The Beginning NO.7: The Serpent and the Forbidden Fruit – translated by Raylight (proofread by Trespasserby; C/E edited by Taffygirl13 & lucathia)
Bai Lian Yue was completely shocked. “What is wrong? Your complexion looks terrible.”
“I have a mission for you.”
“… You really don’t treat secretaries as humans, do you?”
Bai Lian Yue’s work efficiency was only slightly worse than Kyle’s, but his ability to complain was higher than Kyle’s by at least three or four times!
“Fine, fine, wipe that scowl off your face. Just give me the job. It’s not like I won’t do it. Do you really need to put on such a frightening expression?”
“Go and kill someone.”
He casually responded, “I thought it would be some kind of grand mission. That’s simple. Who do you want me to kill?”
“Luo Ye.” I calmly said.
Bai Lian Yue’s eyes turned wide as he exclaimed, “Where did he pop up from? Wasn’t he already long dead? Are you certain it’s your fa—”
I gave him a look.
“Urgh, you don’t have to mind that much, right? It’s just your biological father.”
Bai Lian Yue still said it. This secretary was really so daring, for he still had the guts to continue on even as I shot a glare at him. “So what even if you are not Ri Ji Yan’s son? Right now, who in the Sun Alliance has the authority to question you about this? The only person qualified is your Ah Ye, but if he wanted this Alliance, you would give it to him with both hands. Need he even question you?”
Hearing Bai Lian Yue say that, it seemed like the term “biological father” held absolutely no meaning. In that case, why should I concern myself with such a thing?
I suddenly calmed down. Even if I was not Ri Ji Yan’s biological son, even if I had my hands stained in his blood for the sake of saving Ah Ye that year, he had never done anything to let me down. He only targeted Ah Ye, and later on we had also verified that it had not been completely without reason…
“Ah Yan, are you all right?”
I shook my head, and sternly declared, “My father is Ri Ji Yan, not that Luo Ye person! Don’t ever bring up biological fathers again!”
Bai Lian Yue lowered his head and admitted his mistake, “Understood. Then I’ll send people to have him killed now—”
“Hold on.” I indifferently said, “There is no rush to kill him. Go and find out who is pulling the strings first. He is my father’s brother and ought to know what our usual way of handling problems is. It was not easy for him to hide until now, so daring to appear means that he feels secure knowing that someone has his back. We must first find out who or what exactly he is relying on. Also…”
I looked toward the table. There was a folded photo frame there. The left side was Ah Ye as a child with his unbeatable cuteness, and the right side was Ah Ye’s recent photo. Initially the photo in the right frame kept on changing, but now it had not been changed for two or three years. That was because Ah Ye would never grow again. Even if his hair got longer, there was absolutely no change at all in his facial features.
A lifespan of over a thousand years… Ah Ye, what kind of arrangements do I have to make so that you will have nothing to worry about for a thousand years?
I said to Bai Lian Yue with a smile, “Perhaps Luo Ye will be a good serpent and tempt Ah Ye into eating that forbidden fruit.”
Bai Lian Yue, Yue Ya’er who had always supported me, finally showed a change in expression.
“Isn’t it just making sure Ah Ye won’t lose his life to protect you? Don’t go over the top! Ah Ye loves you very much. Wanting to protect you is natural. It isn’t because it’s set into some microchip!”
“I will not go over the top,” I calmly replied.
No matter how over the top it is, it would not top a thousand years.
“Curtis!”
I burst into the room. I originally expected to see a trussed-up Curtis, but there was nothing of the sort. Within the room, there was only someone that I would have never expected to see.
“Sorry to disappoint you. He is not here.”
How is this person here? He would actually come in person to such a dangerous place?
The Sun Emperor.
He sat behind the office table. The only person by his side was Secretary Bai. However, two whole rows of adjudication squad members stood on both sides of the room.
I sized them up. Perhaps I would not be able to defeat them all, but as long as I used my x-speed, they would likely be unable to stop me in time if I wanted to do something.
“Where is Curtis?” I asked as I walked, hoping to draw a little closer to the Sun Emperor. If I had no choice but to take action, it would be better if the distance between us was as short as possible.
“His whereabouts are not important.” The Sun Emperor answered with a smile that made me feel uneasy. He continued, “The important thing is that he made a deal with me.”
I froze in my tracks, lifting my head to look at the Sun Emperor. His smile was extremely carefree and relaxed, as though he was completely unafraid of me verifying that. I held my earpiece and quietly called out, “Curtis.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
Curtis truly is all right. I opened my mouth, and in that moment, I actually did not know how I should begin my line of questioning.
“Where are you?”
“I have already evacuated the premises.”
I fell silent for a while, and then asked, “The Sun Emperor said that you made a deal with him. Is that correct?”
“… Indeed.” Curtis’s tone was a little hesitant, and he seemed apologetic as he said, “My apologies, Family Head, I—”
Even after a drawn out wait, Curtis did not continue on. He was likely at a loss as to how to begin. I removed the earpiece, but then heard the sound of something shattering. Looking down, I belatedly realized that I had actually crushed the earpiece.
“There’s still the phone.” The Sun Emperor appeared to be unfazed by my actions and even reminded me of that with what appeared to be kind intentions.
Once he said that, my phone coincidentally started ringing. I reached my hand into my pocket, and with the use of my blood ability, the thing in my pocket shattered to pieces. Since the other person was at a loss as to how to tell me, then why must I hear an explanation?
“I told you before.” The Sun Emperor remained unruffled as he said, “Playing your butler game is one thing. Opposing me is an entirely different matter.”
I calmly answered, “He originally did not need to protect me anyway. Now we are only returning to how it was before.”
“How open-minded.”
The Sun Emperor’s elbow rested on the completely empty table. Rather, it was Secretary Bai seated beside him who was awfully busy. Even under such a situation, he was still glued to his laptop, typing away with furious speed. In comparison to his busy secretary, the Sun Emperor appeared very idle, making it hard to believe that he was the leader of the world’s biggest economic alliance.
He asked with a smile, “But now, what will you use to protect your beloved vampire?”
X…
“While saying that you don’t need authority, you use the Elysees family as a shield against the Church, and also turn to them when necessary to protect those you wish to protect.”
The Sun Emperor scoffed and said disdainfully, “Giving up your authority? How pretentious! From the beginning up until now, you have never ‘given up’ on authority! It’s just that I use my organization, money, and power to get people to work for me, while you use emotions and you bloodline to tie them down, Charles Elysees.”
“I am Charles Endelis!” The roar came out of me before I realized that I had opened my mouth… I clenched my hands into a fist, my nails digging into my flesh. The pain made me a little calmer, and only then could I continue, “Sun Emperor, stop sowing discord. What exactly do you want? I have nothing!”
“Since you want me to be straightforward, fine—I have already given the Church X’s whereabouts, Charles ‘Endelis.’”
I stared at him, stunned.
The Sun Emperor indifferently stated, “Not to the two outside. Since you are already here and to make up twenty minutes, there’s still… ”
He glanced at Bai Lian Yue lazily, and the other did not even look up as he answered, “Eight minutes.”
“That was worse than what I expected. Clearly, their obstruction failed, so of course they won’t be rewarded.”
“Why?” I yelled agitatedly, “Is it because I did not hand Luo Ye over to you? You said ten days! It has not even reached the set date!”
“I exchanged a kind of ‘merchandise’ with the Church.” The Sun Emperor paid no mind as he said, “I am a businessman. If someone is willing to pay for my product upfront, why should I wait for a customer like you, who might not pay up even after a few days? Furthermore…”
He looked at me, with a smile of understanding as he said it in a matter-of-fact tone, “You did not intend to bring Luo Ye out to hand over to me, isn’t that so?”
Indeed… If I could hand him over, then why would I be so troubled about it! However, I cannot admit that now. Perhaps the Sun Emperor is only testing me and is not that certain about it.
I forced myself to stay level-headed, and then asked back in confusion, “Why are you so certain about this? To me, Luo Ye definitely cannot be compared to X. He is not the least bit important to me.”
The Sun Emperor kept his smile and asked, “Luo Ye is not important to you, but how about Ah Ye?”
I froze.
He no longer seemed relaxed as his expression turned stern and he proclaimed, “You are right. Luo Ye isn’t important, but Ah Ye is extremely, extremely important! Everyone who stays by Ah Ye’s side must revolve around him as the center, and never ever betray him!”
The Sun Emperor growled in fury, “Today for the sake of X, you can be threatened by me and debate whether or not to betray Ah Ye. Tomorrow for the sake of something else, you could betray him once more!”
His expression was unstable as he muttered, “You are even involved with the Elysees family and the Church… If I had known beforehand that you were such a troublesome character, I absolutely would not have let you stay by Ah Ye’s side!”
The Sun Emperor glared at me hatefully, and gave his verdict like a monarch, “Charles Endelis, I have given you a test, and you have failed!”
I suddenly felt a violent chill. Only now did I truly understand everything.
“So you did not truly want to kill Luo Ye? This was simply a test for me?”
“What foolish nonsense are you saying, of course I want to kill Luo Ye.” The Sun Emperor coldly said, “But I don’t need you to be able to kill him. I was merely making use of this incident to test you in-passing.”
Making use? In-passing? I stared at the Sun Emperor in disbelief.
“One has to pay the price for failure, but I don’t intend to deal with you personally. It’s pretty troublesome when Ah Ye gets angry.”
The Sun Emperor gave a cold laugh as he said, “After losing the protection of the Elysees family, you and that dangerous thousand-year-old vampire will naturally be dealt with by the Church. Even without me personally making a move, I can get quite a bit of the battle spoils in return!”
The Sun Emperor smiled and continued with a relaxed tone, “You want to know what kind of grand prize can be exchanged for X, a magnificent thousand-year-old vampire?”
I roared, “Say no more!”
To go as far as using others’ lives as a test… Never mind testing me for the sake of the young master, but X… X… This has nothing to do with him! X has escaped death for over a thousand years, only to be caught like this—from a test where he was “made use of in-passing” because of me!
The Sun Emperor tapped the table gently with his finger, seeming a little vexed as he said, “It does not seem like the Church intends to kill that thousand-year-old vampire immediately, which is a little troublesome. I have to keep it from Ah Ye, to prevent him from hearing that vampire is getting abused or the like, or he will secretly run out to save him—”
X… Abused…
“I told you to say no more!”
I charged at the Sun Emperor, and he did not even manage to react in time. As expected, the Sun Emperor had no fighting capabilities. To think he dared to appear here, did he believe that the adjudication squad could protect him?
In an instant, I stepped onto the office desk, towering above the Sun Emperor as I looked down at him. This person who caused me so much agony was so close that if I reached out my hand I could touch him… I suddenly felt pain in my leg, and turning around, I discovered that a whip was wrapped around my calf. The whip was even barbed, and a burning pain came from my legs. Clearly, it was silver powder at work again. This weapon that I had experienced from Avexila seemed to have become popular.
The person using the whip was Secretary Bai. I would not have thought him to be a fighter, given how his slender figure made him look like someone unskilled at fighting.
Secretary Bai’s face had turned pale in shock, as he exclaimed, “He’s so fast! Ah Yan, hurry and go. If he were to go all out, I probably can’t hold him off—”
His words vanished within an ocean of loud shattering, the French window destroyed. I raised my head. Under the moonlight was the sight of frenzied strands of hair, their silvery-white glow that filled the sky bright enough to hurt the eyes.
“Young Master…” I murmured.
The young master looked at me coldly. He was dressed in casual wear and was not wearing his visor, but I could still recognize that that was not the young master. He was—Dark Sun!
Dark Sun was currently staring at me with a look as chilling as ice.
Why? Confusion arose, and in the next moment, the young master’s words from before rang in my head once more.
Gēge is my only family! It was engraved into the microchip in his head that the sole reason for his existence was to protect the Sun Emperor, no matter the cost—even if it was his own life!
I had the intent to attack the Sun Emperor. Could it be… I quickly explained, “Young Master, I-I did not mean to. The Sun Emperor, he…” He revealed X’s whereabouts to the Church.
My reasons vanished upon looking at Dark Sun’s expression. He looked at me, unfeelingly, heartlessly, desirelessly, just like the adjudication squads on both sides. I seemed to be merely—an enemy target.
The young master right now… No, Dark Sun right now, does he still remember that I am Charles, the butler who signed an Endless contract with him?
I was unable to verify this, but then a mass of wild silver hair came rushing at me, giving me a clear answer. With a turn of my body, I forcefully broke free of the whip wrapped around my leg and dodged all these attacks—Or at least, I dodged the majority of the attacks.
The only thing that the young master would care about now is… I pounced toward the Sun Emperor, and as expected the young master immediately blocked in front of him. Even if just now my back was full of openings, he would not be able to pursue and attack, and could only go in front of the Sun Emperor.
The silver hair charged toward me again. I turned and evaded it, then feigned an attack on the Sun Emperor from the left side. The young master blocked it wonderfully, making sure there was absolutely no possibility that harm would come to the Sun Emperor. Just then, I put all my power into my feet for a powerful launch, then dashed past the young master and the Sun Emperor with my x-speed. Passing through the broken French window, I dropped straight down.
I escaped!
I heaved a sigh of relief. At least I avoided having to fight with the young master. Regardless of whether it was due to the microchip in his brain or due to true anger that I had raised my hand against the Sun Emperor, if the young master personally injured or even killed me, he would be upset… was that not so?
“Charles, save me!”
Young Master? Save me? I quickly turned back to look. The young master was standing by the side of the broken window, both hands holding guns with the muzzles pointed downwards. His facial expression was still that of merciless Dark Sun’s. Afterward, the flashes that fired out from the guns made it impossible for me to see the young master’s expression clearly. Only the sound of non-stop gunfire and items getting blasted to bits continued to ring out.
Pain surged through my shoulder. I stepped onto the surface of the wall and drew to an emergency stop, turning my body toward another direction. With a burst of my x-speed, I immediately left the area.
“Urgh!”
In the middle of using x-speed to charge forward, I felt my knees suddenly give way, and my entire body fell forward. Falling with such speed caused me to roll for ten or more times before I barely managed to stop, and I lay on the ground with my entire body in pain.
No, I have to stand up quickly. I have to hurry and leave. If the young master catches up… I turned my head to look behind, and only then did I realize that the hotel had not been visible for a long while. I had been running with x-speed all along, and though not much time had passed, I had already managed to run quite a long distance… Urgh!
My knees burned with pain, as though they were on fire. Even attempting to sit up was difficult as my legs felt limp and weak. As expected, I had pushed it too much. My knee had just been hit by a bullet, and Ah Shuu had also warned me not to overdo it. However, not only had I attacked with x-speed, my leg had also been wrapped by a whip covered in silver powder. Ultimately, I even used my x-speed to escape and sprinted for quite a long time.
Pain throbbed in waves from various parts of my body, and my knee that was already injured to start with had long since become numb from the pain. A bullet had also hit my shoulder just earlier. At the time, I had not even had the time to inspect it. Thankfully, the shoulder injury did not affect my arm movements, and compared to the pain in my knee, the pain from my shoulder could almost be ignored.
I wanted to get up to take a look at my knee. If the cloth securing my injury has come loose, perhaps…
I was unable to speak for quite a while, the pain causing my whole body to sweat profusely. This would not do at all. I was completely unable to move. I shakily pressed one hand onto the finger of my other hand. A ring of an outrageous style was on that finger, the tranquilizer ring that I had borrowed from Ezart. Though I had previously claimed that I would not to use it rashly, I believed that given the current situation, it would not be considered rash to use it.
I pressed it once, sending the tranquilizer flowing into my body. However, I was still in so much pain that I kept sweating, and I had to press it again. It was still of no help until I pressed it for the third time. I then felt the pain gradually subsiding, and I was finally able to stand again.
I had been lying on the ground for far too long just now, and now I needed to make haste. I only hesitated for a moment, and immediately injected another shot into the knee that had taken a bullet. At the same time, I remembered that I had seemingly forgotten to ask Ezart how many tranquilizer shots this ring possessed… No, what exactly am I thinking?
I had already injected myself with four shots. Previously, Ezart had merely injected me with two, and I had lost control and started fighting with him on the spot. Now I had already injected four shots, and yet I wished to continue injecting more?
The pain gradually faded; it appeared that the tranquilizers were taking effect. Perhaps I ought to have waited earlier rather than taking four shots at once—Never mind, perhaps it is better this way. There are still many things to do, and it would be problematic if I were hurting all over.
There are many things to do… At the moment, the most important task is…
Once again, I moved on, switching between x-speed and glide steps. Whenever I felt that I reached my limits, I switched back to advancing at a regular speed, but as long as I recovered a little, I immediately went back into the world of glide steps and x-speed.
Under the effects of the tranquilizers, I did not feel pain or fatigue. The only problem was that, as I went on, I went from wheezing to nearly being unable to breathe. However, I had no desire to stop and continued running onwards, intending to deal with it only if I actually collapsed. Instead, after a while, my breathing became smoother, completely different from the state of overusing x-speed.
I truly do not know what happened, but the only person who would be so anxious as to send hundreds of people to investigate because of something unusual about my condition had already been dead for many years.
My honorable father, if you knew what I was about to do now, how would you react?
I stopped in my tracks, for I finally saw my destination. It was a gorgeous and large hotel, some distance away from all of the buildings around it. I stepped onto a building taller than it, then jumped down directly. I released a great amount of my blood ability from my back, the blood transforming into a pair of wings.
I glided over and as I flew over the hotel, I did a large turn in the air. I reined in my blood ability slightly, letting the tips of my wings point forward, and then smashed through a French window to crash into the hotel. When I landed, my blood ability turned into two rapiers, one in each hand.
Three on the left, two on the right.
With my knees slightly bent, I raised my rapiers with both hands. Using x-speed, I passed through the two on the right. When I came to a halt, the two slowly collapsed.
I glanced at them from the corner of my eye and was shocked to discover that the heads were still attached to their necks. The rapiers had clearly sliced across their necks in the attack just now, so it was quite surprising that they had not severed completely with the extra boost from x-speed. The strength of these people was truly far above any ordinary person. If it were not for the fact that I had a secret weapon like x-speed, I probably would not be able to kill them¬—The reputation of Sun Emperor’s adjudication squad was well-justified indeed!
However, having one’s neck completely or partially cut off made no difference, for the end result was still the same. They would not be able to crawl back up.
After dashing past the two, I did not linger around. I immediately stepped onto the wall behind him, and with a leap, I reached the ceiling. Once more, I dropped straight down, stabbing the two rapiers directly into their backs. The final person left standing kept firing at me non-stop, but he was completely incapable of hurting me as a result of failing to keep up with my speed, in addition to harboring apprehensions, unable to fire at will.
Even so, his firepower was strong and the continuous gunshots were deafening. If I were to draw closer, I would likely have to pay dearly for it.
With a dodge, I picked up the gun on the floor in passing and started shooting back in retaliation. What I did not anticipate was that it was much more troublesome than using rapiers. Though the other was hit by bullets repeatedly and his whole body was ridden with holes, he still persistently refused to fall. It seemed that the damage done to him by the bullets was greatly inferior to a slash from a blade.
I decided that I could hold it no longer. In reality, all this happened in the span of a few seconds, but the more it dragged on, the more likely that a mishap would occur. I threw away the gun and dashed up to him with the resolve to have to take a few bullets on the way. Once more, my surroundings moved in slow motion as I used my x-speed. While I was naturally unable to keep track of such a vast number of bullets, I was able to see the direction the gun muzzle was pointed, and with that, the bullets became significantly easier to avoid.
I focused hard on the muzzle and advanced in a zig-zig pattern. This allowed me to evade the majority of the bullets. While there were some that slipped through, they mostly just brushed past me and did not cause any major harm.
I stood in front of the other person. Though bangs were still ringing from the gun in his hands, the muzzle had long since been pointed past me. Two rapiers stabbed him in an upwards motion to pierce his throat, coming back out through the back of his head.
When I pulled out the rapiers, he fell to the ground. What was frightening was that the gunshots continued for a while before they came to a complete halt. These modified humans were truly unbelievable.
Bang!
I darted a meter to my left and turned around to look at the only person remaining in the room. He was standing by the office table, and the calm demeanor that he had always retained had finally been broken. While his arms were raised with a gun, he seemed to know that it was of no use, so he did not fire. Instead, he stared blankly at me with wide eyes.
With another glide step, I arrived right in front of him. Unexpectedly, he praised, “You really are fast!”
It seems that I am hearing this remark all the time recently; I am certain that I truly am very fast. Moreover, in the current situation, speed seems to be the only thing I can rely on.
The opponent had never been responsible for combat and likely did not have much ability in self-defense, similar to the Sun Emperor. However, he did not have Secretary Bai at his side, let alone Dark Sun.
“Charles, what are you—Urgh!”
I knocked the other person unconscious with a single punch.
The Beginning NO.7: The Serpent and the Forbidden Fruit – translated by Raylight (proofread by Trespasserby; C/E edited by Taffygirl13 & lucathia)
Bai Lian Yue was completely shocked. “What is wrong? Your complexion looks terrible.”
“I have a mission for you.”
“… You really don’t treat secretaries as humans, do you?”
Bai Lian Yue’s work efficiency was only slightly worse than Kyle’s, but his ability to complain was higher than Kyle’s by at least three or four times!
“Fine, fine, wipe that scowl off your face. Just give me the job. It’s not like I won’t do it. Do you really need to put on such a frightening expression?”
“Go and kill someone.”
He casually responded, “I thought it would be some kind of grand mission. That’s simple. Who do you want me to kill?”
“Luo Ye.” I calmly said.
Bai Lian Yue’s eyes turned wide as he exclaimed, “Where did he pop up from? Wasn’t he already long dead? Are you certain it’s your fa—”
I gave him a look.
“Urgh, you don’t have to mind that much, right? It’s just your biological father.”
Bai Lian Yue still said it. This secretary was really so daring, for he still had the guts to continue on even as I shot a glare at him. “So what even if you are not Ri Ji Yan’s son? Right now, who in the Sun Alliance has the authority to question you about this? The only person qualified is your Ah Ye, but if he wanted this Alliance, you would give it to him with both hands. Need he even question you?”
Hearing Bai Lian Yue say that, it seemed like the term “biological father” held absolutely no meaning. In that case, why should I concern myself with such a thing?
I suddenly calmed down. Even if I was not Ri Ji Yan’s biological son, even if I had my hands stained in his blood for the sake of saving Ah Ye that year, he had never done anything to let me down. He only targeted Ah Ye, and later on we had also verified that it had not been completely without reason…
“Ah Yan, are you all right?”
I shook my head, and sternly declared, “My father is Ri Ji Yan, not that Luo Ye person! Don’t ever bring up biological fathers again!”
Bai Lian Yue lowered his head and admitted his mistake, “Understood. Then I’ll send people to have him killed now—”
“Hold on.” I indifferently said, “There is no rush to kill him. Go and find out who is pulling the strings first. He is my father’s brother and ought to know what our usual way of handling problems is. It was not easy for him to hide until now, so daring to appear means that he feels secure knowing that someone has his back. We must first find out who or what exactly he is relying on. Also…”
I looked toward the table. There was a folded photo frame there. The left side was Ah Ye as a child with his unbeatable cuteness, and the right side was Ah Ye’s recent photo. Initially the photo in the right frame kept on changing, but now it had not been changed for two or three years. That was because Ah Ye would never grow again. Even if his hair got longer, there was absolutely no change at all in his facial features.
A lifespan of over a thousand years… Ah Ye, what kind of arrangements do I have to make so that you will have nothing to worry about for a thousand years?
I said to Bai Lian Yue with a smile, “Perhaps Luo Ye will be a good serpent and tempt Ah Ye into eating that forbidden fruit.”
Bai Lian Yue, Yue Ya’er who had always supported me, finally showed a change in expression.
“Isn’t it just making sure Ah Ye won’t lose his life to protect you? Don’t go over the top! Ah Ye loves you very much. Wanting to protect you is natural. It isn’t because it’s set into some microchip!”
“I will not go over the top,” I calmly replied.
No matter how over the top it is, it would not top a thousand years.
“Curtis!”
I burst into the room. I originally expected to see a trussed-up Curtis, but there was nothing of the sort. Within the room, there was only someone that I would have never expected to see.
“Sorry to disappoint you. He is not here.”
How is this person here? He would actually come in person to such a dangerous place?
The Sun Emperor.
He sat behind the office table. The only person by his side was Secretary Bai. However, two whole rows of adjudication squad members stood on both sides of the room.
I sized them up. Perhaps I would not be able to defeat them all, but as long as I used my x-speed, they would likely be unable to stop me in time if I wanted to do something.
“Where is Curtis?” I asked as I walked, hoping to draw a little closer to the Sun Emperor. If I had no choice but to take action, it would be better if the distance between us was as short as possible.
“His whereabouts are not important.” The Sun Emperor answered with a smile that made me feel uneasy. He continued, “The important thing is that he made a deal with me.”
I froze in my tracks, lifting my head to look at the Sun Emperor. His smile was extremely carefree and relaxed, as though he was completely unafraid of me verifying that. I held my earpiece and quietly called out, “Curtis.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
Curtis truly is all right. I opened my mouth, and in that moment, I actually did not know how I should begin my line of questioning.
“Where are you?”
“I have already evacuated the premises.”
I fell silent for a while, and then asked, “The Sun Emperor said that you made a deal with him. Is that correct?”
“… Indeed.” Curtis’s tone was a little hesitant, and he seemed apologetic as he said, “My apologies, Family Head, I—”
Even after a drawn out wait, Curtis did not continue on. He was likely at a loss as to how to begin. I removed the earpiece, but then heard the sound of something shattering. Looking down, I belatedly realized that I had actually crushed the earpiece.
“There’s still the phone.” The Sun Emperor appeared to be unfazed by my actions and even reminded me of that with what appeared to be kind intentions.
Once he said that, my phone coincidentally started ringing. I reached my hand into my pocket, and with the use of my blood ability, the thing in my pocket shattered to pieces. Since the other person was at a loss as to how to tell me, then why must I hear an explanation?
“I told you before.” The Sun Emperor remained unruffled as he said, “Playing your butler game is one thing. Opposing me is an entirely different matter.”
I calmly answered, “He originally did not need to protect me anyway. Now we are only returning to how it was before.”
“How open-minded.”
The Sun Emperor’s elbow rested on the completely empty table. Rather, it was Secretary Bai seated beside him who was awfully busy. Even under such a situation, he was still glued to his laptop, typing away with furious speed. In comparison to his busy secretary, the Sun Emperor appeared very idle, making it hard to believe that he was the leader of the world’s biggest economic alliance.
He asked with a smile, “But now, what will you use to protect your beloved vampire?”
X…
“While saying that you don’t need authority, you use the Elysees family as a shield against the Church, and also turn to them when necessary to protect those you wish to protect.”
The Sun Emperor scoffed and said disdainfully, “Giving up your authority? How pretentious! From the beginning up until now, you have never ‘given up’ on authority! It’s just that I use my organization, money, and power to get people to work for me, while you use emotions and you bloodline to tie them down, Charles Elysees.”
“I am Charles Endelis!” The roar came out of me before I realized that I had opened my mouth… I clenched my hands into a fist, my nails digging into my flesh. The pain made me a little calmer, and only then could I continue, “Sun Emperor, stop sowing discord. What exactly do you want? I have nothing!”
“Since you want me to be straightforward, fine—I have already given the Church X’s whereabouts, Charles ‘Endelis.’”
I stared at him, stunned.
The Sun Emperor indifferently stated, “Not to the two outside. Since you are already here and to make up twenty minutes, there’s still… ”
He glanced at Bai Lian Yue lazily, and the other did not even look up as he answered, “Eight minutes.”
“That was worse than what I expected. Clearly, their obstruction failed, so of course they won’t be rewarded.”
“Why?” I yelled agitatedly, “Is it because I did not hand Luo Ye over to you? You said ten days! It has not even reached the set date!”
“I exchanged a kind of ‘merchandise’ with the Church.” The Sun Emperor paid no mind as he said, “I am a businessman. If someone is willing to pay for my product upfront, why should I wait for a customer like you, who might not pay up even after a few days? Furthermore…”
He looked at me, with a smile of understanding as he said it in a matter-of-fact tone, “You did not intend to bring Luo Ye out to hand over to me, isn’t that so?”
Indeed… If I could hand him over, then why would I be so troubled about it! However, I cannot admit that now. Perhaps the Sun Emperor is only testing me and is not that certain about it.
I forced myself to stay level-headed, and then asked back in confusion, “Why are you so certain about this? To me, Luo Ye definitely cannot be compared to X. He is not the least bit important to me.”
The Sun Emperor kept his smile and asked, “Luo Ye is not important to you, but how about Ah Ye?”
I froze.
He no longer seemed relaxed as his expression turned stern and he proclaimed, “You are right. Luo Ye isn’t important, but Ah Ye is extremely, extremely important! Everyone who stays by Ah Ye’s side must revolve around him as the center, and never ever betray him!”
The Sun Emperor growled in fury, “Today for the sake of X, you can be threatened by me and debate whether or not to betray Ah Ye. Tomorrow for the sake of something else, you could betray him once more!”
His expression was unstable as he muttered, “You are even involved with the Elysees family and the Church… If I had known beforehand that you were such a troublesome character, I absolutely would not have let you stay by Ah Ye’s side!”
The Sun Emperor glared at me hatefully, and gave his verdict like a monarch, “Charles Endelis, I have given you a test, and you have failed!”
I suddenly felt a violent chill. Only now did I truly understand everything.
“So you did not truly want to kill Luo Ye? This was simply a test for me?”
“What foolish nonsense are you saying, of course I want to kill Luo Ye.” The Sun Emperor coldly said, “But I don’t need you to be able to kill him. I was merely making use of this incident to test you in-passing.”
Making use? In-passing? I stared at the Sun Emperor in disbelief.
“One has to pay the price for failure, but I don’t intend to deal with you personally. It’s pretty troublesome when Ah Ye gets angry.”
The Sun Emperor gave a cold laugh as he said, “After losing the protection of the Elysees family, you and that dangerous thousand-year-old vampire will naturally be dealt with by the Church. Even without me personally making a move, I can get quite a bit of the battle spoils in return!”
The Sun Emperor smiled and continued with a relaxed tone, “You want to know what kind of grand prize can be exchanged for X, a magnificent thousand-year-old vampire?”
I roared, “Say no more!”
To go as far as using others’ lives as a test… Never mind testing me for the sake of the young master, but X… X… This has nothing to do with him! X has escaped death for over a thousand years, only to be caught like this—from a test where he was “made use of in-passing” because of me!
The Sun Emperor tapped the table gently with his finger, seeming a little vexed as he said, “It does not seem like the Church intends to kill that thousand-year-old vampire immediately, which is a little troublesome. I have to keep it from Ah Ye, to prevent him from hearing that vampire is getting abused or the like, or he will secretly run out to save him—”
X… Abused…
“I told you to say no more!”
I charged at the Sun Emperor, and he did not even manage to react in time. As expected, the Sun Emperor had no fighting capabilities. To think he dared to appear here, did he believe that the adjudication squad could protect him?
In an instant, I stepped onto the office desk, towering above the Sun Emperor as I looked down at him. This person who caused me so much agony was so close that if I reached out my hand I could touch him… I suddenly felt pain in my leg, and turning around, I discovered that a whip was wrapped around my calf. The whip was even barbed, and a burning pain came from my legs. Clearly, it was silver powder at work again. This weapon that I had experienced from Avexila seemed to have become popular.
The person using the whip was Secretary Bai. I would not have thought him to be a fighter, given how his slender figure made him look like someone unskilled at fighting.
Secretary Bai’s face had turned pale in shock, as he exclaimed, “He’s so fast! Ah Yan, hurry and go. If he were to go all out, I probably can’t hold him off—”
His words vanished within an ocean of loud shattering, the French window destroyed. I raised my head. Under the moonlight was the sight of frenzied strands of hair, their silvery-white glow that filled the sky bright enough to hurt the eyes.
“Young Master…” I murmured.
The young master looked at me coldly. He was dressed in casual wear and was not wearing his visor, but I could still recognize that that was not the young master. He was—Dark Sun!
Dark Sun was currently staring at me with a look as chilling as ice.
Why? Confusion arose, and in the next moment, the young master’s words from before rang in my head once more.
Gēge is my only family! It was engraved into the microchip in his head that the sole reason for his existence was to protect the Sun Emperor, no matter the cost—even if it was his own life!
I had the intent to attack the Sun Emperor. Could it be… I quickly explained, “Young Master, I-I did not mean to. The Sun Emperor, he…” He revealed X’s whereabouts to the Church.
My reasons vanished upon looking at Dark Sun’s expression. He looked at me, unfeelingly, heartlessly, desirelessly, just like the adjudication squads on both sides. I seemed to be merely—an enemy target.
The young master right now… No, Dark Sun right now, does he still remember that I am Charles, the butler who signed an Endless contract with him?
I was unable to verify this, but then a mass of wild silver hair came rushing at me, giving me a clear answer. With a turn of my body, I forcefully broke free of the whip wrapped around my leg and dodged all these attacks—Or at least, I dodged the majority of the attacks.
The only thing that the young master would care about now is… I pounced toward the Sun Emperor, and as expected the young master immediately blocked in front of him. Even if just now my back was full of openings, he would not be able to pursue and attack, and could only go in front of the Sun Emperor.
The silver hair charged toward me again. I turned and evaded it, then feigned an attack on the Sun Emperor from the left side. The young master blocked it wonderfully, making sure there was absolutely no possibility that harm would come to the Sun Emperor. Just then, I put all my power into my feet for a powerful launch, then dashed past the young master and the Sun Emperor with my x-speed. Passing through the broken French window, I dropped straight down.
I escaped!
I heaved a sigh of relief. At least I avoided having to fight with the young master. Regardless of whether it was due to the microchip in his brain or due to true anger that I had raised my hand against the Sun Emperor, if the young master personally injured or even killed me, he would be upset… was that not so?
“Charles, save me!”
Young Master? Save me? I quickly turned back to look. The young master was standing by the side of the broken window, both hands holding guns with the muzzles pointed downwards. His facial expression was still that of merciless Dark Sun’s. Afterward, the flashes that fired out from the guns made it impossible for me to see the young master’s expression clearly. Only the sound of non-stop gunfire and items getting blasted to bits continued to ring out.
Pain surged through my shoulder. I stepped onto the surface of the wall and drew to an emergency stop, turning my body toward another direction. With a burst of my x-speed, I immediately left the area.
“Urgh!”
In the middle of using x-speed to charge forward, I felt my knees suddenly give way, and my entire body fell forward. Falling with such speed caused me to roll for ten or more times before I barely managed to stop, and I lay on the ground with my entire body in pain.
No, I have to stand up quickly. I have to hurry and leave. If the young master catches up… I turned my head to look behind, and only then did I realize that the hotel had not been visible for a long while. I had been running with x-speed all along, and though not much time had passed, I had already managed to run quite a long distance… Urgh!
My knees burned with pain, as though they were on fire. Even attempting to sit up was difficult as my legs felt limp and weak. As expected, I had pushed it too much. My knee had just been hit by a bullet, and Ah Shuu had also warned me not to overdo it. However, not only had I attacked with x-speed, my leg had also been wrapped by a whip covered in silver powder. Ultimately, I even used my x-speed to escape and sprinted for quite a long time.
Pain throbbed in waves from various parts of my body, and my knee that was already injured to start with had long since become numb from the pain. A bullet had also hit my shoulder just earlier. At the time, I had not even had the time to inspect it. Thankfully, the shoulder injury did not affect my arm movements, and compared to the pain in my knee, the pain from my shoulder could almost be ignored.
I wanted to get up to take a look at my knee. If the cloth securing my injury has come loose, perhaps…
I was unable to speak for quite a while, the pain causing my whole body to sweat profusely. This would not do at all. I was completely unable to move. I shakily pressed one hand onto the finger of my other hand. A ring of an outrageous style was on that finger, the tranquilizer ring that I had borrowed from Ezart. Though I had previously claimed that I would not to use it rashly, I believed that given the current situation, it would not be considered rash to use it.
I pressed it once, sending the tranquilizer flowing into my body. However, I was still in so much pain that I kept sweating, and I had to press it again. It was still of no help until I pressed it for the third time. I then felt the pain gradually subsiding, and I was finally able to stand again.
I had been lying on the ground for far too long just now, and now I needed to make haste. I only hesitated for a moment, and immediately injected another shot into the knee that had taken a bullet. At the same time, I remembered that I had seemingly forgotten to ask Ezart how many tranquilizer shots this ring possessed… No, what exactly am I thinking?
I had already injected myself with four shots. Previously, Ezart had merely injected me with two, and I had lost control and started fighting with him on the spot. Now I had already injected four shots, and yet I wished to continue injecting more?
The pain gradually faded; it appeared that the tranquilizers were taking effect. Perhaps I ought to have waited earlier rather than taking four shots at once—Never mind, perhaps it is better this way. There are still many things to do, and it would be problematic if I were hurting all over.
There are many things to do… At the moment, the most important task is…
Once again, I moved on, switching between x-speed and glide steps. Whenever I felt that I reached my limits, I switched back to advancing at a regular speed, but as long as I recovered a little, I immediately went back into the world of glide steps and x-speed.
Under the effects of the tranquilizers, I did not feel pain or fatigue. The only problem was that, as I went on, I went from wheezing to nearly being unable to breathe. However, I had no desire to stop and continued running onwards, intending to deal with it only if I actually collapsed. Instead, after a while, my breathing became smoother, completely different from the state of overusing x-speed.
I truly do not know what happened, but the only person who would be so anxious as to send hundreds of people to investigate because of something unusual about my condition had already been dead for many years.
My honorable father, if you knew what I was about to do now, how would you react?
I stopped in my tracks, for I finally saw my destination. It was a gorgeous and large hotel, some distance away from all of the buildings around it. I stepped onto a building taller than it, then jumped down directly. I released a great amount of my blood ability from my back, the blood transforming into a pair of wings.
I glided over and as I flew over the hotel, I did a large turn in the air. I reined in my blood ability slightly, letting the tips of my wings point forward, and then smashed through a French window to crash into the hotel. When I landed, my blood ability turned into two rapiers, one in each hand.
Three on the left, two on the right.
With my knees slightly bent, I raised my rapiers with both hands. Using x-speed, I passed through the two on the right. When I came to a halt, the two slowly collapsed.
I glanced at them from the corner of my eye and was shocked to discover that the heads were still attached to their necks. The rapiers had clearly sliced across their necks in the attack just now, so it was quite surprising that they had not severed completely with the extra boost from x-speed. The strength of these people was truly far above any ordinary person. If it were not for the fact that I had a secret weapon like x-speed, I probably would not be able to kill them¬—The reputation of Sun Emperor’s adjudication squad was well-justified indeed!
However, having one’s neck completely or partially cut off made no difference, for the end result was still the same. They would not be able to crawl back up.
After dashing past the two, I did not linger around. I immediately stepped onto the wall behind him, and with a leap, I reached the ceiling. Once more, I dropped straight down, stabbing the two rapiers directly into their backs. The final person left standing kept firing at me non-stop, but he was completely incapable of hurting me as a result of failing to keep up with my speed, in addition to harboring apprehensions, unable to fire at will.
Even so, his firepower was strong and the continuous gunshots were deafening. If I were to draw closer, I would likely have to pay dearly for it.
With a dodge, I picked up the gun on the floor in passing and started shooting back in retaliation. What I did not anticipate was that it was much more troublesome than using rapiers. Though the other was hit by bullets repeatedly and his whole body was ridden with holes, he still persistently refused to fall. It seemed that the damage done to him by the bullets was greatly inferior to a slash from a blade.
I decided that I could hold it no longer. In reality, all this happened in the span of a few seconds, but the more it dragged on, the more likely that a mishap would occur. I threw away the gun and dashed up to him with the resolve to have to take a few bullets on the way. Once more, my surroundings moved in slow motion as I used my x-speed. While I was naturally unable to keep track of such a vast number of bullets, I was able to see the direction the gun muzzle was pointed, and with that, the bullets became significantly easier to avoid.
I focused hard on the muzzle and advanced in a zig-zig pattern. This allowed me to evade the majority of the bullets. While there were some that slipped through, they mostly just brushed past me and did not cause any major harm.
I stood in front of the other person. Though bangs were still ringing from the gun in his hands, the muzzle had long since been pointed past me. Two rapiers stabbed him in an upwards motion to pierce his throat, coming back out through the back of his head.
When I pulled out the rapiers, he fell to the ground. What was frightening was that the gunshots continued for a while before they came to a complete halt. These modified humans were truly unbelievable.
Bang!
I darted a meter to my left and turned around to look at the only person remaining in the room. He was standing by the office table, and the calm demeanor that he had always retained had finally been broken. While his arms were raised with a gun, he seemed to know that it was of no use, so he did not fire. Instead, he stared blankly at me with wide eyes.
With another glide step, I arrived right in front of him. Unexpectedly, he praised, “You really are fast!”
It seems that I am hearing this remark all the time recently; I am certain that I truly am very fast. Moreover, in the current situation, speed seems to be the only thing I can rely on.
The opponent had never been responsible for combat and likely did not have much ability in self-defense, similar to the Sun Emperor. However, he did not have Secretary Bai at his side, let alone Dark Sun.
“Charles, what are you—Urgh!”
I knocked the other person unconscious with a single punch.
