Free Web NovelChapter 10: The Duke’s Gambit
The aftermath of the Grand Tribunal left the Academy in a state of suspended animation. No one dared to look Vince in the eye as he walked through the stone corridors. The students parted like the Red Sea, their faces a mix of awe and pure, unadulterated dread. In a single morning, the power dynamic of Oakhaven had been permanently rewritten.
Inside the newly fortified Faculty Spire, the atmosphere was vastly different.
Elena’s private laboratory had been completely overhauled. Thanks to the immediate, frantic transfer of institutional funds authorized by a terrified Vice-Principal Alden, the tables were now cluttered with high-grade mana crystals, rare alchemical reagents, and ancient texts on core stabilization.
Vince stood by the tall gothic window, looking down at the campus plaza. His stats screen shimmered slightly in his peripheral vision, a reminder of the raw power humming beneath his skin.
[Ding! Sovereign’s Territory (Tier 1) is now active.]
[Current Domain: Oakhaven Academy Faculty Spire.]
[Domain Perk: Host and bound harem members receive a 15% recovery bonus to Mana and Stamina while within the territory.]
A soft rustle of silk sounded behind him. Two slender arms slid around his waist, and a soft, full chest pressed firmly against his back. Elena rested her chin on his shoulder, inhaling his scent deeply. Her silver hair was tied up loosely, a few stray strands framing her flushed, radiant face.
"The Duke’s hounds have already begun to move," Elena murmured, her voice entirely devoid of the icy edge she showed the world. To Vince, she was nothing but gentle warmth. "My network within the Mage Guild reports that Duke Oakhaven has placed a massive black-market bounty on your head. He isn’t just angry about Brad; he’s terrified of the threat you’re becoming."
Vince turned around in her embrace, trapping her between his body and the window frame. He cupped her chin, lifting her face so their eyes met. "Let him send whoever he wants. The more high-tier mages he sends, the better... either way it’s a win for me."
Elena’s violet eyes darkened with a mixture of fierce pride and submission. She leaned into his touch, her breath shallow. "I know you are strong, Master... but the Duke has access to the Shadow-Claw assassins. They don’t fight honorably. They use standard A-Rank concealment magic and lethal curses."
Before Vince could respond, a sharp, flashing crimson notification blinked across his vision.
[Warning! Infiltration Detected within the Sovereign’s Territory!]
[Target: Three Unknown Entities. Stealth Status: Active (A-Rank Void Concealment).]
[Distance: 20 meters... approaching the laboratory doors.]
Vince’s eyes narrowed into slits, a dark, dangerous smile spreading across his face. "Speaking of the devil."
Elena instantly picked up on the shift in his aura. Her body went rigid, her mana flaring to life, the temperature in the room spiking. "They’re here?" freewёbnoνel.com
"Don’t activate your magic yet," vince whispered, pressing a brief, commanding kiss to her lips that left her momentarily breathless. "They think they have the element of surprise. Let’s show them what happens when you step into a predator’s den."
Vince casually walked over to the velvet armchair in the center of the room, sitting down and crossing his legs. Elena took her place right behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders, pretending to look anxious while secretly gathering a massive vortex of compressed crimson flame within her core.
The heavy oak doors of the laboratory didn’t open. Instead, the shadows stretching beneath the doorway began to writhe and detach themselves from the floor. Three humanoid figures materialized from the darkness, completely draped in obsidian leather armor, their faces covered by masks etched with glowing silver runes. In their hands, they wielded jagged daggers dripping with a pale, glowing green liquid—Grave-Rot poison.
"Vince the no-talent," the lead assassin hissed, his voice sounding like grinding stones. "By order of the Duke, your life is forfeit. The professor dies too for her betrayal."
"An impressive stealth spell," Vince remarked, not even bother to stand up. He looked at them with absolute boredom. "But your masking runes have a slight delay when transitioning from the void back to the physical plane. About 0.4 seconds."
The lead assassin flinched behind his mask. "Arrogant brat!"
The three assassins blurred, launching themselves forward from three different angles, their poison-coated daggers aiming for Vince’s throat, heart, and femoral artery. Their speed was immense, typical of high-tier A-rank physical enhancement.
But compared to Vince’s stats, they looked like they were moving through thick molasses.
[Ding! Shared Skill [Infernal Overdrive] Activated!]
[Sovereign’s Pressure: Maximize!]
Vince didn’t draw a weapon. He simply slammed his foot down onto the stone floor.
BOOM!
A massive shockwave of dense, violet-tinted flames erupted from his foot, rippling outward in a perfect circle. The sheer concussive force tore up the stone tiles, and the blistering heat instantly vaporized the Grave-Rot poison off the assassins’ daggers before they could even get within five feet of him.
The three assassins shrieked as the invisible weight of [Sovereign’s Pressure] slammed into them mid-air. It felt as if gravity had suddenly multiplied by a hundred. All three of them were violently brought down to the floor, their knees shattering against the stone as they were forced to bow before Vince’s chair.
"What... what kind of monster are you?!" the lead assassin choked out, his mask burning against his skin as the ambient heat in the room began to melt his leather armor. His A-Rank mana barrier was cracking under the passive weight of Vince’s aura alone.
I doubt Elena’s magic is this powerful it seems the system amplifies it by a large margin when I use it
Vince stood up slowly, walking over to the kneeling leader. He placed his boot firmly on the assassin’s shoulder, pressing down just enough to make the bones groan.
"I’ve never held this school in high regard considering the mockery and human degradation I was forced to endure...but that is in the past, as you three are about to be too," Vince said softly.
He glanced back at Elena. "Elena, please burn the other two to ash. Leave this one alive. He’s going to carry a package back to the Duke for me."
"With pleasure, Master," Elena purred.
With a casual flick of her wrist, two waves of blinding white-hot flame shot from her palms, instantly enveloping the two remaining assassins. They didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies were completely incinerated, leaving nothing but two piles of gray ash on the ruined rug.
The lead assassin trembled violently, his pride completely shattered as he realized his elite squad had been wiped out in less than ten seconds. They never stood a chance against Vince and an elite professor gone rogue.
Vince reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, glowing purple crystal—a tracking core he had bought from the system shop using the tokens he earned from the tribunal. He leaned down, violently jamming the crystal directly into the assassin’s shoulder blade, fusing it to his bone with a burst of heat.
"Aaargh!" the assassin roared in agony.
"Tell the Duke that I’ll be watching him," Vince whispered into the assassin’s ear, his violet eyes flashing with a terrifying, cosmic light. "Every asset he owns, every house he builds, I will track everything. Tell him to pack his bags, because the Sovereign is coming for Oakhaven."
Vince kicked the assassin backward toward the window. "Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind."
The terrified assassin didn’t hesitate. He scrambled to his feet, threw himself out of the shattered glass window, and used his remaining mana to fade into the shadows of the outer campus, fleeing for his life.
As silence returned to the room, Elena walked over to Vince, her eyes glassy with an intense, overflowing lust. The display of absolute, effortless cruelty and dominance had completely triggered her bound instincts. Her breath was hot against his neck as she wrapped her arms around him from behind once more.
"You’re magnificent, Master..." she whimpered, her teeth gently biting his earlobe. "The way you controlled the flames... the way you broke him... Please. Command me. Let me serve you before we begin the hunt."
"Master?...ohh please thats to formal call me Vince"
Vince turned his head, catching her lips in a fierce, demanding kiss.
