Chapter 245: Sins of the Father

Lord Draven stood at the far end of the bone courtyard, glaring at Holden with pure hatred.

The resemblance to his son was obvious. They shared the same narrow jaw, thin lips, and sharp cheekbones. But while the younger Draven had enjoyed a comfortable life at the Academy, his father looked like someone who had spent years destroying his own body in pursuit of power.

His cheeks were hollow, and his grey skin stretched tightly over his bones. Dark red veins ran along his neck and hands, pulsing with every breath he took. Even his eyes had changed, sinking deep into their sockets until only a faint red glow remained.

But what caught Holden’s attention most was the man’s clothing.

The robes covering Draven’s thin body weren’t made from fabric. They were formed entirely from blood, with thick streams of dark red liquid flowing over his shoulders and down his arms. The liquid gathered around his feet before slowly spreading across the courtyard floor.

Every time Draven moved, the blood moved with him.

When he raised his arms, the liquid climbed higher. When he clenched his fists, it thickened around his wrists, almost as though the blood was responding to his anger.

Holden could feel the Rank 4 energy radiating from the man.

Rank 4, 1-Star.

The same cultivation level as Lord Vane and Master Korr.

However, something about Draven felt different.

His energy was unstable, rising and falling with every change in his expression. One moment, it spread across the courtyard. The next, it gathered tightly around his body before bursting outward again.

Holden had fought enough powerful enemies to recognize the difference.

Draven wasn’t simply angry.

The man was barely holding himself together.

"You..."

The word escaped Draven’s mouth as he stared at Holden.

His hands trembled, and the blood flowing around his body began moving faster.

"You!"

He took another step forward.

"Holden Voss. You filthy little rat! You actually have the nerve to come here?"

Holden remained where he stood, the Eclipse-Sun Sword resting comfortably in his right hand.

"Well, you did say you wanted to see me."

"SHUT UP!"

Draven’s shout echoed across the courtyard.

"You think this is funny? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to my family?"

Holden raised an eyebrow.

"I’m guessing you’re about to tell me."

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

The blood surrounding Draven surged, spreading farther across the bone floor.

"My son’s future, our family’s reputation, everything I spent thirty years building! All of it was taken from me because of you!"

His voice grew louder with every word.

"My son came home from the Academy a broken man. He couldn’t even look me in the eye! Do you understand what that feels like? To watch your own son lose everything because some worthless orphan decided to humiliate him?"

Holden’s expression remained calm.

Draven continued before he could respond.

"My son was supposed to inherit everything! Our name, our influence, our position in the Capital! He had a future waiting for him, and you destroyed it!"

He pointed a thin finger at Holden.

"You should never have been allowed into that Academy! Someone like you had no business standing beside noble children, much less challenging my son!"

Holden sighed.

There it was again.

The same arrogance he remembered from the younger Draven.

Apparently, the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree.

"Your son picked a fight with me," Holden replied. "Nobody forced him to do that."

Draven’s face twisted.

"He was defending his family’s honor!"

"By bullying someone on their first day at the Academy?"

"He was teaching you your place!"

Holden shook his head.

"And that’s exactly why he lost."

For a moment, Draven simply stared at him.

Then the blood around his body began to bubble.

The dark red liquid climbed his arms, gathering around his shoulders and neck as his Rank 4 energy rose sharply.

"You still don’t understand," Draven whispered. "You took everything from me, and now you’ve walked straight into my home."

A cruel smile slowly spread across his thin face.

"I should thank you, Holden Voss. You’ve saved me the trouble of hunting you down."

He raised his right hand.

"Let’s see how long that confidence lasts when your own blood turns against you."

Draven snapped his fingers.

CRACK!

A sharp sound rang through the courtyard.

At the same moment, a wave of dark red energy rushed toward Holden.

There was no visible blade or projectile. The attack spread through the air, passing straight through the space between them before reaching his body.

Holden immediately recognized that something was wrong.

The energy wasn’t trying to break through his armor.

It was attempting to reach the blood inside his body.

[Warning!]

[Rank 4 Blood Manipulation Detected!]

[Host Targeted by Blood-Boil Curse!]

[Threat: Internal Blood Destruction!]

The Blood-Boil Curse.

Lord Draven’s signature technique.

Unlike ordinary attacks, the curse didn’t need to pierce an enemy’s skin. It targeted the blood inside their body, forcing it to heat up rapidly until the pressure became too much for their blood vessels to withstand.

Against an unprotected opponent, the result would be devastating.

Even powerful cultivators could die before realizing what had happened.

The curse reached Holden.

His Phantom-Weave Armor couldn’t stop it, nor could the Aether-Steel reinforcement protecting his body. The attack wasn’t aimed at either of them.

Instead, the corrupted energy tried to take hold of his blood.

But before it could do anything, the ring on his left hand reacted.

FLASH!

The garnet set into the Crimson-Ward Ring released a brilliant white glow.

A warm pulse spread from Holden’s finger, and the strange energy attempting to enter his body suddenly stopped.

[Crimson-Ward Ring Activated!]

[Passive: Blood Immunity!]

[Blood-Boil Curse Detected!]

[Curse Negation Active!]

[Threat Neutralized!]

The entire process happened almost instantly.

The Blood-Boil Curse was unable to take hold of Holden’s blood. Its corrupted energy broke apart under the ring’s protection, losing its power before it could cause any damage.

A moment later, the white glow faded.

The garnet returned to its usual dark red color, and everything became quiet again.

Holden looked down at his hand.

He flexed his fingers once, then glanced at the ring.

There was no pain.

No discomfort.

His heartbeat hadn’t even changed.

A small smile appeared on his face.

Now that’s useful.

Across the courtyard, Lord Draven remained frozen with his hand raised.

He had been expecting Holden to collapse.

Instead, the young man was standing exactly where he had been a few seconds earlier, looking completely unharmed.

Draven blinked.

Then he blinked again.

"What?"

Holden looked up.

"Hm?"

Draven slowly lowered his hand.

"What did you do?"

Holden tilted his head.

"Nothing."

"Don’t lie to me!"

The man’s voice cracked.

"That was the Blood-Boil Curse! You should be dead!"

Holden glanced at himself before looking back at Draven.

"Well, I’m clearly not."

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

Draven took a step forward, his eyes widening.

"That technique attacks your blood directly! Armor cannot stop it! Physical strength cannot stop it! Even Rank 4 cultivators have to be careful against it!"

Holden looked at his left hand again.

The Crimson-Ward Ring rested quietly on his finger, its garnet giving off a faint red glow.

He had acquired it only the previous night, and already it had proved its worth.

Talk about perfect timing.

"Then I guess it’s a good thing I came prepared," Holden replied.

Draven’s expression darkened.

"Prepared? You think some cheap defensive trick can protect you from me?"

"Cheap?"

Holden almost laughed.

"Trust me, there’s nothing cheap about this."

He raised his sword slightly and looked toward the furious patriarch.

"But I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed."

Draven stared at him.

"Disappointed?"

"Yeah. I’ve been fighting some pretty dangerous people lately. Lord Vane had that nasty poison and shadow technique. Master Korr could turn metal into just about anything he wanted. And then there’s you."

Holden gestured toward him.

"You snap your fingers, try to boil my blood, and nothing happens. I was expecting a little more."

Draven’s face twitched.

"YOU INSOLENT BRAT!"

Holden ignored the outburst.

"You know, your son was just like this. He thought being a Draven meant everyone had to bow whenever he walked into a room."

He rested the Eclipse-Sun Sword against his shoulder.

"Then he met someone who didn’t care about his family name, and suddenly he couldn’t handle it."

"Don’t you dare speak about my son!"

"Why not? You’re the one who brought him up."

Holden took a slow step forward.

"Your son tried to bully me. He lost. Whatever happened after that was the result of his own actions, not mine."

Draven’s hands tightened into fists.

Holden continued.

"And as for your family’s political problems, those started when the Royal Family fell. You can’t seriously blame me for every bad thing that’s happened to you."

"YOU DESTROYED OUR NAME!"

"No, Draven. You just couldn’t accept that your name stopped giving you everything you wanted."

The words seemed to strike harder than any physical attack.

Draven went silent.

For a moment, the only sound in the courtyard was the faint movement of the blood flowing across the bone floor.

Holden shook his head.

"So you came all the way out here, built a fortress out of bones, and started raising an army of corpses. All because you couldn’t accept losing your position?"

His gaze moved toward the dark red walls.

"That’s a lot of trouble to go through just to prove you’re still important."

Draven’s face twisted.

"ENOUGH!"