Where did Kayden acquire his skills? That was a complicated question because Kayden himself didn’t even know his master’s name.
He wasn’t self-taught, of course. Everything he knew-his incredible abilities and unparalleled medical expertise-stemmed from a chance encounter a decade ago on the Battlefield. Who was his master? Kayden couldn’t say. All he remembered was an old man who was drunk, seemingly never sober.
Before Kayden could say more, the patient on the bed suddenly erupted into a fit of coughing. Everyone’s nerves immediately went taut, and they surged forward to check on him.
Unfazed by the commotion, Kayden pulled out the two silver needles from the patient’s body. His voice steady, he announced, “In three hours, he’ll be fully recovered.”
Then, he shifted his sharp gaze to Memphis. “Mr. John, isn’t it time you told me everything about Liam?”
The intensity of Kayden’s stare made Memphis’s breath hitch. He nodded quickly. “Yes, yes! Of course!”
Motioning for Kayden to follow him, Memphis led the way into another room.
As soon as the door closed, Memphis did something that completely caught Kayden off guard-he dropped to his knees with a loud thud. His face was filled with deference and awe as he said, “I am deeply honored by your presence, Defender of the South!”
Kayden’s eyebrows lifted slightly. The faintest trace of surprise crossed his otherwise impassive face. Sensing Kayden’s displeasure, Memphis hurriedly explained, “Defender, please don’t get me wrong-Coleman didn’t tell me anything! He has never spoken a word about your identity. I pieced it together myself, from your search for Liam and the commanding presence you exude. I truly never expected that we would have the honor of knowing a great figure like you, Defender. This is my personal privilege and an honor for my whole family.”
“Cut the crap! Just get straight to the point,” Kayden sharply cut off Memphis mid-sentence. He had no patience for idle chatter.
“Tell me-what on earth happened to Liam? And do you recognize this?”
Kayden reached into his pocket and took out a pendant-the Grievance pendant he had taken from Lacey Bennett.
The moment Memphis’s eyes landed on the pendant, he bolted upright. His trembling hands reached out to grasp it, and as soon as it was in his palm, his eyes turned red, tears spilling freely down his weathered face.
At nearly eighty, Memphis was a man who had seen it all, someone who should have long made peace with life’s turbulence. Yet, the weight of buried memories has a way of breaking through when the right relic appears, triggering emotions that cannot be suppressed in his heart. Like this pendant.
The pendant stirred memories of the past.
Clutching the pendant tightly, he slowly walked to a chair and sat down. Taking a deep breath, he fought to steady his emotions before finally speaking, his voice thick with melancholy. “Forgive me, Defender. Seeing this pendant… it brought back so many memories. I couldn’t stop myself.”
He paused, the weight of his next words pressing down on him. “Liam… yes, he is my son. But he is an illegitimate child. His life… was worlds apart from that of my other children. And that is entirely my fault. When I was young, I traveled often for business. During one of those trips, I met his mother by chance. We… grew close, and one thing led to another. I never expected she was pregnant…”
His voice grew quieter, tinged with the sorrow of regretting his greatest mistakes.
He wiped the tears trickling down his face and continued, “After his mother passed away, she entrusted someone to bring him here. At the time, I wasn’t the head of the family yet and was frequently away for days on end. I had no idea he was living a life of misery under this roof. He was tormented by my sons, treated like a servant by my wife, and forced to endure the same harsh conditions as the household staff.”
“The constant torment took a devastating toll on his mind. Losing his mother and never receiving a shred of fatherly love left him broken. That’s why he grew to hate this family. By the time he turned thirteen, he’d had enough and left home. Of course, all of this is my doing. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have been born and suffered through this nightmare.”
“Still, I never stopped searching for him over the years. I’ve racked my brain trying to find ways to atone for the damage I caused. It wasn’t until five years ago that I discovered he’d become the famed Deputy Commander of Seclela and one of the Zodiac Generals under you. At that moment, my emotions were a storm-I didn’t know whether to feel pride or crushing guilt.”
By the time Memphis finished, tears were streaming freely down his weathered face, etched with lines as deep as the pain in his heart. He looked utterly pitiful.
But the pitiful sometimes carry the blame for their plight. After hearing this confession, Kayden felt no sympathy for Memphis. Instead, he found Liam had similar experiences and sufferings. Perhaps that explained why fate had drawn them together to stand guard over their nation’s borders.
Kayden’s gaze turned icy as he fixed his eyes on Memphis. “This is all your fault!”
Memphis nodded, unable to deny the accusation. “Yes, it’s all my fault, entirely my fault!”
Kayden showed no intention of scolding him. Instead, he went straight to the point. “Did Liam ever return?”
Memphis froze for a moment, visibly startled. “Yeah, he came back. Once,” he nodded and spoke.
“When?” Kayden latched onto the clue and pressed for details.
“Two years ago. The first night of the New Year,” Memphis said after a pause.
Kayden’s mind worked quickly, aligning the timeline. It matched what Israel Bennett had mentioned earlier. Israel had said that the pendant had been handed to him by Liam two years ago when he was in the East. That meant something critical must have happened to Liam at that time.
Kayden’s eyes narrowed as he shot a sharp glare at Memphis. “Why did he come back?”
“He came to kill,” Memphis said bluntly, his voice heavy. “He slaughtered more than five hundred members of our family.”
That was Liam-a man of few words but unparalleled lethality. Once he began killing, it was as if he couldn’t stop, almost as though he drew a perverse satisfaction from it. This was a common feature of the Zodiac Generals.
“That’s it?” Kayden wore a doubtful expression as he studied Memphis.
Memphis froze for a moment. Shaking his head, he said, “That’s all there is to it. He came here with one purpose: to kill. We tried to talk to him, but he didn’t respond-not a single word. As soon as he walked in, he started the slaughter. When it was done, he left. No interaction, no hesitation. He was like a relentless executioner.”
Kayden gave a faint nod, inhaling deeply before speaking. “I see. But there’s something you need to know. The reason he came home was to ask you for money, and the killing… perhaps it was because this place triggered his painful memories, and he lost control.”
“No!” Memphis’s face shifted as if a sudden realization had struck him. “It wasn’t about money-he came here purely to kill. He killed for fun, and more than that, he was doing it to please a woman. There was a woman in a red dress with him. When he was killing, she stood nearby, laughing the entire time. It gave me the feeling that Liam had been bewitched by her.”
Bang!
Those words landed like a thunderclap in Kayden’s mind, shocking him to his core.
“You’re saying that woman was controlling Liam?” Kayden went straight to the heart of the matter.
Memphis nodded emphatically. “Yes, that’s exactly the feeling I got. He was completely under her spell. But I don’t know anything for sure-they didn’t say a single word. They just killed. After it was over, they left. I wanted to ask questions, but I never even got the chance!”