Former Interstellar Mercenary In Urban Cultivation World-Chapter 1278: The Price of Blood

"I’ve killed too many people, been to the Erythar System more than once," he sneered. "But the Vanquez family... Ah, was that the one with the twin children?"

A twisted grin spread across his face.

"If it was them, then yes, that was me. Those twins were quite adorable. Their parents even begged me to spare them, kneeling and smashing their heads on the ground until they bled. For a moment, I almost felt merciful."

Amalia’s face remained unreadable.

"But they were just unlucky," Storm Claw Overlord continued, his voice dripping with cruel amusement. "To eliminate any loose ends, I killed them too. I still remember the way their innocent, confused little eyes looked at me. It only made me more excited. Killing two small, helpless lives—it was... quite the thrill."

He cast a sideways glance at Amalia, who now radiated an intense killing aura.

"Now that I think about it, the Vanquez family wasn’t completely wiped out," he mused. "One little girl wasn’t home that day. She managed to escape. So tell me... how do you know about this? Could it be that you were that lucky survivor?"

Amalia’s voice turned ice-cold.

"The servant who betrayed the Vanquez family—do you know where he is?" Her tone was eerily calm. "Tell me their whereabouts, and I’ll grant your companions a full corpse."

Storm Claw Overlord’s two allies exchanged wary glances.

A full corpse?

Was this woman joking?

"Oh? And what about me?" Storm Claw Overlord asked, intrigued.

"You won’t die quickly."

Amalia’s voice was deep and steady, like a bottomless abyss.

"The lives of the Vanquez family—" she continued, her expression dark as a still, black lake. "You will have to pay for them, one by one."

"Repay?"

Storm Claw Overlord was stunned for a second before he threw his head back in laughter.

"If you’re that little girl who escaped back then, do you really think you can make me pay? Even if you trained for another thousand years, it wouldn’t be possible!"

"Is that so?"

Amalia tilted her head slightly.

As soon as the words left her lips, an unspeakable, suffocating pressure spread across the entire plaza.

The air turned deathly cold, heavy with an invisible force, as though an unseen hand had tightened around their throats.

The arrogant expressions on Storm Claw Overlord and his two companions twisted into sheer terror, as if their very faces had been swapped with masks of fear.

"You—!"

Storm Claw Overlord’s mind screamed at him to run.

Every nerve in his body roared for him to escape.

But his limbs—his entire body—felt as heavy as lead.

He couldn’t move.

Amalia walked toward them slowly.

With each step she took, the horrifying sensation only intensified.

A cold, creeping dread overtook their bodies, as though even their souls no longer belonged to them.

"Even your cult leader wouldn’t dare speak such words in front of me."

Amalia’s voice was quiet, but absolute.

"And yet, a mere lackey like you has no sense of his own insignificance."

Storm Claw Overlord watched, helpless, as she extended a hand toward him.

The moment her hand landed on his shoulder, it felt as though a mountain had collapsed on him.

His bones groaned and cracked under the weight.

He could hear them splintering.

"I will ask you one last time."

Her voice was calm, emotionless.

"Where is the servant who betrayed the Vanquez family?"

"And was it your cult leader who gave you that mission back then?"

Storm Claw Overlord clenched his jaw, his eyes burning with rage as he glared at Amalia.

He refused to say a word.

With a flick of her wrist, countless blades of energy materialized in the air.

They tore through the sky and descended upon one of Storm Claw Overlord’s companions.

The man was lifted off the ground, screaming in agony.

The sound was so harrowing it seemed to shake the heavens themselves.

Then, a crimson rain began to fall.

By the time his mangled body crashed to the ground, life had long since left it.

"Will you speak now?" Amalia asked again.

Storm Claw Overlord still refused.

He knew that keeping his mouth shut might be the only chance he had to survive.

If he spoke, there was no chance at all.

What he didn’t know was that Amalia had never planned to give him a quick death.

She had initially considered it.

But after hearing the things he had said earlier, she had changed her mind.

Her gaze shifted to the remaining companion.

The man was so terrified that even the mask on his face slipped off.

"Storm Claw Overlord! Just tell her!" he bellowed, his voice laced with desperation.

He didn’t want to die.

25 years ago, he had been with Storm Claw Overlord during the mission.

But he hadn’t handled the exchange of orders.

Only Storm Claw Overlord knew the full details.

"Still refusing?"

Amalia’s face remained impassive as she fixed her gaze on Storm Claw Overlord.

Storm Claw Overlord let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"If you’re gonna kill me, then do it already! Stop wasting your damn breath!"

"Storm Claw Overlord!" His last remaining companion glared at him with bloodshot eyes, his expression one of fury and despair.

But Amalia had already moved.

The man let out a hoarse, broken scream.

A moment later, Amalia let go.

His body crumpled to the ground.

His eyes were empty—lifeless—but his chest still rose and fell.

He was still alive.

"What did you do to him?!" Storm Claw Overlord demanded, his voice filled with fear and rage.

"Nothing much."

Amalia’s tone was icy.

"I simply read his memories. The process may have been a little rough... His consciousness was erased in the process."

She looked Storm Claw Overlord in the eye.

"He’s just a mindless fool now."

Storm Claw Overlord shuddered.

"You can rest easy," Amalia continued, her voice low and steady.

"I won’t do the same to you."

"Turning you into a fool would be far too merciful."