Chapter 534: Not a Single One Shall Escape

The crown prince murdering the king was an act bound to incite civil strife and controversy, threatening to cast the legitimacy of the throne into dire doubt.

Ordinarily, had Garrett managed to dilute the stain of patricide, or perhaps shift the blame onto an assassination by a hostile nation, he might have inherited the crown with the backing of nobles like Ference and Andrea.

Yet he chose Ronin as his scapegoat, and the arrogance and haughty pride he displayed throughout the process succeeded only in alienating numerous ministers and lords.

Compounded by the exposure of his patricide and the vile stain of colluding with foreign tribes, the crown prince found himself deeply despised by many.

Granted, bound by the constraints of law and long accustomed to the rigid etiquette of aristocratic society, none dared to raise the banner of rebellion.

However, should someone take the lead at this critical juncture, they were not averse to offering their covert support.

The nobles and knights fleeing from the Golden Feather Palace, whether they admitted it or not, harbored precisely such thoughts in their hearts.

The Alduin Hall lay in ruins, symbolizing in a sense the decay and decline of the royal family.

Facing Thranduil and dozens of other extraordinary beings alongside Carlos, Ronin showed little panic.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out.

"Ronin, do you know what I despise most about you?"

The disheveled Garrett let out a low, furious roar, and without waiting for Ronin's reply, he continued through gritted teeth, "What I hate most is that effortless, indifferent look always plastered on your face, as if everything is perpetually within your grasp!"

"Is that so?"

Ronin scoffed mockingly, "I suspect it is merely your own fragile and overly sensitive nerves making you feel as though anyone superior to you is targeting you."

"Hahaha! Laushane, go to the Moon Shadow Palace and bring Blanche and Elrond here!"

He glared triumphantly at Ronin, "I want to see if you will remain this calm and composed when you watch your wife and followers die before your eyes!"

Thranduil frowned slightly; Garrett had completely lost his mind, still believing that Blanche was held captive at this hour?

Ronin whispered a reminder, "Why don't you guess, while my clone was locked in battle with you, was my true self watching from the heavens, or had it gone somewhere else?"

Garrett’s eyes widened at the words, fury rushing to his chest as he began to cough violently, unable to restrain himself.

He had meticulously plotted for so many days to lure Blanche and Elrond here, never imagining that they would be rescued before any of his schemes could bear fruit.

"Had I known, I should have slain them outright!"

Ronin took a deep breath, his gaze turning ice-cold, "Stubborn and incorrigible!"

Bursting forth with his utmost speed, he vanished and reappeared in a flash beside Garrett, raising his hand to deliver a swift sword strike.

Though Garrett managed to parry with his own blade, Ronin's unreserved strength bore down heavily, forcing Garrett's sword against his own shoulder, immediately staining his garments crimson with fresh blood.

Ronin followed instantly with a punch, sending Garrett flying through the air.

In truth, had he wished it, he could have claimed the man's life at any moment.

"Windbringers, form the array!"

Thranduil gave a soft command, and over a dozen Windbringers beneath her command spread their wings, scattering into the surroundings to encircle Ronin, attempting to recreate the entrapment array used by Aruba and the others back in the Misty City to cage him.

Though among these Windbringers were seven or eight of the Meteor tier, and two or three of the Silver Moon tier who had activated their flame seals alongside their wings, Ronin, armed with his past experience, was not about to suffer the same setback twice.

"Your speed is far too slow!"

Before the array could fully form, the Flowing Flame Sword swept across the throat of one of the Windbringers, and Ronin leaped out of the encirclement at extreme speed, lunging directly toward Thranduil.

Seeing this, Thranduil retreated abruptly using the Wind Shadow technique while unfurling a spell scroll; azure chains erupted from the parchment, lashing out to bind Ronin.

"Master, be careful! That is no ordinary magic. I was trapped by this very move yesterday," Carlos warned just in time.

Ronin concentrated his mind and raised his sword, "Vacuum Dimension Slash!"

The sharp sword light tore through the air, carrying a momentum that rent space itself as it clashed head-on with the azure chains.

The chains attempted to entwine the Vacuum Dimension Slash, but upon contact, they suffered devastating destruction, shattering into points of light and dissipating into nothingness.

Meanwhile, the Vacuum Dimension Slash continued unhindered, cleaving straight toward Thranduil’s slender waist.

"Not good!"

Thranduil’s face paled drastically.

She had initially believed Ronin only mastered the legendary-tier Clone Shadow technique without any other lethal moves, which would have allowed them to handle him by combining their strength.

"The Vacuum Dimension Slash, a legendary-tier secret technique of the wind and space attributes... how could you possibly master it so quickly!"

Her knowledge rivaled that of Sophia, yet in the end she was merely a Grand Archmage; having just utilized the spell scroll, she had absolutely no time left to resist.

Pfft!

The sharp light sank into Thranduil's body, then sliced cleanly through.

"Ah!"

Thranduil let out a miserable, agonizing shriek as her entire body was severed in two at the waist, blood raining down across the sky.

"This..."

Ference and the others looked on, faces mask-like with sheer horror.

Heaven knew they had pinned their hopes of resisting Ronin upon Thranduil, never expecting that in a single encounter, she would be chopped into two halves by Ronin.

"Flee!"

To remain here any longer was pure suicide.

Ference and Andrea erupted with battle aura, fleeing in two separate directions.

"Want to escape? It won't be that easy!"

Ronin sneered, his form traversing the battlefield like a phantom, instantly closing the distance between himself and Andrea.

"Heavy Impact Blast!"

He threw a punch, a Blazing Sun tier battle technique carrying a powerful piercing force that smashed toward his opponent.

"Ronin, no!"

Andrea roared in fury, exploding with all his battle aura to form a thick armor over his body, while a giant bear materialized and lunged forward, seeking to block Ronin's assault.

Boom!

The collision of the two battle techniques produced a thunderous roar; the Heavy Impact Blast punched straight through the giant bear, and trailing a long tail of flames, it shattered Andrea's armor and pierced cleanly through his chest.

"For engineering the death of my uncle over thirty years ago, the Black Mountain family always pays its debts!"

Ronin's figure flashed as he turned to hunt down Ference.

Watching Andrea's body slowly collapse into a pool of blood, Ference felt a chill run through his entire being.

He had foolishly assumed Ronin would not dare to slaughter indiscriminately, given how restrained the man had been from the very beginning.

Yet once the fighting truly commenced, the man had slain Andrea in the blink of an eye.

This was a Duke, yet Ronin had done it without even blinking.

"No, I cannot die, I do not want to die yet!"

Ference's back convulsed violently, and a pair of wings tore through his clothing, unfurling completely as he transformed into a great bird and soared into the sky.

"So, you have fallen as well!"

Ronin had originally intended to kill him outright, but upon catching sight of those wings, he changed his mind.

He shot forward like a shooting star, catching up to Ferens in an instant, then struck his back with a single palm, slamming him from the sky into the ruins below.

Kill!

The Windbearers seemed fearless of death, hurling themselves at Rowan in a frenzied wave.

Without hesitation, Rowan moved with absolute speed and swift blade, cutting them down one by one.

Yet amid the slaughter, he noticed that Silandriel, severed in half, was not dead.

Her Stormheart Pendant had saved her—a relic akin to Mephisto’s Sorcerer Soul Orb, both masterworks forged by Grand Sages, imbued with extraordinary power.

Now, Silandriel used the Stormheart to command these fanatics as living sacrifices, buying time with their lives.

"Rowan... I underestimated you."

Silandriel's pale face twisted with fury. Though alive, half her body was gone—recovery would take ages.

"But next time will be different!"

A flash of light—and she vanished from sight.

Rowan frowned. "Spatial teleportation magic?"

He slashed through the enemies before him, then sent his mental awareness surging outward like lightning, sweeping across a hundred miles in an instant.

Then his eyes snapped open—he sensed distinct spatial ripples more than eighty miles southwest.

"Carlo, the rest are yours."

Rowan shot into the sky. "Especially Garrett and Ferens—don't let them escape!"

Carlo was wounded, but Garrett and Ferens were far worse off; he could handle them easily.

"Understood, Master!"

Over eighty miles away, the gravely weakened Silandriel reappeared.

"This Rowan is too powerful—even in his prime, Flamewing would struggle against him!"

She glanced fearfully toward the direction of Golden Feather Palace.

"How did he grow so strong so quickly?"

Without Rowan, all of Orlandt would have been theirs for the taking. Now, everything had changed.

"My body is mostly gone, but the Stormheart's healing power can slowly restore it. First, I must recover my magic, conceal myself, and retreat."

But as she closed her eyes to meditate, she felt a chilling presence envelop her.

Silandriel looked up sharply—her beautiful eyes widened in shock.

Rowan hovered in the air before her. "Surprised? Did you miss me?" (End of Chapter)