Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

If your memory isn't like that of a fish, then you must remember that Kaden had applied Soulbrand on every drop of blood he spilled on the ground.

And you know how Soulbrand works.

It can be used to mark someone, to track their location, to subtly influence their behavior and ,if necessary, to hurt their very soul.

That's exactly what Kaden did.

By marking his blood with Soulbrand, he not only ensured it could bypass the body and reach the soul directly, but also used it to trace and brand whoever the blood touched.

That's why, when Selene came into his perception range, he sensed her instantly and now, it was time to settle some scores.

Kaden lowered his presence until even the shadows couldn't sense him, hidden perfectly within the corner of a house, motionless and dead to the world, his blood stilled and breath silent, waiting like a seasoned predator for his prey to come to him.

And when Selene passed right in front of him…

His hand moved like a bloodied serpent, fast and precise, shooting out to clamp around her face, muffling her mouth while yanking her into the shadows with him.

"Ssshhhh," he whispered coldly into her ear, his hand pressed so hard against her mouth it looked like he wanted to fuse it with her skull.

Selene's eyes went wide in panic, her body instinctively trying to resist but it was useless. She lashed out with her mind attack, but it was like trying to strike down a fortress with a feather.

Her physical strength was pitiful compared to his, and her mental attacks, only at master rank, were little more than tickles to someone with a transcendent Will.

She was beginning to panic, beginning to realize she was truly powerless and when she started to thrash and scream through his grip…

"Mmmhhhmm—!"

Kaden didn't even flinch.

While holding her tightly, he immediately scanned her for anything dangerous.

A slave ring. A few Cerveau artifacts.

He didn't hesitate. He called upon his Flame, not to destroy them just to make them malfunction enough to go unnoticed. That way, no alarms would be triggered. No alerts. No sudden backup.

Once it was done, he vanished again, slipping away from the shadows as easily as he entered with Selene in his hand.

He returned to his home with the same undetectable ease, and descended immediately into the basement—the one meant for prisoners—and once there, he tossed her down, locked the reinforced door, and shackled her with mana-void chains designed to nullify every drop of mana and Origin resonance.

The basement was soundproof. No one would hear anything, no matter how loud she screamed.

Kaden sat calmly on a chair in front of her, looking at her, watching her face as she finally registered what had happened.

She looked at him, eyes wide with disbelief, her lips trembling slightly.

A Warborn… had kidnapped her?

She couldn't believe it. Since when did these brutes turn to tactics like this?

'Am I dreaming?'

"You're not dreaming," Kaden said flatly, his voice cold and calm as his eyes met hers.

"Do you know what you're doing? Do you think my family won't notice?" she snapped, her voice laced with defiance but there was a slight tremble behind it.

Kaden didn't answer.

He stood up, stepped toward her, crouched down.

And for a second, he paused, his mind flashing over something strange.

'I don't even know why I'm trying to talk.'

There was nothing to say.

There was no argument, no threat, no appeal that mattered anymore.

He just needed to do one thing…

Break her mind.

And so, slowly, without any more words, he raised his finger and placed it gently against her forehead.

Selene's entire body locked up, her pupils shrinking in raw, primal dread but before she could move, before she could scream again…

"Corrosive Blood + Soulbrand."

The words left his lips like a curse.

And then,

"ARGHHHHHHHH!!!"

A horrific sound tore through the basement as Selene dropped to the ground, thrashing violently, rolling across the stone floor, her back arching unnaturally as she tried desperately to escape the pain.

Black veins spread like a map of torment through her entire body, her blood corroding from the inside, her organs dissolving, her intestines boiling, her very brain and soul melting under the assault of that burning, crawling blood.

The agony was so immense, so total, that she began to slam her head against the ground over and over just to feel anything else, any distraction from the hell ravaging her from within.

Kaden said nothing. His face didn't move.

This wasn't Kaden the brother.

Not the motivational speaker.

Not the sweet master of Rory and Reditha.

This was Kaden Warborn—the Envoy of Death.

And he watched her with a quiet, unfeeling stare.

After thirty minutes of hell, he finally stopped the blood and threw a bottle of unique-ranked health potion toward her.

She healed quickly.

Too quickly.

She slowly looked up at him, broken and bloodied, her blue robe torn and filthy, sweat sticking her hair to her cheeks.

"W-what…?" she whispered, unable to process why he healed her.

But Kaden just spoke again, his voice flat—

"Second round."

And this time, he used his Flame of Blood with Soulbrand.

And oh, the scream that followed…it wasn't even human anymore.

This flame didn't burn skin.

It burned blood.

It evaporated every liquid inside her body…her water, her lymph, her intracellular fluids and more.

Her nerves were torched one by one, and her cells exploded from the inside out like fragile balloons.

She was numb and yet in pain.

Detached and yet shattered.

And just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore—she felt something else.

"W-what…? No… NO!"

She shrieked like a banshee as she sensed the impossible…her very bloodline was being burned.

Her power, her Origin was tied to her bloodline.

And now, she was losing it.

"NO! NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHO ARE YOU? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

Her eyes bled red, tears of pain and disbelief as she looked at Kaden like he was an abomination, something that shouldn't exist in any world.

But Kaden only smiled.

And it wasn't joy.

It wasn't even satisfaction.

It was an empty smile, a voided grin, like the sea itself swallowing everything with no rage or passion—just inevitability.

"Who am I, huh?" Kaden whispered as he stepped forward, slowly, letting each step echo with purpose.

"I'm many things. I'm the youngest Warborn."

Step.

"I am the Child of Blood."

Another step.

"I am the Crimson Sword."

And again.

"I am the one walking toward Transcendence."

And finally…

"I am the Envoy of Death."

Kaden now stood just an inch from her, his eyes—two blood-stained oceans—boring into her very soul.

"But right now… I am none of those."

He leaned in.

And he smiled again but wider.

Oh, what a smile.

It made Selene's eyes stretch wide in terror, her red tears falling faster, her body trembling uncontrollably as she tried to crawl away, tried to shrink herself, tried to vanish.

"Right now…"

"…I'm just a vengeful little brother, my dear."

—End of Chapter 123—