Chapter 717: Troubles (1/2)
GDK 717: Troubles
***At the House of Sainte.
City Lord Wallace wasn’t in a good mood during the recent days. He changed his ways of doing things and became much more intervening and aggressive when it came to affairs related to the seven Divine Guard Corps of the City of Shadows.
There were seven chiefs of divine guards in the City of Shadows in total. Those chiefs ranked in the top three spots were filled by members of the House of Sainte while the bottom four were each members from the other four major family clans. Wallace faulted the seven chiefs of divine guards for the incidents where the City of Shadows were intruded by gods from the Life and Water Dominions and Carmelita was assaulted. He reorganized all seven Divine Guards Corps with the excuse that they had been in dereliction of their duties.
Everyone in the city knew that he was very angry about Carmelita having been severely injured. During this sensitive period, no one dared to defy or question Wallace’s orders; they merely followed. A few squadrons were allotted into Avery’s Fifth Corps with the justification that since Avery wasn’t in the City of Shadows, his Fifth Corps might need some helping hands.
It had been an established custom that City Lord Wallace would not directly intervene with the affairs of the four Divine Guard Corps under the control of the four family clans. His actions this time had caused great controversy, but Wallace managed to keep them under control with his iron fist.
The captains in the Fifth Corps of Divine Guards and the House of Lavers were not happy about the maneuver. However, they dared not to complain and risk further provoking Wallace’s anger. They merely wished that Wallace’s mood would improve after Carmelita recovered.
But Andre knew exactly what his elder brother was up to. He secretly cooperated with Wallace to investigate Avery’s actions.
The House of Sainte was the strongest power in the City of Shadows. If they were to put their mind into investigating a matter, rarely any plots or machinations could stay hidden from them.
Having received a tip off from Han Shuo, Wallace and Avery, this pair of cruel and merciless brothers gradually learned of even more clues and hints. They conducted schemes and operations in secret, gaining more and more intel and evidence.
One day, Wallace, who had been shrouded in a bad mood for a long time, regained a few traces of softness on his face. Looking at Carmelita who had finally regained consciousness, he said in a tender manner, “Don’t worry, you are safe now.”
Owing to her strong willpower, the divine energy of darkness in Carmelita’s body had been brought under control. However, at this point in time, Carmelita’s body was still very weak and the destruction divine energy she had had mostly been exhausted. Fortunately for her, the House of Sainte was filthy rich. Being an extraordinary talent, her family clan held high hopes for her and was never sparing with feeding her with divine essences. The moment that she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a heavy sack of destruction divine essences in her father’s hand.
“Dad…” Carmelita softly called.
“It’s alright, don’t talk, just keep resting. Take this bag of divine essences and get well as soon as possible. I did not expect that you would be heavily injured again in such a short time and our supply of destruction divine essence is running low. But don’t worry about it, I have sent men to contact other cities and will exchange for more divine essence of destruction energy using the other divine essences we have. You can keep your mind on recuperating from the injury,” Wallace said softly.
“I feel much better already…” Carmelita replied as she tried to sit up on her bed. Wallace hastily helped her up. She then softly bunched her brows and asked, “Did anyone else survive?”
Wallace softly sighed and shook his head.
“Kalina… She died… to protect me…” Tears started to spill over from her eyes.
“I know. Don’t worry, we already have a suspect of the main culprit. Those who dared attack you, whoever they are, will not escape death!” Wallace pledged.
Not a single person from the two small squadrons of the House of Sainte divine guards who traveled with Carmelita survived the attack. Carmelita only barely managed to survive by escaping to the Skyorchid Fort where the most powerful chief of divine guards, Aobashi, was temporarily stationed. Kalina sacrificed her life to give Carmelita a little more time to escape.
Carmelita closed her eyes to recall the scene and narrated it to Wallace. “They covered themselves inside the ‘Canopy of Darkness’. I could not see their faces and have no clue who was attacking. But most of them cultivated in the energy of death, destruction, and darkness…”
“They hid their auras and appearances using the Canopy of Darkness because they did not want you to identify them. But it’s alright, you don’t have to think too much about it because I will find each and every one of them, “ Wallace assured Carmelita warmly.
“Oh, by the way, it was all thanks to that young chap Bryan that your injuries were stabilized.” Wallace did not want Carmelita to wallow in the sorrow of losing Kalina and therefore mentioned Han Shuo to turn her mind to something else.
“He's alright? Well, I should have known that this fella would be fine… He is more crafty than anyone!” Carmelita smiled with difficulty and shortly after, asked Wallace, “Is he in the City of Shadows? I want to see him!”
Wallace hesitated for a moment before he replied, “He is in the city, but your condition now is still poor. Use the time to heal yourself. It’s not too late to see him after you eliminate the darkness divine energy in your body.”
Carmelita knew that Wallace said so because he was concerned about her health and therefore she nodded and softly replied, “Okay.”
“The most important thing for you now is to heal from your injuries. Alright, I should stop bothering you. Rest well.” Wallace got up in a gentle manner and walked out the room with a smile on his face.
He entered a secret chamber in the House of Sainte. There, he asked Andre who was sitting quietly, “How are things?”
“No conclusive evidence. But based on Bryan’s words, the darkness divine energy in Carmelita, that guy being away from the city for such a long time, and a few hints we found, I surmise that he is the one!” Andre replied softly with a calm and collected face.
“No need for evidence and no need to continue investigating the whole event. I trust your judgment,” Wallace said decisively. After taking a short pause, he continued, “Tell the trio of Aobashi to go on an all-out search for Avery and immediately inform us once he is located. We will apprehend him directly.”
“Elder Brother, if we do so without any concrete evidence, will it…?” Andre was thrilled at first but soon creased his brows after the thought of the potential outcry from the House of Lavers dawned on him.
“It’s no bother. If we strike, we strike decisively without any scruple. Keep a close watch over each and every action of the House of Lavers. Once it is verified that the patriarch and Avery have something to do with the incident, exterminate the entire Lavers Family directly!” Wallace said in a merciless voice.
“Currently, we have discovered no indication that the patriarch of the House of Lavers, Felder, participated in the matter. However, I will do as Elder Brother has instructed. And if Felder really had no idea about the attack, what should we do?” asked Andre.
“If he really had not an inkling about it, then we capture all of Avery’s confidants in the Fifth Corps. By then, I will personally talk about the matter with Felder. If he isn’t tactful, the House of Lavers shall disappear from the City of Shadows!” Wallace said in a deep voice.
“Got it!” Andre nodded. He knew that his elder brother was one who would show no mercy once he truly strikes. The House of Sainte managed to stand tall in the City of Shadows for countless years precisely because they had a patriarch that was this ruthless and headstrong!
“Alright, before doing anything to the House of Lavers, you will personally meet the patriarchs of the other three families to explain the whole sequence of events. We cannot let them feel frightened. Let them know that the Lavers Family was fully deserving of the punishment,” Wallace added after thinking for a bit.