Chapter 3

Killing regular Ascendant masters was effortless for Philippe.

If Henry ever got truly pissed off, not even the Paragon Order, let alone the Ruscar royal family, would dare cross him without thinking twice.

Eleanor only dared to look down on the Martel family because the original host was such a doormat, always desperate to please.

In the original story, when Henry found out, he went ballistic and wanted to wipe out the Ashfords for good. But the original host threatened to take his own life to stop him.

Aldric, as the deputy leader of the Paragon Order, always acted like he was untouchable. He'd never tasted humiliation like this before.

A flash of killing intent flickered in his eyes.

"Don't get too cocky, Prince Lucien. Pride comes before a fall," Aldric said coldly.

"Oh, is that so?" I retorted.

Then I turned to the two Grandmasters. "You two, keep Aldric busy. The rest of you, take these two damn lovers out!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" they replied in unison.

Aldric's face twisted in shock as he barked at Oswin and the rest.

He shouted, "What are you all standing around for? Run!"

Oswin and the rest of the Ashfords snapped out of it and bolted for the gate.

The battle was about to erupt.

The two Grandmasters, both masters of the blade, came at Aldric from both flanks, swinging their blades in a deadly arc.

Their blade energy arced through the night, bursting into dazzling streaks of light.

Aldric met them head-on, his longsword crackling as sword energy crisscrossed the air, the brilliance almost blinding.

The collision of blade and sword energy sent shockwaves ripping through the night.

Violent winds tore through the manor courtyard, sand and stones whipping everywhere, leaving the ground riddled with craters.

The combatants were sent hurtling backward in all directions by the shockwaves.

But the instant they landed, all three launched themselves right back into the fray.

Blade and sword energy crisscrossed and exploded across the battlefield, filling the air with deadly force.

The thunderous booms shook the air nonstop.

The ground of the courtyard was torn up with hundreds of massive craters, trees shattered, chunks of debris hurtling through the air, and dust clouds billowing everywhere.

Even though the two Grandmasters were on the back foot, they kept Aldric pinned down, refusing to give him any chance to break free.

Meanwhile, over a dozen Ashfords had already been cut down.

Geoffrey and Eleanor had already made their escape.

Oswin was covering their retreat, his body a bloody mess, wounds everywhere.

Rowan was no match for Oswin and kept getting beaten back, forced to retreat again and again.

Oswin took two hits from the guards, cut down several of them, and with a few quick leaps, disappeared into the endless night.

[Congrats, host! You've seriously wounded the Chosen one. Reward: Primeval Sovereign Body +1, Sunpiercer Bow +1.]

The instant I grabbed the Sunpiercer Bow, its power surged into me, blasting me from rank six all the way up to rank nine.

I couldn't believe my luck. Leveling up this fast was insane, like I'd strapped myself to a rocket! It was amazing.

I liked to see what the Sunpiercer Bow would do to Aldric.

I channeled every ounce of my strength into drawing the Sunpiercer Bow.

Golden light gathered like drifting mist, slowly coalescing into the shape of an arrow.

The arrowhead shone with a dazzling brilliance, like a miniature sun.

Behind me, two massive phantoms, one divine, one demonic, loomed into existence.

Seeing Oswin had already escaped, Aldric gave up on the fight and flew straight for the estate gates.

I shouted, "Aldric, stop right there!"

Just as he turned, the Sunpiercer Arrow was unleashed, flying straight from my bow.

Thunder crashed, wind howled, and it felt like the whole world lost its color.

The golden arrow ripped through the night, appearing right in front of Aldric before he could even blink.

Aldric's very soul shuddered. He could feel the arrow's power, as if it were born to destroy everything in its way.

Aldric forced himself to veer midair, narrowly avoiding a fatal hit.

But the golden arrow still pierced his left arm.

His arm exploded instantly, spraying a mist of blood across the sky.

Aldric let out a blood-curdling scream as he came crashing down from the sky.

But when the guards finally got there, he was long gone, just a wide smear of blood left behind, staining the ground crimson.

After letting that arrow fly, I was left completely drained, like every last drop of energy had been sucked out of me.

I felt so weak, my legs nearly gave out beneath me.

Everyone in the estate looked at me like they'd just seen a ghost.

They couldn't believe my arrow wounded Aldric. After all, he was a Demi-Ascendant.

The two Grandmasters couldn't even touch Aldric, but I just destroyed his arm with a single arrow.

'No way... How could that happen?' another guest's mind reeled.

The guests who hadn't managed to leave were all frozen in place, staring at me in utter disbelief.

Now, when they looked at me, there was a newfound respect in their eyes, almost a hint of fear.

With the battle over, they knew it was time to leave. One by one, they bowed and made their way out.

Half an hour later, a guard came to report that Oswin and the rest of the Ashfords had returned to their estate.

So they didn't even bother to run? They really underestimated the security of my manor.

I sent more men over, ordering them to keep a close watch on every move the Ashfords made.

"Rowan!" I called out.

"Yes!" Rowan replied, stepping forward.

I ordered, "Get to the northern border, fast, and tell the Duke exactly what went down tonight. If you can, borrow Phillipe from him. By sunset tomorrow, I want the Ashfords wiped off the map!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Rowan answered.