Chapter 219 (1): Darkness Knight x Death Knight

The mysterious man left. The barrier trapping the Lando Estate ran out of energy and dissipated in half an hour, and the estate returned to peace.

Auston dragged his critically injured body to make a call to the Ministry of Magic, inviting Vice Minister Yvette to conduct an on-site inspection. He didn’t trust the other legendary mages. Yvette was close to the Queen and wouldn’t lie in her report or frame him for profit.

Auston was so seriously injured that he kept coughing blood, yet he stood upright and welcomed Yvette, leading her to the scene of the crime and showing her the mysterious man’s dead clones.

The dragonrider had broken the Astral Egg, so most of the remains were gone. Silvia took a portion, and Auston took two—one for the Lando family and the other for himself. The rest of the remains he handed over to Yvette, reaffirming the Lando family’s unwavering loyalty to the royal family.

Yvette had greeted Silvia first when she arrived, exchanging pleasantries and praises without touching on anything substantial. Aside from the mistress of the Lando family, Silvia was also the High Reverend of the Church of Nature, which added another layer to tonight’s ambush. The target could be the Landos or the High Reverend, and Silvia could decide how the story was framed.

Thus, Auston received the mission to lie down and appease the High Reverend for Windsor, satisfying all of her needs so that the matter wouldn’t escalate further.

You’re representing our country, Auston,

Yvette urged.

There’s no turning back!

What a familiar scenario. Windsor had always been an expert in exploiting their own.

***

Later that night, Yvette left the Lando Estate with the evidence, arranging for Auston to brief the minister at the ministry’s headquarters tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Wayne was being interrogated by Veronica, literally hit in the face while being lifted by his collar, pinned to the wall, and then trapped between her and the sofa in her mansion. By the end of it, he found himself straddled by Veronica.

“Speak. What are you hiding?”

“I can’t tell you. Master told me to never tell you about my secret original bloodline.”

“What is the original bloodline?”

“Uh oh, I accidentally said it.”

“Bastard, that’s definitely not it. If you don’t talk, you’re never walking out the door.”

Veronica furiously punched him in the face. Someone else was in charge of Trash Sr., so she didn’t have to worry about that. Trash Jr.’s secret, on the other hand, was her responsibility to find out.

“I’ve told you...” Wayne covered his face with a hand, looking hurt. “Remember that Master took my blood? You were there, too. The test result was out. We just never told you.”

“Keep going.” Veronica hesitated, holding her fist back.

“Master told me that the original bloodline belongs to the first humans at the beginning of the mythical time, that they were descendants of God. Every once in a blue moon, someone with original bloodline awakens. It’s like a hereditary disease coming back through atavism. The genes rearrange into the original state...”

Wayne spouted lies without batting an eye. “The original bloodline holds endless possibilities, and those who have it are born geniuses in magic.”

“Your hideous mug comes from the original bloodline?”

“No, original bloodlines aren’t different from regular humans in appearance, but I’m going down another path of evolution. Remember the ancient god on Dragonheart Island?”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Wayne lied convincingly by creatively recombining the facts. “I got lucky. Instead of losing my sanity from imitating the ancient god, I was able to replicate parts of the god’s appearance. You can call my evolution hideous, but you must respect it. No offense, but my evolution far outranks yours.”

He lifted his chin.

Bam!

“I don’t believe it. That ugly thing can’t be better than a great dragon!”

“The hideous bird croaks the fastest—pfft, I mean, rises the highest. Remember what the vessels of the Seven Demon Lords look like? None of them appears human.” Wayne placed his helpful hands on Veronica’s legs to prevent her from falling. “Congratulations, you knocked on my door and hit the jackpot that night. The next generation of the Lando family will have incredible talent.”

Veronica frowned, still unconvinced. “You were getting chased off by the monster, but Megan killed it in one blow. How do you explain that?”

“I’m still young...” Wayne shrugged, his eyes dimming with a hint of frustration.

The monster hadn’t dropped its core after its death, namely the

Book of Hell

, which meant that the mysterious man had run away with it earlier. He was likely unable to defeat Megan, and with Silvia aiding the dragon as the dragonrider, he ultimately retreated from a battle he couldn’t win.

Judging by how the mysterious man divided the battlefield and isolated the duo of dragon and dragonrider, he had to know the Lando family well, and out of wariness of Auston’s trump card, he remained in the dark.

In other words, the mysterious man believed that Auston, who had relied on Megan for protection, was actually more powerful than the great dragon.

No wonder the Old Two-Face was still alive despite his arrogance. He had the power to back it up!

Wayne was beside himself with envy. Auston was not only a dragonrider, but he also rode the other dragonrider, and the rider and the dragon looked almost identical. Why did he have everything? Heaven had to be blind to have blessed someone like Auston rather than an honest person like Wayne!

“Speak. What underhanded trick are you going to pull again?”

“I’m thinking about this man named Auston. He’s hiding a great secret, so great that the mysterious mastermind behind the attack would rather sacrifice the vessels of demon lords, the Astral Egg, and a fully descended familiar to figure it out.”

“Aren’t you hiding something, too?”

“We’re different. My secret’s out of the bag, but not Auston’s.” Wayne sighed worriedly. “As the heir of the family, I can’t rest easy knowing that a bomb will blow up the Lando Estate at any time.”

Veronica slapped away the hand reaching toward her chest and scoffed. “Don’t play innocent. He’s not a good man, but neither are you. Both of you have secrets.”

Wayne huffed. “You shouldn’t make false accusations at a good man without evidence.”

“You? You’re just a pervert. Although the succubus’s seduction didn’t work on you, you gulped at her.”

“That was out of respect for her beauty. Besides, I’ve also blocked the succubus’s charm for you, but you still gulped.” Wayne grumbled, earning himself another punch.

Veronica did that to cover up her embarrassment. She had to admit that the succubus was beautiful. Even now, her mouth still went dry when she thought about the succubus. She wanted to lock her in the basement and...

Bam!

The loud bang prompted Veronica to jump off Wayne’s lap and rush to the window to watch the human cannonball. Wayne followed right after her, grinning at the window.

“Hmph, such a filthy firework, and it didn’t even explode.”

After a moment, Wayne’s laughter died in his throat when he sensed Veronica’s glare. He hurriedly said, “Veronica, Master has many good traits. She’s gentle, kind, and sympathetic. As her daughter, you should be learning from her good traits rather than everything else...”

“Besides, I almost ran out of thoughts to protect you. I can’t get hurt again.”

“Veronica, tell me you don’t have the heart to do it!”

His persuasion wasn’t effective. He ended up reuniting with Auston in the grove.

The two scumbags sorted out their slicked-back hair to make themselves presentable again—on the outside, at least. One of them stayed silent, while the other stayed silent while playing with his silver coin.

“What secret are you hiding, Wayne?”

“What secret are you hiding, Auston?”

They both fell silent again.

Auston huffed. Once Megan arrived with a first-aid kit, he told her to establish a soundproofing barrier.

“Don’t do that yet.” Wayne smiled at the great dragon out of respect. Since she was an elderly figure to him, he didn’t ask if she would be willing to jump ship if he offered a higher price. He took the first-aid kit from her and wrapped the bandages around his head first. “Alright, you can set up the barrier.”

Megan rolled her eyes, setting up a barrier with a wave.

“I know you’re hiding something, Wayne,” Auston said, taking the initiative. “I’ve underestimated you. I won’t do it again.”

“Aren’t you the same?”

“We aren’t the same. I’m the head of the family, so I must know my successor!” Auston declared. “I didn’t care about your secret because it could be trivial, but not now. Your secret is attracting too much attention and has become a significant risk to the family.”

“Aren’t you the same?”

Auston scowled silently, fiddling with his coin.

Wayne glanced at it and said in a softer tone, “If you don’t say it, and I don’t say it, either, we’ll keep testing each other for the foreseeable future. Our internal strife will only exhaust the resources of the Lando family and deepen our misunderstanding, which will worsen our father and son—bah, father-in-law and son-in-law relationship.”

“So?”

“So, why don’t we open up and exchange our secrets?”

Outside the barrier, Megan pricked up her ears.

“Fine, but you go first,” Auston said.

“No, you have to go first. I don’t trust you.”

“I can say the same to you.”

Silence returned to the room once more. The conversation was going nowhere.