CHAPTER 310: CHAPTER 309 - THE COUNTERATTACK.

That night.

The moon sat fat and pale above the capital, its light swallowed by the heavy clouds that cloaked the sky—a perfect night for ghosts.

Tonight, Raven’s group weren’t soldiers, nor nobles, nor professors.

Tonight, they were executioners.

Raven’s group had split like shadows across the kingdom, each one drifting toward a noble estate with only one purpose: to cut off the heads that thought themselves untouchable.

They needed to show the demons that they weren’t the only ones who could attack.

This time, Raven and his group would be moving to disrupt the momentum of the demon forces by killing off the heads of the important supporting noble houses, mostly Viscounts and counts.

They were even attacking a baron’s house, as they were one of the biggest arms suppliers in the kingdom.

.......................

The first group—Raven and Selena.

Raven strode calmly through the gilded gates of House Ferens—a Viscount house—with his hood drawn over his features.

Beside him, Selena wore a gown darker than the sky, her aura refined and lethal.

The guards had barely lifted their spears before Selena’s shadow writhed. Black, skeletal hands erupted from the cobblestones, dragging the men silently into the earth.

Before the guards could even move, they were half into the ground, staring at Raven and Selena’s figures before them in shock.

It was then that Raven drew his sword and drove it into the ground right between the guards’ heads.

"You know what you have to do."

The guards exchanged a glance before they yelled. "Intruders! They are running toward the north gate!"

The next second, the whole mansion lit up as movements were heard from all over.

They were at the south gate, but everyone was now moving toward the north gate.

Shikch.

Raven took the sword out, walking into the mansion as he smiled at the guards. "Such good guards you are."

The guards merely shrugged. "Our lives before the lord. That’s our motto, sir."

"Good." Selena nodded.

Inside, the family head—Lord Ferens—bolted upright at the sight of them. "You—!"

Raven’s crimson eyes silenced him. His voice was as cold as a blade. "Your mistake was thinking you could barter lives like coins."

Selena’s shadows surged, birthing a massive devourer-beast that swallowed the lord whole, body and soul.

He didn’t even leave bones.

Selena exhaled softly, almost tenderly, as she brushed her hand against Raven’s. "One less parasite."

Raven’s lips quirked. "Plenty more to go."

.......................

The second group—Clara and Jessy.

House Milvain, another Viscount house, was all pomp and illusions of grandeur, which made it ironic when Clara’s sound magic wrapped the entire estate in a shimmering mirage.

To outsiders, it looked like nothing had changed—torches still burned, guards still patrolled—but inside, the nobles were walking straight into walls, tripping over invisible steps, and screaming at shadows that weren’t there.

Jessy groaned as she floated a handful of metal blades lazily around her. "Why do your illusions always make me dizzy?"

"You’re imagining it," Clara murmured sweetly.

Jessy scowled. "You are imagining it. That’s the problem."

Their target stumbled into the courtyard, shrieking for his guards. Jessy flicked her wrist, and the iron gates themselves bent like liquid, spearing the man through the chest.

He froze, eyes wide, pinned like a butterfly.

Clara’s illusion shimmered, painting his last sight with the image of Raven’s crimson eyes.

Jessy muttered, "Creepy. Effective, but creepy."

Clara only smiled softly. "I wanted him to talk about Raven even in hell."

.......................

Group three—only Siris.

Count Venlor’s house garden glittered with frost.

Siris, as someone trained to be an assassin, was already inside without anyone noticing.

Daggers hung in the air, tethered to her fingers by thin threads of mana. She looked more like a puppeteer than an assassin.

The guards had been reduced to ice sculptures, their bodies frozen mid-breath, some still wearing terror etched into their faces.

Of course, they weren’t dead, but they wouldn’t be freed until next noon.

The house head stumbled backward, slipping on the frost that coated his marble floors. "Stay back, you monster!"

Siris tilted her head, her smile as bright as a star and just as dangerous. "Monster? Well, I can be for those who go against Raven."

Her daggers descended, one by one, sinking into his body like a slow drumbeat.

She hummed tunelessly as he bled out, frost creeping into his veins until he shattered apart like glass.

Wiping her hands on her dress, she whispered to the empty room, "Another one who’ll never touch him again."

.......................

Group four—only Lia.

Count Veynar’s house was always wrapped in greenery, but tonight the plants weren’t theirs. They were Lia’s.

The guards never even had time to scream. Roots burst from beneath the earth, wrapping around their throats and dragging them into the soil.

Vines slipped silently across marble and wood, tightening around the noble’s chamber until the walls themselves groaned.

The family head tried to bargain, waving gold at her. Lia’s eyes softened—not with mercy, but pity. "If you had wanted to live... You shouldn’t have chosen demons."

The vines snapped. Silence bloomed. The flowers in the courtyard bloomed red.

Lia brushed dirt from her hands and crouched, patting the writhing roots like pets.

"Good work, everyone. You really dug deep tonight."

A rosebush rustled. Lia tilted her head, listening.

"Yes, yes, I saw how fast you strangled him—very impressive. Don’t get cocky."

A tulip wilted dramatically.

"Oh, stop pouting. You’re all getting extra sunlight tomorrow."

The soldiers, who were strangled but alive, didn’t know what to make of all that.

Maybe it was an illusion.

.......................

Group Five—only Graye.

Baron Soltren’s house walls were built to withstand sieges. They weren’t built to withstand Graye.

She crashed straight through the gate, purple fire blazing across her armor. Alarms rang. Arrows flew. She laughed.

"YES! Finally!"

Her flames surged higher the more they struck her, every arrow feeding her strength. They didn’t do much and probably only raised her power by 0.01 percent, but it was still something.

She tore through knights like parchment, her sword wreathed in fire that refused to die.

The rest of the group was avoiding killing the soldiers and guards, but she didn’t.

She wanted to enjoy this.

The family head watched in horror as she marched through his collapsing manor, fire chewing everything to ash.

"You chose the wrong side!" She roared, her sword plunging into his chest. Her fire consumed him until nothing remained but a black mark on the stone.

She stood in the ruins, laughing with her arms on her waist. "Best workout ever!"

.......................

Group six—only Rufus.

Rufus’s target was Baron Kaelen, but he had to pause as four demons guarded his house.

It was probably because this house supplied weapons for the demon forces, but that didn’t mean Rufus was scared.

"I feel like I’m the only one facing a challenge like this," Rufus muttered. His red-black suit unfolded over him, glowing with light mana.

The demons sneered, but their sneers turned to horror when his chestplate opened and released a blinding flare.

Light spears shot outward, piercing them before they could even finish transforming.

He landed in front of the family head, face hidden behind his visor. "You backed the wrong side."

The lord opened his mouth to plead—only to be silenced as Rufus’s gauntlet fired a concentrated beam straight through his skull.

.......................

The seventh and also the last group—Alex and Nibbles.

They were attacking Count Drelith’s house.

But the problem was that they were hosting a midnight banquet, which made it the worst possible time for a "foreign delegation" to arrive.

Alex strolled in wearing a ridiculous fur-lined cloak, holding a scroll in one hand. On his shoulder, Nibbles sat on a tiny wooden throne strapped to his armor, wearing a paper crown.

Alex boomed, "Behold! I am the grand delegate of the Kingdom of Acornia, and this—" he gestured dramatically to Nibbles, "—is His Majesty, King Nutters III!"

The nobles blinked. Nibbles raised a paw and levitated a goblet across the hall into his tiny hands, sipping with regal dignity.

Whispers erupted. "Acornia? Never heard of it."

"That’s because it’s too elite," Alex said proudly. "We also played a crucial role in the Vaise coup. Totally true. Ask anyone."

The family head tried to laugh them off—until Nibbles flicked a paw. The noble’s chair levitated, flipped, and slammed him headfirst into the marble.

Alex crouched, grin sharp. "Business concluded."

They left the hall in chaos, Nibbles flashing a tiny sign that read, Long live the King.

Which king was he talking about? No one knew.

.......................

By dawn, every target was gone.

The kingdom woke to whispers of nobles found dead in their chambers, their estates in ruins, their families scattered. None knew who had done it, or why the killings had been so precise, so surgical.

But in every corner of the capital, one truth burned brighter than the rest:

The demons weren’t the only ones who knew how to strike from the shadows.

Because, unlike the demons, Raven’s group never missed their target.

Their goal was to break the enemy force’s momentum, and they succeeded in doing that.

Why were they doing it, though?

It was because they wanted to stall for as much time as possible so that Argon and Crisaius, who had been gone for around a month to train, would return to the family.

With them, the family would be safer, and that’s what they were after.

They didn’t know yet, but the demons, who also knew that Argon and Crisaius weren’t in the family, didn’t want to waste time.

The question was, who would succeed?

That will only be something time will tell.