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The opened wound was a gruesome sight for which there was scarcely any cure. At least not any in hand. Especially since the Larnak Vault that used to hold their most extensive potion reserves had been robbed.

And yet, when Herbert struggled to breathe, it had a lot more to do with his wife. His expression was of pain but not a physical one... Rather an emotional one. He wished, nay, craved understanding.

To know why she spoke such callous words- Why she sabotaged him when he was already at his weakest...

"W-w-why..." He struggled to let out in agony.

Yvette said nothing in response. She had already told him why. There was no need to point out in clear words that his refusal to sate her desires had started her down the path where she fell into the arms of a young lover whose manipulations opened her eyes.

Instead of saying all that, Yvette allowed herself a smile only her husband could see and when he saw it, Herbert\'s heart sank but it fell even deeper into an abyss when she chuckled darkly into his ear and dealt him the final verbal blow,

"Go on now, you won\'t be missed."

-

Yvette\'s thunderous yell had called for an instant ceasefire.

The Larnak Knights who had poured into the Estate ignored the enemies they were running from. The tragedy in the yell they heard superseded everything else. Slowly, as one, their eyes turned in unison towards the origin of the yell. There they saw their Lord slumped to the ground with a grievous wound across his chest.

Their weapon-wielding arms slumped as they took steps toward that part of the courtyard before falling to their knees in despair.

The Larnak Relatives and the Larnak Captains, all battered and bruised despite their intact numbers, stepped out of the hole in the wall staring at Lord Stygian\'s dominant attacking stance with his sword held tight at the end of a slashing move. The large blade dripped with blood... Blood they all knew belonged to their Lord.

"Herbert-" said a Larnak Man as though in disbelief that Herbert could ever lose.

They had watched Herbert\'s rise. They had watched him grow swiftly and steadily to assert his right to be \'Lord\' so they knew, for all his impulsive decisions and stubbornness, he was capable.

If Lord Averill Stygian could hear their thoughts, he would have agreed. Only he, besides the dying Herbert, knew what role Yvette had played in the Larnak Lord\'s fate. He wondered if Yvette\'s action had been in error or as a result of some strange internal politics that turned wife against her husband.

The Larnak Captains outside the Estate grounds forgone their battles with Renan Captains or Soul-hungry Evian Stygian as they rushed into the Estate to behold the scene of despair. They joined their colleagues on their knees and watched as their Lord raised his hand to his wife\'s face, gripping her cheeks so hard, he puckered her lips,

"Y-Yvette..." he muttered.

"Shhhh," Yvette said with a finger on his lips pressing hard to stop him from saying anything else,

"Don\'t speak anymore... Save your strength."

Now that the attention of every Larnak Knight and Relative was on her, the Lady of the Estare shifted her tone from condescending to concerning and having no idea of her insidious intentions and malicious hand in the current state of their Lord, her false grief resonated with the Larnak Relatives, the Captains and a few of the Elite and Second Order Knights.

As for the majority of the Elite and Second Order Knights, despite their somber outer expressions, they rejoiced internally that they would not share the fate of their dead colleagues. They rejoiced that their enemies had the courtesy to finally let them rest.

"Is this- Is this the end?" One Elite Knight whispered to his Comrade but before he could answer, if he had any answers to give, footsteps stamped into the grounds, heard especially loudly in the dead-pan silence all over.

The Crew of Gillert, Carleine, Ember, and Gryon pushed past kneeling Knights to step within two feet of Herbert\'s injured body in his wife\'s arms.

Lord Stygian glared at the bunch of them. Children- That\'s how he saw them and along with his Son, they had sparked a fairly aggressive war.

He looked from their faces to Evian\'s as he arrived shortly after,

"Father," Evian called gently as Lord Stygian\'s stance relaxed. The more seconds ticked by, the more he was assured the Larnak Lord would not shrug off his deadly attack and wield his weapon in retaliation.

"Son," Lord Stygian greeted with a jerk of his head before gesturing with his eyes at Herbert\'s body in a non-verbal question; \'This is what you wanted?\'

Evian responded with a nod that affirmed his wishes before his eyes fell back on Yvette who kept Herbert silent with a finger and nursed him with empty words that only pained the dying Lord all the more.

\'What happens if I stab him right now?\' Evian asked his Decadent Assistant as his hand twitched with the urge to retrieve his Spear from his Spatial ring and deliver an ironic blow.

Killing the Larnak Lord with his own ceremonial weapon.

[You won\'t get his Soul if that\'s what you\'re asking.]

\'Why not?\'

[He\'s dying.]

\'I know, but he\'s not yet dead.\'

Evian pictured a mental shrug to go along with the words he next heard,

[He might as well be. His injuries are grave and sans a miracle, it\'s surely the end for him. Stabbing him now is like stabbing a Corpse. Pointless- Because you can\'t re-kill someone who is already dead.

Think back to every kill you\'ve ever poached and if you are even the slightest bit intelligent, you should be able to decipher for yourself why this situation is starkly different.]

Evian frowned.

The potential insult to his intelligence aside, he saw reason in the Assistant\'s words. Actually, he had guessed as much himself, and that was why he even bothered to ask when he could have just stabbed Herbert and confirmed for himself.

He let out a sigh. Somehow, the \'victory\' was now tainted for him as his mind began swimming with the thoughts of the delicacy that awaited in the soul of the Sixth Order Knight.

\'I wonder how many points that would get me,\' he mused. It was rhetorical but of course, his Assistant, ever the busybody, replied,

[100 000 Soul Points.]

\'WHAT?!\'

It took a good deal of self-awareness for Evian to keep his yell in his mind.

Anyway,

With the last bit of strength he had, Herbert squeezed Yvette\'s cheeks one last time, and then, his hand drooped, and fell to the ground with a thud as his body flopped.

His head lolled and his body went cold.

Yvette started the wails and everyone else with ties to the Larnak Estate followed her lead.

In contrast, the Crew couldn\'t hide their smiles and neither did they try.

A year-long journey was finally over.

The tyrant was felled.

Whatever came next, they could all rejoice that they had avenged their Friend, Savant Viyeen Doglar, and seen the movement he started, to the end.

Ember looked to the side at Evian and the others followed her lead when she gave her gratitude with words but of course, in light of the intimacy they had shared, the Redhead felt words were not enough so she threw herself at Evian, pressing her lips against his with her arms around his neck pulling him close.

Evian reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her waist and without any care for the mourning mood that permeated the Estate grounds, he gave into the kiss even more than he received.

In actuality, Ember had initiated the kiss in a moment of joy that she wished to share with Evian with a much more affirming action. She had not planned for the kiss to go too far or get too extensive but once Evian\'s tongue entered her mouth, whatever ground rules she was forming in her head were tossed away.

The eyes of every member of the Crew were widened in surprise at a development they had no knowledge of. Gryon\'s large tattoo-enhanced body lessened to his base burly size and with his mouth gaped, it almost looked like his surprise was the reason he was deflated.

Of all those on the scene quickly becoming uncomfortable, It was Carleine who spoke first,

"I know we all hate the Larnaks but this is a tad inappropriate," she said. Alas, it was as though her words only spurred them on even more and the longer it went on, the more her mocking smile shifted into just the slightest, noticeable bit of envy,

"Really inappropriate," she muttered before clearing her throat and looking away.

Lord Stygian shared the surprise of the Crew, except, his surprise hinged on the fact that he had obscure -fairly- accurate knowledge that Evian had relations with Daria.

He looked around and found her easily with the bulk of people in the Estate on their knees.

The Witch had a slight smile on her lips as she observed the kissing duo. When the two refused to stop, she chuckled with no ill will,

"Cute."

-End Of Volume One-

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