June 21st, at dusk.
In the northwest corner of the first district of Florence, there is a manor of Duke Augustus. It covers a vast area, as large as two horse farms.
The Duke's manor was surrounded by green meadows, with red, yellow and pink flower beds at intervals. Between the meadows and flower beds, neatly maintained and flat white stone roads led directly to the three gates of the manor. In front of the iron-cast black painted gate, several housekeepers in white shirts and black vests were quietly waiting, followed by a group of servants.
"Rumble, rumble..."
Luxurious and exquisite carriages drove in from all directions of Florence, steady and fast. Nearly half of the carriages were engraved with various family emblems. There were swords and flowers, giant white bears, and two-headed tigers...
When the carriage arrives at the gate of the manor, it will stop briefly. The curtain of the carriage will slowly open, and a pampered hand wearing a ring will slowly reach out and hand a white hardcover invitation to the butler. Then the butler will instruct a servant behind him to lead the way to the carriage parking place.
It is about 5:30 in the afternoon and the banquet starts at 6 o'clock.
At the east gate of the Duke's manor, an old butler stood quietly.
"Rumble, rumble..."
The sound of wheels turning over the ground gradually approached.
A light black carriage slowly drove up and stopped at the gate of the manor. The light green curtains were opened, and a handsome young nobleman looked out of the window curiously. He had slightly curly brown hair, green eyes, and a high nose bridge. A white lace collar was clustered around his neck, and below it was a satin-like noble costume with a gold thread pattern.
Ta-ta-ta... The old butler beside the road walked over.
She bowed politely and took the white invitation from the young man. She looked down and saw that it was Nian, the eldest son of Count Roland.
He will also be the heir to the earldom in the future.
The old butler closed the invitation and was about to speak. Another carriage drove over from the back of the road. There was a golden pattern on the surface of the carriage, which was the symbol of the royal family. He immediately handed the invitation to a middle-aged servant next to him. The servant quickly understood what the butler meant and immediately walked over in his place. The butler himself went to meet the royal carriage.
Ta-ta-ta... The horse's hooves tapped the ground and gradually stopped.
The curtains were opened, revealing a majestic and handsome face.
A head of golden hair as iconic as a lion's mane, with deep facial features. It was the royal family's Soth, who was once known as the Lion King. But now he didn't look too good, his eyes were dim, and there were bloodshot around the edges. His lower eyelids were dark, and I didn't know if it was due to lack of sleep or physical weakness due to indulging in alcohol and sex. In short, he looked like a listless lion.
After the competition for the Shadow Hunter seat ended, Soth's high spirits were gone, and even his self-confidence was completely crushed by Kaxiu's palm in the valley. Because the lion seal on that palm was made by Kaxiu imitating Soth's lion seal. And Soth was defeated by the familiar palm and was knocked away. He was crushed in the aspect that he was most confident and good at.
After the battle, Soth still had to bear the consequences of overusing the holy spring water to improve his strength, and his mental state was quite unstable. So he spent the whole day drinking and sex to numb himself, and it has been a while. During this period, he was in a completely decadent state. Soth didn't want to understand or know what happened in the outside world. It was not until a day or two ago that he relaxed from this state of confusion and planned to go out to relieve his mood.
It just so happens that I received an invitation from Duke Augustus. There will be a large banquet here, and many friends will come, so I'll just take it as a chance to relax.
So today, Soth, who had just come out of the haze, came here.
On the white stone road, in the luxurious carriage, Soth handed a white invitation with gold thread patterns to the old butler who was waiting beside him. The old butler smiled, checked it as usual, and then respectfully returned it to Soth.
"Mr. South, please."
In the manor, not far away, on the road.
The light black carriage was moving slowly forward. The noble young man kept pulling the curtains and turned his head to look behind him, looking unhappy. Nien felt that he was being looked down upon and neglected. The young man could not suppress his inner emotions, and it was easy to show them on his face. He looked at Soth's profile and muttered to himself.
"What's so great about it? You're just a drowned dog. It's just a dog raised by the royal family. Now that you've failed in the competition for Shadow Hunter, I wonder if you can still be so powerful next time? Ha, you still want to marry the ninth princess Angela? Dream on. The royal family has specially invited the second Shadow Hunter to the banquet this time, and the ninth princess Angela will also show up. Hehe, it seems that the beauty is going to switch to someone else..."
Nian was gloating; he had heard a lot of gossip recently.
"… "
At the door, Soth, sitting on the soft cushion of the carriage, gradually became fierce, his sharp teeth clashed with each other, making a clicking sound. The bloodshot in his eyes became more and more intense, and his expression was filled with hatred. Soth heard Nien's whisper. After all, he was a dark gold hunter who cultivated his physique. Even with the noise of the carriage, it was not difficult to hear clearly.
"Huahuahua..." The carriage that Soth was riding in suddenly accelerated. The servant leading the way looked confused and chased after it while shouting.
Because the servants were leading the way, Nian's carriage didn't go far, and was soon caught up by Soth's carriage. Nian lifted the window curtain and asked blankly what happened? Unexpectedly, as soon as he showed his head, he saw Soth sitting in the carriage next to him, looking at him fiercely. There was a circle of blood red around the edges of his eyes, and he looked like he was going to kill someone.
"No way, he heard it..." Nien's heart skipped a beat, but the next second, he stiffened his neck and glared back. Why is a drowned dog so arrogant in front of him? Soth has lost his potential and will never reach the level of Shadow Hunter. As long as he has not reached the level of Shadow Hunter, even a transcendent has no privileges in front of the royal nobles. Not to mention that the Nien family is a count with real power, not a low-ranking noble. Soth is strong, but he must abide by the royal rules and cannot attack his own people.
Otherwise, the royal family will deal with this ungrateful person personally.
Opposite him, Soth's heart was filled with murderous intent, and he could not control his emotions. The side effects of excessive use of holy spring water appeared again. He narrowed his eyes and forcibly suppressed his anger: "Just wait..."
"Just wait, I've been annoyed with you for a long time! Did you know that the Ninth Princess Angela is coming to the banquet today? Hey, a friend of mine told me a piece of news. The royal family wants to marry the Ninth Princess Angela to that Lord Blood Fist in order to win him over. Are you happy?"
Nian was a man of few words. He had never been a good-tempered young man and was known in the aristocratic circle for his straightforwardness and impulsiveness.
Now facing the downtrodden Soth, Nian did not hide his anger. He started to speak meanly, and even had a hint of pity in his eyes, which was quite irritating.
"You...are looking for death!"
Soth's eyes widened with anger, and a powerful aura burst out from his body.
At this time, two more carriages drove quickly along the Whitestone Road. The curtain of the carriage behind opened, and a young man with delicate features and brown hair shouted to the carriage in front: "Don't drive so fast. Bloody Fist, I talked a little too much, but you don't have to avoid me like this. We are both dark hunters, can't we communicate more?"
In the pure black carriage in front, a strong and tall figure leaned on the seat with a blank expression. He even said coldly to the coachman: "Drive faster." However, the coachman reported to the inside helplessly: "Sir, we have arrived at the gate of the manor. We have to pass the iron gate..."
Kaxiu frowned, but didn't say anything in the end. About six or seven minutes ago, his carriage just bumped into the carriage of Shadow Hunter No. 5 Aaron. Immediately, Aaron took the initiative to come up and say hello, looking very familiar. Kaxiu just responded casually and regretted it on the spot. Aaron is too talkative, and he keeps talking, reminding him of a noisy crow. Moreover, this person can talk without the other party responding, and can talk non-stop. He can even pick up his own words and continue talking. Kaxiu didn't want to be entangled, so he asked the carriage to go faster.
The result is the current situation.
In fact, although Aaron is a friendly and optimistic person, he is not the kind of person who keeps talking to others. The reason why he approached Kashu was actually because of the order of the head of the Black Agency. As the second dark hunter and the dean of the treatment center, Kashu has always been too aloof and mysterious, and acts independently.
As long as the goal is the same, the Black Agency Chief can tolerate the other party. However, a communication channel must be established between the Treatment Center and the Dark Hunter Headquarters. The Black Agency Chief must know Kaxiu's thoughts, what the Treatment Center is doing, and what actions are about to be launched. Only then can the Dark Hunter Headquarters cooperate, deal with the aftermath, and clean up the mess to control the development of the situation.
Therefore, the head of the Black Agency chose Aaron, who was good at talking, to manage the relationship. However, Kaxiu liked to be quiet, so this move had a bit of a counter-effect. At least, on the way to the manor, Kaxiu didn't like to chat with others across the carriage, which seemed a bit stupid.
When the banquet begins, Kaxiu will give the other party a chance. He has actually guessed Aaron's intentions and the thoughts of the black agency leader.
After all, an important organization of the Hunter Association is completely controlled by others, just like a one-man show. As the leader of the Dark Hunter Organization, there is nothing wrong with the behavior of the Black Organizer. Kaxiu has actually been expressing goodwill to the other party, such as allowing the Black Organizer's niece Claire to participate in the operation to encircle and suppress the Lunar Eclipse Society branch. In front of the common enemy, the dark creatures and the Gate Organization, the two sides are definitely partners.
Kaxiu didn't want to break up with the Dark Hunter Organization, as it would do no good.
Two carriages drove towards the gate of the manor. Aaron, sitting in the back carriage, looked back in dismay, muttering, "So aloof? It seems that I need to get to know him better when the banquet starts. The task that the head of the agency gave me is a bit difficult..."
He shook his head, his expression somewhat helpless. Aaron felt that he was enthusiastic enough just now, and almost called each other brothers. But the other party responded with a few bland words, which was really a bit of a blow. I don't know if Aaron would dare to call each other brothers if he knew that the waterfall of destruction that almost destroyed half of the mountain was caused by Kaxiu. That horrific battle scared Aaron a lot. He hid far away and was almost swallowed up by the terrible aftermath.
For many days after that, Aaron had nightmares. The scene in his dreams was that he was back on the mountain battlefield, running madly through the woods, with the waterfall of destruction approaching rapidly behind him. He was filled with fear and despair...
Sometimes he woke up from a dream in a cold sweat. He secretly swore in his heart that he would never step into such a terrifying and dangerous situation again in his life and stay away from these crises. However, at this moment, Aaron was actually actively contacting the source of danger that day. He was quite enthusiastic and shamelessly stuck to it, and the source of danger could not be driven away.
I can only say that things in this world are unpredictable, and the less you think about something, the more it will happen.
But Aaron didn't know that Kaxiu was the instigator that day, and he was kept in the dark. This kind of ignorance is actually quite good.
"Rumble, rumble..." The two carriages moved forward and soon arrived at the gate.
On the moving rail, the dark green curtain was lifted aside.
A large hand with distinct joints held a black invitation with gold foil on it and placed it on the edge of the window. The old butler standing by was stunned and immediately bowed respectfully. He did not take the invitation but made a gesture to invite the guests inside and stepped forward to lead the way for the black carriage.
The invitations of the Duke of Augustus's family were divided into different grades. Ordinary nobles had white invitations, and the royal family had golden lines on them. The most precious were the gold-plated black invitations, which were specially prepared for the dark hunter-level strongmen in the extraordinary world. When the other party came, there was no need to check the content of the invitation or verify their identity. Just show the color of the invitation, and the manor steward would personally lead the way and provide special services respectfully.
Ta-ta-ta... Aaron's carriage also stopped.
He showed his black invitation with gold foil, and the old housekeeper was embarrassed. However, Aaron was very familiar with the manor of Duke Augustus, so he waved his hand and said that he knew where the parking lot was.
Immediately, the old butler led the way with vigorous and powerful steps.
Two carriages followed slowly behind, their wheels rolling.
Kaxiu folded his arms across his chest, looking at the scenery outside the window with an indifferent look. Even if he did nothing, he exuded a sense of dominance. It made people think of his majesty and fear.
On the wide road ahead, Sosnion's quarrel had ceased.
Swish…
The black carriage passed by the two people's vehicles. Soth's heart was filled with uncontrollable anger. He felt humiliated and disappointed. And now the person who made him so miserable was right next to him, enjoying the treatment of a VIP. How could Soth not be angry? He couldn't even care about Nian.
He turned his head suddenly, his bloodshot eyes full of hatred, staring fiercely at Kaxiu's cold face. The slightly twisted expression seemed to want to eat someone. However, when Soth's eyes met Kaxiu's, his sight was devoured by the deep blue eyes. There seemed to be a black vortex in the other's eyes, deep, scary, mysterious, and hiding a monster.
Once the monster rushed out, unimaginable horror would descend. Soth shuddered suddenly, and his boiling anger seemed to be poured with a basin of ice water. He lowered his eyes, not daring to look Kaxiu in the eye. His Adam's apple moved, and he swallowed his saliva, a deep fear invading his bones.
"What's wrong? Why don't you dare look up at me?"
"I really like the look in your eyes just now. It's as if there is an angry lion hidden in it. Poor, cowardly, trembling lion cub..."
"Your mental state is not normal. If you have time, you can come to my treatment center. There is a place called Wild Beast's Nest. An interrogation team called Jitou Si has just arrived. You will like it..."
Next to the car window, Kaxiu said something sinister with an expressionless face. His tone was so normal, but the content was so creepy that it made people shudder.
"Go sit in the Wild Beast's Lair in the treatment center." Wouldn't that mean being arrested and imprisoned by the violent doctors in the treatment center as a mentally ill wild animal patient? No one wants to go to that kind of place, no one!