matching an entire army single-handedly.
His appearance left Colin so shocked he could barely think. Neither he nor Cleiman had ever imagined that the current head of the Radcliffe family would personally take action for the sake of a few representatives. If someone had told him ten minutes ago, Colin would have thought it as absurd as a dream. But it had already happened, and the man could only accept reality.
"A few days ago..." Fearing that the scorching radiance would blind him, Colin dared not look directly at the warrior. He knelt prostrate, his face pressed against the floor, his muffled voice emerging from between his hands: "The people of the Feltao family returned to the Imperial Capital... They are in their mansion!"
"Very well."
Joshua nodded slightly. Without wasting words, he casually swung his greatsword. The sweeping force collapsed the other side of the mansion as well, sending bricks and stones tumbling. Colin stood frozen in fear, but the seemingly rough yet meticulously controlled power destroyed the entire estate without letting a single piece of debris touch his body.
A flash of crimson flame, a gust of wind—the warrior had vanished. Only the vice deputy remained kneeling among the ruins, still afraid to move. After a long while, he finally rose tremblingly, confirmed he was unharmed, and wept with joy.
Along the way, the messenger knight named Nack hid among the bushes. His horse had long been released, and he himself was shivering in terror—Nack had witnessed the Suwold family's manor not far away reduced to rubble in the flames. The pressure of an Ultimate-rank expert radiated outward, forcing this Gold-rank knight to hold his breath and hide.
Soon, a streak of crimson light shot across the sky. Nack felt an icy gaze sweep over his body. His hiding was as futile as an ostrich burying its head in the sand, but the streak of light showed no intention of stopping. It passed straight by, speeding toward the Imperial Capital.
—He had escaped with his life. The knight stood stunned for several seconds, only reacting after the streak of light disappeared into the distance. He knew his survival was not due to his strength, but because the other party had no intention of killing him—just as humans do not deliberately step on ants by the roadside.
And in the Imperial Capital.
The Feltao family mansion.
Located in the northern district of the Imperial Capital, the Feltao family mansion was less a noble's beloved manor or villa and more a sturdy, small fortress. It was entirely black, its whole structure built from flash-black rock from the Barad wilderness in the empire's northwest. This tough, somewhat magic-resistant stone was typically used by dwarves to build temples, but the Feltao family used it for their own residence.
Unlike the artistically beautiful houses surrounding it, this mansion's aura was utterly distinctive and out of place. Walls over twelve feet high were piled with complete boulders, then filled with molten iron to seal the gaps. At the mansion's four corners stood four small watchtowers, beneath fluttering banners, where vigilant guards monitored everything around.
Founded on military merit and rising through weapons, the Feltao family never forgot their roots. These nobles with dwarven blood were always on alert, waiting for possible battle. Every member of the Feltao family was sent to the battlefield before coming of age. Only those who experienced combat and survived could come of age and formally become family members.
Tam Feltao stood atop his family's mansion—or rather, fortress. The Feltao family's finances were indeed growing tighter, and that did not change because of anyone's indignation. As for these brothers of his, who were probably intellectually deficient, Tam had no interest in dealing with or teaching them. He simply let them do as they pleased.
The plan to attack the Radcliffe family's industries and assassinate their managers was their idea. Perhaps due to their youthful arrogance, they felt no fear of retaliation from the Radcliffe family and even questioned whether Joshua's strength might be exaggerated. These proud young men simply refused to acknowledge that someone not much older than them could be an Ultimate-rank expert, so they acted decisively.
Tam let them do as they pleased. He didn't care at all. If such behavior could keep these two brothers of his in line, the half-dwarf thought it might not be a bad thing. But unexpectedly, for some reason, after the death of the Radcliffe family's representative, Alfonso Carlos, his family showed no reaction at all. Joshua also made no statement, as if nothing had happened.
Tam sensed something was wrong. He signaled for his brothers to stop, but the young men mocked his caution and prudence as cowardice and incompetence. Faced with the seemingly weak Joshua, they practically went all out. Within a few days, most of the Carlos family were dead or wounded. The Radcliffe family's industries in the empire's central region had largely lost direct contact with the main family, falling into semi-paralysis. The Feltao family quickly reclaimed a significant share of the weapons market, while their cooperating Suwold family secured many ore orders.
Everything seemed perfect, except for the Radcliffe family's strange attitude. Thinking of his two younger brothers, who increasingly looked down on him as their elder brother, Tam took a deep drag of his pipe and exhaled. He knew, of course, that if one wanted to sabotage a competitor's industry, attacking the top management was the most convenient method. But such tactics could not last. Even if temporary gains were made, they would later suffer enormous losses under the vengeful retaliation of other families.
How could he explain this reasoning to those hot-headed half-dwarves? Tam had no intention of trying. He only cared about himself. As for educating his brothers, that was their father's job.
Glancing around his fortress-like mansion, Tam nodded with satisfaction.
The Feltao family residence was originally based on their fortress in the northwestern territory. Most Feltao family members lived in this fortress, growing up, marrying, and having children. While the fortress called Black Flag was not the empire's strongest bastion, it was undoubtedly one of the most formidable fortresses in the northwest. Historically, during their peak, the orcs had repeatedly sent massive armies to sweep across the empire's northwest, and only the Feltao family, relying on Black Flag Fortress, had barely managed to hold their territory.
An instinct from his dwarven blood made Tam love these fortresses built from massive boulders. They made him feel incredibly safe. And indeed, aside from the Morlai Palace where the Imperial Emperor resided and the Imperial Royal Mage Academy where countless mages gathered, there was almost no mansion more solid than the Feltao family fortress.
Except for the relatively damp and cold environment, but compared to safety, that was nothing.
But suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine.
In the distant sky, a red streak of light suddenly appeared. It was so swift that it looked like a meteor streaking horizontally across the sky. Standing atop his mansion, Tam saw this meteor through the gaps between the three mountains. But for some reason, he felt no beauty in it—only immense danger.
He extinguished his pipe, preparing to focus and observe, but the result shocked him deeply. In just a few breaths, the red light had crossed a vast distance and arrived near the three mountains.
A massive surge of power instantly triggered the defensive arrays around the Imperial Capital. With a faint hum, a colossal array spanning nearly a hundred kilometers in radius, covering all areas around the three mountains, materialized in the sky. Vast amounts of arcane power began to mobilize, attempting to suppress this unstable crimson meteor.
But it was useless. The meteor was like an unstoppable spear, breaking through all barriers and obstructions as if they didn't exist. Twenty-four layers of semi-solid air barriers were easily torn apart, producing crisp sounds like shattering glass. But before the sound could travel, the crimson streak had already reached above the Imperial Capital's walls.
The defenses above the Imperial Capital's walls were even more robust than those around the mountain slopes. Golden chains rose from the white walls, forming cocoons of light that attempted to envelop the crimson streak. But a burst of flame bloomed, and the dense chains all turned into motes of energy, shattered into nothing.
By this time, Tam had only just shouted a warning to the guards on the watchtowers. He was about to return to the mansion to prepare the two bold young underground dwellers for defense, but the crimson streak had already arrived above the fortress-like mansion—comparable in defense, if not in scale.
There was no sonic boom, no hurricane. The air was pushed aside by some unknown force, then forcibly stabilized. The crimson streak was spectacular in appearance yet eerily silent, so much so that many Imperial Capital residents who hadn't looked up didn't even notice its arrival.
Tam turned his head in shock, looking at the crimson streak, and let out a scream. The blinding light nearly seared his eyes in an instant, and even so, it temporarily blinded this Gold-rank low-level Rock Warrior.
But before that, Tam had already recognized the identity of the other party, and it made his heart tremble violently.
Joshua!
The current head of the Radcliffe family!
He had actually come to the Imperial Capital, breaking through layers of defensive arrays with such overbearing, invasive momentum, arriving in the Imperial Capital!
What on earth did he want to do?!
Before Tam could figure it out, the warrior had already raised his greatsword. His movements were always faster than his enemy's thoughts, and this time was no exception—
With a single swing, the power of the Scorching Prison Aura was unleashed. Thousands of degrees of heat were compressed into an invisible shockwave. The clearly visible trajectory of the massive blade extended toward the black, solid fortress, from top to bottom.
Ripples spread. The impact arrived. In an instant, the fortress's main body caved in with a deafening rumble. Where the shockwave struck directly, it disintegrated into powder. Golden lava neatly split the black mansion in two.
This strike was so precise and swift that by the time the final wave of sword wind swept through, the center of the entire Feltao family mansion had been completely severed. Through the massive gap, one could even see inside the mansion—maids sitting on the ground in shock, guards on the surrounding watchtowers stumbling from the tilt of the building, nearly falling out.
But not a single innocent person died. The power was controlled so finely that it didn't even disturb the neighbors around the fortress. In less than two seconds, the two young family members in the Feltao family's basement were completely incinerated into nothing by the sun-like, searing sword wind, leaving not even dust behind.
Tam was not yet dead.
Among the ruins, the half-dwarf, whose lower body had been burned away by the flames and turned to ash, was buried in the sand and gravel of flash-black rock. He stared fixedly at the warrior in midair, who was sheathing his greatsword, his gaze filled with disbelief and fury.
"The Feltao family will retaliate!" The half-dwarf's temper was harder than stone. Even though his muscles trembled uncontrollably from fear, he still managed to spit out threats. Buried in the rubble, Tam coughed up a mouthful of blood from the impact, suppressed the intense dizziness of approaching death, and looked up at the sky with his half-blind eyes, uttering a vicious curse: "You rule-breaking bastard, all the northwestern nobles will—cough!"
Mid-sentence, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, then his pupils dilated, and he died.
To this, Joshua said nothing and made no response. He simply turned his head calmly to the south, toward the direction of the Morlai Palace.
And in the next instant, space shattered.
An enraged Legendary expert appeared before the warrior.
"Joshua!"
Israel Diamond wore a robe. There were still lip prints on his neck, from someone unknown. For reasons unspeakable, he had arrived one second too late, and the result was the complete annihilation of the Feltao family in the Imperial Capital: "What are you doing?!"
"Long time no see, Your Majesty the Emperor."
Standing in midair, with the collapsing black mansion behind him, Joshua calmly greeted the furious Legendary expert before him. The panicked, fearful screams of the Feltao family's servants echoed over the northern district of the Imperial Capital, but they could not drown out the warrior's softly spoken words: "As you can see, revenge."
Some things never change.
Just like now.
Joshua was not incapable of understanding the intricate rules of struggle among nobles. He understood very well that this was the cultural sediment of centuries. He imagined that Alfonso himself had long been prepared for death, and his son and vice deputy had easily accepted this fact.
But he would not. He never thought that far. He was Joshua. He wanted revenge. No one could stop him.
"...Hmph."
Israel glanced at the Feltao family mansion. With a single cold snort, he extinguished all the residual heat and lava. He noticed that aside from the three dead half-dwarves, there were no other casualties, and his emotions gradually calmed. He turned to look at Joshua and said coldly, "Though ruthless and unfair, this is the rule tacitly accepted by all experts across the continent. If everyone acted like you, how could order be maintained? Transcendent beings randomly attacking each other's homes? Do you want the main city of Moldavia to be attacked by others as well?"
Joshua's reply was even more straightforward: "Let them come if they dare."
The warrior didn't hesitate for a moment: "As for business matters, if they want to negotiate, I gladly accept. If they want to pressure me with force, then let them come and fight. I won't go for the kill either. But if they strike at my subordinates, I will take revenge directly."
"You just think you're stronger than all of them, so you have no scruples."
Israel laughed in anger. The Emperor couldn't be bothered with more words. He revealed a smile that Joshua found very familiar: "Fine, haven't you always wanted to challenge me?"
"Then come!"
The latter showed the same expression.
"Good."
The next instant.
Both vanished from the Imperial Capital.
In the high-altitude clouds of the early morning, brilliant rays of light began to glow.