Chapter 154: Father at the Gate

Chapter 154: 154: Father at the Gate

---

The shout echoed through the passage behind them.

Elowen’s face turned white at once. Her hands tightened around the empty space where the old map had been, as if she had only now remembered that she had already paid it away. The sound came again, carried by the stone tunnel from far behind them. Men were moving under the old border fort. Their boots struck broken steps, and their voices rose and fell with anger.

Lucard stood near the spring and listened.

There were more than Red Hook men this time. The steps were too controlled. The breathing was too steady. The weight of the group was different from thugs running after a girl. Someone stronger had come with them.

Elowen whispered, "They came too fast."

Lucard looked toward the passage. "The escaped man was useful after all."

She turned toward him with fear and anger mixed together. "Useful? He brought them here."

"Yes."

"That is not useful for me."

"I did not say it was."

Elowen bit her lip hard enough to almost draw blood. She looked toward the white flowers, then toward the dark passage. The unicorn was already gone. The dream she had chased was over, but the cage she had run from had found the door.

A deep male voice came from the tunnel.

"Elowen."

She froze.

That single word changed her more than the cave stalkers had. Fear entered her eyes, but not only fear. Pain came with it. Shame too. A child could run from a father, but hearing his voice in the dark could still pull old obedience from the bones.

The voice came again, closer this time.

"Elowen, come out now."

Lucard looked at her. "Who came? Your family member..."

She did not answer.

That was enough to answer enough.

Men stepped out from the stone passage one after another. Red Hook came first, six men with red scarves tied around their wrists. Behind them came four city guards in better armor. Two wore crossbows. One carried a short spear. The last held a lantern with a blue mage crystal inside it.

Then the city lord entered Moonwater Hollow.

Baron Aldren Stoneford was not a large man, but he did not need size to look dangerous. He had dark hair touched with gray near the temples, a trimmed beard, and sharp eyes that looked too tired to be kind. His cloak was dark green with silver thread, and a heavy ring shone on his right hand. Mana moved around him in a steady pressure.

Fourth Circle mage.

The stone under his boots seemed to listen to him.

Elowen stepped back without thinking.

The baron saw her at once. His eyes moved over her torn sleeve, muddy dress, cut cheek, and trembling hands. For one brief moment, real worry crossed his face. Then pride and anger buried it.

"You ran into the Broken Maw Range at night," he said. "Do you understand how stupid that was?"

Elowen’s lips trembled. "Father..."

"Do not father me after this," Aldren said. "Do you know what kind of mess you created? Red Hook dead. Guards pulled from the city. Servants questioned. Nobles are already whispering because my daughter vanished before a marriage meeting."

Her eyes reddened. "That marriage was not mine."

"It was your family’s decision."

"It was your decision."

His face hardened. "A daughter of House Stoneford does not run from duty because of childish stories about unicorns."

Elowen flinched.

Aldren’s gaze moved from her to Lucard.

The air changed.

"And you," the baron said. "Step away from my daughter."

Lucard stood where he was. "No."

The Red Hook men stiffened. The city guards raised their weapons slightly. Elowen’s eyes widened because she knew her father well enough to understand what that one word meant here.

Aldren looked at Lucard with cold disbelief. "Do you know who I am?"

"The city lord."

"Then you should know better."

"I often should."

Aldren’s mana became heavier. Small stones near his feet trembled. "You killed my men."

"Some died before I arrived."

"And the rest?"

"They were unlucky."

The baron’s eyes moved to the dried eyeless cave stalker corpses and the pale remains near the flowers. His expression shifted slightly. He understood at once that Lucard had not survived here by luck. The dead cave stalkers were not weak monsters, especially inside their own tunnels. A normal traveler would have been torn apart before reaching the hollow.

Aldren said, "Return the map."

Elowen’s face changed.

Lucard looked at her for one short moment, then looked back at the baron. "No."

Aldren’s fingers tightened around his ring. "So you know about it."

"I know it has value."

"That map belongs to House Stoneford."

"It was payment."

"For what?"

"For bringing her here."

Elowen’s voice shook. "He did not steal it from me."

Aldren’s eyes snapped toward her. "Quiet."

She lowered her head by instinct, then lifted it again with effort. "No. I gave it to him."

The baron looked as if the words had struck him harder than an insult. "You gave away a family map kept for centuries because of a beast you wanted to see?"

Elowen’s eyes filled with tears. "I wanted one thing before you sold me."

The words made the hollow silent.

Several guards looked away.

Aldren’s face tightened. "You foolish child. You think marriage is selling? You think families survive on wishes? Do you think this city runs on flowers and pretty beasts? That marriage would save us."

"It would have locked me beside a man older than you."

"It would have kept House Stoneford standing."

"It would have buried me."

Aldren’s jaw worked once.

Then his gaze returned to Lucard, and he chose anger because anger was easier than answering his daughter.

"Give me my daughter and the map," he said. "I may still let you walk away with your life."

Lucard watched him calmly.

A Fourth Circle mage. Earth and stone affinity. Probably trained for defense, binding, and area control. Stronger than Lucard by one rank in the lower world system. In a normal fight, a Third Circle mage would lose quickly against a Fourth Circle mage, especially in a place full of stone.

But Lucard was not a normal Third Circle.

He was a Blood Mage Vessel.

His body was stronger than a mage’s body should be. His bloodfire had become stronger. His Blood Spell Formation could counter simple spell shapes. He had absorbed underground sensing from cave stalkers. More importantly, he had once fought gods. A lower world baron with stone magic was not enough to frighten him.

Lucard said, "You talk too much before attacking."

Aldren’s eyes became cold. "Then learn."

He raised his hand.

The ground under Lucard’s feet split open.

Three stone spikes shot upward, aiming for his legs and chest. Elowen screamed, but Lucard had already moved before the stones broke the surface. His foot slid to the left, then back. The spikes missed by a finger’s width and tore through his cloak instead.

Aldren’s expression changed slightly.

Lucard lifted one hand.

A red spell circle opened near his palm.

Blood Spell Formation.

He did not attack Aldren directly. He sent thin blood threads into the fresh cracks where the stone spikes had risen. The threads touched the mana pattern still left inside the stone. Lucard read it in an instant. Rough earth compression. Sharp rise. Short command. Simple, fast, and strong.

Useful, but predictable.

Aldren made another gesture.

The broken ground folded inward, trying to trap Lucard’s ankles.

Lucard stamped once.

Bloodfire Lv2 entered the cracks as a thin red glow. It did not burn stone like wood. Instead, it burned the mana inside the spell pattern. The folding ground lost strength and collapsed into loose gravel before it could close.

The Red Hook men stared.

Aldren’s eyes narrowed. "Fire blood magic?"

Lucard said, "Something like that."

The baron pointed two fingers forward. "Stone Chain."

Four chains made of packed gray stone shot from the ground and wrapped toward Lucard’s arms, neck, and waist. The spell was faster than the spikes. It carried Rank Four pressure. If it caught him, it would crush bone.

Lucard did not dodge all of it.

He let one chain wrap around his left arm.

Elowen gasped.

Aldren tightened his hand. The chain began to crush.

Lucard’s blood moved under his skin and hardened around the bone. Pain came, but not enough. He turned his wrist, opened a small cut in his palm, and let blood flow onto the chain. The blood spread over the stone like red ink, forming a circle around the mana line holding the spell together.

Then Lucard closed his fist.

"Break."

The chain cracked from the inside.

Aldren’s spell shattered around Lucard’s arm.

The other three chains reached him at the same time, but he moved through their gaps with calm steps. He did not waste large movements. He only used what was needed. One chain scraped his shoulder. Another cut his sleeve. The third struck the ground where his foot had been a moment before.

Aldren’s face darkened.

"You are only Third Rank."