"Still standing?" Ash growled, his voice a low rumble. With a final, merciless strike, Ash's fist collided with Adler's chest, unleashing a force so brutal that Adler's body was hurled against the far wall. The impact left a deep indentation, cracks spidering through the surface where he crashed.
Lux Layman, standing just behind, observed the brutality with an unreadable expression. He raised his hand, and with a subtle flick of his fingers, golden threads shot forth, weaving themselves around Adler's limbs like glimmering chains.
"You truly thought you could defy us?" Lux's voice was calm, almost conversational, but laced with a chilling undertone. The golden threads tightened, their constriction pulling Adler's body into agonizing, unnatural angles. The strands shimmered with a cruel radiance as they pressed against Adler's meridians, cutting off the flow of his energy.
With a sudden, sickening snap, one of Adler's legs shattered under the pressure. Bone and tendon gave way, leaving his limb grotesquely twisted.
Adler let out a scream—raw and guttural—but the sound was soon muffled as the threads constricted further, choking his ability to resist. His cultivation, the strength he once relied upon, was rendered useless, crushed beneath the relentless grip of the golden threads.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Lux murmured, his gaze cold and clinical, studying the pain he inflicted with an almost scientific detachment.
To Ash's side, Wei Zu stepped forward, a faint smile of cold amusement playing on his lips. His aura, thick with dark energy, crackled ominously around him. "You're nothing but a fragile puppet," he muttered under his breath, extending his hand.
The tips of Wei Zu's fingers brushed the air, and a ripple formed around him, distorting the space like a heatwave. The very room seemed to tremble as the ripple expanded outward, an oppressive force pressing down on everything in its path.
Adler, his senses dulled by pain, barely registered the shift before chaos erupted around him. Furniture exploded into shards, the walls groaned and cracked, and glass shattered, cascading like rain. Each pulse of Wei Zu's power left destruction in its wake, a testament to his overwhelming dominance.
"How does it feel to be so fragile?" Wei Zu whispered, his tone laced with malice. His glowing eyes narrowed as his hand hovered over Adler's broken body. At the barest touch, Adler's skin split open, blood seeping from fresh wounds. His ribs, already fractured, snapped like brittle twigs, the sound echoing in the room like a death knell.
Every nerve in Adler's body screamed as Wei Zu's power tore through him, unraveling his strength and leaving behind deep, agonizing wounds that burned with searing pain.
In the background, Wang Chi leaned against the doorframe, his posture relaxed, his eyes gleaming with amusement. With a lazy motion of his hand, he summoned a ripple in the air, enclosing the house in a soundproof barrier. The faint hum of the barrier sealed the chaos within, ensuring the outside world remained blissfully unaware.
"This," Wang Chi mused, his voice carrying a note of grim satisfaction, "is art. Pure art."
Inside the room, Lu Ziyan, the healer, cowered in the corner. His face was ghostly pale, his hands trembling as he watched the scene unfold. He had joined the Silver Dragon Hero Party to save lives, to heal and bring hope—but this…this was something else entirely. His mind reeled, torn between the instinct to intervene and the paralyzing fear of the consequences.
Lux's threads coiled tighter, their golden glow illuminating the blood-streaked room. With a sharp tug, they delved deeper into Adler's joints and bones, manipulating him like a marionette. A sickening crack echoed through the air as Adler's leg shattered at the knee, the bone splintering as if it were dry wood.
Adler screamed again, his voice raw with agony, but Ash silenced him with another bone-crushing punch, this time shattering his jaw.
Adler collapsed, his body broken and bloodied, a shadow of the man he had been. His meridians were destroyed, his bones shattered, and his will dangled on the edge of despair.
From the corner, Lu Ziyan watched helplessly, his hands clutching his robes, his face frozen in horror. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to act, to do something, but the sheer brutality of what he witnessed rendered him motionless.
Adler's consciousness flickered like a dying flame. He opened his eyes slowly, each blink a monumental effort. Pain surged through him in relentless waves, his body a canvas of destruction.
Leaning against the only intact section of the wall, Adler's bloodied form struggled to focus. His shattered jaw hung awkwardly, his ribs jutted out unnaturally, his right arm was bent grotesquely, and his left leg lay twisted at an angle so unnatural it was painful to look at.
Through bloodshot eyes, Adler finally found the figure seated before him. The man sat with an air of ease, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders, his pristine white skin almost glowing under the dim light. His piercing blue eyes held an unsettling calm, and his robe, adorned with the emblem of a silver dragon coiled around a long sword, marked him unmistakably: Wang Chi.
"Ah, you've woken up, dear brother Adler," Wang Chi said, his voice smooth and composed, carrying the faintest edge of mockery. His face wore a mask of concern so flawless it felt like a cruel joke. "I was beginning to worry it might take you longer to regain consciousness.I suppose that's to be expected after what you endured. But take solace in this—you're alive, at least for now. A courtesy you do not deserve"
He gestured toward Lu Ziyan. "Thanks to our healer here, you're still breathing. Truly, a remarkable feat, given your condition." His tone shifted, becoming almost conversational. "You must have questions, don't you? Why would your comrades—your brothers in arms—commit such an unspeakable act? What could we possibly gain from this?"
Wang Chi stood, pacing leisurely, his hands clasped behind his back. " Weakness, dear brother, is a burden the world cannot afford. I cannot afford."
Adler's lips moved, but no sound emerged. His shattered jaw made speech impossible, yet his eyes, filled with pain and defiance, spoke volumes.
Wang Chi chuckled softly, the sound both soothing and sinister. "Ah, don't strain yourself trying to talk. You'll only hurt yourself further, and frankly, I don't think you're in a position to ask questions." He paused, his piercing blue eyes narrowing as they bore into Adler's. "But since I am generous, I'll answer the questions of yours?"
He leaned back in his chair, resting one leg over the other, as though contemplating the weight of his next words. "The truth is...you were always the weak link, Adler. A liability, holding us back with your naive ideals and misplaced loyalty. Did you really think the Silver Dragon Hero Party was built on trust and camaraderie?" His lips curled into a cruel smile. "No, brother, it is built on power, and you…you simply didn't have enough of it."
Adler's breathing grew ragged, his chest heaving as Wang Chi's words sliced through him like daggers. He tried to shift his broken body, but the pain was unbearable.
"Ah, you're trying to move? Admirable, but futile," Wang Chi said, his voice tinged with mockery. "You see, this was always your problem. That stubborn defiance, that irritating moral compass of yours. Did you think those qualities would earn you respect? No, Adler, they made you expendable. Weak."
Wang Chi stood, his robe flowing behind him as he approached Adler, each step deliberate, calculated. He crouched down, his face inches from Adler's. "And yet, I kept you around, didn't I? Do you know why?" He paused, waiting as if expecting an answer from his broken victim. When none came, he continued. "Your talent, Adler. That peculiar skill of yours. That's the real reason you're still alive. I'm going to take it from you, make it mine. Imagine how unstoppable I'll become with your gift. And what truly enrages me is the way they look at you—Fiona and Silvia."
He paused, his fists clenching as his voice rose, shaking with suppressed fury. "Two women with beauty, grace, and talent beyond compare. Women who could have stood at the side of a real man—me. And yet, they chose you, Adler. You. An insignificant insect whose very existence is a mockery of everything I've achieved. Tell me, what do you have that I don't? Is it your wit? Your charm? Your so-called purity of heart?" He sneered, his face twisting with disdain. "Don't make me laugh."
Wang Chi crouched again, bringing his face so close to Adler's that the hatred in his eyes was almost tangible. "Do you know what it's like to be rejected? To pour years into cultivating power, wealth, and influence, only to see it all dismissed because of you? A man who crawled out of the mud, who can't even stand in my shadow without looking like a fool. Fiona and Silvia… they adored you. They adore you. And that, Adler, is your greatest crime."
He stood abruptly, pacing back and forth as his anger surged. "Fiona looked at me—me—with disdain, as if I were beneath her. All because her heart belonged to you.She made her choice—choosing you over me. That was her mistake, You, who can barely hold a sword properly compared to me. You, whose cultivation was always lag behind. And Silvia? She dared to speak of you like you were some kind of hero, some savior worth following. It's laughable!"
Wang Chi's breathing grew heavier, his silver hair falling into his face as he turned back to Adler. "But don't worry," he continued, his voice taking on a cruel, mocking tone. "I'll fix that. I'll show Fiona exactly what it means to be in her proper place. I'll break her. I'll take her every night, make her serve me like the obedient little doll she was meant to be. Her cries, her protests—they'll mean nothing. She'll learn to submit, to beg for my mercy, and when she does, she'll forget you ever existed."
Adler's body shook violently, his rage bubbling beneath the surface despite his battered state. His teeth clenched, his breath ragged as fury filled every fiber of his being. If only he could move, if only his body weren't so broken…
Wang Chi saw the defiance burning in Adler's eyes and laughed—a cold, hollow sound that echoed in the blood-soaked room. "Oh, you still have that fire in you, don't you? How pathetic. Do you think your anger can save you? Look at you, Adler. You're nothing but a pile of broken bones and shattered pride. You can't even stand, let alone fight me. You're finished."
He stepped back, his hands clasped behind his back as he smirked down at his victim. "Soon, your precious Fiona will know who truly holds power in this world. She'll know that her devotion to you was a mistake. And you? You'll be forgotten. A shadow of a man whose very existence will be erased. Your skill, your power, your wife… all of it will become mine. That is your destiny, Adler. To lose everything to me."
Adler's body trembled, not with fear, but with raw, uncontainable fury. He wanted to tear Wang Chi apart, to destroy him utterly, but his shattered body betrayed him.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," Wang Chi chuckled darkly. Again taunted the victim. "It's over for you, Adler. Soon, your skill, your woman, and your very existence will belong to me."
Wang Chi slowly turned, his expression cold and detached as he strode towards Adler. With one swift motion, he grabbed Adler by the collar and, without hesitation, smashed him through the wall into the next room.
Adler coughed violently, blood pouring from his mouth as he collided with the floor, his body bouncing before crashing into the wardrobe. The impact caused the wardrobe to explode into pieces, wood splintering and scattering in all directions.
Despite the overwhelming pain and his broken body, Adler with great effort, he turned his head, his gaze fixed on the scene before him.