“Zodiac General Liam John!” Greedy Wolf couldn’t hold back his shock, his voice trembling as he cried out.
From the moment Kayden saw the man, an uneasy suspicion had begun to brew. There was an unmistakable air of menace around this man that only warriors from Battlefield would possess. When the man delivered a thunderous punch to Greedy Wolf’s chest, Kayden’s suspicion deepened-someone capable of wounding Greedy Wolf couldn’t possibly be ordinary. And when the man turned his Deathly Palm Strike on Kayden, that fleeting suspicion crystallized into near certainty!
Now, with the man lying on the ground, unmasked and exposed, the truth hit Kayden like a bolt of lightning. He refused to believe that Liam could become like this, unwilling to accept that Liam had turned into someone’s tool for killing.
Kayden had been holding onto the faint hope that the man behind the mask might not be Liam. But there was no denying it now. It was true that he had been searching for Liam, but this was far from the circumstances in which he wished to meet him. Kayden’s eyes widened to their fullest, and his heart wrenched as the realization hit-this man was indeed Liam! Liam was really the Masked Executioner everyone spoke of!
Curling up on the ground, the young man who had been impersonating the Defender of the South suddenly erupted into a crazed, ear-splitting laugh.
His laugh grew louder, ricocheting through the vast, empty hall like a storm. The sound was feral, filled with malice, and setting teeth on edge!
As the echoes of his deranged laughter faded, the young man lifted his face. His mouth twisted in a grotesque sneer as he fixed his gaze on Kayden. He hissed, “Well, surprised? Shocked? You didn’t see this coming, did you?”
“I told you! I told you he was Liam John, your precious Zodiac Genera Liam John! But none of you believed me. What about now? See, I wasn’t lying!”
He erupted into maniacal laughter, almost hysterical. Liam was his ultimate trump card, his prized secret weapon. It filled him with a perverse satisfaction to see the mighty Defender of the South now could only admit defeat in his twisted game. It fed the darkest corners of his warped soul.
Fixing his gaze on Kayden, who stood unmoving like a marble statue, the young man mocked, his words dripping with scorn. “Aren’t you supposed to be unstoppable? The invincible Defender with boundless power and prestige? And now look at you! You can’t even protect your own subordinate, and he has been turned into a mindless killing tool under someone else’s command. How does that feel? Does it make your blood boil? Do you feel like dying from the shame?”
Though sprawled on the ground, the young man’s smug grin radiated triumph, as if he had already claimed victory. “You know how many lives he has slaughtered? The Hamilton and Ritchie families of the Western Frontier, the Abney family of the North, and the Robinson family of the Central Plains; he slaughtered them all! He’s been our best weapon, and his hands are stained with the blood of countless innocents! If you think we deserve death for our sins, then so does he!”
Pointing at Liam, the young man radiated an air of cockiness that had reached its climax!
Unwilling to settle for Kayden’s indifferent reaction, he pressed on with further provocations. “Let me tell you. It’s the most glorious moment of my life to command Liam John, your Zodiac General, to kill! It’s my crowning achievement!”
His laughter grew louder as though he had just seized the greatest prize imaginable.
As the echoes of his laughter faded, his expression turned dark and menacing. His lips curled into a wicked grin as he locked eyes with Kayden. “I know you want to kill me. I can feel it-you’re itching to rip me apart, to shred me into pieces, to destroy me utterly. But what a pity. You can’t do it!”
His statement was filled with confidence, spoken as if he had the situation well in hand!
Kayden’s gaze shifted from Liam and locked onto the young man with an icy intensity. He didn’t speak, but the frigid weight of his stare was as sharp as a blade.
“Curious to know why?” the young man drawled, his voice dripping with smugness. He was so brazen and showy. At this moment, he seemed completely unhinged, so lost in his delusions that he might have forgotten his own father’s name.
His insufferable swagger wasn’t just enraging the warriors from the Battlefield-it was grating on the nerves of even the gathered bigwigs. Many felt their fists itch, desperate to crush his smug grin underfoot.
Too arrogant. Too much. Even those who had seen all kinds of people in their long lives couldn’t recall encountering anyone so shamelessly brash.
Greedy Wolf, a warrior hardened by countless battles and no stranger to bloodshed, also clenched his teeth. How dare this bastard act so recklessly in the presence of Defender? He was heading for his doom! Memories of the time on Battlefield flashed through Greedy Wolf’s mind. They had once captured an enemy who was equally arrogant as this young man. The captive held vital intelligence about the enemy forces, so if they killed him and lost the intelligence, the border might be occupied by enemies.
Using this to his advantage, the captive repeatedly threatened Kayden, convinced that Kayden would not take real action against him. Yet, Kayden had executed him without a moment’s hesitation. Afterward, he gave the word that any captive foolish enough to threaten the warriors of the Battlefield would be killed on the spot. To Kayden, no one-especially a captive-had the right to dictate terms.
Arrogant people like this young man who disdains everyone around them often meet the most tragic ends!
With that thought, Greedy Wolf gritted his teeth and stepped forward, suppressing the ache in his chest. “Defender, let me deal with this pathetic fool!”
Kayden raised a hand to stop him. “No. I’ll handle this myself,” he muttered.
Kayden couldn’t stand it any longer. The young man’s arrogance and self-satisfaction were like nails on a chalkboard. Threaten him? The sheer audacity! If there was one thing Kayden loathed above all, it was being threatened-especially by someone on the brink of death who still had the gall to posture. It was the height of foolishness, practically digging their own grave!
Kayden raised the marble in his hand, letting it glint ominously as he stepped closer. His voice dropped to a cold, cutting murmur. “You think I can’t kill you? If I decide to end you, what makes you think you’ll leave here alive?”
The young man’s smug laughter died instantly. His face darkened as he snapped back with venomous defiance, “I said you can’t kill me, and I mean it! I hold everything you want to know-all the secrets of Hellblazer, its plans, everything! And I know where the rest of your Zodiac Generals are! If you kill me, I swear you’ll never find even the smallest trace of them!”
So, this was his trump card, the very foundation of his audacity!
Kayden’s face grew stern, and he spoke in a serious tone, “Are you trying to threaten me? Do you even realize what you’re doing? Let me spell it out for you-I despise being threatened. It doesn’t matter if you hold the most critical secrets in the world. You can’t use them to control me. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
Kayden’s cold, impassive face caught the young man off guard. His pupils betrayed a sudden flicker of fear. It was evident that Kayden was completely unaffected by his threat. Swallowing nervously, the young man stammered, “Let me tell you the truth-my life is directly tied to Liam’s. If you kill me, he will die instantly. If you truly want to end your subordinate’s life, then come on, do…”
With a sharp whoosh, Kayden flicked the marble from his hand. It tore through the air, embedding itself straight into the young man’s heart. The world went completely still. The young man’s words were cut off as the life drained from his eyes. His gaze, filled with shock and disbelief, locked onto Kayden, but the light in his eyes faded too quickly. He died before he could even finish his words.
Before the last fragments of his consciousness slipped away, he heard Kayden’s cold voice. “What I wish to know, I will learn-whether today, tomorrow, or the day after. You will never use it to threaten me. Before me, all you can do is grovel at my feet, begging for mercy. To die by my hand is the greatest honor you could ever hope for in your miserable life.”