******
At this moment, every single demon in the village square stood paralyzed, ensnared in shock and disbelief.
Whether it was the villagers, the guards, or members of Lilith’s secret organization — even Xylen himself... they all gawked as though their very minds had ruptured.
This is most especially the villagers... their eyes stretched wide, their jaws unhinged, and their faces drained of all color as if they had just witnessed the wakening of a long-buried corpse.
They remained rooted in place, staring at Xylen, who should still be lying in a coma.
Xylen, on the other hand, sat in a daze, his chest rising and falling like a war drum, his fingers slightly trembling around the Rusthorn Blade.
He stared at Kaelrik, his pulse thundering in his ears, drowning out everything else.
With this, time slowly crept forward, stretching thin as silence wrapped around the village like a suffocating blanket. Even the wind itself seemed to freeze as if it was also afraid of the approaching storm.
Then, finally, the tension snapped like a brittle thread.
"This...!" a villager rasped, his voice weak but enough to set off a wave of frantic whispers.
"He... he woke up?"
"When? How?"
"Did he just try to assassin Kaelrik?"
The whispers spread like wildfire among the villagers, shattering the eerie quiet as if breaking glass.
But no one really noticed.
They were simply too shocked and too overwhelmed beyond measure, completely unprepared for what they had just witnessed.
Their young Baron, who had been in a coma for almost eighteen years, had woken up at the very moment his head was about to be chopped off his neck... and immediately tried to kill his uncle — the ruthless lord who had wanted him dead for his title.
Their shock knew no bounds.
But then...
"Surround him!"
One of Kaelrik’s elite guards suddenly barked the order with an icy authority, his voice booming through the square and slicing it like a blade, snapping the villagers out of their trance.
The guards instantly jumped into action, shouting war cries as they rushed forward, their eyes burning with killing intent.
Without a second thought or hesitation, they encircled Xylen in a deadly formation, their weapons raised and ready to strike.
Seeing this unfold, the villagers frantically scattered, their hearts hammering in their chests as they scrambled to get away from the impending bloodshed. Only after reaching a safe distance did they stop, trembling as they watched in fear.
Meanwhile, Lilith sat frozen, watching in a daze as everything unfolded, unable to react for a moment before finally...
’No!’
A sudden, violent shiver ran down her spine, her complexion turning deathly pale.
Her body shook, her teeth chattering as fear tightened its grip on her.
’How?’
This thought pounded in her chest like a thunderclap, her mind refusing to accept what had just occurred.
Just a moment ago, relief had flooded her, believing that her initial fears were unfounded and grateful that she had stuck to the plan—especially after seeing Xylen’s sneak attack successfully landing on Kaelrik.
She had been moments away from initiating the third phase of the plan, convinced that Kaelrik would be grievously injured and near death—even if he somehow survived the stab. Yet...
The attack had failed.
This realization struck her like a sledgehammer after what felt like an eternity, and with this, her body went limp, drained of all strength.
They had known right from the very beginning that they could not afford to fail with this plan, that even the slightest mistake would spell disaster and destroy everything.
And now, death was staring them in the face.
On the other hand, there was Xylen.
As much as he refused to accept what had just happened—not wanting to believe that his sneak attack had failed, the truth was already before him.
’Why?’ This thought finally surfaced in his mind after he had sat in a daze for what felt like an eternity, breaking through the shock.
The plan should have worked.
It had come dangerously so close to succeeding, and for this reason, Xylen had felt a surge of excitement and relief, convinced that he was going to complete the damn mission, leave this village behind, and head to where the real action was.
Yet...
He swallowed hard, and just then...
Thump!
A sudden, loud sound rang out, badly jolting Xylen, Lilith, and the members of her organization back to their senses.
They quickly turned their heads, and in the next second, their heart skipped a beat.
The sound was Kaelrik’s footstep as he walked toward Xylen.
Right now, Kaelrik had an amused look on his face, gazing down at Xylen like he was a curious little toy.
Xylen gripped the Rusthorn Blade in his hand tightly, his mind racing, and then...
"Looking at you suddenly reminds me of my foolish elder brother," Kaelrik, stopping, suddenly said, a cold, twisted smirk playing at the corner of his lips. Jj
"He was very brave... never afraid of anything," he continued, but then, the smirk on his face vanished. A cold, deadly light flashed in his eyes.
"Tell me... where did you learn to be so calculating?" he asked, his voice low and icy, brimming with killing intent. "If I recall correctly, my brother was never this clever. And you couldn’t have woken up that long ago. I sent someone to check on you just a few days ago. So how did a child, who has been in a coma since he was two, suddenly grow such a sharp, cunning mind?"
Kaelrik’s voice echoed through the square, cold, dark, and heavy.
For a moment, everything went pin-drop, absolutely silent.
No one even dared to breathe. Everyone forgot to breathe, their gazes darting between Xylen and Kaelrik.
Then—
"You’ve been in a coma since you were two years old... so how and when did you become this well-versed in the act of deceit you pulled off? You actually almost fooled me."
Xylen, "..."
Lilith, "..."
The two, hearing the final part of Kaelrik’s words, suddenly froze, then slowly turned to look at each other.
They had already guessed that Kaelrik, knowing about the attack, wasn’t just luck. But hearing him say he was almost fooled... wasn’t that practically admitting he had been waiting for them to act all along?
Xylen’s heart skipped a beat, and then after a second, he turned back to Kaelrik.
"Does that mean...?" he finally muttered, staring up at the towering demon whose aura alone felt like a death sentence.
"You already knew?" he asked.
The second Xylen finished asking this question, the square went dead silent, all eyes locking on Kaelrik.
But no one was more terrified than Lilith, her group, and the two demon officers standing at the front of the low-level guards.
Right now, their hands were sweaty, their bodies tense beyond words.
Kaelrik didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he calmly folded his arms against his chest, letting the silence stretch out and suffocate everyone. Then finally...
"Varek," he called calmly, making a simple gesture, pointing in a particular direction.
Everyone looked, confused, until —
"My lord," a respectful, fanatic voice called out, and a demon guard stepped forward, bowing deeply to Kaelrik.
Everyone turned to look at the guard, but their faces stayed blank.
Except for Xylen and Lilith.
The moment they saw the guard’s face, their hearts skipped a beat, and their eyes went wide with horror.
It was the same guard who had almost discovered Xylen the previous night — the one who had led the team that had captured them moments ago.
For a long, tense, and agonizing moment, the two were too stunned to react.
But then, as if sharing the same thought, they exchanged bitter, self-mocking glances.
They had thought themselves hunters... but they had been the prey all along.