The room in front of Lyle was empty, it was a living room of sorts that was about 200 square meters ( 2152 square feet ) in size. The furniture of the room was made of rare wood and gold. The old duke was not the one to make it like that as he detested using the money for such expensive things.
From what Lyle knew, the old duke was a man who, although was the duke, kept his living quarters simple.
There was a fireplace at the end of the living room, the wall above the fireplace was decorated with hunting trophies and a large painting of the young duke with his parents.
'Probably for pretense.' Lyle thought as he looked at the painting. The young duke was one that sold out his parents and had a hand in their death, there was no way such a person would have a painting of all three of them in the living room because he missed them.
Lyle continued observing the room, bottles of liquor were opened and left on the table and floor. Some had obviously fallen down from the table and Lyle could see small puddles of liquor on the floor.
The sofas were made out of leather, and not just any leather, but the leather of powerful monsters that had been hunted by the adventurer's association and sold in order to make a profit.
The whole room simply screamed luxury and Lyle scoffed at it. He hated such rooms, they showed the difference between those that were wealthy and poor, just one of the sofas cost more than what an average family makes for the whole year.
Although he had decorated his apartment and made it look nice, he mostly used average materials for that as he also felt that making it too luxurious was simply a waste of money. He could spend his money to acquire more powerful weapons, better armor, and so on.
"Argh!" Another scream was heard, Lyle quickly stopped his observation of the living room and looked to his right. The door of the room on the right was open a little bit and he slowly went to it.
Lyle's footsteps were completely silent and as he approached the door, he could hear the screams of a girl and the laughter of a man clearer.
"Come on, the night is still young and there is so much more to be done, don't tell me you are already finished?" A young man said as he stared at a girl that was completely naked and tied up in front of him.
The girl's arms and legs were tied by roped and she was currently in the middle of the room, a mere inch above the ground.
Her entire body was filled with wounds, some were marks from the whip in the man's hand, while others were from being slapped, punched, burned by fire, and more.
Her breasts were completely red as multiple cuts were open from the whip, the same went for her back and buttocks. As for the place between her legs, two wooden toys were currently inserted in two holes while two strings kept them inside.
Blood could be seen flowing from between the girl's legs as she cried pitifully, her hair was a mess and her face scrunched up in pain, but it still couldn't keep her beauty hidden.
The man on the other side was also a looker. He was about 176cm ( 5'9 ) high and wasn't muscular, but not too slim either. The workouts he had to follow back when his father was alive made his body relatively strong and even after the old man had passed, the young duke continued his training as it was something he had grown accustomed to after years of doing it.
The duke's amber eyes stared at the girl who was looking down at the floor and begging for mercy. He smiled cruelly as he came to her. His golden robe was decorated by golden threads and the image of a lion roaring, the crest of his house.
The young duke came to the girl and grabbed her face before lifting it up.
"Look at me, " The girl still looked down, afraid to look at the young man in front of her.
"Hey!" The duke yelled out.
"Look at me." He said once again, this time in a calm and collected manner.
The girl shuddered and met his eyes, he smiled warmly at her before speaking.
"What do you mean, show mercy, I have chosen you to be the one to warm my bed tonight, it's an honor to do that, you know?" The girl continued looking at the duke as tears welled up in her eyes.
"We still haven't even laid to bed and yet you want me to stop, hell, I was even considerate enough to first warm you up with those two toys before sleeping with you, and yet you show no gratitude, perhaps I have been too soft on you?"
"No, m-my lord, p-please!" The girl stuttered as she spoke, her voice shaky and full of fear, as were her eyes.
"Good, now then, let's continue," The man said as he let go of her face.
"Each time the whip hits you, I want you to thank me, understood?" The young duke asked with a warm smile as the girl looked at him in fear.
"Afraid not." A cold and indifferent voice said behind the duke as two daggers were thrust at his back.
The young duke didn't even have time to respond before the daggers plunged into his back, well, they were about to when the daggers, together with Lyle were sent flying to the wall behind the duke.
The robe was suddenly blasted open, destroyed by the powerful spell that was launched by the young duke's body.
The naked torso of the duke was now visible to Lyle who stared at him with vigilance.
"An enchantment, no, this is-" Lyle's eyes were wide open as he looked at the lines and symbols on the duke's body.
They shone in bright blue and moved around the body, creating an enchanting sight.
"A body rune, the archmage was actually capable of doing something like this?" Lyle spoke as the young duke stared at him in anger.
"Who the hell are you, how did an assassin get into my chambers?!"
"Those worthless pieces of shit, I'm going to kill all of them tomorrow!" The duke said with anger as he stared at Lyle, this time with some apprehension.
For an assassin to get into his chambers like this was no easy feat, he knew exactly how many guards patrolled the floors, especially the floor he was on.
"Wait, you, why do you look familiar?" The duke suddenly asked as he stared at Lyle with great interest.
"The assassin from before, you are the one that Irin caught!" The duke said as he pointed at Lyle who smirked at him before getting up and summoning his two daggers that suddenly floated to his hands.
"Correct, duke Orsted, I am the assassin from today, it is a pleasure to meet you," Lyle said as he bowed slightly, his mouth still curved upwards as he glanced at the duke.
"But how is that possible, you were captured and put in prison, I am certain that they used mana-suppressing shackles on you, how did you get up here?!"
"Ah, yes, that they did, but unfortunately that isn't that useful against me, as for how I got here, tricks of the trade," Lyle said as he spread out his arms and approached the young duke.
"It doesn't matter, you won't be able to kill me, my body is indestructible, Irin made sure of that!"
"Once he arrives here, I will put you in a special cell and torture you until I die, for someone like you to come here and try and kill me, I will make you beg for death!"
"So annoying," Lyle said in a cold voice as his demeanor changed, his smile was gone and an indifferent, cold face stared at the duke.
The expressionless face, coupled with the cold and murderous eyes of Lyle made the duke tremble in fear, the killing intent he was currently releasing was something that the likes of Orsted had never experienced.
"Today you die, nobody can change that."
Suddenly Orsted took out a knife from his robe and pressed it against the neck of the young girl he was torturing.
"S-stay back, stay back or I will kill her!" Orsted shouted in fear as his arm that held the knife trembled.
The girl started crying in fear as she looked at the knife before staring at Lyle, hoping he would save her.
"It doesn't matter, her death will have no impact on my mission, if you wish to, you may kill her," Lyle said in a cold voice as he stared at the young duke before his hair suddenly started rising in the air.
The stench of blood filled the room as Lyle was suddenly going through a transformation.
[ Blood Knight, Ignition ]