Chapter 352 Dire Times, Desperate Measures (3)
This was the second time Ashton had visited the Zhask mansion. Regardless of that, he immediately noticed the change of guards around the place. The mansion was more guarded, which was to be expected because of the radicals. But he had a feeling that wasn"t all.
He headed towards the gate where four guards stood with weapons. This was strange since the last time, they did not have any weapons on them. As he got closer, the guards noticed him and immediately perked up as if they were seeing an enemy approaching them.
Their strange reaction solidified his suspicions. Otiga had already informed the guards Ashton could enter the mansion whenever he pleased. Therefore, if everything was fine in the mansion, the guards wouldn"t have any reason to stop him.
"Sorry, but you can"t enter the mansion." The guards informed Ashton when they saw him approaching them, "A high-level meeting is taking place and no one is allowed to enter. Please leave or we"ll be forced to take harsh action against you."
Ashton did not pay any attention to their words and kept walking. Handling a bunch of D grades wasn"t a difficult task for him.
"Are you deaf? I said you are not allowed to-" The guard yelled, but made the mistake of putting his hands on an agitated Ashton.
Before the guard could even complete his sentence, the world turned upside down as he fell to the ground. The man"s shoulder was dislocated, while the arm that touched Ashton was crushed beyond repair.
"What the..."
As the man flailed in pain, the rest of them stood there... frozen. Only when Ashton tossed the injured guard towards them, did they snap back to reality.
Two of the remaining guards immediately lunged at the intruder, whereas the last one informed the others about Ashton. A moment later sirens were blaring all around the mansion. Every guard employed by the Zhasks rushed outside.
Ashton did not care about the sirens at all. In fact, the guards had only made his job easier. Now he could take them out in one swift move. As for the two brave souls that lunged at him... well, let"s just say they"ll find peace in the afterlife.
It wasn"t Ashton"s intention to kill them. He just wanted to render them useless. Instead, his punch blew straight through their torso, killing them instantly.
"Seems like I overestimated their strength." Ashton casually mumbled before wiping off the blood on his hands with the clothes of the fallen.
[More like you underestimated yours...]
The sight left the remaining guards shocked. They were petrified, unable to say a word, let alone fight and avenge their fallen comrades. With one thought rushing through their minds... Did the man in front of them really one-shot two D-grade warriors as if it wasn"t anything out of ordinary?
"W-What are you doing? Stop him!"
Someone yelled within the crowd but went silent the moment Ashton turned his gaze towards them. While Ashton was capable of fighting and winning against a handful of low C-grade guards, he did not want to waste his energy or strength on them.
It was wise for him to conserve his strength till the moment he found Anna or Otiga as he was sure Leon wasn"t the only one behind the attack. He was too big of a coward to do anything of that sort.
"Tell me where Leon is hiding and I will not touch a single strand of your hair." Ashton tried negotiating some information out of them, "If not... then you already know what will happen to you."
He waited and waited, yet no one opened their mouths. It"d seem, that killing two of them wasn"t enough to make the others bark. They needed a little bit more motivation.
"Hold your breath... for as long as you can," Ashton mumbled before giving a couple of cuts to himself.
His action left the guards confused. Why would the intruder hurt himself? Were they needlessly scared of him? They got their answer a moment later as a red mist gushed out of Ashton"s wounds, instead of blood as they had expected. The mist shrouded everyone and everything in sight.
Soon the guards began suffocating. At the same time, their skin burned as if their insides were on fire. They were left stupefied... but none of them could think through the continuous pain. A few moments later, their howling could be heard all around the mansion... and yet no one came out to help them.
[You"re going to kill them, aren"t you?]
"That depends on them." Ashton coldly replied, "Either their survival instinct will win, or they"ll die while clinging onto their f.u.c.ked up sense of loyalty."
Baxtin, the head of the security guards, who was watching everything through cameras, was stunned as well. Out of everything he had seen in his quite long life, he had never come across someone of his calibre. The regular guards did not have a chance against a monster like him.
"Tell everyone to back down, and establish a perimeter around the man now!" He barked orders, "I"ll take care of the f.u.c.ker myself."
His group of elite fighters followed Baxtin as he rushed out of the mansion. he was hoping to save the guards, but by the time he arrived at the scene, the guards were already on the ground. Some had lost their lives, while some were barely clinging to it.
"You! Why are you attacking the Zhask family? Don"t you have any concern for your well-being?" Baxtin yelled from a distance while the mist slowly faded away.
"My well-being?" If Ashton"s mood was a bit better he would have laughed at his face, "You should care about yours first. I do not want to fight anyone. Leon, he"s the one I"m looking for. If you hand him over to me, I"ll leave the rest of you untouched."
Ashton even used [Incite] to let the man see the reason behind his words. But he turned out to be too stubborn to listen to anything.
Baxtin charged at Ashton, after all, he was confident in his ability. He wasn"t going to lose to just anybody.
"Why do I even waste my time trying to talk to them..." Ashton shook his head before curling up his fist. With all of his genes active, he was far stronger than Baxtin. Something the latter realised the following moment.
Ashton thrust a punch in Baxtin"s direction. Baxtin was so full of himself, that he did not even bother to block Ashton"s punch and let it land on his chest. Ashton"s fist smashed into the ribs but this time he was careful not to thrust it too deep into his opponent"s chest.
Blood spurted out from Baxtin"s mouth, as he was thrown away by the tremendous blow. His muscular and tanky body hovered in the air as if it had been slammed by a truck. He was thrown toward the five or six companions he had brought along with himself. But even crashing into them didn"t stop him as all of them fell to the ground lamenting from the pain of the impact.
To Baxtin"s conviction, even with his injuries, he stood up to face Ashton once again. It was annoying, to say the least. Ashton did not want to kill innocents but Baxtin"s stubbornness was making him question himself.
But before either of them could do anything, someone began clapping not far away. It seemed their little brawl had a couple of spectators. Ashton looked above and saw five people standing around the entrance of the mansion.
He immediately recognised four of them. Leon, Jacklin, Otiga and Anna. Both the ladies were sitting in a wheelchair but Otiga was not looking in a good shape. Even from a distance, Ashton could see the injuries all over her face. His attention then went to Anna who appeared to be conscious but was motionless.
After seeing her in such a state, every thought of letting them live was thrown out of his head. He didn"t care about the consequences, he was going to kill those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.
"This will be my final warning... let her go, and maybe I"ll do a quick work out of you."
"Wow, this kid sure has some b.a.l.l.s!" The muscular unknown man scoffed, "As far as letting her go..."
The man squatted to Anna"s level before looking at her l.u.s.tfully, "I don"t think so. It is rare to see a succubus these days. How can I let her go before sampling her first? Maybe I"ll let you watch us, how does that sound-"
Darjud stopped abruptly as he was kicked straight to the face and sent flying backwards. Both Leon and Jacklin were way too shocked to even process what happened there. Second Monarch got kicked in the face?
Without wasting any time, Ashton undid both Anna"s and Otiga"s cuffs before pouring health potions all over them. But the moment he turned to finish the job, Darjud was already standing behind him.
"You... b.a.s.t.a.r.d... that was quite a strong kick. For a kid like you." He snarled before grabbing Ashton by the neck and lifting him off the ground with two hands, while the remaining two were wrapped around Ashton"s left leg, "Let"s see how you fare without you d.a.m.ned leg..."