The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 383: A Warning

Rip!

The others watched as Aldrian cruelly tore Parus’s jaw apart with his bare hands and threw it to Alexi. Seeing his father’s severed jaw in front of him, Alexi wanted to scream in panic, but the spatial lock still rendered him unable to do anything.

"Oaaahghnn!"

As for Parus, he screamed in agony. He wanted to writhe, but he couldn’t move his body except for slight tremors. His tongue dangled freely now that his jaw was gone. Blood flowed from the wound, and tears streamed down his face as he experienced excruciating pain for the first time in thousands of years.

Aldrian walked past him and picked up a napkin from the table behind him. He wiped his hand as if cleaning off something disgusting, then turned his gaze toward the others who had seated at the dining table earlier.

When they saw Aldrian shift his focus to them, they wanted to scream and beg for mercy. Although they were all cultivators with thousands of years of experience, in the face of death’s terror, they couldn’t help but desperately cling to the slightest chance of survival.

As Aldrian walked toward them, a chilling fear gripped their hearts. Unknowingly, tears began to fall from their eyes, and their breathing grew unsteady. One of them felt as if his very soul was about to leave his body when Aldrian suddenly stopped in front of him and locked eyes with him.

Aldrian tilted his head slightly, and in an instant, the spatial lock that had sealed the man’s mouth was released.

"Please, have mercy! Please, have mercy! I only accepted Lord Parus’s invitation to come here, I swear!" He began to plead, but Aldrian ignored him and asked instead,

"Are you from Golden Swan Commerce?"

The man was stunned but quickly answered,

"Yes! Yes, I am from Golden Swan Commerce. I am the branch head of the Golden Swan Commerce in this city. My lord, I can offer you wealth if that is what you desire, and if not, I will do my best to assist you in any way possible."

When Aldrian saw the surname Harris on the man, he immediately thought of the main family that had shaped Golden Swan Commerce, the very family that currently led the organization. He knew that the headquarters of Golden Swan Commerce was located in this empire, but he hadn’t expected their paths to cross again after so many years.

The last news he had heard from Arson Vuran, the leader of the Thunderous Shadow Pavilion, was that Golden Swan Commerce was experiencing internal conflict among three families. Ever since the incident in the Demon Territory, this organization had been in steady decline. The day their suspicious activities with the devils were exposed to the public.

Throughout his journey, he had learned that this commerce was destined to be ostracized. In every place they established a branch, they had a hand in the devils’ infiltration. For example, in the Doria and Vindas Empires, after he helped uncover the devils’ network in their territories, the name Golden Swan Commerce inevitably appeared.

They couldn’t wash their hands of it, nor could they hide it anymore. It had grown too large to be concealed. No matter what damage control they attempted, they would never regain their reputation.

"What is your relationship with that man over there?" Aldrian asked, gesturing toward Parus.

"The Golden Swan Commerce belongs to the same faction as the second prince, and as the branch manager of this city, I am merely an extension of the headquarters’ will."

"So, the Golden Swan Commerce fully supports the second prince? What about the other families within the organization? I heard your commerce has been experiencing internal struggles."

"Yes, our organization faced internal strife at that time—our commerce was nearly split because of it. However, the second prince, who supported my family, the Harris family, gave us his direct backing. With his help, we regained control of the commerce and suppressed the other families."

Aldrian nodded. It seemed that the internal conflict had also been resolved with the second prince’s intervention. However, his impression of the second prince grew even worse. He had already witnessed how members of the prince’s faction treated the innocent people. That alone had left a negative impression, but now, knowing that the Golden Swan Commerce—an organization entangled with the devils—was part of this faction, he had no doubt.

The second prince’s faction was the bad guy.

There was no way someone who willingly worked alongside an organization with ties to the devils could be considered a good person.

Even if the second prince didn’t know about Golden Swan Commerce’s ties to the devils, he must have at least heard the rumors and news of them being ostracized by other empires—and the reasons behind it. There was no way he could just brush that off, especially when it involved the devils.

If the second prince had decided to work with Golden Swan Commerce, then Aldrian could only conclude one thing—either the prince didn’t care whether they had ties to the devils or he himself was involved with them. Aldrian did not dismiss these possibilities.

He then placed his hand on the man’s head. The man panicked the moment he felt Aldrian’s touch.

"Wait, wait! No! If I die here, the main force from headquarters will come after you! You don’t have to do this!"

Aldrian ignored him as he read his memories. The man’s eyes rolled back as Aldrian, without any care, roughly tore through his mind.

After a few moments, he finally released his hand and looked at the man. The contrast between the memories he had just seen and the man now desperately pleading for his life was stark. This man was truly corrupt—someone who abused his authority without hesitation.

He had played a role in the downfall of this city. As one of the branch head of the largest commerce organization in the empire, with countless connections, he had actively supplied intelligence to the second prince’s faction.

Caritas City had once maintained a good relationship with the Golden Swan Commerce before the civil war. After all, it was impossible for city officials to completely avoid dealings with the empire’s most influential commerce organization.

"Your family’s main force will come for me, huh? I’ll be waiting. I already don’t have a good relationship with your family anyway."

"Wait—"

Before he could say another word, Aldrian had already slashed his neck with a finger covered in sword intent. Blood flowed from the wound, and his eyes rolled upward. If not for the spatial lock, his head would have already fallen to the ground. Although the man had not personally done anything detrimental to Aldrian, he felt the need to eliminate this snake.

Aldrian then shifted his gaze to another man and walked toward him.

"Who are you, and what’s your relationship with that guy?" Aldrian asked after he stand in front of him, gesturing toward Parus—the same question he had asked the man he just killed.

"I’m only an envoy from the second prince, here to visit Lord Parus. I came to deliver his reward for taking this city under control," the man answered immediately as soon as Aldrian released the spatial lock on his mouth.

He had initially wanted to threaten Aldrian using the second prince’s name, but after thinking it over, he decided against it. This man had barged in without hesitation, tortured Lord Parus—one of the second prince’s people—and even killed the branch head of the Golden Swan Commerce. There was no way someone like him would be intimidated just by hearing the prince’s status.

This young man clearly didn’t care whether he offended the prince or not.

If he foolishly threw out the prince’s name in an attempt to threaten him, he would be dead before he even had the chance to regret it.

"Oh? You’re an envoy from the prince? That makes things easier," Aldrian said with a smile.

"Tell him this—bring that traitorous Cardinal Carsius to me. Any attempt to hide that traitor will be met with my actions that will be detrimental to him in the course of this civil war. And believe me, he won’t like it. Understood?" Aldrian added.

The envoy frantically nodded. "Yes, yes! I will convey it to him!"

"Good." Aldrian smiled. "What happened in this city is my warning to him. Now, off you go."

With that, Aldrian teleported the envoy outside the mansion.

The moment he realized what had happened, the envoy was shocked to find himself already outside. He turned to look back at the mansion for a brief moment before sprinting away with all his might, his Duke-stage aura flaring to propel him toward the teleportation station.

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He looked at the remaining men in the room—the pitiful Lord Parus, Alexi, and his knights. Without a word, Aldrian glanced at the knights and teleported them outside before sealing the room shut.

Turning his gaze back to Parus and Alexi, he smile.

"Now, gentlemen, I apologize, but I need to hurry before my food gets cold. I’ll have to be quick with this... so please, enjoy what’s left of your lives while you can."