Atop certain hill, the figure of a man was hovering.
His black clothe fluttered with the wind, as its current was enveloping him and levitating him off the ground. This man was staring coldly at a residential compound in the distance.
The most notable feature about him was his pitch black hair, as well as his eyebrows that looked like sharp swords.
This man was exactly the rank-2 wind magician that had attacked Ramie and the rest at the border area.
Casting one final glare at the compound, he murmured: 'just wait… just wait…' He turned and floated down the hill, then away.
…
After failing to kill the culprits who were responsible for his brother's death, he could only helplessly grit his teeth and stare, as his enemies escaped into this compound.
Going after them into the compound has never crossed his mind, as he and his brother had already killed few magicians there some time ago. Also, this compound is protected by Lv.2 warrior, as well as many other Lv.1 warriors and other magicians. So, and considering that he had advanced a defensive spell, and not offensive one, fighting these people head on was not a realistic choice for him.
However, that being said… this didn't mean that he was just going to let them off the hook… it just meant that he had to look for a better way to exact his revenge.
With gritted teeth, and a distressed heart, he journeyed through the beasts infested lands for the purpose of finding a safe place… a place where he could shut his eyes close in the night and still expect to wake up alive in the morning, without becoming a monster feast.
After days of unparalleled suffering and hardships, he finally stumbled across his objective.
It came in the shape of a maximum security prison.
The public had always denied the idea of prisons built in cities, in or near any inhabited area. As such, this particular prison, as many others, was built far away from any city, in a secluded area.
This particularity played for the prison's resident advantage. As when the beasts tide overran cities, they remained safe in the prison, almost untouched.
Afterward, some of the prisoners started feeling life energy sprouts in their bodies, and some even acquired artifacts. What happened afterward was natural. As with some of the prisoners becoming warriors and magicians, they took over the prison in no time.
Anyway, faced with the new reality, they did not escape the prison. But instead, they turned it into a shelter, and hid there.
When he stumbled across the prison, they accepted him in, partially due to his level of strength, and mainly because he offered them his brothers' gemstone. Anyway, with time, he blended in, becoming one of them. Apparently, his brother was still helping him, even in his death.
Currently, the prison had one leader, two vice leaders, and five captains. He was one of the five captains.
Actually, the leader, the two vice leaders, and two of the five Captains weren't prisoners or guards. Instead, they were survivors that had come from the outside. Currently, there were about thousand residents in the prison. And only about three hundred of them were prisoners or prison staff. As for the rest, they were all survivors that had come wandering from the outside.
As he returned back to the prison, floating, the watch tower sentries at the front of the prison didn't rush to open the gate after seeing him, as there was no need to.
Just as he reached the outer gate, he simply manifested a small wind whirlpool beneath his legs, levitating himelf over the gate.
"Welcome Captain Curtis!"
Seeing him, everyone in his path greeted while displaying expressions of utmost respect, a one that reached the point of being reverence. And they get out of his way, cleaning the path for him, as though he was royalty.
This was something he really enjoyed, the treatment of the strong.
Arriving at his personal chamber, which used to be an office for one of the prison staff, he pushed the door and went inside.
Seating himself, he spoke in low voice: "did you made sure not to let anyone see you when you came here?"
The moment he said these words, the side door was opened, and a man walked in.
The man had a thick mustache, and he was wearing a dark-brown leather armor that was made of beast's skins.
Seeing the black clothed magician, he lowered his head in a silent greeting, as though he was a follower, before saying: "no one knows am here. They think that I'm currently in my room, preparing for tomorrow's hunting mission."
"Good…! Remember, when the team reaches that area, serve them the poisoned meals, and find a chance to disappear from their sight. However, don't go too far away, and choose spot where you can monitor them. The magician will die first, but the warriors… the poison will need some time to put them down.
"Afterward, gather the corpses in an open ground, and make some cuts on them. Once the beasts smell the blood and clean the mess, execute the second part of our plan. And, Billy… don't forget… no mistakes! Otherwise, both of our heads will be hacked off our bodies." The black-clothed man, that was apparently called Curtis, said to the other man, in a warning tone.
"I understand!" the other man, Billy, responded.
"Good… Now return back to your place, and make sure not to let anyone know that you were here."
"Yes Captain." Billy replied, before leaving through the side door.
Just as Billy closed the door behind him, a blood thirst killing intent gleamed in his eyes: 'Finally! My daughter will be safe from now on, and that little dog won't be able to hurt her anymore."
After the catastrophe descended, Billy thought that earth turned to hell. However, after the leader came to the prison, and took over, he came to learn just how wrong that thought of his was. He discovered that the man-eating beats weren't really the worst aberrations on earth.
Ever since the leader and his family came to the prison, his life turned to a living hell.
The leader's second son showed an interest in his daughter. At first, he only harassed her verbally. However, and as time went on, the harassment grew worse and worse. If things were to progress the way they were, then he was sure that the unscrupulous son of the leader would inevitably take things to the next level and violets his daughter.
As such, he never allowed his daughter to get away from his sight, at all times.
In the beginning, it worked. However, not long afterward, the little shit convinced his father to transfer Billy to other side of the prison, away from his family.
Afterward, everyday was like a living hell. Every day, he would wallow in anxiety, fear, and panic, not knowing whether it would be the day that his daughter gets violated.
He spent every hour from every day, straining at the edge of a mental breakdown.
It was at that time that Curtis approached him, and made that offer of his.
That offer was like a ray of light cutting through cloudy day. He accepted immediately.
He himself was only a peak lv.1 warrior. Hence, it was impossible for him to make any action. However, with Curtis's help, things changed.
Tomorrow, Billy was going to solve the problem, at its root.
Left alone in his chamber, Curtis's lips curved up to form a vicious smile, revealing two rows of white teeth, as a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.
'I may not have the power to annihilate you lot, for killing my brother… but that doesn't mean that I'll just sit back, and let you enjoy your pathetic lives. Tomorrow, the hatred of that bloodline freak will be invoked. Hehehe… let me see you lot suffer his wrath!'
Thinking of the fate awaiting his brother's killer, Curtis felt very satisfied. Killing his enemies with his hands was good, however, unleashing the fury of that monstrosity at his enemies and watching them wallow in agony and death without him having to lift a finger tasted even better to him.
However, and truth be told, revenge wasn't his main motive for making this move… but something else…
The prison's leader second son was only one advancement away from becoming peak rank-1 magician. Hence, and considering the rarity of the tier-2 beasts, and the excessive cruelty and ruthlessness of the Baldwin family, Curtis had doubts that the prison leader might actually decide to kill him, to get his gemstone for his son, to help him advance his Rank.
Hence, Curtis felt pressurized, which is why he came up with this plan, to strike two birds with one stone.
To exact revenge on his enemies, and to protect himself!
…
One month later.
These days, the entire prison was on its toes. A month ago, shocking news spread among everyone – the leader's second son, the vice leader, had ventured outside to a relatively safe area, with a group of warriors in a routine mission to hunt low level beast. Afterward, all news from him was cut off, and he even missed his returning time by weeks.
Everyone was nervous by the news, and the entire prison was stirred.
They weren't afraid due to the prospect of a strong beast sneaking close to the prison… but instead, everyone was tense due to the first vice leader, the leader's first son wrath.
The missing second vice leader wasn't a nobody. His father was the prison leader and his older brother was the first vice leader. Also, two of his uncles were captains.
In short, this prison was actually led by one family, a family that four of its members were magicians… very strong magicians. And none of them had an artifact lower than the 'Rare' grade!
Among this family, the older son was the strongest, as he had a 'Special' grade artifact!
His artifact was the bloodline type, giving him the bloodline of the carnage dragon, which granted him the advantage of having strength that was unrivaled in the prison.
Even though he was only Rank-1 magician with Lv.4 artifact, but he was actually able to defeat two Lv.2 warriors on the same time.
However, his bloodline didn't just give him a powerful advantage, but also a major disadvantage – His temper!
Aside from his close ones, he was incapable of tolerating anything from the rest! He had even killed someone for laughing out loud, while he was in the area.
This showed that bloodline magicians didn't have to only suffer from morphological and physiological changes… but also from psychological sides as well.
Apparently, they not only inherit the advantages of the injected bloodline, but also the disadvantages.
Anyway, in the prison, and aside from his family, everyone else was terrified of him, due to his flaring temper and ruthless nature. He was the type of person that wouldn't hesitate to take a life if he was irritated, which is why everyone avoided him like a plague.
In the main meeting room.
Currently, there were around fifteen individual gathering in the room. They were the strongest individuals in the prison. In the middle of the room, there was a large table with many chairs lined around it. However, no one was seated around the table at all. Instead, they were all standing.
The atmosphere was extremely tense and volatile, as there was no news at all regarding the leader's son. There wasn't even a single trace. It was as though he and the entire group with him had vanished into thin air.
"Brother! We've searched the entire area that Jonah went out too, and even scanned the area around the prison. However, we didn't find any beast strong enough to threaten their lives." The leader's first brother, Randall, said.
Currently, other than the Baldwin's family members, which is the leader's family name, no one else dared to open his mouth and say a thing. As in the corner, stood the violent older brother, Derek.
Anyone here could tell that if someone not belonging to the Baldwin family says the wrong thing here… then the claws of death would descend on him faster than blinking.
Simply, that how strong the older brother was, how unreasonable, and how ruthless…
Hearing his brother's answer, the leader's expression turned terrible.
This entire incident didn't make sense at all.
The area in which his son went too was an area populated with very weak herbivores beasts. While on the other hand, his son was a lightening magician with very strong spells. Also, there were four peak Lv.1 warriors. Not to mention that this mission was a routine task, a one that his son and his group had carried out many times in the past.
More ever, there were no strong individual beasts or any large group of beasts. All of the beasts there were weak and coward in nature.
So, what had happened there…?
Opening his mouth and wanting to say something, the door to the meeting room was suddenly pushed open, and a man came in, before saying in urgent tone: "Leader! This is bad! The madam is coming here…!"
Hearing so, aside from the Derek, everyone's expression changed.
…