Andreas didnât even speak at first. He simply took a step and appeared in the sky beside the three of them. His eyes completely ignored the two girls and stayed fixed on Daniel.
"When? When did this happen?"
"I donât know exactly, but between twenty minutes to half an hour ago. This girl came to talk to me, dragged me away from the palace, and during that time Ilaris was kidnapped."
Andreasâs eyes then turned onto Selera, and they looked bloodshot. The moment she saw those eyes, a wave of terror gripped her heart.
Never in her entire life had she seen her brother so furious. Noâthis wasnât just anger. This was bloodlust. She could tell her brother was barely restraining himself from killing her on the spot.
"Because youâre my sister, Iâll only ask once. Where is Ilaris?" Andreas asked coldly, his voice dripping with killing intent.
Both Olivia and Selera shivered at that killing intent. It was realâan overwhelming murderous intent.
"I swear to God I donât know! I didnât kidnap her!"
"Donât lie to me!" Andreas roared in rage, his killing intent exploding outward, shaking the entire area.
Even those who were weaker immediately felt like they were about to vomit or faint under the pressure of his killing intent.
The Elders, seeing the scene unfold, grew even more concerned. They all stepped forward and appeared in the sky beside them.
"Young Lord, please calm yourself!"
"Please, stay calm! She is your sister! You cannot harm her!"
"We promise you, weâll find your friend!"
But Andreas ignored them completely, as if he hadnât even heard their words. Instead, his mind was already running through ways he could force Selera to talk.
"You want to help? If the guards and the defense system here actually worked, that would have been the best help. But even your defense system is useless." Daniel growled coldly when he heard them.
He still couldnât accept the reality that Ilaris had been kidnapped inside the Lionheart estate. So many guards, defensive arrays everywhereâand yet, they had been completely useless.
He was already certain that whoever was responsible had to be either one of the Elders themselves or someone acting with their support.
Of course, he already knew who it was. But there was no need to expose them yet. He could use this opportunity to eliminate that person completely.
"Do you think we should torture her?" Andreas suddenly looked at Daniel and asked.
"Sheâs your sister, and while sheâs a suspect, we arenât sure." Daniel was stunned for a moment.
He hadnât expected this guy to be so insanely obsessed with that Dark Elf girl.
Seleraâs eyes widened at the word torture. For a second, she thought she had misheard. Her own brother wanted to torture her over another woman?
Their relationship hadnât been great, but never to the point where they would actually try to kill each other.
"Youâre right." Andreas sighed, then continued.
"Then just kill her. Weâll forcefully extract her memories through her soul afterward."
"...."
"Leave this matter to me," Daniel said, before suddenly shifting his gaze toward a patch of the sky. Nothing was thereâor at least, thatâs what it looked like.
"How long do you plan on hiding?"
"Hm?" Andreas, the Elders, and even Selera followed his line of sight and looked at that part of the sky. But none of them could sense anything.
Yet, to their shock, that piece of the sky suddenly shattered like glass, and a beautiful figure emerged from it.
Everyone trembled at the sight of the woman who appeared. The Elders and the others below even bowed respectfully in greeting.
But the White Whale ignored them all, her eyes remaining fixed on Daniel, unchanged.
"Even though we have an agreement, I cannot allow you to kill one of my familyâs descendants."
"How about we talk somewhere more private?" Daniel said indifferently.
The White Whale frowned slightly, then nodded softly and waved her hand. The next moment, all five of them appeared inside a hall within the Black Palace.
At the same time, all the Fallen disappeared as well.
"Is this place safe?" Daniel glanced around and asked.
"Donât worry."
After receiving her confirmation, Daniel finally released Selera, an action that left Andreas and Olivia stunned.
"My apologies for my behavior," Daniel glanced at her and gave a bitter smile.
"Thereâs no need to apologize. I didnât understand why you were doing it at first, but when I realized you werenât actually putting any pressure on my throat, I figured out you were acting." Selera answered with a beautiful smile.
"What... what just happened?" Andreas and Olivia looked completely dumbfounded. They couldnât wrap their heads around what was going on.
"When I returned to the palace, I sensed several hidden presences there. They were extremely well concealed, but I managed to detect them. It was clear the ones responsible for the kidnapping were watching me. And it was obvious their plan was to pit me and you against Selera. So I acted like they had succeeded." Daniel explained briefly.
However, it wasnât actually him who had noticed those presences. It was Elarion, who had warned him. After Daniel released his own aura, he was able to catch a brief glimpse of those hidden auras.
They had been concealed extremely wellâso well that even ordinary S-ranks probably couldnât detect them. But that one glimpse was enough for him to confirm their true identity.
"So you were just acting... in that case, I also owe you an apology," Andreas said with some embarrassment.
"Itâs fine. But please, donât ever mention torturing me again."
Andreas nodded awkwardly, then turned to look at him
Even just thinking about wanting to torture his sister made him feel ashamed.
What on earth had he been thinking to even consider such a thing? Of course, it was also that bastard Danielâs fault.
Why did he act so flawlessly?
But before he could say anything, the White Whale suddenly asked:
"Do you have any idea whoâs behind this?"
"Of course. If Iâm not mistaken, itâs the work of the Corruption Worshipers."