The Hidden Monster of House Vale

Chapter 90: Chapter - 90 - The Abyss Core Awakens

When Lucien purposefully fell into slumber, he had two goals in mind. First, he wanted to make Xandra feel indebted to him. Second, he wanted to expand the territory of Whitecrest City. He already knew that once neighboring territories received word that Warrick Pasha had been captured and the new Lord of Whitecrest City was in deep slumber, they would not be able to resist the opportunity to seize the cathedral under the pretense of taking Whitecrest City for themselves.

Lucien was more than capable of fighting them, but the only problem was the lack of information—and his newly acquired Abyssal Demonic Buddha Physique, which would require time to adapt within his astral pool. Since Lucien now possessed multiple physiques, once the Abyssal Demonic Buddha Physique fully integrated with his body, he would be able to wield abilities granted by it, such as the Dark Lotus Arhat. He knew the surrounding territories would most likely attack simultaneously, so he had to take a risk to increase his strength by falling into deep slumber. It was a gamble, since no one would be there to protect Whitecrest City except Isalyn and Celbeth. The only thing that went against Lucien’s plan was when his slumber lasted longer than he had anticipated.

Lucien floated in the sky, his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a long coat of dark grey, its inner lining a deep maroon that was visible as the fabric billowed in the wind. His gaze was fixed on his enemies with utter indifference. He saw how Isalyn and Celbeth were extremely close to death.

Usually, he could let people die. But Isalyn and Celbeth were valuable to him—strong, with ultimate potential, and most importantly, loyal. In this world, loyalty was something impossible to find. Losing them would be like losing limbs, something Lucien could not afford.

On the battlefield, everyone was already terrified of Nyxara and Kraul’vun, the commanders of Lucien. Seeing Lucien, Rhys—the ruler of Ironwood City—immediately rushed toward him and bowed.

”My Lord Lucien, please save us! Spare us, we were wrong! You know what, you can take my territory as well, just please spare me!” Rhys said, his voice panicked.

Seeing Rhys do this, many of the other realm masters followed suit. Lucien, still looking on, didn’t even pay attention to Rhys.

Lucien raised his hand forward, fingers spread, and looked toward everyone. Then, suddenly, he clenched his palm into a fist. Immediately, every soldier from the enemy side and every realm master fell to the ground and died. Their souls were consumed by Lucien. It didn’t take a genius to understand that manipulating souls was a demonic activity—that Lucien was a demonic realm master. But that was the least of everyone’s concerns.

Lucien left a few people alive, and some soldiers were still breathing. They wanted to run, but they couldn’t.

”So, what were you saying? Ah, forgiveness... Did you show forgiveness to the people who asked for it? You tried to kill Celbeth and Isalyn, and they are extremely valuable to me. As for your territory, I was already planning to take it. If you hadn’t attacked, I would have. But don’t worry—your death will not be as easy as those soldiers I just consumed,” Lucien said in a very calm voice.

”You... you are a monster,” Rhys said, while Lucien smiled.

”Lucien, don’t think you can get away like this. I still have many soldiers waiting for me in Blackstone City. It’s only a matter of time before they arrive here,” Phelan said.

”Oh, now you remind me? You haven’t met my soldiers yet,” Lucien said, and snapped his fingers.

One hundred soldiers appeared immediately behind Lucien. They were not ordinary soldiers. They all wore tattered hoods and pure black, tattered long skirts. Their arms were fully covered in armor, including their legs. Their faces could not be seen because they were never meant to be seen. They carried thick, sharp swords in both hands. Even in their armor, their knuckles bore small sharp blades. They were dual-wielding, but had no shields because they didn’t need any. Their height exceeded two meters, and dark smoke emanated from their bodies.

Everyone was stunned, especially Phelan. He could never imagine that such soldiers existed in this realm—and he was right. They were straight from hell, more specifically from the demonic realm.

”My soldiers, go to your commanders and create an example so horrifying that no one ever tries to attack my territory, even in their dreams,” Lucien said, and snapped his fingers. The soldiers immediately joined Nyxara and Kraul’vun.

”It is Lord Lucien’s order. Do not let a single one of them escape,” Nyxara said, raising her axe.

Go and make this battlefield so bloody that no one will ever mistake it for anything other than a slaughterhouse. And don’t you dare die, or I’ll die of embarrassment in front of Lord Lucien.”

After this battle cry, the slaughter began. Lucien’s soldiers moved like smoke. Nothing could touch them or hurt them, and their strength alone was enough to cut ten people in a row from torso. Kraul’vun was cutting people and removing their limbs. He would not kill them, but maim them in a way that made them wish they had died. There was no elegance in Kraul’vun—it was just like an animal hunting rabbits, bloody and messy.

Nyxara was cutting down people who were closer to her. She would swing her axe and cut whoever was in her range. If someone was close, they were lucky—they would die immediately. But if someone was a little further and got hit by her axe, their guts would immediately spill out. They would stand on the battlefield holding their entrails.

Isalyn and Celbeth got together.

”Are you okay, Celbeth? I was about to go toward you but got stopped by those demonic realm masters,” Isalyn said.

”You mean fake demonic realm masters,” Celbeth said, mocking them.

”Yeah, fake ones—because the real ones are...” Isalyn said.

”Our side. And I’m glad, but they are way like monsters,” Celbeth said.

”Isn’t that what they are? Demonic realm masters,” Isalyn said.

Celbeth looked toward Lucien and said, ”You were right. It was part of his plan to take their territories, but it was risky.”

”Isn’t that what you enjoy? Risk and... fun with Lord Lucien?” Isalyn said, teasing Celbeth.

Suddenly, two soldiers appeared in front of Celbeth and Isalyn. They were a little shocked because they were not used to them. One of the soldiers brought Theoron, and the other brought Xylon.

The soldiers spoke in unison, their voices very different—speaking in human voices that did not match their bodies.

”It’s Lord Lucien’s order to bring them to Lady Isalyn and Lady Celbeth,” said the Dark Lotus Arhat soldiers, and immediately left them, disappearing into the battlefield.

Celbeth was curious, so she asked, ”Why did they have such human voices?”

”It’s not their voice. I read about these kinds of demonic soldiers in legends. The voices they had were the voices of the people they killed,” Isalyn said.

”That’s scary,” Celbeth said.

”Something else is going to be much scarier here, don’t you think?” Isalyn said, looking toward Theoron and Xylon.

Lucien was still in the air in front of Phelan, but Lucien wasn’t looking at them. He was looking at the sky as if soaking in sunlight, as if he were in deep thought.

Rhys and Phelan thought he was distracted, but they couldn’t care less. They knew they would die anyway, so why not try to hurt him? They both gathered astral energy, accumulated it, and used their ultimate technique—one that might kill thousands of people. But before they could even attack, something happened.

Rhys didn’t feel anything at first. But when he looked down, he saw his body was cut in half from the stomach. His guts were flying down—they were in the air too. Then he looked toward Phelan and saw that his head was already bashed in brutally, making his head look like a tortilla, blood dripping. The only reason Phelan wasn’t falling was simply because he was also stabbed by a sword.

Kraul’vun had used his sword to stab him, then bashed his head into pulp. Rhys could see the smile on Kraul’vun’s face. Then he looked behind him—it was Nyxara, with no expression.

Lucien was still looking at the sky, his hands spread, in deep thought. Because finally, Lucien had achieved a breakthrough in the Abyss Core Realm.