2025-07-18 19:55:38Even Lucien’s expression shifted.
The list was far larger than he had imagined.
“What? You cut the bond and now hesitate to return what came with it?” Ronan’s tone sharpened. “Or does House Sable intend to break its honor?”
The words hit like stones.
Before Benedric could speak, Calista stepped forward, arms crossed.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you fool! It was a relationship, not a business contract. No woman would ever return gifts after ten years of engagement.”
Lucien followed immediately, “Calista’s right. No real man would ask for those things back. It’s petty and disgraceful.”
Even imagining returning that much was painful, even if it wasn’t his.
And he still hadn’t received the B-grade weapon Benedric had promised him.
How could he just watch Ronan take everything?
Ronan’s eyes darkened.
“So you really plan to keep what was never yours?”
Benedric’s composure finally snapped.
“That’s enough!” he barked.
“You’ve said your piece. Now leave. You won’t be getting anything back. And consider yourself lucky I’m letting you walk after you humiliated my daughter and me.”
“Be gone, Ronan Crowne. Before I lose my temper!”
Return all that wealth?
Impossible!
He had taken everything as theirs the moment they received it.
He had no intention of giving anything back.
And what could Ronan possibly do, force him?
Surely not, he wouldn’t dare, right?
Benedric truly believed the timid boy who once cowered at Calista’s feet would obey.
But he was dead wrong.
Ronan laughed.
Softly at first, then louder, slicing through the tension like thunder.
The Sable elders frowned, uncomfortable and confused.
What was so funny?
Calista looked startled. Lucien narrowed his eyes.
Benedric slammed his fist on the chair arm.
“Enough! Silence, you insolent brat!”
Ronan simply raised a hand.
In a flash, a chair of shadow-forged energy materialized beside him.
He sat with effortless elegance, crossing one leg over the other, as if he were in his own estate, not a hostile clan’s hall.
Resting his arm casually on the chair, he tilted his head.
“You speak to the heir of House Crowne like a tavern drunk lecturing a merchant’s apprentice,” he said softly.
“So tell me again, Benedric Sable, who gives you the right to speak to me this way?”
The insult hung like smoke.
Gasps echoed through the hall.
Benedric sprang to his feet, rage surging.
“You insolent fool! You forget your place!”
“I don’t,” Ronan replied evenly. “But I wonder if you’ve forgotten yours.”
Benedric’s aura exploded.
Red and gold spiritual energy crackled around him like lightning ready to strike.
“I’ll drag you back to your father myself!” he roared. “Let’s see what he has to say about the son he raised!”
And with that, he vanished.
Then, a shockwave.
The air howled.
The floor cracked.
Benedric’s figure burst forward, Rank 7 might blazing.
The younger members of House Sable couldn’t even track his movement.
The elders braced.
But Ronan?
He didn’t move.
Nor did he blink.
He merely whispered, “Slap.”
From thin air, a ghostly hand appeared, translucent yet radiant with terrifying power.
It descended with divine speed and unrelenting force.
SMACK!
A violent crack echoed through the chamber.
Benedric slammed into the floor with bone-shaking force.
The marble beneath him shattered in a spiderweb of cracks.
Blood splattered across his robes.
A set of teeth clattered across the floor.
A bright red handprint burned across his cheek.
Gasps. Silence. Then utter disbelief.
Ronan remained seated. Unmoved.
And then, above them all, a glowing figure slowly descended, shrouded in golden energy.
A true Rank 8 Gold Master had arrived!
Ancient, overwhelming power radiated from him.
Even the air seemed to bow.
Everyone stared, frozen in awe.
Ronan merely smiled.
In an instant, chaos erupted across the main hall of House Sable.
Calista staggered backward, her eyes wide in disbelief.
Lucien clenched his fists, staring in shock at the towering figure beside Ronan, radiating the aura of a true Rank 8 Gold Master.
A Master of such caliber, appearing here?
How come?!
Panic rippled through the room.
Benedric, still reeling from the blow, groaned and struggled to rise.
His once-imposing form looked pitiful as he struggled to claw his way out of the cracked floor.
Finally, he lifted his head, dread heavy in his eyes as he addressed the elder.
“Who... who are you? Why are you interfering in Sable family matters?”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Sovereign Edge
The beam struck.White light consumed the battlefield as the Velmoran capital ship’s main cannon erupted across the corridor, the energy column tearing through space with terrifying force. Arken’s defensive grid flared violently as the blast slammed into the fleet’s formation, shields shattering in cascading bursts of blue light.Several ships vanished instantly.Fragments of metal and burning debris spiraled through the void as the shockwave rippled outward.Inside the command chamber, the projection flooded with warning indicators.“Shield collapse on two cruisers!”“Forward interceptors destroyed!”The corridor trembled under the impact.But the fleet still held.Barely.Ronan didn’t look at the damage reports. His eyes were locked on the tactical grid where the capital ship drifted within the narrowing corridor like an iron mountain refusing to move.The support unit that should have arrived—still hadn’t.He opened the operational logs with a flick of his hand.Transmission delay
The Killing Zone
The capital ship fired.There was no warning flare, no gradual buildup that gave time for fear to spread.One moment the enormous Velmoran vessel was drifting within the narrowing corridor of Arken’s trap.The next—its primary cannon ignited.A column of white energy tore across space, the beam so intense that the void itself seemed to ripple as it passed. Defensive alarms erupted across Arken’s fleet as the blast carved through the battlefield toward the command sector where Ronan stood.“Main weapon discharge!” an operator shouted.The command chamber flooded with red warning lights as the projection registered the incoming strike.Cassian leaned forward sharply.“They’re targeting the strategist!”Lucas didn’t raise his voice.“All defensive grids reinforce command coordinates.”Outside the station, dozens of Arken ships shifted instantly, their shields overlapping in a layered barrier as the beam slammed into the defensive network. The impact shook the entire formation, energy fl
When the Trap Closes
The first alarm did not sound like panic.It sounded like inevitability.A sharp tone echoed through the command chamber as the tactical projection flashed with new activity. Velmoran strike groups surged forward along the corridor Arken’s fleet had carefully shaped, their engines burning in tight formation as they crossed the final threshold into engagement range.“Enemy strike wings entering the corridor!” an operator reported.Cassian leaned over the central projection, his eyes narrowing as the Velmoran formation compressed exactly where Ronan had predicted.“They’re committed,” he said.Lucas’s voice cut through the room, calm and steady.“All fleets maintain current alignment.”Outside the station, the silent tension shattered.Velmora fired first.Brilliant lances of energy streaked through the void, slamming into Arken’s forward shield grid in overlapping detonations. The defensive lattice flared as it absorbed the opening barrage, its energy rippling across the formation like
The Corridor
The fleet moved like a quiet machine.Across the tactical projection suspended above the command chamber, hundreds of Arken vessels shifted by fractions of degrees—small adjustments that meant everything. Carriers rotated their defensive arcs. Escort destroyers drifted into new alignment corridors. Energy stabilizers pulsed softly as the damaged edge of Sector Epsilon compensated for the missing lattice.To an outside observer, it looked routine.To the officers in the room, it was anything but.Cassian stood with his arms folded behind his back, watching the projection with the still patience of someone who had fought enough wars to know that the moments before battle were often the most fragile.“You’re certain they’ll commit?” he asked.Ronan didn’t answer immediately. His eyes moved across the data streams flowing along the edges of the display—sensor echoes, micro-adjustments in Velmoran positioning, subtle gravitational disturbances that hinted at hidden movement.“They already
The Target
The command chamber felt different tonight.Not louder, not more chaotic—just sharper. Every voice carried a little more urgency, every movement a little more deliberate. The projection above the central table rotated slowly, showing the shifting formations of both fleets across the contested sector.Velmora had changed their pattern again.An analyst adjusted the projection, narrowing the display until a series of converging vectors became visible.“They’re repositioning their strike groups,” he said, pointing toward the outer arcs. “But not toward the fleet.”Cassian leaned forward slightly. “Clarify.”The analyst enlarged the data.“Every time we adjust our defensive alignment,” he continued, “their formation recalibrates to follow one signal source.”A faint marker pulsed at the center of the projection.Ronan.Silence spread across the room.Another officer spoke carefully. “You’re saying their tactical priority is no longer the defensive ring.”“Yes, sir.”Cassian’s eyes narrowe
Before the Storm Breaks
The station felt quieter than it had any right to be.Not peaceful—never peaceful—but quieter. The kind of quiet that came after something violent, when everyone was still moving, still working, but with the unspoken awareness of how close things had come to breaking.Outside the reinforced observation glass, repair drones drifted in slow arcs around the fractured edge of Sector Epsilon, weaving new energy lines into place. The temporary lattice glowed faintly, fragile compared to the seamless ring that had existed before, but holding.For now.Ronan stood with his hands resting lightly behind his back, watching the work in silence until footsteps approached from behind.“You’re going to burn a hole through the glass if you keep staring like that.”He turned slightly. One of the engineering officers—Lieutenant Mara—offered a tired half-smile, dark circles under her eyes betraying how long she’d been on shift.“How bad is it?” Ronan asked.She exhaled through her nose, glancing back to
You may also like
Dao Masters Of Demonic Cultivation
Sweet savage18.7K viewsThe Strongest Son-in-law
VKBoy29.0K viewsRise of Ryan Conner
Alvin Sam16.6K viewsThe Saga of the Unbroken
RandomGuy33.2K viewsStranded Stranger
Author Warren II2.8K viewsUntouchable Arnold Hayes
Riku Ormstrom2.8K viewsThe rise of Jeremy Collins
Ayo _Writes370 viewsETERNAL LORD STEIN
Ifemarcelly453 views