The Blackstones entered the carriage and their guards sat at the front driving it. They went as fast as the horses could take them, wanting to catch up with Miliana as soon as possible. 

This world is far from being safe. When leaving the city walls life is no longer guaranteed if it ever was. They knew this but charged into the wild anyway. Leonard held the reins, leading the horses on the path and David swift dealt with the many monsters that dared to rush at the carriage. 

The carriage was going at a great speed. Axel was having a hard time but he was determined to see it through and not throw up. Hours went by, they stopped when the horses needed a break and continued at the same speeds after. No matter how far they chased, Neveen’s carriage was nowhere in sight. The days went by and they arrived in Kiomire City almost half a day earlier than expected. Still, Neveen was nowhere to be seen. 

They rushed directly to the Tera ring and began the registering process to use it.

As the woman took their names Odeus got the idea to ask her a few questions.

“Hello, did a group of soldiers pass through here recently?”, he asked.

“I’m sorry sir, we are not allowed to divulge such information to the public”, she replied.

“Look I’m not here to get into any trouble–”, whispered Odeus.

“The duke of Solcrest asked you a question young miss, do you not want to answer?”, Elder Ernis interrupted, ignoring the fact that Odeus did not want to use his title.

“D-D-D-Duke!?”, She stuttered.

“Apologies your Grace”, she said nervously as she kneeled down. “Yes, a few soldiers in 2 carriages passed through a few hours ago”.

“Hours!?... tsk”, said Odeus. “It seems like their horses were monster hybrids”.

“Yes it would be impossible without having that”, said Elder Ernis.

They finished up their registration and went through the Tera ring. 

At first glance, Tera rIngs just look like a large ring-like structure. However, when a high magician activates the ring, the gap in the center that could normally be seen through changes. The structure pulls Mana from its source, a black mana crystal. White, blue and black hues will start to spiral in the center eventually enveloping the entire interior of the structure. The magician then selects another ring to connect to. The high magician at the selected ring will sense the connection and then activate that Tera ring also. The two rings are then connected and things will be able to pass through safely.

After going through the Tera ring, Odeus and the others went directly to the main family’s residence in the capital. What awaited them was truly shocking.

An entire platform was built and could be seen from the entrance of the residence. Some commoners were standing at the gate wondering what was happening. They moved out of the way allowing Odeus’ carriage to enter. After going down the long-paved path they finally stopped and exited the carriage. They looked up on the platform to see that a guillotine was already present meaning that they were already ready to do the deed. 

Odeus and the others were prevented from entering the main family’s mansion and had to stand outside and wait. Soon after, nobles had begun to gather. Only then did they bring Miliana out. Odeus attempted to rush to her side but a platoon of armed guards prevented him from doing so.

The Blackstones of the main family exited their mansion and went up onto the platform. There was the Duke of Obsidiae Thomas and his two sons: Owain Blackstone Marquess of Osrinto and Bruce Blackstone Count of Jadieden. They were followed by a guard that led Miliana who was in mana binding chains up onto the platform.

The Blackstones of the main family took their place on the platform next to the guillotine and so did the guard who held Miliana's chains tightly. Thomas and Bruce were there snickering and laughing among themselves, but Miliana paid them no heed. She focused on her family which she could see in the crowd, trying to get their attention and she did. Odeus and Miliana made eye contact. She smiled as she usually does and Odeus does the same trying to put on a brave face.

Bruce the second son of Duke Thomas saw that the couple was having a moment and urged his father to carry on with the execution.

"All right let's get this over with", Duke Thomas announced. "As you all know, several years ago my brother Ernis made heinous mistakes and he was punished by the previous emperor. His mistakes caused the family to break in 2, but fortunately for him, His majesty spared his life. Everyone here knows this story, and how the emperor placed restrictions on them who we know as the Blackstone branch family… Tsk. If I had my way I would have stripped them of their name, what an embarrassment that we have to share a family name” said Thomas as he looked down on Elder Ernis.

Elder Ernis didn’t even glance at him but instead was looking at Miliana and holding on to Axel. This annoyed Thomas.  

Thomas continued.

“But here we are again, having to hold Them accountable for their actions because they can’t follow simple rules. This woman and her husband decided that 1 heir was not good enough for them and would have more despite the previous emperor’s command to only have 1. So we are here as we were tasked to, to delve out punishment on these treacherous fools”.

He nodded to the guard next to him and the guard grabbed Miliana and placed her into the guillotine. Her neck was now held in place by this bloodied contraption.

Miliana knew her final moments were upon her and took the chance to look at her family for the last time Odeus stepped closer to his father and placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. Axel was tearing up but he was trying to be strong. Elias was infuriated by the spectacle, he was from the modern times where such acts were never condoned. 

Elder Ernis had a sad expression, he felt guilty. He was furious at his own uselessness and the brother who continued to commit such evil acts.

Thomas raised his hands and the guard drew his sword. 

Owain, Thomas’ firstborn was uninterested in the entire affair, he was only there because he was required to be. Thomas’ second son Bruce was reveling in the fact that Odeus was watching his wife being executed. He was cruel like his father and similar to him in many other ways as well. 

As expected, Thomas was enjoying every moment of it. He looked back and forth from Elder Ernis to Odeus’ face.

Odeus began breathing heavily and his heartbeat raced, he got anxious as Thomas was purposefully raising anticipation. Thomas swung his hand. The guard swiftly sliced the rope causing the blade of the guillotine to come crashing down.

Odeus moved swiftly to cover Axel’s eyes but Axel had already caught a glimpse of the blood splattering before the darkness covered his eyes. He knew that his mother was no more.

Axel released a bloodcurdling scream as he tried to pry off his father’s hand. Elias made sure he saw everything, including the faces of the Blackstones and other nobles who seemed satisfied with the outcome. Elias had never felt such rage before. It was the type of rage that caused pain to its owner. He had not felt much emotion since he became a ghastly existence but at that moment, that thought was far from his mind.

Meanwhile, Axel was screaming and creating a scene. Odeus could do nothing more than to hug his son who was on a rampage of misery. He didn’t seem like was going to calm down anytime soon. Odeus didn’t know what to do, that’s when it happened.