Chapter 164: The Fall of the Senels Family

"You've already received emergency treatment. As long as you don't move too intensely for a while, the wound won't reopen."

The white light on Eric’s right hand gradually faded. He then calmly spoke to Yam.

"Thank you," Yam said.

"This is my duty," Eric shook his head. "If anything really happened to you, a lot of people would suffer."

Yam understood what Eric meant.

To the Kasein Family—or more precisely, to Marquis Visen—his greatest value lay in unlocking the Bourbon Secret Vault.

Now that Marquis Visen had fulfilled his side of the deal, if Yam were to die here, the entire Soderbell Family would be in trouble. At present, no one else besides him could open that vault of the Bourbon Family.

After all, the bloodline that Akar had advanced to the third tier with wasn’t the "Flame Tiger", but the "Flame Hawk".

They had previously declared to the outside world that Akar’s awakened bloodline was the "Flame Sparrow", and the evolution path of the "Flame Sparrow" led to the third-tier "Flame Hawk". So to avoid suspicion of possessing the legacy bloodline of the Bourbon Family, Akar had no choice but to choose the "Flame Hawk" as his third-tier advancement.

However, something subtle had changed in this process.

Under the amplification of the Demonic Sword’s "Purification" effect, what should have been a "Flame Hawk" bloodline elixir had mutated into the "Infernal Hawk".

Unlike the "Flame Tiger" with its "Fire Element Affinity", the bloodline ability of the "Infernal Hawk" not only greatly enhanced Akar’s flame power but also transformed "Flame Stream" into "Infernal Flame".

Compared to "Flame Stream", which allowed manipulation and attachment of flame, "Infernal Flame" lost its adhesion capability but retained the effect of condensing and shaping fire. This still enabled Akar to condense fireballs or pebbles. As compensation for losing the attachment and protection ability, "Infernal Flame" offered far more terrifying flame power and corrosive adhesion.

Now, any flame Akar conjured would exhibit intense corrosive and burning properties upon contact. Even Rare Iron Weapons would deform if the flames weren’t extinguished quickly, with repairs afterward being costly. If the "Infernal Flame" clung to a human body, flesh would turn into charcoal in an instant.

Though Akar’s strength had significantly increased, he also faced a new frustration: "Infernal Flame" didn’t distinguish between weapons. His warbow, which had accompanied him for ten years, could no longer withstand consecutive flaming shots. Moreover, his flames were no longer the bright orange-yellow of the past but had become a deep, ghostly black.

"I won’t die."

"Let’s hope so," Eric replied calmly.

He knew Marquis Visen valued Yam because of some secret he carried. Eric didn’t care about the details. His only task, as ordered beforehand by the Marquis, was to make sure Yam didn’t die here. In fact, when Yam charged into the high-temperature steam and fought Atork, Eric had been genuinely startled. He only relaxed slightly when Yam walked out holding Atork’s head.

However, that didn’t mean Eric was without temper.

"Sorry." Yam recognized Eric’s irritation. After a brief silence, he spoke slowly, "But I had a reason to kill him. …This was the chance Marquis Visen gave me for revenge. I couldn’t miss it."

"Revenge?"

"I once swore fealty to Giggs, as his Guardian of the Sword, but I failed to protect him. Instead, I allowed him to be poisoned to death by Atork Senels. Since then, I’ve been searching for the opportunity to avenge him. So this time, I could not let it pass. I had to kill him with my own hands to truly console Giggs’s soul."

Naturally, Yam wouldn’t tell Eric that he and Lily had once believed Giggs’s death was the work of Count Shuvaric, and had resigned themselves to a future of passing down this blood feud to their descendants. They never imagined they would learn the identity of the true culprit. Although the root cause still pointed to Count Shuvaric, given the chance to kill the real murderer, neither he nor Lily would let it go.

Eric, however, clearly didn’t care whether Yam achieved his revenge.

Upon hearing Yam’s words, his attention instead fell on the word "poisoned".

"To poison a Bloodline User to death, the poison must be crafted by someone with special bloodline abilities. Such individuals are rare," Eric shook his head and then continued, "You should consider yourselves lucky the Senels Family couldn’t acquire anything stronger. Otherwise, the death toll would have been much higher. …I once witnessed a horrific plague in the territory of the Gaulta Family. Someone used the corpse of a poisoned Bloodline User to unleash a deadly contagious plague. An entire city was nearly wiped out within a week."

The Gaulta Family referred to the Leghton Family, known as the "Kingdom's Wall", one of the six Dukes of the kingdom. Their territory was in the southwest, bordering both the Southern Region and the Western Region. Traveling northwest from Bayor Territory would bring one into the domain of the Leghton Ducal Family.

According to the Shelf Mercenary Group, due to the current decay in the Western Region, the Leghton Family was now fully preparing for war, stockpiling troops in the northwestern part of their territory to guard against the Aust Empire moving southward. It was said that several border skirmishes had already occurred, with significant casualties on both sides. Ultimately, the Aust Empire refrained from a full-scale invasion, fearing their retreat path might be cut off.

But as the Aust Empire continued to reinforce and fortify their front lines, it was only a matter of time before the Gaulta Family was dragged into the quagmire of war.

And notably, the Aust Empire had no shortage of Bloodline Users skilled in poisoning.

"Was it the Aust Empire who infiltrated the Gaulta Family’s territory and did that?"

"Who knows?" Eric shrugged. "Later, the Gaulta Family gave the order to seal off the entire city, then threw in a huge number of fire barrels, burning the city to the ground. That inferno raged for over ten days before it finally began to die down. The wails and pleas of the survivors inside the city alone echoed for three full days."

Yam remained silent.

The atmosphere that followed clearly grew somber and heavy.

But soon, that weight was broken.

Foss returned with his men.

Upon seeing Yam, his brows furrowed slightly, and his expression grew tense. "Eric, is he alright?"

"He said he won’t die."

"I distinctly said I wouldn't die," Yam replied helplessly.

"A longsword through the chest, a penetrating wound—not to mention the cold aura invading his body and all those smaller puncture wounds," Eric's tone turned colder. "He lost nearly half his blood, yet he didn’t fall into shock or pass out. I can’t understand it. Maybe he really won’t die, just like he said."

Yam said nothing more.

The conditions for using Nirvana required consuming half the blood in his body. He had used it several times before, but this time was a little different. Previously, when using Nirvana, he would only feel a bit weak and tired afterward, but never too uncomfortable. This time, with the heavy blood loss from the penetrating wound, his body grew cold and stiff, and intense dizziness constantly assailed him, eventually leaving him completely powerless.

Had it not been for Eric, he knew he probably wouldn't have survived.

However, it was precisely because he knew Marquis Visen would never entirely ignore monitoring and protecting him that he dared to go all-out against Atork. This was still a game of strategy—and clearly, he had won once again.

Foss did not respond to Eric's comment. Instead, he turned to glance at Atork, whose eyes still glared wide with defiance and whose face brimmed with unwillingness. Foss then gave a slight smile. "Congratulations on your revenge... My task is also complete. Hales is dead, and so are all the people he brought with him. Not a single one escaped."

"Thank you," Yam said slowly.

Atork was the one who personally killed Giggs, but the rest of the Senels Family were also chief culprits and accomplices. Thus, Yam felt no sympathy in exterminating the entire Senels Family—especially since he knew that if they weren't completely eradicated, it would cause him endless trouble later, potentially endangering the entire Soderbell Family as well.

Because even Yam couldn’t be sure how many people in the Senels Family believed he was the heir of the Bourbon Lineage.

But he did know that the core legitimate offspring of the Senels Family certainly knew.

Far away—

The sound of battle from the Senels Family's main stronghold, that ancient castle, still rang out clearly. But compared to the fierce resistance during the initial assault by the Kasein Family, the sounds were now much weaker, clearly signaling the battle was nearing its end.

The Senels Family members defending the castle would not survive, but those who escaped through hidden passages were another matter.

At this moment, however, Yam could only place his trust in the capabilities of the Kasein Family.

After a short while, all explosions and shouting ceased entirely. Although occasional flashes of fire still flared up, they came from far off—so distant that Yam could no longer even hear the noise. He understood then that the battle was over, and that the Kasein Family was now clearing the battlefield, rooting out any survivors.

Not long after, Foss returned from delivering his report.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I can—"

"No, he can't." Before Yam could answer, Eric had already shaken his head. "If you don’t want his wounds to reopen and cause him to faint, leaving me to save him again, you’d better get a stretcher and carry him."

Without another word, Foss turned and left.

Clearly, between Yam’s bravado and the healer’s instructions, Foss chose the latter.

Before long, Foss returned a third time, now accompanied by two soldiers.

They lifted Yam onto a stretcher, and the two soldiers carried him away, following Foss.

Eric, perhaps finding no point in staying alone, also decided to follow.

Foss glanced at him but said nothing. Then he turned to Yam and spoke. "The battle is over. Starting with Viscount Agley Senels, including Lauren Senels, Wilk Senels, Hales Senels, Atork Senels, and all other principal members of the Senels Family—along with their wives and children—they are either dead in battle or have been executed."

"The castle of the Senels Family had three more hidden passages than we previously knew about, but we've double-checked everything. No core member survived. About four to six collateral members may have broken through our encirclement, but Marquis Visen has already sent Knight Commander Dean, Lord Tyrot, and Lord Wade to hunt them down. They won’t escape."

Yam knew who the two mentioned were.

Tyrot Kasein was Marquis Visen’s eldest son and a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User. However, since he was born before Marquis Visen ascended to the Sixth-Tier, the Fourth-Tier was his limit.

Wade Kasein was the third son of Marquis Visen and father of Burton Kasein. Born after Visen's advancement to the Sixth-Tier, Wade carried the Bloodline Imprint and had once been second in line to inherit. However, since Visen ultimately chose his eldest daughter, Monica Kasein, as his heir, Wade’s status as successor had been revoked.

According to Monica, during the ten years since Burton’s death, Wade had fathered four more children. Their aptitudes remained uncertain, but if future assessments proved promising, the title of Marquis of Red Eagle might still return to his branch.

"Will the Senels Family be completely eradicated?"

"Yes." Foss paused briefly, then nodded slightly. "Though Marquis Visen prepared thoroughly, and though the Senels Family were technically his vassals, even if they escaped and reported this to the royal family, he has enough evidence and justification to prove they betrayed Red Eagle Territory. But if eradicating them entirely can eliminate future risks, then that is clearly the better choice."

Yam said nothing more.

Back then, Baron Ster gave Count Shuvaric the evidence that could force him to send troops to support Red River Territory and Gem Territory’s civil war, intending to let Marquis Visen escalate the matter. Using the influence of the royal family and the Southern Duke, the hope was to pressure Count Shuvaric and carve out a path for the White Mountain Territory and the Bole Family. Unfortunately, because Marquis Visen never used that evidence, Baron Ster became the ultimate sacrifice.

"You should rest, but Marquis Visen has specifically requested to see you."

"I understand," Yam nodded slightly.

When Foss shared the outcome regarding the Senels Family, it was clearly under Marquis Visen’s silent consent. As Monica’s Household Knight, Foss wouldn’t dare speak so freely otherwise. So from the moment he opened his mouth, Yam already knew this was a summons from Marquis Visen. After all, based on the agreement they had reached in their secret meeting two years ago, Marquis Visen had fulfilled his part of the deal—now, it was Yam’s turn to honor the contract.

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