The Sovereign Awakens At Sunset

Chapter 8: The Black wood Manor Massacre

 

A bullet could pierce a man’s flesh, but a god of death didn’t bleed. He simply broke the world around him until there was nothing left to shoot.

The alarms inside Blackwood Manor didn't just blare; they screamed. Red emergency lights pulsed along the high stone ceilings of the grand foyer, casting a sickly, rhythmic glow over the polished marble floors.

Wealthy aristocrats, high-society buyers, and corrupt politicians shrieked in terror, abandoning their champagne glasses and silk hand towels as they stampeded toward the rear exits. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and spilled luxury wine.

Through the shattered remains of the front entrance, Dallas walked inside.

He didn't run. He didn't rush. Every step he took was heavy, measured, and carried the weight of an oncoming execution. The red light from his pupils cast long, flickering shadows against the oil paintings of the city's founding families lining the walls.

"Intruder in the main foyer! Open fire! Open fire!"

A squad of eight corporate soldiers—outfitted in heavy ballistic armor, tactical helmets, and carrying submachine guns—formed a wall at the top of the grand double staircase. They didn't wait for an explanation.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

A hail of high-caliber bullets tore through the air, chewing up the marble pillars and shredding the expensive Persian rugs. The muzzle flashes illuminated the grim, unmoving face of the monster walking toward them.

Dallas didn't even raise his arms to shield his face. The bullets struck his chest, tearing through the fabric of Archer's worn jacket, but the moment the lead touched his skin, it flattened and dropped to the floor like harmless pebbles. His 500% physical durability rendered the ammunition completely useless.

[Warning: Minor structural clothing damage detected.] [Host health status: 100%.] [Morality Filter: DEACTIVATED. Eradicate all hostile targets.]

"What the hell is he made of?!" the squad leader yelled, his voice cracking beneath his tactical helmet. "Use the gas! Bring him down!"

Dallas smiled. It was a cold, jagged expression that never reached his burning eyes. "My turn."

He blurred.

To the trained soldiers, it looked as though the laws of physics had simply broken. Dallas vanished from the bottom of the stairs and appeared directly in the center of their formation at the top landing. Before the sergeant could adjust his aim, Dallas gripped the barrel of the rifle, yanking the weapon—and the two-hundred-pound soldier attached to it—forward.

With a sickening crunch, Dallas slammed the soldier into the marble balustrade, fracturing the stone and leaving the man completely unconscious.

The remaining guards scrambled backward, but Dallas was a whirlwind of dark, calculated violence. He caught two soldiers by their tactical vests, lifting them simultaneously, and smashed their helmets together with enough force to crack the fiberglass. They crumpled into a heap at his feet.

Another guard pulled a combat knife, lunging desperately at Dallas’s throat. Dallas caught the blade mid-air between two fingers, snapped the hardened steel like a dry toothpick, and delivered a palm strike to the man’s chest. The guard flew backward through the heavy double doors of the auction hall, sliding across the polished floorboards until he hit the stage.

In less than sixty seconds, the elite security force of Blackwood Manor lay broken, groaning in the dirt and debris.

Dallas stepped over the wreckage, his red gaze fixing on the heavy, reinforced steel door at the back of the auction stage. The vault.

"Stop right there!"

A sharp, authoritative voice cut through the ringing alarms.

Dallas paused, tilting his head slightly. Standing at the entrance of the auction hall, her rifle raised and locked onto his skull, was Captain Nora. Her breathing was heavy, her tactical uniform covered in dust from the destroyed gate outside, but her hands were dead steady. Her laser sight painted a steady, bright red dot right between Dallas’s red eyes.

"I don't know what kind of black-market military tech you're using," Nora said, her voice echoing in the vast, empty hall. "But this ends tonight. You've crossed the line from a personal vendetta to a slaughter, Thomas. Drop to your knees, or I will take you down myself."

Dallas didn't turn his full body toward her. He merely looked over his shoulder, the red glow of his eyes casting a bloody tint over his sharp features.

"You're fighting for the wrong side, Captain," Dallas said, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that made the glass chandeliers above them vibrate. "The Parkers turn off the life support of dying women in the daylight. I merely balance the scales in the dark."

"The law decides how the scales are balanced, not a freak with a modified energy signature!" Nora retorted, her finger tightening on the trigger.

"The law belongs to Maverick's father," Dallas whispered. "But the night... belongs to me."

Before Nora could press the trigger, Dallas moved. He didn't attack her. Instead, he slammed his fist straight backward into the five-inch-thick reinforced steel door of the vault behind him.

BOOM!

The explosive sound of metal buckling rang out like a thunderclap. The heavy deadbolts inside the vault door sheared off instantly, and the massive slab of steel tore off its hinges, collapsing inward into the secure room with a deafening crash.

Dallas stepped inside the vault, ignoring the cloud of smoke. Inside, rows of metal cages held stacks of untraceable bonds, encrypted hardware drives, and millions in cold, hard cash—the lifeblood of the Parker family's illegal empire.

Nora rushed to the threshold of the shattered vault, her rifle scanning the dark interior, but Dallas was already standing over the primary terminal. He didn't want the cash. He didn't have the space to carry millions. He reached out and ripped the primary mainframe drive straight out of the server rack with his bare hands.

[System Alert: Parker Empire financial data drive secured.] [Calculating survival points for asset liquidation... 500 points awarded.] [Current Point Balance: 700]

"You can't escape with that, Thomas," Nora said, her voice dropping into a dangerous register as her backup squad finally began to gather in the hallway behind her. "The perimeter is fully locked down. There are fifty men outside."

Dallas tucked the drive into the inner pocket of his ruined jacket. He turned to face her fully, the liquid fire in his eyes burning brighter than ever as the clock in his mind ticked closer to the late-night hours.

"Then tell them to get more coffins, Captain," Dallas said softly. "Because I'm not leaving until the Parker empire is entirely in ashes."