"Finish the job? You mean kill him!" Avan gasped, then his furious voice followed: "You would dare ignore your status and act against a child!"

The other four remained silent, sharing a unanimous stance.

They didn’t feel at ease. Each time that blight lived, there was a chance of what happened back then happening again.

Recalling the past, chills crawled down their spines.

Further solidifying their stance — that half-blood had to die!

Avan’s fists banged on the table furiously. He was already mad — they wanted to kill a child for what? Nothing but what he could possibly become.

Back then, the family had almost been brought to the brink of extinction by similar Duskreaver half-bloods.

It had happened so often it built a deep root of resentment across generations, causing the ingrained detest for bastards the Duskreavers carried.

But to think they would go as far as killing him...

He could only watch helplessly as they said no more and left, disbelief and pity raging in his heart.

Avan didn’t have the strength or influence to stop them.

The shadowy frames of the elders drifted quickly toward the elevator, setting out for the underground floor.

They had to do this right away, not giving anyone a chance to react. That way, no matter what happened later, it would be too late.

Unfortunately for them, reality proved otherwise.

Stepping into the empty room that supposedly held Seth, the elders spread their senses...

And felt nothing. No feedback?

Huh? Did they miss something? They spread a wave of mental scan... but still nothing.

One of them pulled down his hood, revealing an extremely aged individual with eyes sunken into a bony skull and severely wrinkled skin.

"No, no, no... he couldn’t have escaped, could he?" he muttered with a frown.

The rest remained silent, knowing this was likely possible.

"We need to order a lockdown now! That little fucker mustn’t escape, or it would spell disaster!" One of them finally snarled out of his daze.

His figure burst into a blur, vanishing from the room. Frowning, the others followed suit.

They quickly set the protocol, locking down the entire estate for real this time.

Countless teams of guards searched the mansion room by room, even inspecting the air ducts — but they found nothing.

A dreadful premonition budded in their hearts. Unwilling to give up, they spread the search to all the houses in the estate.

But still nothing!

Did this kid really pull one on them and just vanish?

Apparently so, and it left quite the bitter aftertaste.

One of the elders suggested coldly: "Let’s find out more about him. He is human after all and would have a weakness. We find his Achilles heel and string him with it."

The rest nodded, giving off a cold brazen force. They went to investigate more on Seth.

With their status, that was easy — quickly learning about him in a heartbeat. And something caught their attention.

"A younger aunt, huh? This will do!" One of the elders concluded, a sinister grin glinting underneath his hood.

"Send for her quickly... hehehe. You little cunt, you can run for now, but surely you will be back — willingly, but not voluntarily." One chuckled.

The scene fades...

"Sigh... I’m really sorry for wasting your time!" Maya bowed deeply toward the four before her.

She had assumed if she met up with the few Duskreavers she was familiar with, she might have been able to get a lead or at least pass a message to Seth.

But that had ended badly. Not only had all of them refused, some even outright refused to meet with her.

Her attempt to get hold of his siblings and father was also to no avail.

Hence why she was apologizing — she had given them hope only to crush it.

Especially now that she knew their true identities as Seth’s friends who had cleared the corruption zone.

"No, no worries, Maya." Elaine quickly waved, stepping forward to help her up.

Brandon sighed. "It is disappointing we didn’t get to meet big bro, but it isn’t your fault, miss. We should even be thanking you for trying your best."

Maya finally straightened with a smile. She was just about to bid them farewell. After all, while they were resigned to end their efforts here, she wasn’t!

She wouldn’t stop until she got feedback or something that could put her heart to rest.

Seth was her only family, and she couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him.

"Wait, it isn’t that bad yet. Maybe the family meeting didn’t end as early, hence the delay?" she pondered.

After all, it made sense. Maybe that was why her Big Uncle and the others were also unreachable.

Though she tried to convince herself this was the case, she couldn’t help the fear that churned in her heart.

Suddenly, three cars parked before, behind, and beside them, boxing them in with no place to run. Men in black stepped out of the vehicles.

"Maya Ironblood, we are here for you. Come with us!" A man spoke coldly as he cocked a pistol he had just pulled from his suit.

Before an evolver of Maya’s caliber, using a gun could deal little to no damage.

Well, that was only the case when she wasn’t aimed at point-blank range with too little space to dodge.

Though a shot might not kill her, it would cause a lot of pain and surely incapacitate her.

So it was only natural she tensed, fear rippling in her heart.

’Who were these guys? And why were they after her?’ This question flashed in her mind, but before she could voice it, a figure stepped before her, shielding her behind him.

Brandon stared dead into the man in black’s eyes. "I advise you to put that toy away and go home."

The man in black didn’t seem fazed. He gave a signal with his free hand, and all his other underlings pulled out their guns, cocking them and pointing aim.

The man spoke calmly: "And I will advise you to mind your business."

But one of his men stepped forward and whispered in his ear.

His eyes flashed — he had just been informed of their identities.

"Good. This could be seen as killing two birds with one stone. We can gather these government agents up and offer them to the elders."

The man smiled faintl 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

y, the sides of his lips tugging into a smug grin.

"Never mind. I’ve changed my mind. We are taking you all with us!"