Drennos was torn. A clicking sound filled the carriage as his nails rhythmically tapped the wooden wall.
He was in deep thought.
Killing a Bloom… would only birth a calamity. Entire cities would be reduced to rubble if things went wrong.
"An annoying problem," Drennos muttered.
The crisis of the dome made a lot of things difficult for the people. While the majority of people lived under constant fear that anyone could turn into a darkness creature at any moment and devour them…
The wrong person could die, and millions of lives would be erased. Cities reduced to nothing.
However, to Drennos, it was particularly annoying for a certain reason. He couldn't easily take care of threats the way he normally would.
There was a reason the veins were so well guarded, and hardly any assassination attempts were made on pulses.
The former had little to no consequences, while the latter had devastating ones.
The pulses were Blooms. And unless a person was ready to carry the weight of the millions that would be killed in the wake of their deaths, they were more often than not… left alone.
The veins were node formation evolvers. At best, only a grade two darkness creature would spawn from their death, a threat easily extinguished.
Veins always lived to become Blooms. Their blood simply did not allow them to be less. This was why the perfect time to take care of competition was when they were still young and weak, veins.
It saved the future hassle of dealing with a Bloom later on.
This was the exact reason Drennos found the current situation annoying. With Malakai now evolved and growing at a rapid pace, the best time to take care of him was now.
'That captain and Red Eclipse…'
Two Blooms were on his side. He had to tread carefully.
"What city and district?"
"Sylvastein, First Pulse. Outer parts of the Kaer Thorne district. The captain's squad oversees requests from the Murkroot Hollow."
It was located in the western parts of the West, far from the South, where his city, Ironhold, was.
"Yes, First Pulse." Nia bowed, awaiting his orders.
"Make contact with whoever you can. I want to know everything about the captain and his squad."
"As you wish, First Pulse."
As Nia answered, Drennos fell back into his thoughts, allowing the parting air outside to guide them.
'I need to take care of him before he grows any more.'
The entire room trembled once more as the Third Pulse, Varnel, shattered another piece of furniture.
"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS! YOU ONLY HAD ONE FUCKING JOB!"
At this point, the large and once luxurious room had been reduced to a scattered pile of rubble. Books were on the ground, shelves shattered.
The king sized bed had been flung to the side, its frame broken. Cracks spread along the walls, with more forming by the second.
The room was unable to hold the Third Pulse's rage.
But Varnel wasn't alone.
The sounds of whimpering echoed as he rampaged across the room.
Just before the door, three figures knelt.
In the middle was Khana. Her body bruised and battered.
Her figure trembled as though the air was freezing. Her ornate fan was clutched tightly in her arms as she fought the overwhelming pain ravaging her body.
Varnel had struck again and again, yet this time, there wasn't a single tear in her eyes.
Right now, in this moment, she wasn't just a wife whose husband loved to correct.
To her left knelt Julius. His face was filled with nothing but dread as Varnel destroyed the room in rage.
As soon as the selections were over, Varnel had maintained his textbook smile and led them into this room.
As soon as he got in, he went after Khana first, beating her to a pulp.
Julius had watched the father he revered beat his mother as though she were nothing but a thing.
However, this wasn't what gripped him the most.
It was what Khana had said during her beatings:
"Pl-please Varnel, spare them. They're just children."
Varnel had raged. The beatings intensified.
Khana had been beaten to the extent that she could barely move, yet she still crawled toward them and knelt with them in silence as Varnel continued his rampage.
Julius hadn't always hated Khana.
During his childhood, they had been close, even to the extent that he was often called a mama's boy.
However, his desire for his father's affection and recognition had driven him to want to become just like him, a proud man, loved by all, who disdained the idea of associating with the weak.
Despite marrying one.
When he found out about Khana's origins, he had seen it as a chance to prove to Varnel that he too was just like him, and had flipped, hating her.
But right now… despite all the things he had said… all the things he had done…
She still pled on his behalf. She still bled on his behalf.
Julius couldn't understand the emotions that overwhelmed him. But it was not good.
Suddenly, a cold chill washed over him. He raised his head… Varnel was staring right at him.
"N-no, no…" Julius shivered, tears falling freely from his face.
But it fell on deaf ears. Varnel stormed forward, his voice booming.
"You worthless idiot! I laid out everything for you! And you couldn't even manage to defeat that trash!"
Julius recoiled, mouth trembling. "F-father p-please, i-if you can just give me a-another chanc—"
"Shut the hell up!" Varnel's gaze bore down on him, heavy.
"You're no son of mine."
Julius lowered his gaze as Varnel raised his arm and brought it down in one swift motion.
'I-I can't feel anything…'
Julius peered his eyes open. He had expected a devastating blow, but nothing came.
Still, he had heard the sound…
His eyes caught sight of a blood splatter at the side, but it wasn't his.