"Who are Demiliore?" Vali frowned when he heard Alex's words.
"Just some very rich Mortal Family." Zane dismissively said, but it was clear from his expression that he also realised the trouble that would come their way.
"Then screw him. I want to teach that bitch a lesson." The younger Wislaw dangerously looked in the direction of the cabin where Amira and Reina were sitting with their classmates.
"Masted Zane. We both know how rich and powerful the Demiliore are. It's unwise to make an enemy out of someone who can band our enemies against us, and worse, even buy them all." Alex was not going to stay on the side and let Vali do as he pleased.
He knew that if things took a bad turn, his Rovic Family would suffer in ways they would never be able to recover from. And what he had said was indeed true. He highly doubted that the Head of the Wislaw Family would find it amusing that his sons provoked an enemy they should never have made.
Zane was not as foolish as Vali, and though he understood the consequences of the confrontation, he highly doubted that someone from a Mortal Family, especially someone as rich as the Demiliore, would go to the bitter end with one of the most Powerful Ancient Families in Netheria over a pair of lovers. And he shared his reasoning with them.
Alex could not believe his ears when Zane voiced the thoughts running in his mind.
"Why do you even want to test the waters?!" He asked in disbelief.
"She slapped him for only grabbing her hand, Alex." Zane narrowed his eyes at him. "A mere lover of a Mortal Man from a Mortal Family slapped the son of the Head of Wislaw Family." He lightly said.
"No one knows who he is!" Alex pointed at Vali and tried to get Zane to understand that his pride did not have to be hurt.
"You!" The younger Vali was not pleased with his cousin's words and immediately grabbed his collar. "I have had enough of your impudence." He drew his hand to his face, but right when it was about to connect with Alex's cheek, Zane grabbed his wrist.
"He's our cousin, Vali. And he was just worried about us." He meaningfully said, and Alex felt a sinking feeling in his heart. "We will thank him for his consideration at another time."
The new Heir of the Rovic Family cursed his luck and then angrily lowered his head, gritting his teeth.
"You have something to say?" Zane smiled at him when Vali let him go, and Alex raised his head and met his eyes.
"Don't do whatever you have in mind. Demiliore are a very powerful Family. At least, speak to your father about it first." He tried to make them understand that they were about to make a very grievous mistake, but his heart sank when Zane just smiled at him.
"Don't worry, dear cousin. We won't do anything excessive."
Alex just stood there frozen in his place and did not even follow Zane as the Young Master of the Wislaw Family patted his shoulder and left the cabin.
Vali was happy that his brother was not going to ask him to drop the matter. And he contemptuously smirked at Alex before following after his brother, looking forward to teaching the bitch who dared to slap him a lesson she would never forget for the rest of her miserable life.
However, all his plans were cut short when Zane suddenly said something that baffled him.
"Don't do anything excessive. Just make the girl understand that she slapped the wrong person and make her apologise to you."
"What?" Vali asked in disbelief.
"Alex was not wrong." Zane looked him in the eyes. "Demiliore are very powerful. And they are also related to the Ancient Mourntale of the Magic City. You can not do anything excessive to her. We do not know how dear she is to the Master of Demiliore Family."
"So what?" He shot back, but apologetically lowered his head when Zane narrowed his eyes at him.
Vali silently followed after his brother back to the table where their bearded cousin was still sitting, and he glared at him when he saw the amused smile on his face.
"Don't say a word or I will cut your throat." He warned him.
"Ouch. The slap must still sting."
"Bronn!" Zane admonished their cousin, who sighed and nodded his head, silently promising that he would not raise this matter again.
"So, who is she?" Bronn curiously asked, quite confused why Zane did not seem eager to teach the girl a lesson for the grave mistake she had made by slapping the youngest son of the Head of the Wislaw Family.
"It involves a very powerful Mortal Family. An unnecessary and undesirable enemy."
"I see." The bearded man nodded his head and curiously watched Zane pour himself a glass of wine and sip on it. "But we can't just drop the matter, can we?" He knowingly asked.
"We can't." The Young Master of the Wislaw Family nodded his head. "We will pick up the twins after they leave the premises, and will then have a chat with their lover."
Though Vali was immensely displeased at his brother's decision, he knew that for Zane to be so cautious about something meant that the enemy was not easy. He did not believe that some Mortal Family could prove to be dangerous to them, no matter how powerful it might be in the mundane world, and so, he promised himself that he would, at least, return the slap he had received with interest.
Vali was quite agitated with the glances people sent his way, but since Zane was still sitting there as if nothing had happened, he could not just stand up and leave. He bore the humiliation and focused on the meal and wine, trying to distract himself.
An hour later, he caught the group of youngsters leaving the glassed cabin, and he was elated when he saw that they were walking outside.
"Bronn," Zane called out the name of his bearded cousin, who understood that it was his assignment and obediently nodded his head.
However, just when Bronn was about to stand up, something weird happened in the Main Lounge.
Everyone present there suddenly stood up and blankly walked towards the exit. An inexplicably ominous feeling started weighing on their hearts as they watched even the waiters and guards leave with the guests.
In just a matter of a couple of minutes, the main lounge was completely empty, leaving only them at their table. And when the three of them exchanged glances, they clearly saw the traces of fear in each other's expressions.
The world seemed to have suddenly turned deathly silent, and their instincts were screaming at them that something dreadful was about to happen.
"Zane..." Vali called out to his brother, but his words were cut short when they suddenly heard the sound of water being poured into a glass.
Chills ran up their spines when their eyes shot to the table on their right, only a few metres away from them, where a ridiculously handsome young man was sitting with two beautiful Asian girls.
They could have sworn that they had not seen the three of them before or even realised their presence so close to them, but seeing the empty plates on their tables, and the empty bottles of wine, it was clear that these three had been sitting there for quite some time now.
Zane heard his heart thump in his ears when the young man at the table next to them finished the glass of water and stood up, and when their eyes met, his heart strangely slowed down and he felt cold all over his body.
"W-who are you?" Vali subconsciously stepped back when the tall young man approached them. "Ahhhh!!!!" And then his agonising scream resounded in the Main Lounge when a fountain of blood burst out of his right wrist that had lost its hand.
"You must always be mindful about keeping your hands in check. Dreadful things could happen if you accidentally lay them on something or someone you shouldn't."
A light voice, somehow, shadowed Vali's screams and sounded clearly in their ears.
Both Zane and Bronn did not waste any more time and immediately shrouded their bodies in their Aura, revealing their True Profound Realm Cultivation, and then they attacked the young man with all their might.
*Thump!*
A dull sound of impact was heard when a strange and spiralling Amethyst Disc suddenly appeared in front of the young man, shielding him from their fists, and the next thing Zane and Bron knew was being sent back with an astonishing force and crashing into the tables and wall.
The sheer pain they felt rattled their minds and bodies, and even their Aura Souls had failed to negate all of the force.
Zane was the first one to regain his composure, but Bronn beat him to his feet. However, before his bearded cousin could rush at the enemy, he fell back on the ground, followed by his decapitated head that landed and rolled next to his lifeless body.
The sound of a sword being sheathed greeted Zane's ears, and his face turned pale when he watched one of the Asian girls standing by the young man's side, taking her hand off the sword she was wearing on her back.
"You did not hear what I said." The young man smiled. "You must always be mindful of keeping your hands in check." He repeated his earlier words, and the next thing that caught Zane's attention was the end of his younger brother's painful cries as his decapitated body fell down on the floor.
"Jeez! He was loud." The second Asian girl contemptuously remarked as she dispersed her Aura Blade.
"Who are you?" The Young Master of the Wislaw Family managed to ask, but in his mind, he was praying that their family guards would show up anytime now.
He did not care who these people were. All he wanted was to live and return to his home right now. There was nothing else on his mind.
"You don't know me, and yet you wanted to have a 'chat' with me." The young man chuckled as he suddenly appeared right in front of him and crouched down.
Zane tried to crawl back, but a hiccup escaped his throat and soon blood flowed out of his mouth.
He managed to look down and see an Amethyst Aura Blade impaled in his chest right where his heart was supposed to be.
The last thing the Young Master of the Wislaw Family watched and heard was the light smile on the young man's ridiculously handsome face that betrayed his cold words.
"You should have listened to the warning of your dear cousin, Young Master Zane."
He understood everything at that moment. Sadly, it was the last thing he was meant to understand in his life.
"Demiliore..." A blood-filled whisper escaped his throat right before Darkness embraced him.
