242: Chapter 342 Betrayal! The Ritual Begins! The Fugitives of Silverleaf Castle!

Deep in the night, Velen City.

Silverleaf Castle sat upon a low hill in the north of the city; moonlight spilled down, draping it in a layer of cold, silvery radiance.

Suddenly, the soldiers guarding the south gate heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

A squad of soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the City Guard came running quickly toward the castle. The man in the lead was burly, and the silver emblem on his shoulder insignia glinted in the firelight.

"Open the gate quickly! Something has happened in the south of the city! I must see The Count immediately!"

The captain of the gate guards looked over. The leader was the commander of the City Guard, Lord Hector.

Seeing this, the guard captain did not think twice and ordered the side gate to be opened, preparing to welcome them.

But the moment the side gate opened—Hector's gaze suddenly turned cold.

With a wave of his hand, several streams of Battle Qi erupted from his body, and the throats of the guarding soldiers were slashed open. Blood sprayed.

Their bodies slumped down limply, their eyes still filled with lingering, incredulous shock.

Boom—! The side gate was pushed wide open. Behind Hector, the armored soldiers immediately poured into the castle like a tidal wave.

On the top floor of the main castle, inside the bedroom, Edmund Lawrence awoke suddenly from his sleep.

His perception as a High-Order Grand Knight allowed him to sense something amiss immediately. A faint scent of blood permeated the air, and the sounds of killing could be heard in the distance.

He rolled out of bed and grabbed the longsword hanging at the head of the bed. The moment his palm made contact with the hilt, the cold sensation brought him to full alertness.

He rushed out of the bedroom; the corridor was in chaos. Several servants ran past in a panic, their faces etched with terror. A maidservant bumped into him, shrieked in fright, and fell to the ground.

"The Count!"

"Outside, the castle... the city walls have been breached!"

Edmund did not stop, his expression growing increasingly grim, his pace quickening.

When he rushed to the plaza in front of the main castle building, the sight before him caused him to stop abruptly. The plaza was packed with armored soldiers. And at the very front of the soldiers was a figure he was all too familiar with.

"Hector!" Edmund's voice carried irrepressible fury. "Have you lost your mind?!"

Hector slowly turned around to look at Edmund. His face appeared exceptionally ferocious in the torchlight, and his eyes flashed with a blood-red light as if ignited.

He grinned: "The Count, I have not lost my mind. I have simply figured things out."

"I have followed you for forty years, forty years!"

"I have guarded the city for you, risked my life for you, blocked blades for you, and bled for you. But what have I received?"

"I have been stuck at the bottleneck of a Peak Knight for eighteen years. Every time I applied to you to purchase the magic crystals for a breakthrough potion, you would always tell me to wait a little longer... wait a little longer."

"I waited for three years... three years... and then another three! All I got in return was your endless excuses!"

His voice grew louder, carrying a resentment that had been suppressed for too long: "Since you will not give me a chance, then I shall... take it for myself!"

"The Master has given me power, power far, far greater than the meager handouts you were so stingy with!"

Before his words had even faded, a violent aura erupted from within him!

Edmund looked at this former subordinate before him, an indescribable rage welling up in his heart. But he said nothing more, only taking a deep breath as the power within him began to boil as well.

A silver radiance shot up into the sky!

A massive lion condensed and took form around his body!

The silver mane seemed to be composed of countless needles, glinting with a cold, sharp light under the moonlight. The lion raised its head and roared, and an invisible pressure swept across the entire plaza, causing the soldiers to involuntarily take a step back.

Silverleaf Lion Battle Aspect!

The inherited Battle Aspect of The Count of Silverleaf family!

Edmund's gaze became incomparably indifferent as he looked at Hector, his voice calm:

"Speak, what is your reliance? Is it just on your strength as a newly advanced Great Knight?"

"Hehehe—" Just then, a rough laugh drifted over from the other side of the plaza: "The Count, as expected, nothing gets past you..."

Edmund turned his head sharply. A middle-aged man wearing dark red leather armor was slowly walking out from the shadows. He was bald, and his entire body exuded a thick, bloody aura. With every step he took, fine cracks appeared on the stone slabs beneath his feet.

Around him, a faint, looming giant wolf slowly emerged. Its body was blood-red, its fur stood up like steel needles, and a pair of cold, eerie wolf eyes stared fixedly at Edmund. A High-Order Grand Knight's Battle Aspect!

Edmund's pupils constricted. He scrutinized the blood-wolf-like Battle Aspect, his mind rapidly scanning through intelligence on the major powers of the Northern Territory. A moment later, his expression changed slightly:

"The Bloodblade Mercenary Group, Blood Blade Knight."

He knew of this mercenary group; it was a group that had risen extremely rapidly in the Northern Territory in recent years, and its leader was also a veteran High-Order Grand Knight, possessing a Battle Aspect similar to a blood wolf. He just had not expected this person to set their sights on Velen City. In that case, the opponent's goal... went without saying.

Blood Blade Knight grinned and said:

"I did not expect that The Count would have actually heard of my name. It is truly an honor."

Edmund surveyed his surroundings. He knew that tonight would not end peacefully. Without the slightest hesitation, his figure moved suddenly!

He did not attack the strongest one, Blood Blade Knight, but instead transformed into a streak of silver light, lunging straight at Hector! He had to take out this traitor first!

The Silver Lion Battle Aspect roared, its sharp claws tearing through the air! The great battle erupted instantly!

Meanwhile, on a tower outside the city, a figure wearing black wizard robes stood at the top, looking toward the chaotic Silverleaf Castle in the distance. The night wind blew his hood, revealing a thin, gaunt face.

His gaze swept across various parts of the city—the blood flowing amidst the chaos, the corpses falling under blades, the panic spreading... The corners of his mouth curled into a satisfied arc.

A blood sacrifice involving a large city clearly required a professional like him to lead it. He extended a pale palm. Obscure syllables flowed from his lips.

As he cast his spell, a pale red mist began to permeate throughout the city. The mist was initially very faint, almost imperceptible. But soon it became increasingly dense, seeping into the gaps of houses along the streets and alleys.

The entire city fell into immediate chaos. Many people, after inhaling the red mist, first coughed violently, then their eyes turned blood-red, and they began to attack those around them madly.

Meanwhile, in a side hall of the castle.

"My Lady, this way!" the female knight whispered, the longsword in her hand still dripping with blood.

Flora Lawrence bit her lip, forcing herself not to look at the corpses on the ground, and followed the female knight through a hidden path. The sounds of killing grew closer behind them.

The female knight turned suddenly, slashed open a soldier who was chasing them with one strike, and then grabbed Flora and rushed out of the castle's back gate. In the night, the two figures disappeared into the increasingly chaotic city.