“Boom!”
Thunder reverberated and resounded again.
This time, it was deafening.
Roy’s roar of joy was silenced.
Hearing it, the elder of the twins felt his heart quivering while the younger one stiffened up.
About 3 miles from them, bluish arcs of lightning flashed down the clouded night sky like a waterfall.
It did little to hide the unmistakable smile on Arlo’s face, which appeared because he was proud of him.
Snakes made of lightning dancing in the skies as the clouds played a song for them; a beautiful and mesmerizing scene this was, but Roy’s eyes were so full of blood that he couldn’t see or appreciate it clearly or anything beautiful in the world at this moment. The same went for the twins, as it reminded them of the most miserable day of their life.
It was the day when they lost everything.
That day it was also raining and thundering.
It’s just that the rain and lightning that fell wasn’t natural but man-made, created by the Heavenly Northern Duke to smite down their clansmen.
Aydin’s eyes turned red, and his fingers curled into fists.
He clutched them so ridiculously hard that his fingernails pierced the skin of his palms.
Fresh wounds were opened in his flesh.
But this pain couldn’t compare to the anger and hatred he had for himself and the duke in his heart.
Just then, he heard the sound of crying.
Except for him, only one person was still in the carriage.
It was his sister.
It turned out that Maya was reminded of that traumatic day because of the thundering and flashes of lightning and thus had burst into tears.
‘I’m the only family she has in this world. I need to be responsible for her. The revenge can be put aside until I am strong enough to uncover the truth and demand justice be served.’
Aydin breathed out heavily, relaxing and unclenching.
He covered her ears using his hands.
It continued thundering in the background, but it didn’t sound as horrible as before to Maya.
She hugged Aydin in order to feel comforted, but then she cried out even more.
If Amelia were in the carriage, she would have pitied them for sure. However, she, Julian, and Delilah had rushed out of it the second they saw electric currents ravaging Roy.
“Master!” Amelia cried out.
“Lass, don’t touch him.” Arlo waved his hand, signaling her to stop if she valued her life. “He might have some residual electricity in him. You might get electrocuted from getting near him if he does.”
His timely warning saved three lives.
Electricity gushed out of Roy. Maybe it was the last bit. The area around him was brightened in blue. The rain that has drenched him has also covered the land with water. Its surface reflected arcs of lightning dancing about and dying out.
“I’m fine. So you can stop worrying about me.” Roy stood up and turned to his well-wishers in order to give them a comforting smile. “Just do as he says and stay away from me. I won’t be able to forgive myself if you get injured because of worrying about me.”
“You don’t look fine to me.”
“You’re covered in blood from head to toe. How do you expect us to take you for your words?”
“Master, you must be in a lot of pain. Please tell me what I can do to make you feel better.”
Roy’s attempt at comforting them turned out to be a major failure as he was wounded and scorched by the lightning of his creation all over.
Roy eyed Arlo as if saying, “Help me send them away.”
Arlo gave him a nod and turned to look at the three people who were hesitant about approaching Roy but were still stepping toward him with sharp, fierce, almost oppressive, and brooding eyes.
“Do not interfere in the matter of the Baldwins; I will not warn you a second time.”
Aura gushed out of him, gently pushing them a distance away from the bloodied Roy.
“Uncle, why are you being like that?” Julian looked at him with a betrayed look on his face.
With a wave of his hand, Arlo created a wind gust so strong that it carried Julian into the carriage.
Arlo turned to the young ladies who were worried sick for their master and said, “Go into the carriage. You fools are drenched wet. You’ll get sick if you don’t change clothes and warm yourself. You are meant to take care of Roy and support him, not burden him. Go get yourself dry!”
They didn’t move until Roy explicitly ordered them to wait for him in the carriage.
Roy turned to Arlo and bitterly smiled.
“The pain I experienced from breaking the first chain of limitation was far worse than the pain I experienced when I became a soul herder or when I nearly died from exhausting myself. You didn’t tell me it was going to be this painful. I feel like I have seen death a third time.”
This complaint was made to Arlo by his nephew.
“If I had told you about it, you would have hesitated. And any disturbing emotions while exceeding your limits have the potential of becoming a one-way ticket to the afterlife. I can’t have you dying on me.” Arlo explained why he had kept this hidden from Roy.
“What if I had failed to endure it and died?” Roy questioned.
Arlo answered, “The chances of that happening under my watch is zero. You’re the purest blooded Baldwin we’ve seen over the years. How can I watch you die? I exchanged 10% of my wealth to get hundreds of advanced-grade potions for you.”
Arlo pulled out a red potion from the storage of his interspatial ring and threw it at Roy.
Roy raised his trembling hand and caught it.
“Chug it down,” Arlo said.
Roy, without a word, opened the lid and drank it like it was holy water that would cure him of all his ailment.