Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power Chapter 492: Blame

Chapter 492 – Blame

The members of the House of Gold watched the sky overhead, a trail of golden fire still sizzling the air, most of them wounded and marked by burns.

One golden fox stood at the front of them all: a tall man with eyes so cold that the glimpse of hell burning around him seemed to cool down in comparison.

Renard drew a slow breath, pulling the poisoned, smoky air into his lungs. His face didn’t change.

He surveyed the damage throughout the Chief’s room, his subordinates behind him, nervous, afraid, and deeply shaken by what had just happened.

Had the people of Waverith truly attacked them? Had they done so after days of supposedly seeking peace? Had they thrown everything away...just like that?

None of them had seen this coming. It wasn’t even the first time Dain had come to the House of Gold to strike a deal. After all, they were the weakest of the Nirvana Fox Tribe, led by a Three-Tailed Fox, presumably the easiest to convince.

Every previous time, he had only talked and left empty-handed. They had believed today would be the same.

It was not.

And the cost of that oversight would be felt before House Black, House White, House Red...and House Nirvana itself.

They shivered.

"She is not here." Renard finally spoke, his voice low and small, almost feminine despite his obvious frame. "The House Leader is not here. I cannot see her body."

"But Guardian," one of his subjects whispered carefully, voice barely audible, "Maybe... maybe she is—!"

"There was neither the time nor, I believe, the power in the Heir of War to reduce the Leader to ashes." Renard cut in, turning his head to look at them over his shoulder.

"Which means we can hope she is still alive and only captured." He concluded. And right at that moment, as if fate was in a generous mood, Renard caught a glimpse of something amid the debris and fire and ash.

His heart stilled.

He was in front of it in an instant, a Severing wind clearing the obstacles from his path. He took in the sight of Lumy’s severed arm, still twitching, as if somehow connected to her through whatever thread of life remained.

His golden eyes went completely cold and veins of anger slithered across his forehead like a nest of snakes.

"Have you warned the other Houses?" He growled, keeping his wrath barely in check.

"Yes, Guardian." One answered, head bowed. "We called for aid from House Silver and... Green."

The last word came with obvious hesitation. Rightly so, as Renard snapped his head toward the soldier instantly, making the fox quiver.

"What?" He snarled. "Why did you call House Green knowing the state of our relationship with them? Tell me why. WHY!"

A wave of power lashed outward, crashing into the soldier, his body cut by dozens of slashes. He staggered and hit the burning floor, coughing blood.

The others retreated slowly, letting their comrade absorb the full heat of their collective decision.

"I... am sorry, Guardian." The soldier wheezed. "But House Green is closest to us, and we were in desperate need of help. I—!"

"Shut up!"

Renard could no longer listen, even though he understood the logic.

He cursed under his breath and lifted his head, the image of the Griffin tearing through the sky still burning in his mind, feeding his anger by the second.

"This is it. He’s done it." He muttered, fists tightening. "The Heir of War has started a war."

Now they had to finish it.

"Take that arm to the Seer." He ordered, pointing at Lumy’s severed limb. "Tell her to do whatever it takes to find the Leader’s location."

"Yes, Guardian!"

’Now, let’s deal with those hypocrites from Green, and go kiss the ass of Black.’

...

"What... what are you doing, Sabine?" Orien muttered, the light of shock filling his eyes as he stared at his wife — Sabine, Kaden’s maid — driving a knife into his chest.

The shock deepened into cold horror when he noticed her blue eyes.

Sabine’s eyes were not blue.

"How long." Sabine muttered under her breath, twisting the knife wickedly inside his chest, drawing a deep growl of pain from him. "How has a useless woman like you taken me this much effort to break?"

She shook her head.

Orien’s dreadful realisation settled: this was not his wife. Sabine was moving like a person inhabiting a body they didn’t understand, unsure how to properly use it.

Her movements were stiff, empty of purpose. Just like a puppet with nothing behind the eyes.

He snapped his head to the side. His son, Kaden, was still asleep in his small bed, completely unaware.

Orien gritted his bloodied teeth. His decision came faster than thought. He whipped both hands toward Sabine, killing intent plain.

"Still struggling?" Sabine said, blocking and seizing his hands with her left one. He cursed, feeling a strength he had never once noticed in his wife.

"Not broken enough, are you?" She continued, her eyes hazy, clearly not speaking to Orien. "What if I kill your husband then?"

Her words came with immediate action. She yanked the knife from his chest. He cried out, only for his eyes to bulge as the blade went through his mouth and out his throat.

"Just like this?" Sabine said with an empty smile, hearing inside herself the agonising cry of a soul — cursing her with every shred of hatred the world could produce and more.

Orien’s eyes began to dim, his mouth spluttered blood, choking on itself. At the last, he turned his head toward his son, and a single tear fell from his eye as the life left it then his body.

He went limp.

Sabine pulled out the knife as if nothing had happened. The soul inside her was still crying; but it began to beg when Sabine, her black nightgown soaked in red, turned and walked toward the child.

"Your husband wasn’t enough, was he?" She whispered. "Will you surrender yourself to me if I kill your son? Oh? No need? You’ll surrender without it? My, will you really?"

She laughed. The sound was so false, so stripped of anything human, that a stone would have wept in terror at hearing it.

"You’re promising me?" Sabine continued, now standing over the sleeping child, who bore a clear resemblance to Sabine herself.

"But how can I trust a promise? I can’t trust anyone, I’m afraid. I want absolute certainty. So let me remove whatever attachment you still have. Alright?"

Her smile stretched impossibly wide.

The soul inside her shrieked so loudly it felt like the world itself should have heard.

No one heard.

"You know what?" Sabine said, cocking her head at a strange angle. "I will spare him if I like his name. Tell me what it is. I hope it’s Solaris, such a beautiful name, don’t you—!"

She stopped, her eyes widened slightly.

"Kaden?" She repeated the name the soul had just given her. "His name is Kaden?"

It was in that instant the soul understood it had made the worst possible mistake of its entire existence.

A moment later, Sabine seized the child’s head. He opened his eyes, but had no time to understand anything before Sabine tore it away with overwhelming cruelty, the child’s blood raining down on her.

"Kaden Warborn?" She murmured, licking the blood from her face. "What a disgusting name."

The soul inside shattered in its own grief, its cry tearing through everything.

Sabine looked at the headless body of the child and smiled.

"Blame your mother for giving you his name."

—End of Chapter 492—