Book 2 Chapter 21.4 - Can You Hear My Heart Beating?
The clock above the castle's main building sounded in a long and drawn out manner, each ticking sound reminding the butler that his time limit was already up. He wiped at the cold sweat on his forehead with his handkerchief and hurriedly walked down from the staircase. Even though the strange scene was extremely powerful to point where something was definitely about to happen, his reasoning calmly told him that it was impossible for anything major to happen tonight. If something really did, it would more likely be those wild and arrogant honored guests stirring up trouble. Even though the butler was quite confident in the castle's servants, during an event as important as this, it was always better to be more careful.
The old man continued to sit in the parlor room upstairs. His head was raised, staring at the oil painting of the seven apostles while lost in his thoughts. He knew that it was already time, and he could even sense the restlessness of the guests downstairs. Those individuals had already started to display their abilities to show their intent. For these individuals, the old man didn't even feel the need to laugh coldly at. He knew that many of the people that came to the ancient castle today didn't have much patience, but after tonight, they would develop patience, at least they would in front of the family name Zalenwell. He didn't even worry that the guests would cause any trouble even if it was tonight. For the sake of a stable alliance, he didn't mind killing a few individuals' whose hormones were a bit too developed to make those who were undecisive a bit smarter.
Inside the depths of the old man's muddled pupils, countless figures flashed and interweaved about. All of these figures were of the heavy armored, Death Prison in hand Madeline. All of these images ultimately formed countless pieces of data before returning to the depths of his consciousness. Unlike most people, Madeline was an ice cold piece of data in the old man's eyes from start to finish. He would never a.s.sociate her with a female, so he naturally wouldn't have any s.e.xual thoughts. Piccolo thought of her as the most important enemy. He always believed that when dealing with important enemies, any excessive thoughts could be potential reasons for defeat.
The plan had begun, and their operation was on the verge of success. During this final wait, the old man once again broke down Madeline's data out of habit. Even though there was no way he would personally take action against Madeline in the plan, reviewing the data still made him feel a bit more at ease.
Piccolo reached out his hand again. This time, what he picked up wasn't black tea and instead a gla.s.s of red wine beside him. Right now, wine was more suited to his mood.
The red wine in the cup was mellow, rich, and fragrant. Its aging was just right. This was one of the ancient castle's specialty products, as well as the wine the old man enjoyed the most. He lightly swirled the gla.s.s around, but the rotation of the liquid seemed to be a bit more powerful than what he had expected. A small splash emerged from the wine liquid, and several drops landed on the old man's s.h.i.+rt, leaving spots of glaring redness on the white material.
The old man stared blankly into the air. The wine splas.h.i.+ng out from the cup was basically an impossible task!
He suddenly raised his heads and looked towards the ceiling. The lamps inside the parlor room swayed gently, and the mural painting of the seven apostles on the domed roof seemed to have come alive. Their eyes all drifted down towards the old man sitting below.
The old man frowned. In reality, the painting didn't move, and the seven apostles were created through various oil paint, so they did not possess life. The changes in the lights and shadows were due to the slight swaying movements of the chandelier, and the tens of candle flames on top of the chandelier began to flicker about as well. This made everything inside the room Ā seem as if they were moving.
This was a sign that the ancient castle and even the great earth were shaking!
The old man suddenly stood up, his eyes sharp like a falcon's. A powerful premonition made him look outside the window into the courtyard, just in time to see the two metal framed ancient courtyard gates soundlessly fly open before splitting apart into several pieces and smas.h.i.+ng onto the ground. The great weight of the metal gates even smashed open several holes in the st.u.r.dy stone paved plaza!
The loud sounds and powerful vibrations already startled all of the guests inside the ancient castle, drawing who knew how many pairs of eyes and perception abilities towards the courtyard entrance. Outside the wide opened gate, Madeline dragged Death Prison while slowly walking inside.
There were two other servants in swallow-tailed coats by the courtyard gate. These two servants who welcomed the honored guests with slow and graceful movements were rus.h.i.+ng towards Madeline like vicious wolves. From the great power behind their jumping motion and brandis.h.i.+ng fists, their strength might not be any lower than a dragonrider private's. However, when those steel like fists descended, Madeline had already disappeared, and the one waiting for them was Peperus.
Peperus grabbed towards these two servants' wrists with lightning speed. With a groan, the two servants' bodies were already swung upwards. Then, with a m.u.f.fledĀ puĀ sound, their heads fiercely slammed together and their skulls almost completely caved in!
Peperus loosened her hands, and then the two corpses separately flew out several meters before dropping onto the ground like ruptured sacks. Their hands and feet would still occasionally twitch from time to time.
After instantly killing the two powerful men, Peperus did not reveal the slightest expression of joy. She instead dropped to the ground and clawed at her messy short red hair with her hands before crying out in pain.
"I knew she was just a wh.o.r.e!" The butler watching from the second floor cursed inwardly.
When the two male servants leapt up, Madeline already arrived in front of the ancient castle. She raised her hand and pushed through the heavy oaken and copper gates. No one could see clearly how she arrived in front of the great gate. Madeline had already broken through the restrictions of time and s.p.a.ce, and only the deep gash left behind by Death Prison drew out her path of advance.
The doors led to a warm and brightly lit lounge where seven or eight men and women in rich attire were enthusiastically engaged in discussions, and from time to time, they would grab a gla.s.s of wine from the trays carried by the waiters. This was not the main reception hall, but since the evening banquet hadn't started yet, they came here to get some fresh air and perhaps talk about some more secretive topics. Even though they had some status, they weren't respectable enough to be allocated a private parlor, so they could only stand in the outer hall.
The moment the main doors were pushed open, this place suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes landed on Madeline's body. All of their eyes landed on Madeline's body. Madeline didn't have a mask on, revealing her blue eyes that seemed to be a bit vast and indistinct, as if she was looking for something. Her face seemed to be full of sharp lines, forming a complexion that was both gentle and perplexed. There seemed to be a thin layer of mist covering her face, making it impossible for others to see her beauty no matter how hard they tried. However, it wasn't because there really was a mist, but rather because of the absent-mindedness others felt when their line of sight landed on her face that made them feel as if there was a mist covering her face.
Everyone's first reaction was to blink their eyes and frantically try to get a better look. However, when they widened their eyes again, the entrance was completely empty. The only thing they could see were the wide open main doors, as well as the dark, vast plaza and pieces of metal that were inserted on the hard stone ground.
Where did Madeline go?
During their moment of confusion, Madeline had already made her way through the outer hall and disappeared into the end of the corridor. Death Prison continued to draw out a deep gash on the ground, not only slicing apart the carpet and ground, but also leaving a great indent in the foundation rock. After entering the castle, Death Prison didn't seem to have moved, but the edge of the blade suddenly became dripping wet with blood.
While the guests in the outer hall were looking all around for signs of Madeline, they suddenly found that criss-crossed b.l.o.o.d.y lines emerge on their bodies. The b.l.o.o.d.y lines were straight and thin. Their bodies then began to fall apart in chunks along these b.l.o.o.d.y lines, and following shrill screams, the outer hall suddenly became a b.l.o.o.d.y underworld!
At the end of the building, Madeline softly pushed open a tightly closed door. The door didn't open at an angle where someone could walk through, but insteads noiselessly turned into a pile of rubble. Behind the door was a small room that seemed to be a place for females guests to prepare themselves. However, right now, there were a man and woman inside. The woman was clearly a guest, her evening dress raised high above her waist. Meanwhile, standing behind her was a young male servant in a swallow-tailed coat, only revealing the crucial area while earnestly exerting force on the woman in front of him.
Madeline turned around and headed up the stairs. Death Prison drew out a perfect arc on the ground, and then it sliced the wooden stairs in half.
The two individuals in the dressing room continued to carry out their struggle of flesh, completely forgetting themselves in the process. Only when the woman leaned her head slightly did she find that the door had unknowingly when disappeared and that the two of them had been completely exposed. If anyone had walked through the corridor, they would have definitely seen everything. The woman immediately released a cry of fear, and only after screaming for a while did she suddenly clutch her own mouth. As for that young, handsome, and robust male servant, he was also frightened by the strange scene in front of him.
The woman hurriedly broke away from the male servant's body. A hint of malice flashed past her eyes, and then she suddenly turned around and bit down on the male servant's neck! The male servant opened his mouth wide but found that he couldn't even release any sound! In just a second, his face became as deathly pale as paper and the light in his eyes dimmed. The woman loosened her mouth. She wiped away the blood from the corners of her lips with a white handkerchief and looked coldly at the two b.l.o.o.d.y holes at the side of the male servant's neck. She lifted the male servant in one go and gracefully leapt out from the window before disappearing into the boundless night.
Madeline followed the winding corridor through the second floor. She walked past tightly shut doors one after another, and then she suddenly stopped in front of a room. She reached her hand out and pushed towards the door. Before her fingers even made contact with the door, it opened on its own!