SWNOVELXO Chapter 1118: The Emperor's Palace
"Indeed," Chronos replied, his smile widening slightly, a hint of something predatory flickering in his eyes. "Slow, agonizing torment... much more satisfying."
He paused, letting his gaze drift over to the Drike family, who were observing them.
"It seems our friends here understand that principle quite well, don't they?" He released Alatar; the sudden absence of contact made the Angelic Prince subtly shift his shoulders, as if to ease a pressure.
Karyk stepped closer to the Drike family, stopping before the Patriarch. The last time he had met that person, there had been quite a difference in their strength, and an even larger gap in their influence.
At that time, he had been nothing more than a stray who needed the Drike family's help. He couldn't even say anything when he was suddenly commanded to enter the battlefield if he wanted to survive.
If he had been weak, he would have died a thousand times over in the Aetherian Realm, and the Drike family wouldn't have cared. He was nothing in their eyes, even though he had saved the life of their heir.
He had helped their child and brought him home safely. If not for him, only his corpse would have returned. But in the name of the reward, he had received only some money.
And even that, he wasn't allowed to spend before being sent to his death. It was all because he was nothing in their eyes.
Everything was different now. He wasn't the same stray anymore. Currently, he represented an Ancient Lord, a force that was comparable to the Drike family, if not stronger.
If anything, his new family's influence far surpassed the Drike family's. Moreover, by a strange twist of fate, he was standing next to the Angels, from whom he had saved the Drike Patriarch's son.
"Is there something you want to say?" Drike Family Patriarch asked, not recognising Karyk. Not only was his face different but even the entire essence within his heart was different.
The Drike Family was sensitive about a person's aura. They could even sense a person's natural affinity, but the bloodline that Karyk had stolen, protected him from this ability.
They couldn't see anything about Karyk, not even the trail of blood or bad karma attached to him through his past. He was only a complete blank slate in the endless passage of time.
Karyk produced a small token and tossed it to the Drike Family. "I met a very interesting person on the battlefield. I believe you know him. His name was..."
The Drike Family Patriarch caught the token, but the moment he heard the name, his expression darkened. It was the name of the young man he had sent to the battlefield.
The token, meanwhile, belonged to the person who was supposed to escort him there. Karyk must have killed that person, so it wasn't surprising that the token was now in his possession.
"He told me to return this to you. I must say, you are quite brutal. To send your savior to a place like this, that too without even a single treasure. Not half bad," Karyk smiled and turned around. "And people say I am brutal. Hah..."
He waved his hand and walked away, his sarcastic words leaving the Drike Family Leader's lips twitch.
He hadn't told his son that he had sent Karyk to the battlefield, as his son truly did consider that person his savior. But because of Karyk, his son had learned everything at the moment. Even his daughter was looking at him in surprise.
She had heard that Karyk was just sent somewhere to train. But if he was truly sent to the Battlefield, then was it really something that could be called training?
For an ignorant person without the resources of a great family behind them, entering the Battlefield was no different than a death sentence.
"Father... Did you...?" Aelric asked his father, his pupils trembling in disbelief. He had asked his father quite a few times about Karyk, and when he was going to return from the training.
His father always shifted the topic, and never quite answered him. But now that he heard Chronos' words that his father didn't deny, there was no way for him to deny that possibility.
"Is he still alive?" The Drike Patriarch opened his lips, only to ask Chronos.
"The last time I met him, he looked quite alive. As for now, who knows?" Karyk answered. "All I know is that he quite hated your family after learning what kind of place that actually was. The true face of the Drike Family is just that, it seems."
"Who are you talking about, brother Chronos? Who is this boy? Tell me more!" The Angelic Prince grew more excited, seeing the Drike Family's face distort.
Karyk lazily told him the entire story, which he credited to having heard from a person he met on the battlefield. Not only the Angels, but even the Ministers heard the story.
The Angels already hated the Drike Family, so they only laughed when their shamelessness was exposed. But the Ministers were different. Their gazes towards the Drike Family had become much different.
Even in this world where the strong could crush the weak, people at least knew how to repay the favor. Only the Demonic Clans could return favors with deaths.
'It looks like I need to tell the Emperor about this. The Drike Family might not be all that they have been pretending to be.' The Ministers thought as they accompanied Karyk inside the city.
"There is more to this story. The boy that saved you, might not have any good intentions. He had killed many people in the past. His nature was demonic, so we couldn't let him stay with us."
The Drike Patriarch tried to offer an explanation, but even he knew that it was useless. All it did was confirm Karyk's story about his own behaviour and further ruin his reputation.
....
Meanwhile, Karyk was brought to the Emperor's Palace, instead of the residences that were assigned to the guests. Even the Angelic Prince didn't get the privilege.