727 Consequences [1]
The Vice-head of the Xander family, Kadh Xander was in a terrible mood this week.
The initial hunt was going well. The Xanders, heading the Earth hunting teams were slowly pushing back the abyssals.
Bit by bit, they were filling the gap Evander's absence created. Sooner or later, the abyssals would lose their edge and the status quo would be restored.
'As the one directing the hunting teams, I'll get a lot of credit.' Kadh imagined his fame skyrocketing and couldn't stop smiling that day.
Then, it started.
Caleb was the first to fall.
Kadh thought it was bad luck. Even geniuses met their demise on the battlefield.
But.
Nolan was quick to join his dead brother.
Easton joined the duo soon after.
Kadh panicked and thought of calling them back.
'It's a bit shameful, but saving their lives is more important.'
He decided to wait and watch for one day before making the call.
Nothing happened. Even on the second day, there were no casualties.
Slowly, he let go of his worries.
Perhaps it was just an acciden—
On a single day, Austin and Declan were killed.
Kadh broke every piece in his office and with bloodshot eyes, went to the battlefield himself.
He fought the archduke and cursed.
"You are sending level 8s to assassinate my family geniuses! You'll face my wrath."
The archduke, of course, denied. He even bragged.
"It's my prince who's killing your trashes! They're dying because they're too weak."
After mutually injuring each other to a high degree, Kadh returned.
Things calmed down. No more Xanders died.
Kadh, however, was worried.
So, he grouped the top three Xanders into a group regardless of their opposition.
Things went smoothly for a while before a piece of news struck him like a thunderbolt.
"H-How are they killed?" Kadh couldn't believe it.
Kai, Axel, and Joshua died just like that?
Yes, they killed the top abyssal geniuses and the commanders and bridged the gap more or less.
But…
"Did they really die?" Kadh clenched his fist.
His heart grew heavy as he imagined the consequences. These level 7s were the future pillars of the Xander family.
While there'd be no problems for now, in the near future, the Xanders would crumble.
"J-Joshua's corpse isn't found?" Kadh's eyes lit up and his lips curled into a desperate smile.
Slamming his comm, he yelled. "Find him! Search the entire purple sky! Save him at any cost!"
Thankfully, they found Joshua a few hours later on an asteroid far away!
"I should meet him in person and ask about his report…" When he was about to step into the spaceship, his comm rang.
Ting!
Hearing the ominous sound, Kadh's face paled and his teeth chattered. He dearly wished the news was anything other than death.
'I'd rather have my wife cheat on me than someone die…'
That was how desperate he was.
But the result was:
[Twenty-six Xanders died! Including Nak Xander who was recently promoted to level 8 and his level 9 trainer.]
"W-Whaaaaat?!" Kadh held the railings on the staircase of a spaceship to prevent himself from falling.
But even then, his legs grew weak and he plopped on the stairs.
"I…"
His eyes were hollow and gazed at the sky in a daze.
How?
Twenty-six Xanders were assassinated!
"Is this just a bad dream? A nightmare?" Kadh wanted to deny reality, but having lived a long life, he experienced a lot of things.
So, after hitting the rock bottom, he calmed down.
"That new prince was rising quickly among abyssals. According to Joshua, the new prince was the biggest genius he ever faced. So, are the assassinations after that abyss prince's death retaliations?"
He still wasn't sure how they did it.
Was it a special treasure? Was it through spies?
But he didn't need to know.
"Since they dared to do it, then I'll let them pay the price," Kadh said in a cold voice and boarded the spaceship.
Instead of going to the hospital where Joshua was resting at, he went to the planetoids.
He didn't shake in anger anymore.
But the cold rage in his eyes promised death and destruction.
An hour later, he landed on the planetoid with an archduke.
His shift was supposed to be after two days since he still hadn't recovered from his injuries. But Kadh didn't care.
"Come out, you bastard!"
His roar dispersed the clouds and like a meteor crashing, he shot towards the main abyss base.
In response to the aura, an abyssal at the peak of level 9 shot up from the base and clashed with him in midair.
A huge shockwave swept the land for hundreds of miles. The ground caved in and every living being below level 6 in the surrounding fifty miles died on the spot.
"Isn't he injured? Why did he come?" The archduke didn't understand. But he already banged the emergency button and call archduke Mendis for the support!
Because now—
"Kadh? The fuck are you here!" The commander of the planetoid yelled as he stood beside Kadh and prepared himself for a fight.
Even though the two of them were here, killing the archduke was hard. And the commander was sure that Mendis was already on the way.
If four peak level 9s fought, they'd be wrecking the planetoid.
Heck, it's the case even for two level 9s. So, they'd usually go to space to fight but…
"Launch a full-scale war!" Kadh spoke as he exchanged punches with the archduke.
The commander joined in the offense as he said. "Your shift is yet to come and the loss for a full-scale wa—"
The air exploded far away and the command recognized it as awakeners moving beyond sound speed.
They descended from the spaceships that kept coming. All these spaceships had one thing in common.
They belonged to the Xanders.
"You leave me with no choice!" The commander gritted his teeth as he glared at Kadh and kicked the archduke.
The archduke raised his arms and blocked the kick but was unable to stop the punch from Kadh and crashed to the ground.
Kadh laughed and dashed toward the huge crater which had the archduke at its center.
The Xander reinforcements were all soldiers who were to rejoin their duty after a few days.
He called them in advance.
As for why…
"The green blood of these pests will wash the ground today!" Kadh roared as he punched the archduke into the clouds.
The commander gave the order.
"Attack!"
Along with this planetoid, Xander reinforcements joined several planetoids and began an intense conflict.
