From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

"I want to murder Viscount Garcia."

Byrne remained silent for a long while before finally speaking out.

The Fischer family had chosen to keep Chris's newfound strength a secret, telling no outsiders, all to take advantage of the information gap to kill Viscount Garcia.

"I cannot intervene."

In one of the Lion clan's estates, within the drawing-room, Viscount Bast, growing increasingly old, smiled as he savored the rich, intense aroma of the tea. He gazed at Byrne and slowly shook his head.

"In fact, not just me, most members of the Lion and Eagle clans cannot intervene."

He paused, laughing softly as he explained:

"Because we've taken 'The Oath' in the Tempest Church with the vast Tempest Overlord, swearing not to lay hands on each other's family members and allies. And in order for us to give 'The Oath,' the Thunderous Monarch even sacrificed a Class 5 Extraordinary Material."

Of course, Byrne was aware of "The Oath."

It was a special commitment sworn to the gods that only became effective if taken in a church. The higher the grade of the offerings, the more powerful the effect of The Oath.

Those who took The Oath could not easily break it, or they would face divine punishment.

"The Oath" had a time limit and had to ensure relative fairness to be effective. An oath that was one-sided, such as "One person promises another eternal loyalty and obedience to all commands," could not take effect.

Thus, "The Oaths" were often used by the Extraordinary nobility for various trades, alliances, and ceasefires.

Decades ago, the Cyart King and Rhea King took an oath for peace under the church's leadership, so neither king dared to break it lightly.

The Meyer family dared to invade because they were already in conflict with the Rhea Royal Family. They didn't care about the royal situation, and their actions wouldn't be judged as a breach of The Oath by the royalty.

Now, only one year remained until the peace agreement between Cyart and Rhea expired!

However, another rumor had spread—that all The Oaths had already become ineffective, and there was probably no need to adhere to them anymore.

But that would mean the power of the gods was no more, a thought undoubtedly unimaginable to the people, and the major churches were all forcefully quashing such rumors!

Byrne furrowed his brows, aware in his heart that the old fox surely had something left unsaid.

As expected, Viscount Bast continued.

"The only exception among the Transmutation Level Extraordinary Exponents of the Lion and Eagle clans is the 'Black Lion.' He has never been present in public sight, never took The Oath, and therefore can do anything without any concern."

"I can have him assist you, but there is one important condition."

Byrne let out a sigh of relief. Once it came to talking terms, everything became negotiable.

Viscount Bast became serious and spoke solemnly, "Within a year, I want you to accompany me to the Spirit Realm to search for something of utmost importance to me!"

"I need you to help me open a gateway!"

"Okay, I agree!"

Byrne nodded immediately, without the slightest hesitation, he agreed.

No matter what the original reason Viscount Bast had for helping him, his favor towards the Fischer family was incredibly difficult to repay.

And over the years, Byrne's heart had come to accept more and more the man who was both mentor and friend, Viscount Bast.

Deep in his heart, Byrne had already decided he could do anything for Bast that wouldn't harm the Fischer family or cost him his own life.

Beyond that, anything was possible.

"Hahahaha! Good! That's excellent!"

Viscount Bast finally burst into laughter, nodding repeatedly, his eyes filled with expectation and desire, hands slightly clenched. Even with white hair, he still harbored aspirations for the future.

"Byrne, I'm very fond of you, well done! Over the years, I have not mentored you in vain, and the Lion clan's care for the Fischer family has not gone to waste!"

His excitement grew as he spoke, his eyes brimming with longing.

Suddenly, Byrne felt that Viscount Bast's desire was extremely bloated, almost overflowing, but then it vanished as if he had been mistaken.

In fact, he felt that Viscount Bast was becoming more and more like his father Lucius.

Both men harbored great ambitions yet always masqueraded as amiable, always hiding their true thoughts and emotions in the depths of their hearts.

"I will help you, Lord Bast."

Byrne nodded slowly, his words filled with respect for the man before him.

"I must repay the kindness your family has shown to the Fischer family,"

——

The Fischer family had always been shrouded in mystery.

Their head, Byrne Fischer, not only possessed the strength of a Bloodline Knight but also had a transformative type of spellcasting talent, while Madam Irene Fischer boasted a formidable healing spellcasting talent.

As for Chris Fischer, he too possessed some sort of Bloodline Knight strength, but exactly which bloodline was something that had always remained unknown.

Many families would publicly claim what their bloodline power is, considering it was information that would eventually become impossible to hide over time.

However, there was no actual rule stating that a family must disclose the full extent of their bloodline power.

Therefore, what exact bloodline power the Fischer family possessed continued to be a mystery.

Viscount Garcia sent people to infiltrate Nasir Town and conduct thorough investigations. He also purchased various bits of intelligence about the Fischer family, striving to make ample preparations.

But information about the Fischer family was always vague, especially when it came to the nature of their bloodline power, which somehow remained elusive.

"How strange it is that the more we investigate, the more secrets the Fischer family seems to hide. What could they be?"

In recent years, Byrne had maintained a low profile, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, always highly vigilant.

Viscount Garcia had even considered ambushing Nasir Town to decapitate Byrne but felt it was very dangerous. The more he investigated, the more he felt the hidden power of the Fischer family was terrifying.

The deaths of the Meyer family members, the demise of the Spawn of the Abyss, and the Priest of the Sea God Cult could all very well be attributed to the concealed power of the Fischer family.

That is to say, they held some kind of powerful force capable of killing Extraordinary Exponents below the Monarch Level!

"However, that hidden force isn't invincible, or it comes at a considerable price; otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed so many people to die in Nasir Town."

He speculated that the hidden power of the Fischer family was a Forbidden rare artifact ranked in the three digits or even the two digits.

Unleashing a significant cost, it could burst forth with tremendous power to kill the enemy.

In the end, Viscount Garcia still felt it best to find an opportunity to assassinate Byrne when he was alone and away from Nasir Town since he might not always carry that Forbidden rare artifact with him. In such a case, the hidden power of the Fischer family might not be deployable.

One day, Viscount Garcia, who was in his mansion's hall, suddenly received crucial intelligence.

Byrne was going by himself to the Iron Blood Oder family to arrange his son Darren's marriage. He desired to betroth his son Darren to Viscount Oder's youngest daughter, forming a matrimonial alliance between the two families.

"Heh, a mere baronial family aspiring to marry into the Iron Blood clan, indeed, quite ambitious."

He sneered, muttering to himself:

"But if this is arranged by the Lion clan, it might not be impossible to achieve, given that the Fischer family is an important vassal to the Lion clan and the Iron Blood clan is an ally of the Lion, no, more like its lackey."

The route by which Byrne would travel to the town where the Iron Blood family resided was clear, and soon, Garcia's men figured out his exact travel itinerary.

To verify the authenticity of the intelligence, he also made a point of checking the status of the Iron Blood family and discovered that they were indeed preparing to receive guests, evidently having been notified in advance.

"An opportunity not to be missed."

Decisiveness on the battlefield is of utmost importance. After mulling it over, Viscount Garcia immediately decided to lay an ambush for Byrne Fischer somewhere along this route!

"He will die on his way to the Iron Blood clan, and when that happens, I can pin the deed on those Lost followers."

Lost followers, who are a group of exceptionally evil and insane individuals, worship the terrible Evil God, a symbol of the endless finality that is the Lord of the Lost!

In the past few years, Lost followers violently committed crimes throughout the Eastern Four Kingdoms, killing many. One year, they even sacrificed tens of thousands of people from an entire town to the Evil God in a dreadful act.

The horrifying tales about them are far too numerous, and even today, the Ten Great Pillars take rumors of the Lost followers very seriously.

Of course, Viscount Garcia knew the weak Fischer family was completely unrelated to the terrifying and powerful Lost followers, who had no reason to set their sights on such an insignificant group.

He simply wanted to attribute "Byrne Fischer's murder" to the Lost followers.

These Lost followers were mighty and mysterious beings that had not exposed even a single individual for many years. They would certainly not be easily traced or revealed by the church, meaning the true perpetrator would likely never be found.

"Let's go, Andrew, Gus."

Viscount Garcia changed out of his black uniform and donned an equally dark set of robes, masquerading as the notorious Lost followers. He took up the Forbidden rare artifact "Countdown Timer" and another Forbidden rare artifact borrowed from Zavier.

He led two of the remaining three Transmutation Extraordinary Exponents of his family to ambush Byrne Fischer, leaving only his son of low-level Transmutation back with the family.

Despite it being a case of a lion hunting a rabbit, he had no intention of underestimating Byrne Fischer. Instead, he planned to ensure the man would meet his end one hundred percent on the road to the Iron Blood clan!