Chapter 147: Massacre Unleashed

A soul flew out of Ga Luo Wei Na's corpse.

Lei En didn't check how much the energy level rose; instead, he heard a rush of footsteps in his ears, and outside the corridor, guards from seven or eight castles surrounded him.

They were all transcendents; their gazes passed through the shattered door, saw the two corpses on the study floor, and all stopped in their tracks.

"Viscount, my lord!" someone shouted hoarsely.

"Captain Inok is also dead…"

Someone began to retreat quietly; even the steel knight Inok had been killed, and in less than half a minute they went up to meet death.

"Kill him!"

The leading gunman shouted, "We'll all charge, avenging the Viscount," and raised his soul‑gun, aiming at Lei En's silhouette in the study and fired.

Bang!

The gunshot rang, but the one who fell was the gunman.

Lei En's form was like a phantom; he flashed aside to dodge the bullet, then made a curved charge, his massive sword drawing a huge blade arc, instantly cutting the gunman and the two guards beside him cleanly at the waist.

Fresh blood spurted out, staining the corridor walls red.

The guards behind, seeing this, felt their legs go weak; the only thought in their minds was to flee quickly. Facing such a terrifying foe, and with the Viscount dead, staying to fight was meaningless.

But more guards surged up from the stairwell, blocking the retreat.

Lei En's massive sword kept swinging.

Each step forward he swung a sword; these demoralized guards, though also transcendents, could not block even for a second.

Like chopping melons or vegetables, the guards fell one after another, emitting mournful wails.

"Run fast…"

"Don't crowd me, get out of the way."

"Help!"

In desperation and chaos, the corridor guards shoved and pushed backward, only wanting to escape the terrifying enemy, even willing to strike their own comrades.

Lei En's heart showed no fluctuation, like a ruthless killing machine, harvesting souls sword after sword.

After a dozen seconds, he reached the other end of the corridor; no one was still standing.

On the ground behind him lay scattered limbs and severed arms, blood covering the floor, the walls dyed in large swaths of red, like a blood‑soaked hell.

Lei En's black armor also turned dark red.

The most elite transcendental forces in Boke Castle were wiped out within a minute; only a few guards sensed danger and fled to the rear.

Lei En exhaled, having slain so many, feeling no regret.

In his eyes, these people were all accomplices of Ga Luo Wei Na.

Perhaps some among them were good and had never done any heinous deeds, but since they served Ga Luo Wei Na, they were his enemies.

Lei En hurried down the stairs, preparing to leave.

He knew that Ga Luo Wei Na's study must hide plenty of treasure; during the fight with Inok, a safe had been revealed on a wall, and if he turned back to pry it open, he would reap great rewards.

However, Lei En suppressed that thought.

He was here for vengeance, not to break in and rob.

Secret Fire Guard units might already be racing from Longshande, and he could not let greed cloud his mind, waste time, and be caught on the spot.

Descending the stairs led directly to the banquet hall.

What had been a luxurious great hall before was now a wreck; the steward's two half bodies lay on the floor, the smell of blood in the belly was pungent.

Amid the sounds of all things, many servants could be heard hiding in corners of the castle, trembling, covering their mouths tightly, daring not even a breath.

Lei En had no intention of harming these ordinary people.

As he passed through the great hall, a brother‑sister pair suddenly ran out from a side door.

The sister was about twelve or thirteen, the brother only eight or nine; both wore splendid clothes, their features bore some resemblance to Ga Luo Wei Na, clearly they were his children.

The siblings had intended to escape, but upon seeing Lei En, they froze in terror, their faces turning pale.

Lei En looked at them.

In their eyes were fear and sorrow, and also hatred toward him. Surely this day would stay with them for life.

As members of a ducal family, the siblings had lost their father; they would not wander the streets, and might even vow revenge.

Lei En's sword twitched, but he ultimately turned and left.

While the speed‑boost still lingered, he was like a gust of wind, sprinting out of the great hall, a charge propelling him across the open ground, exiting through the breach in the castle gate.

Along the way, no guard came out to block him.

Racing down from the mountain top where Boke Castle stood, a few minutes later Lei En returned to the outskirts of Boke Town, dug up his equipment buried underground, and left quickly.

He did not enter Longshande, but continued south.

After running for over half an hour, Lei En reached a remote riverside, removed his armor, threw both armor and massive sword into the river, washing away blood and scent, swam several kilometers before getting ashore.

After landing, he kept heading south.

Ga Luo Wei Na was dead, but he had not forgotten; Inok still had a group waiting in his hometown Eagle Marsh Town, and Lei En must return immediately to eliminate them.

Eagle Marsh Town lies south of Longshande, a subordinate town of Pangde City.

Pangde is also the domain of the Silver Star Duke, sparsely populated with under two hundred thousand people, obscure in the Empire, and not far from Longshande.

Lei En ran for over two hours, arriving outside Pangde City before dawn, then turned west.

In less than half an hour, he reached Eagle Marsh Town.

The surroundings gradually became familiar; Lei En's mood shifted slightly, he slowed his pace, gazing at the small town ahead, his expression somewhat complex.

Eagle Marsh Town was still the town of his memory, but the people were no longer the same.

Lei En looked at the sky; dawn was still some time away, so he must act quickly. Otherwise, when day comes, crowds and distractions will make some matters inconvenient.

Moreover, in this town, acquaintances were everywhere, and he would surely be recognized.

Taking advantage of the darkness before dawn, Lei En entered the town.

Eagle Marsh Town had just over a thousand residents, and even counting the surrounding villages, the total was still under three thousand. The town had only a single street, the houses on both sides were low and not tightly packed, each household occupied a large area.

Lei En, familiar with the place, found his home, which did not face the street but was backed by a field and a small grove.

It was a courtyard with two houses; outside the courtyard a large pond had been dug, its surface covered with wilted grass leaves, and fish swam beneath the water.

Seeing the pond, Lei En's mind conjured a memory.

Half a year earlier, when his father Bade told him he would no longer support his return to the Transcendent Academy, the two quarreled, and in a fit of anger, he threatened to jump into the pond to kill himself.

Bade was unmoved, and Lei En's former self ultimately lacked the courage to jump into the pond.

At this moment, Lei En stood outside the courtyard wall, sighing silently.

Amid the sounds of all things, he heard four breaths coming from the house and let out a sigh of relief.

The family comprised six members: besides Bu Li Sai Te at Clayden Transcendent Academy, there was a younger brother Ka Luo Di, only twelve, and the youngest sister Cathy. Cathy was not their biological child; she had been adopted a few years ago from a distant relative and had just turned ten this year.

The whole family was present, suggesting Yi Nuo Ke's few subordinates had not acted yet.

In fact, before returning, Lei En had guessed that his family should still be safe.

Yi Nuo Ke had already been killed by him; even though they communicated via a speaking tube, there was no time to inform the people here to act, and now contact with the castle was probably temporarily lost.

Nevertheless, he needed to verify in person before he could be at ease.

What he had to do now was to locate their hideout.

Lei En stood outside the courtyard for a few minutes, felt no nostalgia, and walked from the path by the pond into the town. He set the All‑Things‑Sound to its maximum and walked the town's street from end to end, like a radar, trying to detect any outsiders.

Relying on heartbeats and breath, Lei En could not discern the target's strength, but could easily locate Transcendants.

Before long, an anomaly was discovered in the town's sole inn.

Several guests were staying in the inn's rooms.

Lei En did not know how many of those guests were Yi Nuo Ke's people, but three of them were Transcendants, all asleep.

He was well aware of Eagle Marsh Town's situation; the only Transcendants were the sheriff and a second‑rank Iron Guard.

The backgrounds of those three were highly suspicious.

Lei En did not act rashly, and killing inside the inn would complicate matters later.

He thought it over, left the town, and concealed himself in a forest outside, watching the inn from a distance.

As daylight grew, the town's residents began their day.

Every household raised cooking smoke, and the murmur of conversation rose; early‑rising farmers entered the fields outside the town, busily harvesting vegetables, loading them onto carts, and delivering them to Pangde City.

Lei En gazed at the lively small town, and his eyes grew tranquil.

At home there was activity as well; father Bade finished breakfast and hurried out, entering the town's grain‑and‑oil mill, his means of supporting the family and earning Transcendent Academy tuition for his son.

Soon after, mother Ma Lin Da, accompanied by a son and a daughter, went to the town's church.

She was a teacher at the town's church school, a devotee of the goddess, and was highly respected.

Lei En looked out at his family; they were exactly as he remembered, stirring a slight flutter in his heart, and he couldn't help thinking of his family on Diqiu, his eyes growing a bit blurry.

After a long while, he finally regained his composure.

"After all, I am not the real Lei En; there is still a layer of feeling between us, but I will not refuse to take responsibility."

Lei En twitched his nose, closed his eyes, and contemplated.

As the sun rose higher, a carriage pulled out from the inn.

The carriage quickly left Eagle Marsh Town; Lei En used his Soul Eye to look ahead, and the driver, who seemed ordinary and plainly dressed, was actually a first‑rank Gunner.

From the tracks left by the wheels, he judged that three to four more people were aboard.

Lei En's spirit lifted; these people were likely Yi Nuo Ke's subordinates, leaving Eagle Marsh Town in such haste—could they have received word from the castle?

The carriage raced at top speed and vanished from sight within minutes.

Lei En emerged from his hidden forest, thought for a moment, and decided not to pursue. Killing these people might instead expose him, making others suspect him.

When they returned to the castle, they found Ga Luo Wei Na and Yi Nuo Ke already dead, and were bound to abandon their previous plan.

With Ga Luo Wei Na dead, those people had no one to attach to and would soon disperse.

Nevertheless, for safety they still needed to stay at home for a few days.

In the secluded forest, Lei En finally had time to open his phone interface and check his gains.

Last night in Buke Castle, a massive slaughter left nearly thirty dead at his hands, most of whom were Transcendants; their souls were absorbed to recharge himself.

After advancing to Fourth-level Wizard, the soul of a low‑rank Transcendent provided less than one unit of energy.

A Mid-stage Transcendent yielded only three to seven units.

Ga Luo Wei Na was a Sixth-level Shadow Warrior, quite strong; his soul converted into seven units of energy. That Fifth-level Wizard, however, gave only five units.

The strongest soul was still Yi Nuo Ke, a Seventh-level Steel Knight, providing a full thirty units of energy!

The bloodshed of Buke Castle yielded a total of 60% energy.

Adding the already existing thirty‑plus units, in the blink of an eye the Fourth-level Wizard's promotion was near.

Lei En thought that his plan was to fuse more Lightning Affinity, and in the short term it would be hard to find a second Lightning Affinity Element.

To him, the Wizard rank was not urgent and could be postponed.

His strength was already beyond what a rank could measure.

If he wanted to maximize power, he should invest this energy into strengthening Elements.

Lei En scanned several upgradable Elements and finally settled on Swiftness; in last night's battle he had already felt the importance of speed.

It was only a third‑tier Swiftness, yet it greatly compensated his shortcoming.

Enhancing Swiftness offered the best cost‑performance ratio.

Without hesitation, Lei En aimed at the Swiftness Element's icon, pressed the downward arrow, and the progress bar began to advance.

The energy was also decreasing.

Level‑3 Swift is still a common Element; the energy consumption is relatively low, using less than thirty units, the Element icon flickered, and it was upgraded to Level 4.

Lei En looked at the leaves on the World Tree and, as expected, the Level‑4 Swift Advanced had become a rare Element.

He tried to strengthen it again, and found the consumption spiked; the remaining energy was insufficient to reach Level 5, still far off—at least sixty to seventy units of energy were needed!

Afterward, Lei En also upgraded Rapid Run to Level 3, slightly increasing speed and extending its duration by three minutes.

After the two upgrades, the energy fell below fifty.

Lei En stopped and, in the forest, adapted to the enhanced speed.

For the next three days, Lei En lingered near Eagle Swamp Town, constantly monitoring the situation at home to prevent any mishap.

He only left after confirming that those people would never return.

Lei En did not return home to reunite with his family; he felt the time was not yet right.

After resting a day in Pangde City, Lei En boarded a boat and sailed downstream along the Feireigun River, returning to Longshande.

At the dock in Los District, Lei En stepped off the boat and immediately heard waves of music.

"Phonograph!"

Lei En smiled; he was more than familiar with that sound.

He did not take a carriage, but walked along the street.

Not far away, the Phonograph's music could be heard; some shops, to attract customers, had each bought a Phonograph that played music nonstop. Around each Phonograph, crowds gathered, filled with novelty and yearning, and some sang along, prompting enthusiastic applause.

In just half a month, Longshande seemed to have transformed into a city of music.

(End of Chapter)