Kael made his way towards the Count’s castle. When he reached there, he noticed that there were the usual guards of the Count’s army, but there were some other individuals also.

When he got closer to the castle’s gate, the guards stopped him. "Halt!! No one shall pass through here today."

A man wearing the clothes of the holy order added. "Didn’t you know that the holy order was coming in here today?"

Kael didn’t say anything, gaze lingered on the people who were dressed in black clothes. A small trace of his mana left through his body and entered the person from the holy order.

His mana surged toward the man’s core, and he quickly realized the energy radiating through the stranger’s body was unlike that of the Holy Order. Yet he chose to remain silent, concealing his suspicion. Fixing his gaze firmly, he declared, "I’m here to take my child back."

"Your kid isn’t here," the soldier said, waving his hand towards the place where people of the city reside.

A small sigh escaped through Kael’s mouth as he snapped his fingers together. The mana of his surroundings surrounded all four of them.

None of them realized his mana had already begun to circle their bodies. Slowly, it seeped within them, making its way toward their pressure points. With a soft push, it pressed against the center of their sleep, and one by one, they collapsed into unconsciousness.

"People nowadays have gotten a lot sloppier than in the past, tch." He clicked his tongue and made his way inside the castle.

When he reached inside, he noticed that there was a garden which stretched wide, its size nearly equal to that of a modest house, and tables that were quite huge were kept in it.

A sweet scent of alcohol went inside his nostrils, as his gaze shifted towards the ground.

A bunch of empty bottles of wine, some of which were slightly filled, were kept on the floor.

Small traces of leftover food were kept onto the tables. "It seems that these guys quite enjoyed their time together."

"It would have been a bit more fun for them if they hadn’t touched Sylas, but the thread of fate is too vicious for humanity."

He stepped towards the gate that led to the inside of the castle rooms. When he entered, he noticed that on the wall there were multiple portraits.

Most of the portraits were of the Count and his family, a woman, and two daughters. Yet among them hung a single painting that caught his gaze, holding it fast as though the canvas itself refused to let him look away.

The portrait depicted a goddess with twisted horns crowning her head. Her eyes were blank, pure white voids that seemed to stare through the soul, and her hair was long and ghostly pale, flowing like strands of moonlight drained of warmth. The image radiated a silence so heavy it felt as though the room itself recoiled from her presence.

"This doesn’t seem like a god whom I know," he took a small pause, as he continued. "I’ve met most of them, but never saw her."

"I don’t care enough if this family is worshiping the good side or the evil, because both of them are the same."

His gaze started shifting from one direction to another, scanning the entire castle. Then it turned towards the left, the only way that led towards the basement floor.

He didn’t waste any time as he made his way there. When he reached the basement, he noticed that the surroundings reeked of the smell of blood and sweat.

The area was mostly dark; only a few wall-lights were present there. He kept walking in there, he directed his finger forward, and then he let his mana pass through it.

His mana spread across the entire area, marking all the corners, as it discovered every part of this basement.

"There’s nothing important in here," he took a small pause, as he kept walking towards the front.

"But there’s a place which is reeking of blood and malice." He muttered.

He reached a dead end, where nothing lay ahead but a towering stone wall. Its surface was rough and ancient, streaked with patches of damp algae clinging stubbornly to the cracks.

His gaze scanned the entire wall, as a thought lingered inside his mind. "The smell of blood is still there, but there aren’t any traces on this wall."

"That means that there’s a hidden passageway that leads towards the other side of this wall."

He directed his hand forward, and the palm of his hand leaned against the wall as he closed his eyes. Strands of mana shimmered into view, weaving together until the truth became clear, and the wall was no barrier of stone at all, but a construct entirely forged from mana itself.

"Oho, it’s quite interesting."

"This isn’t a wall, it’s an illusion. And not a simple one either. This illusion carries weight, a form which you can touch."

He took a few steps back, making quite a distance between the wall and him.

Then, he lifted his hand, and his mana appeared next to his hand as it started coiling in a circular motion. He then swung his hand, which created a huge shockwave directed towards the wall.

With a single swing of his hand, the wall shattered. What had seemed the finest of illusions crumbled instantly, proving itself nothing more than a fragile veil before his power.

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A/N

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