Chapter 43: Hunt!?

The trip back to Ardent City did not take long.

Victor drove without stopping while Karl, Leon and Mira rested inside the jeep, none of them having much energy left after everything that had happened inside Forgotten Cave.

By the time the city walls appeared ahead, the roads had already become busier.

Victor slowed only when they reached the outer checkpoint.

Several guards stationed there recognised the Reed family vehicle and immediately moved aside before saluting.

Victor returned the gesture with a short nod and drove through.

They entered Ardent City without any delay.

From there, the jeep continued through the main roads before turning toward the Reed family’s territory.

The closer they got to the estate, the more familiar insignias began appearing along the roads.

Guards stationed at each post straightened when the vehicle passed and saluted one after another.

Karl barely paid attention to them, his mind was still occupied by the Heretic Mark and Victor’s reaction to it.

Victor, meanwhile, had remained unusually quiet since leaving the dungeon.

That silence continued until the Reed estate finally came into view.

The main gates opened before they reached them.

Victor drove straight inside and stopped near the villa entrance.

The moment the engine shut off, he stepped out.

"Come."

Karl opened the door more slowly.

"We just got back."

Victor did not even look at him.

"Come."

Leon sighed and climbed out.

"He really isn’t letting this go."

Mira closed the door behind her.

"Would you?"

Leon thought about it.

"...Fair."

The four of them entered the villa and moved through the familiar halls.

Several servants greeted Karl along the way, but Victor did not slow down once.

They eventually reached the garden courtyard behind the villa.

Arthur was sitting there with a cup of tea in one hand while Karl’s Black Fang Tiger cub lay beside his chair.

The cub had grown considerably during the past month and was already much larger than when Karl had first brought it back.

Its ears lifted when Karl entered the courtyard, but Arthur noticed them first.

"So you’re back."

Karl smiled slightly.

"Yeah."

Arthur’s eyes moved across Karl, Leon and Mira before his expression changed.

"Level 99?"

Leon grinned.

"All three of us."

Arthur looked at Karl again and then Mira before setting his cup down.

He clearly had questions, but before he could ask any of them, his attention shifted toward Victor.

"I heard about what happened a month ago."

Arthur leaned back slightly.

"I visited the Vale family estate afterward."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"They already suspect you."

Victor gave a small bow.

"My apologies, Old Master with that many people involved, it was inevitable that some traces would remain."

Arthur laughed.

"What are you apologising for?"

Victor raised his head.

"You handled it properly, if anything you were just a bit sloppy."

Victor however, did not relax.

"We have a bigger problem, Old Master."

Arthur immediately noticed the change in his tone and his smile faded.

"What happened?"

Victor looked toward Karl, Leon and Mira.

"They were pulled into a special legacy dungeon shortly before we returned."

Arthur’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"They came back with the Heretic title."

Arthur paused for a moment before looking at Victor again.

"The Heretic title alone shouldn’t have you looking like this."

Victor nodded.

"It isn’t the title."

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

"Then what?"

Victor glanced toward the three of them.

"These three have been marked with an Anathema."

Arthur nearly spilled the tea in his hand.

His fingers clamped around the sides of the chair as the wood cracked beneath them.

"No..."

Karl’s expression changed.

Arthur stared at the three of them.

"No, no. This can’t be..."

Leon looked between Arthur and Victor.

"Okay, what exactly is an Anathema?"

Neither of them answered immediately.

Arthur’s face had already lost the relaxed expression from moments earlier, while Victor remained completely serious.

Karl looked down at his arm where the Heretic Mark had appeared before.

Whatever an Anathema was, it clearly went far beyond the title Forgotten Cave had given them.

---

Vale Family Estate

A meeting was already underway inside the Vale family estate.

The family head sat at the head of the long table while several elders occupied the seats on either side. A messenger stood near the end of the room after finishing his report.

"Victor Reed has returned to Ardent City with Karl Reed, Leon Wood and Mira Vayne."

The family head clicked his tongue.

"The Reeds really have no shame."

His expression grew colder.

"They killed so many members of our family, and that old dog Arthur even came to the funeral afterward as though he had nothing to do with it."

One of the elders frowned.

"We already know Victor was responsible."

Another elder shook his head.

"It was inevitable, we failed to calculate things properly."

The room fell quiet none of them had expected Victor Reed to have crossed the Veil and that mistake had cost the Vale family heavily.

The family head remained silent for several seconds before a faint smile appeared.

"Still, we don’t have to worry about that much longer."

Several elders looked toward him.

"There is another reason I called this meeting."

The smile on his face widened slightly.

"The Reed family is finished."

One of the elders leaned forward.

"What happened?"

The family head looked across the table.

"I just received the news."

"Karl Reed has been marked with an Anathema."

The room went silent and then several elders reacted at once.

"An Anathema?"

"Impossible."

The family head remained calm.

"The Hunt has already begun."

One of the older elders slowly leaned back.

"It’s been decades since an Anathema this young appeared."

Another shook his head.

"Forget his age, it’s been years since any Anathema appeared at all."

The oldest elder looked toward them.

"Not decades."

Everyone turned toward him.

"Precisely a century."

His expression became serious.

"But whatever the reason, the Reeds have no chance now."

The family head said nothing for several moments.

Then he looked upward and sighed.

"Even though you helped us, we have no ties left."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"There are no enemies in this world, Arthur."

"Only men with the same goal."

The room fell silent a gain.

A century ago, the same kind of mark had appeared during an event that changed the world.

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