Ten years ago, during the hunting game, Sito’s town had been wiped clean.
His family had died with it.
Only he survived by luck.
That hatred, that pain, had never left him for a single day. Sito had originally planned to gather enough strength first, then take revenge with his own hands. Unfortunately, before he could build anything strong enough, the Saliver family set its sights on the News Gazette.
If he lost the News Gazette, he lost everything.
And he did not believe for a second that the Saliver family would spare his life after taking it.
He had no choice but to strike back.
Even if he had not met Caelum, Sito had already been ready to risk everything. The Saliver family had forced him to the edge. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"Sir, I beg you. Help me."
Caelum listened to Sito’s thoughts with Observation Haki and found that the man was telling the truth.
Only, compared with vengeance for his family, what Sito cared about more was the News Gazette.
Caelum did not mind.
In fact, he did not even bother asking what position the person Sito wanted dead held within the Saliver family.
"How about this."
Caelum said something casual enough to leave Sito frozen where he stood.
"They are all trash anyway. I might as well clean them all out. I will kill every member of the Saliver family. Not one left."
Sito went blank.
Then the meaning sank in, and a chill crawled up his spine. His face changed at once.
He only wanted to get rid of the Saliver family’s core figure. That would let him take revenge and buy time to move his business elsewhere.
He was not trying to make an enemy of the entire Empire.
"If you really do that, the high nobles of the Empire will be furious. This would mean standing against the entire Empire!"
Caelum considered himself a professional when it came to destroying worlds, but he had never taken pleasure in slaughtering or torturing others.
What the Saliver family had done reminded him of Fenrir.
Twisted. Cruel. Arrogant. Violent.
In Caelum’s eyes, the Saliver family was a pack of filth.
Second only to Fenrir.
"That is my business. It has nothing to do with you."
"I accept the deal. I will kill that man for you. You can treat the rest as a bonus."
"Sir, this really will cause a major disaster!"
Caelum ignored him and left Sito’s manor on his own.
Sito watched him walk farther and farther away, cold sweat pouring down his back.
His pupils trembled. His whole body began to shake.
It seemed...
Things had spun completely out of control.
"Quick!"
Sito hurriedly ordered his servants to move his assets.
"Before this reaches the upper ranks of the Empire, transfer all my wealth and businesses away!"
He swore this was absolutely not the situation he had wanted.
The Saliver family’s manor stood 20 km outside News Town.
With Caelum’s speed, that distance took only a few minutes.
A few minutes later, Caelum appeared outside the Saliver estate.
Under Observation Haki, every life within the manor entered his perception.
"Four hundred and fifty eight people."
Most of them were servants and guards.
There seemed to be only thirty two actual members of the Saliver family.
Apparently, they were not some especially great noble house.
"Who are you?"
"Outsiders are forbidden here!"
Two guards noticed Caelum and had just begun to warn him when Cloudrend left its sheath.
One stroke took both their heads.
Blood sprayed out, and the hounds inside the estate began barking wildly. The noise immediately drew the attention of the other guards, who rushed toward the disturbance.
"What happened?"
A massive slash answered them.
The violent arc tore through everything in its path. Ornate buildings collapsed in an instant. The guards who had rushed over were swallowed by the slash and died before they could cry out.
A deafening roar shook the sky.
The towering slash split the entire estate in two in the blink of an eye, frightening the nobles inside until their souls nearly fled their bodies.
"Enemy attack!"
That slash was meant to teach the nobles above all others what fear tasted like.
It was also the announcement that the Saliver family’s destruction had entered its final count.
Caelum walked into the estate with his blade in hand, calm as though strolling through a garden.
The guards who arrived had already had their courage shattered by the previous slash.
Whether they hesitated or chose to attack no longer mattered.
Caelum gave them no time to think.
Blade light flashed too fast to follow.
Dozens of guards were cut down in an instant. Their hard armor was no sturdier than paper before Caelum.
Blood fell like rain, staining the noble estate red.
Inside the mansion, a member of the Saliver family stood by a window and saw everything with his own eyes.
The color drained from his face.
Then came something even more terrifying.
Caelum looked toward him.
The instant their gazes met, every hair on the man’s body stood up.
"Sa..."
A flying slash swept past.
The Saliver family member was cut neatly in half.
By now, the entire Saliver family had fallen into chaos.
The earlier slash had split the main mansion in two, and the front entrance had been completely destroyed. Caelum stepped inside as if entering an empty hall, listening to the breath of life around him.
A god of death collecting what was due.
Rapid footsteps rang through the corridor.
An afterimage as fast as lightning attacked Caelum.
With a loud roar, the air twisted sharply, then formed a powerful shock wave.
Caelum stood at ease, steady as stone in a raging current.
He moved his blade and cut the shock wave apart, then brought Cloudrend across his body in the same instant.
A clear impact rang out.
A fist wrapped in Armament Haki struck the blade and was stopped by Caelum.
Caelum gave the attacker a brief nod of recognition.
"Not bad. A bloodline inheritor, and proficient in Armament Haki too. I thought the Saliver family only had third rate goods."
The attacker was an old man in butler’s clothing.
His face was grim as he questioned Caelum.
"Boy, do you know what you are doing?"
"Nothing but nonsense."
Caelum turned his blade and slashed at the butler.
The butler gave a cold snort. He was actually confident enough to block Caelum’s blade with his fist.
Only when the edge landed on his fist did his face change sharply.
Too late.
Caelum cut off the butler’s arm, then cut through the rest of him as well.
A look of shock still hung on the butler’s face when he died.
Frogs at the bottom of a well always believed Armament Haki was indestructible.
That was only because they had never met someone strong enough to break it.
In a clash of Armament Haki, what mattered was whose Haki held greater quality.
In this world, no one could break through Caelum’s Armament Haki defense.
Likewise, no one’s Armament Haki could withstand Caelum’s slash.
Caelum turned his gaze aside.
It seemed to pierce through layer after layer of walls, reaching dozens of meters away.
More than ten presences had gathered together and were rapidly fleeing the estate.
"75 meters away. Eighteen people."
Amid that murmur, Caelum swung his blade and released a slash.