THE SOVEREIGN GOD'S MORTAL VENGEANCE!

8.

A suffocating silence suddenly blanketed the meeting room. Lucas's question was like a poisoned blade thrust directly into Richard's pride. The face of the Wine Family Head paled instantly before flushing bright crimson, consumed by a raging fury he had never experienced before.

"What did you say, you insolent brat?!" Richard growled, his voice trembling violently. His high blood pressure flared up in an instant.

"You dare question my fitness as a father?! Without the Wine blood flowing through your veins and the roof of this estate over your head, you are nothing more than a corpse on the side of the road!"

Richard raised his black rattan rod high, killing intent swirling at the tip of the enchanted wood.

"Today, I will break both your arms and legs! Let's see if that slick mouth of yours can still act so arrogant once you're paralyzed!"

BAM!

Before the strike of the rattan rod could come swinging down, the double doors of the meeting room were kicked open from the outside.

"FATHER! DON'T JUST BREAK HIS LEGS, KILL HIM! KILL THIS BASTARD!"

The hysterical roar shattered the tension. Edward stood at the threshold, breathing heavily with a face as pale as paper. His right arm was wrapped in thick bandages and suspended in a sling across his chest, while cold sweat poured down his forehead from the pain that had not yet fully subsided.

Two personal family physicians appeared panicked, trying desperately to hold him back from behind, but Edward shoved them aside roughly with his left hand. The arrogant youth's eyes were filled with overflowing, vengeful hatred as he glared at Lucas.

"Edward?! Why are you here? You should be resting your injuries!" Richard said, his hand caught mid-air.

"How can I rest peacefully, Father?!" Edward screamed, limping toward the desk. The young man pointed at Lucas with a look of pure hatred.

"Look at my arm! My bone is shattered! This demon deliberately used an iron rod to harm me! He didn't just beat me, Father... he intended to kill me! He is defying the authority of the Wine Family!"

Edward then turned to glance at Lucas with a treacherous, pain-concealed sneer.

"Father, this bastard just openly insulted Late Mother and called the Wine Family a den of liars! He said he would kill you, and then me... so he could usurp the leadership of the Wine Family!"

The vile slander rolled effortlessly from Edward's mouth, deliberately pouring gasoline onto the blazing fire of Richard's rage.

"What?!" Richard's pupils dilated. His eyes were now entirely consumed by a cruel desire to inflict torture.

"Good... Very good, Lucas," Richard hissed, his voice low and laden with lethal threat.

"It turns out that behind your quiet demeanor all this time, you harbor such low, treacherous intent."

In the midst of this storm of cheap provocation capable of bringing ordinary men to their knees in fear, Lucas did not even blink.

He tilted his head slightly, glancing at Edward who was smirking slyly beside his father, before looking back at Richard with a gaze full of pity—not for himself, but for the two figures before him who were utterly oblivious to the fact that they were playing with a newly awakened dragon.

"Two clowns on a single stage," Lucas muttered softly, the corners of his lips curving into a cold smile that made the hairs on Edward's neck suddenly stand on end.

"Please, continue your little play. I want to see just how far the stupidity of this Wine Family can go."

"INSOLENT!"

Richard's roar shattered the stillness of the room. The cold tone and insults from Lucas's mouth destroyed what little patience remained in the Family Head. With eyes reddened by wild rage, Richard swung the enchanted black rattan rod with all his might, aiming directly for Lucas's head!

SWISH!

The strike split the air at lethal speed, carrying a heavy blow capable of shattering an ordinary human's skull in an instant.

From a distance, Edward smiled with satisfaction from the side, imagining the blood of the prospective usurper of his family's leadership soaking the mahogany floor.

"Tsk! Just a piece of rattan wood..."

Yet, Lucas did not budge. His eyes did not blink even for a fraction of a second.

SWOOSH—GRAB!

In a split second, Lucas's right hand shot upward with absolute precision. His slender fingers locked tightly around the shaft of the black rattan rod, just inches above his head. The full-powered strike was brought to an absolute halt instantly, as if it had hit an invisible wall of steel.

The gust of wind from the impact blew Lucas's hair back, yet his face remained as calm as an icy lake.

"W-What?!" Richard's eyes widened in sheer shock. The muscles in his arm strained, trying to force down or pull back the rattan rod, but the family heirloom weapon felt as though it were embedded in an ancient monolith. It did not budge a single millimeter.

Lucas slowly looked up, staring directly into Richard's eyes, which were now filled with pure astonishment.

"Since long ago... the old Lucas only endured living in that dilapidated room because he hoped Father would glance at him even just a little, paying attention to my condition," Lucas said in a soft voice, yet laden with the profound sorrow belonging to the former owner of this body.

"But seeing today... instead of seeking the truth and defending me, Father prefers to nurture lies for the sake of your beloved eldest son."

The statement paused for a moment. Lucas's eyes suddenly flashed with a faint red glint...

CRACK! CRRRR-BAM!

The grip of Lucas's fingers tightened. The black rattan rod, renowned for being exceptionally hard and imbued with protective charms, instantly cracked, the fractures spreading rapidly like a spiderweb, before shattering into pieces and turning into black dust that scattered into the air!

"I-Impossible.... J-Just a bare-handed grip... What ordinary human could accomplish such a feat!" Richard muttered, trembling as he reflexively took a step back while the wooden fragments clattered to the floor.

Edward, who was also beside him, gasped in panic, his face turning pale as a corpse once more.

"S-Shattering the rattan rod?!"

Now, Lucas brushed the remaining wood dust off his palm, then continued his statement in a cold tone that echoed across every corner of the room.

"Father... From this second onward... I, Lucas, officially leave and sever all blood ties with the Wine Family!"