The game of vengeance continued, each move Kieran made carefully crafted, each enemy's downfall planned meticulously.
After his triumph over Victor Orell, Kieran's mind turned to his next target: Lord Gavrian. A noble whose arrogance and mockery had pushed Kieran into the depths of despair when his fall began. Lord Gavrian had been one of the first to mock Kieran publicly when his family's downfall had started. He had laughed at Kieran's disgrace, stood at the sidelines, and cheered on Lucien, Kieran's betraying brother, as the world collapsed around him.
Kieran's lips curled into a smile. Gavrian had made the mistake of thinking Kieran was weak. Now, he would be made to pay for his arrogance, his cruelty.
🔺 [ SYSTEM UPDATE: TARGET SELECTED ]🔺 [ OBJECTIVE: DESTROY LORD GAVRIAN'S REPUTATION, BREAK HIS ESTEEM, AND HUMILIATE HIM PUBLICLY. ]🔺 [ REWARD: +10 INTELLIGENCE | NEW SKILL – LORD'S FALL ]
Kieran was already one step ahead. The whispers had begun the moment Kieran laid eyes on Lord Gavrian. Through his vast network of informants, Kieran had already planted the seeds of doubt among the noble houses, but that wasn't enough. Kieran wanted more. He wanted Lord Gavrian to feel the slow, painful unraveling of his life—he wanted him to feel like his entire world was collapsing in on him.
Kieran's first strike came in the form of a simple, subtle rumor: Lord Gavrian had been secretly working with Lucien to undermine his fellow nobles.
It wasn't the truth, of course. But the nobility didn't care for truth. They cared for power, and Gavrian's power was now seen as compromised.
Kieran made sure that the rumor spread like wildfire, carried on the lips of people who were too eager to trust anything that tarnished a competitor's image. Soon, whispers turned into accusations.
Lord Gavrian, the once proud noble, had always carried himself with pomp and pride. His wealth, his influence, and his connection to the higher ranks had made him feel invincible. But when the whispers began to creep into his ears, his confidence began to crack.
The first night after the rumors started to spread, Lord Gavrian lay in his bed, wide awake. His thoughts were no longer his own. Kieran's whispers had infiltrated his mind.
"They know. They all know. You've been playing both sides."
"Your allies? They are starting to question you."
"Lucien doesn't care about you anymore. You are a tool. Once you've outlived your usefulness, you will be discarded."
Lord Gavrian could feel his mind unraveling. His once-ironclad confidence began to fade. He tossed and turned, unable to escape the thoughts that gripped him. He had betrayed those closest to him, and now the consequences were coming for him.
But Kieran wasn't finished yet. He knew that the true devastation came when the final blow was delivered publicly.
The noble banquet was held the following week. It was the perfect opportunity for Lord Gavrian's humiliation to take place.
Kieran watched from the shadows as Lord Gavrian entered the banquet hall, his presence still commanding attention—but now, there was a noticeable shift in the air. Kieran could see it in the way the nobles whispered when Lord Gavrian walked past, the way the other high-born ladies avoided his gaze, and the way his peers no longer rushed to greet him.
Kieran's final act of destruction began.
He had arranged for a feigned assassination attempt—a group of mercenaries that would "attack" Lord Gavrian during the feast. The plan was simple: Kieran would have them appear to attack only for the guards to intervene at the last moment.
But Kieran's true goal wasn't the mercenaries—it was to watch Lord Gavrian's breakdown. It was to push him into a moment of absolute fear and uncertainty, so that the nobles would see him not as a strong and powerful man but as a coward.
As Lord Gavrian sat down to dinner, Kieran could feel the tension in the air. Every movement Lord Gavrian made seemed exaggerated, every word he spoke was under a microscope. His fellow nobles watched him carefully, and he knew—deep down—that they were all waiting for him to fail.
The mercenaries stormed into the hall, brandishing weapons as the crowd screamed and scattered. Lord Gavrian leaped to his feet, his sword drawn, but Kieran had already planted the seed.
The first moment of doubt hit him when he hesitated. His eyes flicked around the room, searching for the best way to fight back, but his legs were shaking. His hands were clammy. His usual confidence had disappeared, and instead, he felt fear.
Fear of death. Fear of failure. Fear of being exposed.
Kieran watched from the shadows as Lord Gavrian hesitated for a split second—long enough to lose control of the situation.
At that moment, his reputation was destroyed.
The mercenaries were stopped before they could make their move. Guards rushed in and subdued the attackers. But it was too late.
🔺 [ SYSTEM UPDATE: TARGET'S REPUTATION RUINED ]🔺 [ PAIN-POWER INCREASED: +2,000 ]🔺 [ QUEST COMPLETE: LORD GAVRIAN'S REPUTATION SHATTERED ]
Kieran stepped forward, his eyes locked on Lord Gavrian's trembling form.
"You're finished, Gavrian." Kieran's voice was calm, chilling. "Your strength was nothing but a facade, and now, everyone knows it. The nobles, the people—they see you for what you really are: a coward."
Lord Gavrian, his face pale, opened his mouth to retort—but the words caught in his throat. His eyes were filled with shame. He had been exposed. He could no longer deny it.
He was nothing without his honor.
🔺 [ SYSTEM UPDATE: TARGET'S PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE: CRITICAL ]🔺 [ PAIN-POWER INCREASED: +2,500 ]
Kieran turned to leave, knowing that this public humiliation would stick with Lord Gavrian for the rest of his life. The rumors would follow him until he could no longer show his face in any noble court. He was a broken man, and that was exactly what Kieran had wanted.
The whispers that followed Lord Gavrian after his public disgrace spread far and wide. Kieran could almost hear them—the sound of every noble, every merchant, and every commoner muttering his name, now synonymous with shame. What had once been a proud house was now a laughingstock, its future uncertain. The noble's name would be forever stained by Kieran's ruthless manipulation, and there was no escaping the damage.
Lord Gavrian had never imagined this.
He had once held court with the highest of the high, spoken with a voice of authority, and walked with the confidence of a man untouchable by scandal. But now, after the public attack Kieran had orchestrated, Lord Gavrian was nothing more than a broken man.
He had tried to regain control.
For days, Lord Gavrian locked himself inside his chambers, fuming with anger, cursing the world and everyone in it. He couldn't understand how he had fallen so low. How had the proud noble been reduced to a mere puppet in Kieran's hands?
His servants tried to speak with him, but he ignored them, too ashamed to face anyone. His own mind was a maze of confusion, his once clear thoughts clouded by the feeling of loss, betrayal, and now—weakness.
The worst part wasn't just the public humiliation—it was the guilt. The paranoia had begun to set in. Had they always known? Did the other nobles see him for what he truly was? A man who crumbled under the slightest pressure. A man who had betrayed his honor for the sake of power.
Kieran, however, was well aware of the aftermath. The cracks in Lord Gavrian's psyche were widening, and Kieran was ready to exploit them further.
Kieran watched from the shadows as Lord Gavrian's social circle shrunk. Invitations to gatherings and important meetings ceased. Noble houses who had once worked closely with him were now pulling away, fearful of being linked to someone so easily destroyed.
Kieran could see it all, every subtle shift in the crowd, every whispered comment behind Lord Gavrian's back. The reputation of a man, once so unshakable, now lay in tatters.
Lord Gavrian's days were spent in isolation, and the seeds of doubt planted by Kieran grew in his mind like a poisonous vine, twisting his thoughts further. There was no more pride left in the once mighty noble. There was only shame. Self-loathing.
It wasn't just the betrayal of his peers that haunted him. It was the gnawing fear that he had failed himself, that he was no longer the man he had believed himself to be.
In the darkest hours of the night, the voices whispered louder. They took the form of his deepest regrets, replaying his moments of weakness over and over.
"You were never a real knight.""Your loyalty was always conditional. You ran when things got hard.""They see you for what you are—a coward."
His nights were now filled with sweats and nightmares, and each morning, when he looked into the mirror, he could barely recognize the man staring back at him. The image of a once proud lord was now distorted, his face a hollow shell of what it had been.
But the worst part was the knowledge that Kieran was still out there, his influence still lingering in every corner of Lord Gavrian's mind. The whispers had not stopped.
The fall of Lord Gavrian wasn't just about public disgrace. It wasn't just about the people who had turned their backs on him. It was about the complete psychological destruction Kieran had orchestrated.
Kieran's whispers, his manipulation, had become deeply ingrained in Lord Gavrian's very soul. Even when the noble tried to force himself to ignore the truth, it always resurfaced. The thought that he had failed. That he was no longer respected. That his place at the table had been taken from him—by Kieran Vale.
🔻 [ SYSTEM UPDATE: TARGET'S PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE: CRITICAL ] 🔻
🔺 [ PAIN-POWER INCREASED: +2,000 ]🔺 [ REWARD: +10 INTELLIGENCE ]
Kieran watched from the shadows, satisfied with the results. Lord Gavrian's spirit was broken. His mind was fracturing, his status forever tainted, and the once-proud noble had nothing left but regret and shame.
As Kieran stood in front of his study, looking out over the city, his Pain-Linked System hummed with power. He had already seen the fruits of his labor: the slow, inevitable collapse of every man who had wronged him. But the journey was far from over. He still had 99 more names on his list.
The next target would come soon enough.