CHAPTER 43: SHAMELESS TO THE BONE

An hour later, they finally arrived at Lycranor City.

At first, the city guards were furious, ready to shout at the group barreling toward the gates without slowing down. But the instant they recognized the approaching figures, their expressions snapped into panic.

"Make way! Let them pass!"

Inside the Wolfsblade Manor, chaos erupted. Duke Garrick abruptly rose from his seat, his expression darkening as he sensed several approaching auras with multiple Epic ranks and even two presences so oppressive he felt a shiver crawl up his spine. One of them wasn’t even concealing his power.

"Brother Hale, are they from the Royal Family?" Garrick asked a middle-aged man in his late 40s, who also seemed to be troubled by this situation.

"I’m not sure." Hale shook his head, his brows knit together in confusion. "All I know is that the Crown Prince left with Grand Duke Rowan. They should’ve arrived at the Steelhearts by now."

Before Garrick could speak again, a thunderous roar shook the entire city.

"GARRICK! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Hale suddenly felt that something was amiss when he recognized Cassian’s voice, especially when the voice contained something that made him feel a chill on his spine.

’Don’t tell me...’

Garrick was naturally furious when Cassian suddenly came to his territory and acted like this as if he didn’t put him in the eyes at all.

He instantly vanished from the spot and reappeared in front of the manor’s gate with an enraged expression.

But the moment he laid eyes on Cassian, his fury faltered as he thought to himself. ’He stepped into the Legendary Rank?!’

However, with Crown Prince Alexander and Grand Duke Rowan present, Garrick felt reassured, as he was certain that Cassian wouldn’t be brave enough to make a move.

"Cassian, What are you doing here? Was killing my father and son not enough for you?!" Garrick shouted angrily, then quickly turned toward Alexander. ""Your Highness, the Wolfsblade Family begs for justice! Please uphold the dignity of the kingdom!"

With things escalating this far, clinging to Alexander’s support was his best chance at revenge.

"This..." Just as Alexander was in a dilemma, Cassian laughed heartily for a moment.

Then, he responded with a vicious smile, shocking everyone in the surroundings when they heard it. "What if I told you that I’m indeed not satisfied by their deaths?"

Cassian sneered mockingly. "What? Are you going to bite me? Come then. I’ll gladly send you to the underworld, so you can reunite with your beloved family."

"You!" Garrick gritted his teeth in anger and was left speechless because of how brave Cassian was even when there were Alexander and Rowan who came with him.

"Brother Cassian," Rowan interjected as he dismounted, attempting to defuse the tension. "This isn’t the time for jokes."

"I’m not joking," Cassian replied coldly. "That bastard deserves to die."

"What do you mean by that? Did you forget our purpose for coming here?" Rowan frowned.

"Did you remember that I said I have a solid reason?" Cassian glanced at Rowan.

"Naturally, but what’s—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Cassian cut him off as he pointed his finger at Duke Garrick. ""He collaborated with the Bladeborne Family from the Veylmar Kingdom and attempted to assassinate James. Tell me, is that not reason enough to kill him?"

Garrick’s eyes twitched for a split second when he heard it. He expected Cassian might find out eventually—after all, the assassination squad he sent never returned. And shortly afterward, James caused chaos and killed his father.

Now that it had come to this, he could only deny it because he would be done for, if the Royal Family ever found out that he had worked together with their enemies.

"Cassian, what nonsense are you spouting?! How dare you accuse me like this in front of His Highness?!" Rowan shouted aggressively while pointing his finger at Cassian.

"Look at him all flustered while I haven’t even provided the evidence yet." Cassian shrugged with a faint smile.

"Duke Cassian, considering how serious your claim is, I assume you have concrete evidence?" Rowan changed the way he addressed him from Brother Cassian to Duke Cassian because he was talking to him as a Duke instead of someone he had known for years.

"Naturally, I have the evidence to back it up." He chuckled and waved his hand, taking out corpses from the spatial ring.

"Take a good look. You should notice the traces of Wolfsblade swordsmanship on their bodies." Cassian explained with a faint smile.

Rowan squinted his eyes, trying to look into the corpses more clearly for a few moments.

"There are indeed traces from the Wolfsblade Family’s swordsmanship on these corpses." Rowan nodded and glanced at Garrick. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Grand Duke Rowan, you surely won’t just believe him because of these, right? The Steelhearts could easily manipulate corpses! They’re more than capable of faking something this trivial!" Garrick explained.

Cassian sneered. ""Then what about the fact that these men were traveling with someone from the Bladeborne Family?"

"Hmph!" Garrick snorted. "How dare you say that after you killed him at the border and brought back the body?!"

"Then how do you explain why your men’s corpses are with me?" Cassian replied calmly. "Unless you want to accuse me of secretly killing your people just so I could bring their bodies here?"

"You know it very well, Cassian." Garrick sneered, then looked at Grand Duke Rowan. "I declared their betrayal days ago. I suspected they were connected to the Steelhearts! When I summoned them, they disappeared. So I made an official announcement to distance my family from their misconduct."

Cassian instantly burst into laughter for a while, then shook his head helplessly. "As expected of you, Garrick. Shameless to the bone."

He looked at Garrick with a faint smile. ""If someone didn’t know the truth, they might believe you. You didn’t even flinch while spouting all that nonsense."

Then, his faint smile suddenly turned into a vicious one as he continued. "Unfortunately for you, all of this bullshit is nothing in front of the true strength because with it, I manage to get the true evidence that will immediately shatter all of your bullshit."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Garrick snapped. "You’re the shameless one by sacrificing your own people just to justify your actions now that you’ve reached the Legendary Rank! You pretend to be righteous, but you’re vicious to the core!"

When Cassian heard it, his expression snapped into icy rage.

A terrifying surge of power exploded from his body, crushing down on Garrick like a falling mountain.

The onlookers below Platinum Rank instantly sank to their knees, and even those who had reached Platinum Rank were struggling to stand up straight even though the pressure wasn’t being pointed at them.

"Garrick, you can spew whatever trash you want, but watch your filthy mouth. Sacrificing my own people, you said?" Cassian took a step forward and increased the output, making Garrick drop to one knee.

He stopped for a second before taking another step forward.

The pressure intensified even further, slamming into Garrick like a tidal wave. His second knee crashed to the ground, unable to withstand the terrifying weight of a true Legendary Knight’s aura.

"Did you know that the moment I heard you killed my son’s bodyguards and even almost killed my own son, I was truly furious that I almost directly went here to do a massacre?"

...

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