Chapter Twenty-One

[City of Bones – the Duke's City]

A man was hanged upside-down in the underground chamber of the Lord's Castle. Numerous cuts riddled his muscular body, with several bruises here and there. Half his face was swollen, and a fresh burn mark ran across his chest.

"Not going to talk, huh?" snarled the Tormentor. He slapped the whip onto the man's face, and a crisp sound reverberated. The torches on the walls flickered for a moment, casting numerous shadows in the room.

The Tormentor continued whipping the man, asking questions in between breaks. Still, the captive refused to speak.

Duke Kelvin silently sat on his chair as the interrogation continued. Minutes passed. He spoke, "Enough. Take those out."

The Tormentor bowed. "As you wish." He said to his subordinates, "You heard the Duke! Take it out!"

Soon, several men came inside the chamber, carrying two unconscious women with them. They placed the two in front of the man. The eyes of the tied captive almost popped out of its sockets upon seeing them. His face turned pallid, before becoming livid from rage.

"Y-You! Touch them and I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" For the first time, the man finally spoke. Hearing this, the Tormentor and Duke Kelvin grinned.

"Do it," said the Duke.

The Tormentor grabbed an axe nearby and wordlessly struck the hand of the younger of the two women. A loud thud was heard which was quickly followed by a scream filled with pure agony. The woman whose hand was cut off instantly woke up and rolled on the ground. The blood on her severed arm flowed out profusely, blanketing the ground.

The other woman, on the other hand, remained unconscious.

"Bastard! What did you do to my daughter! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" He tried unshackling himself, but failed.

"I'm not going to repeat this," said Duke Kelvin. "For every minute that you refuse to speak, we'll cut off a limb from these two. Once we're done with them, we'll feed them to the hounds outside. I'm getting tired of waiting for you to open your damn mouth. This is your last chance."

The face of the man twitched. He looked at the woman sobbing on the floor, then at the Duke. "Promise me."

The Duke raised a brow.

"Promise me that you'll set them free after I tell you everything," said the captive.

"Of course." Duke Kelvin smiled. He said to the Tormentor, "Stand back."

The Tormentor lowered the axe on the ground and stepped aside.

"So, tell me. Why did you infiltrate this city?" The torches cast a shadow upon the Duke's stubby body. "There's no point in denying it. We know that you're all soldiers from the Marcus Duchy."

The man hesitated for a moment. He swallowed. "This city isn't our original goal. Our group's true destination is Blackstone Town. A town located in the far east, several days away from the Lion City."

"Blackstone Town?" repeated the Duke. It was an unknown town that was not even listed on the map.

The man, still tied upside-down, nodded. "Yes. We're headed to that place after receiving our orders from the Silver War God."

"So, you're telling me that you just happen to pass through this city on your way to that place?" said the Duke.

They captured about fifty soldiers a week ago. After some interrogation, they found out that they were all from the Marcus Duchy, under the direct command of Lui Marcus – the Silver War God that defeated the Empire.

Just like this man, the other soldiers refused to speak despite the tortures they went through. Most of them died without uttering a single word despite the atrocious defilements and pain they were subjected to. Still, there were some of them that opened their mouths to speak in the end. And this man was one of them.

Luckily, this was a city the man grew up in. Using his family that resided in this place, they were able to successfully coerce him to spill the beans.

The story of this man corroborated the story of the other soldiers.

"Yes." The captive coughed out blood. "We're tasked to protect the Young Master. The second son of Duke Drakus."

This was the third time he heard of this story, but Duke Kelvin still found it funny regardless. He knew very well of how the second son of the Marcus Family was thrown away by his own father. He could not see the reason why Lui Marcus bothered sending soldiers to protect that brat. To him, it was nothing but a waste of resources.

The criteria for choosing the successor to the throne is clear enough. I don't see a reason why the Marcus Family bothers to protect that brat. Out of all the candidates, he has the lowest chance of winning the competition. I'm sure even Duke Youchester knows of this.

Duke Kelvin was not sure if it was a stroke of luck, but he somehow managed to annihilate the soldiers that were supposed to protect that brat. It was definitely a foolish decision for them to pass through his city on their way towards that place.

A shadow appeared next to the Duke.

"My Lord, the Information Merchant has submitted his reports."

The Duke nodded. "Give it to me." He received a thick pile of parchment. After skimming through it, he licked his lips and grinned. "Good work. With this, we no longer have to force these guys to spill out everything. Gather your men. I have a task for everyone."

"As you wish." The shadow bowed then disappeared.

"I'll be returning to my room," said the Duke. "Burn the bodies. Make sure there are no traces of it."

Duke Kelvin walked towards the exit. Hearing the statement from the Duke, the captive shouted. "Wait! You promised that you'll free my wife and daughter! You've promised!"

His desperate voice resounded.

The Duke chuckled. "Did I?" He looked at the Tormentor. "Did I give a promise like that?"

The Tormentor, still wearing a leather mask, shook his head. "No, My Lord."

Rage filled the eyes of the captive. He spat out, "You fucking pig! You promised! You fucking promised that—"

A fist struck his face and he immediately shut up. The Tormentor giggled. "You're the toughest of the soldiers we've captured this week. As expected of the Captain." He grabbed the man's hair and pulled it out, removing several strands. The man groaned in pain, his face fully swollen. He could hardly open his eyes from all the blood and wound.

The Duke took one last look at the Captain of the captured soldiers. "I'm no demon. So, I'll give you a parting gift." He said to the Tormentor, "Kill the wife and the daughter in front of him. Make sure he sees everything."

The Duke chuckled. "It's nice, isn't it? To see the end of your most precious family."

Amidst the shouts and curses. Duke Kelvin went out of the underground chamber.

***

Inside his room, Duke Kelvin once again read through the documents. He got to admit that he never expected the Information Merchant to gather this much information in just a few weeks. With this much, he would be able to come closer to his goal of winning the competition for the throne.

"As expected, Lui Marcus will the toughest one," he mumbled. "Rumors say that he's as strong as five knights combined."

He slammed the documents onto the table. "Black Midas."

Around a dozen shadows appeared inside the room. They all knelt down in unison. "Yes, Lord."

"What do you think? Can you take down the Silver War God?"

The leader of Black Midas replied, "It should be possible, My Lord, but—"

"—But what?"

The leader paused. "We'll probably lose half of our men in the process. The Silver War God's capable of both martial arts and magic. He's literally a Knight and a Sage at the same time. It'll be impossible to assassinate him without great casualties."

"Half of your men?" The Duke smirked. "So, what? Would that be an issue?"

The leader of Black Midas lowered his head. "Of course not. We live for the sake of the Duke. Our lives are yours to decide."

Duke Kelvin was satisfied with the answer. He had raised over a hundred assassins since they were young just for moments like these. If the Marcus Family boasts of their overwhelming military might, then his House's were the shadows that lurked in the background, waiting to kill their prey in a moment of carelessness.

"My Lord, if you would allow this servant to speak," said the Leader of Black Midas.

The Duke gestured for him to continue.

"I think we should use this opportunity to send some assassins to that desolated town. The one where the second son of Duke Drakus lives."

Duke Kelvin frowned. "Are you stupid? That brat has no chance of winning the competition. There's no point in killing him."

"But My Lord, we've received an intel before," said the leader. "It seems that the rumors are not entirely true."

The leader of Black Midas usually simply accepts his task without bothering to speak of his thoughts. This was one of the few moments wherein the leader of the assassin group tried giving his own suggestions. Duke Kelvin decided to at least hear him out.

"Speak."

"We've gathered information that Lui Marcus prevented his younger brother from being exiled out of the Kingdom. It's the same reason why he's been sent to that desolated town instead of being exiled to the neighboring countries."

Duke Kelvin's eyes broadened. He immediately understood the implications if this information was indeed true. Most of the nobles thought that Duke Drakus and Lui Marcus have long disowned the second son of their family. This was the reason why Duke Kelvin did not even bother to target the pathetic kid that's been exiled to that desolated town. But what if the Silver War God was actually a caring brother? The total opposite of what the House of Marcus was trying to convey?

If this information was true, then they would be able to obtain a crucial weapon against the Kingdom's Hero.

"Duke Drakus tried his best to suppress rumors from spreading out, but two years ago, Lui Marcus knelt down in front a group to plead forgiveness for his brother's misdeeds."

"Have you confirmed this?" The Duke could not imagine that formidable warrior kneeling in front of everyone.

"Yes. This came from the mouth of one of the servants himself, moments before his death. We are sure of it."

Silence befell the room. Duke Kelvin stared out the window, his face twitching in glee. Eventually, a maniacal chuckle escaped his lips. "Change of plans. We shall include that brat in the list of our targets."

Duke Kelvin grabbed the pile of parchment on the desk and flipped through it. "Kalavinka Deposo, Reid Deposo, Yunan Deposo, and Lark Marcus. I want these four dead within this year."

"As you wish," the leader said. "And what about the Silver War God?"

"Lui Marcus?" said the Duke. "Forget it. He's too dangerous to target right now. After we take care of his brother, he'll come out on his own. An enraged beast's easier to ensnare into a trap."

After killing those four people, Duke Kelvin would set his eyes on the Silver War God next. Once these men have been killed, there would be no one to stop the ascend of his sons towards the throne.

Duke Kelvin looked forward to that day, four years from now. The day their house rules over the entire Kingdom.