Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 51 - Debt payment

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 - Debt payment

Deep beneath the earth, a chamber bathed in the ghostly glow of purple flames pulsed with otherworldly energy. At its heart loomed a vast, round table, where five nameless figures sat in silence. Their faces were lost to shadow, yet their presence alone was crushing—an undeniable force that commanded absolute reverence and obedience.

"I knew it!" Kristy said as she slammed her fist onto the table. "That fucking bastard ruined everything!"

"The entire lab was compromised and the Church destroyed everything in the place," Chuck said as he read off his clipboard.

"And our research?" Blair asked, her anger slightly rising

Chuck raised his glasses "Destroyed. It seems that when our two members died, Linflax fled the place."

"That damn bastard! That’s five years of research down the drain!" Blair’s anger mimicked Kristy’s

"Doesn’t matter, that place didn’t have anything important anyway!" Carl said, leaning back in his chair while eating a piece of meat.

"That’s the whole point you fool! The lab in the dungeon was supposed to be a fallback station for us if our main spots got compromised! It served as the best place for us to conduct these types of experiments!" Blair shouted back.

Kristy gritted her teeth "Those fucking demons! We tell them one thing and they do the opposite!"

"And what about all the people we kidnapped?" Adam asked

"They were rescued. Well, most of them. Some were left behind according to my notes."

"So what now? Do we enact our plans sooner?" Kristy asked

"Our main goal remains unaffected so that timeline will stay the same. However, to allow for high-ranking demons to cross over, we need demonic seed candidates to pass the final stage of the demonic transition, therefore, we’ll focus on that task." Adam informed

Everyone nodded.

"Send me a list of everyone who is 100% compatible with the demonic seed."

"Already done sir." Chuck handed Adam a list that he tore off his clipboard.

[Demon Seed Candidates - Compatibablity rate 100%

Arron - Location Knights Order

Stephen - Location Magic Tower

Alice - Location Royal Academy

Lucas Ahlbach - Location Church of Arion

Michelle Castro - Location Magic Tower

Jackson Newman - Location Knights Order

Ivy Riddle - Location Church of Arion

Lidia Brightburn - Location Royal Academy]

Chuck then spoke "These are all for this Kingdom. As for the other kingdoms-"

"Do not stress about the other kingdoms, we’ll only focus on the Astir kingdom for now since we are already here and there are others who can handle the other kingdoms. We’ll attack tonight, a quick grab-and-go. Ready our forces and alert all the nobles under our rule to allow easy access to the capital. Failure is NOT an option."

"Yes sir." They all vanished from their seats.

---

"I understand. I’ll prepare her right away." A tall man with black hair and bulging muscles said as the communication orb in front of him dimmed, signaling that the call was over.

"Was that them, Lord Larson?" A butler asked

"Yes, phase two has been enacted." He spoke.

"I shall let the other know." The butler bowed

"No, they said only people with 100% compatibility are important and not to worry about the others."

"Yes sir. I shall bring Alice to the Laboratory by nightfall."

---

That night, a knock was heard on the door. Alice, who was sitting at the table with a bag of coins was waiting for this day. She had her sword ready just in case things went south.

’I might not be strong enough to fight back, but I’ll still protect my family.’ She calmed her thoughts as a knock was heard on the door.

Alice opened it and saw the same man who would always come to pick up the money. His bald head and rough facial features never failed to send shivers down her spine.

"Don’t blame us for your mistakes since you failed to deliver what we asked for." The man spoke, already assuming she didn’t have the money.

"Here." She said, tossing him a bag of 30 gold coins. "Everything is in there. You can count them if you don’t believe me."

He looked in the bag, shocked that not only was the amount she owed there, but it was enough to pay off all her debt. "Heh, you expect me to believe that you managed to scrape up 30 gold coins let alone 3 in the span of a week? Do you take me as a fool?"

"A friend helped me out. This should cover everything. Now leave since we’re done here."

"Haha, sorry, but since you got help, this transaction is void." The man smirked

"Bullshit! You guys never said I couldn’t seek aid elsewhere! I even had help before, so why does it matter now?!" She asked with rage building up

"Because I said so."

Alice squinted her eyes. "You were never planning on letting my family off in the first place."

She only received a crooked smile as a response.

Alice lept into action, drawing her sword and aiming straight for the throat. She had to act quickly or else things would turn ugly. Unfortunately for her, her power wasn’t enough to even make the man bleed.

"Heh, please." The man struck Alice with such brutal force that she was hurled to the ground, her body rebounding from the impact. Before she even landed, he delivered a devastating kick, the sheer power shattering her ribs and propelling her straight out of the house. She crashed into the wall outside with bone-rattling force, the structure trembling from the impact.

"Bleghhhh!" Her insides were a wreck, pain radiating through her shattered ribs as she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her vision blurred, the world splitting into two, and a dizzy haze threatened to pull her under. But despite the agony, despite the overwhelming weakness in her limbs, she forced herself to stand.

"Nooo! Leave my sister alone!" Gregory charged in anger at the bald man. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt his sister and get away with it.

"No! Gregory, come back!" Audrey yelled as she held a crying Tiana in her arms.

But he didn’t listen. He charged at the man and swung his arm with all his might, but his punch was as weak as a fly landing on a person’s head.

"You should’ve listened to your mom, kid." He slapped Gregory away, breaking his jaw in the process.

"Nooo! Son!" Audrey shouted in horror

"You! How dare you hurt my brother!" Alice used all the mana she could to charge at the bald man, but as she took one step, he was already in front of her. "Wha-What?!"

A crushing blow to the gut folded Alice in half, wrenching the breath from her lungs as she crumpled to her knees. Before she could recover, a ruthless hand seized her face and drove it into the ground with bone-jarring force. She tried to swing her sword, barely managing to cut the man, but he grabbed her arm and snapped it in half.

Alice, now beaten and bloodied used her last resort. With her non-broken hand, she activated the rune Zion taught her and hoped he would arrive in time.