NOVEL NEXT Chapter 146: Clearance
The series of blows should have been enough to silence the elderly man forever, but reality offered a different version.
The elderly man seemed to be recovering well; granted, they also had mana contained in their body. Those mana were constantly healing his wounds, which in turn caused Leonard to be even more ruthless.
Leonard was afraid of killing the old man too quickly, so he withheld most of his power.
"Thank you for being so resilient." Leonard gave thanks when he realized he could gradually increase his power.
"No, you cannot do this." Frightened, the old man finally came to his senses. "Let me go, and I'll pretend this incident never happened. Okay?"
The intruders had no regard for the laws and the sacred garden's hidden rules.
He might have regenerated, but the pain still existed. He truly couldn't endure much longer. Alas, their suggestion was completely ignored.
What Leonard cared about wasn't the so-called laws that only applied to the weaklings. He only cared about seeking justice for the deceased Irene, who still had to suffer insults after death.
"Let me go? Who the hell do you think you are?" He sneered coldly.
Soon, his fists were wreathed in violent mana, and came crashing down on the elderly man again and again.
POW! WHAM! BAM!
Each strike landed with bone-crunching force, sending bursts of wild energy scattering across the garden.
The cobblestone beneath them cracked into spiderweb fractures, and the air reverberated like a drum struck by thunder.
"Stop… Please, no more!" The elderly man tried to defend himself, but found himself restrained completely by Mirelle's magic. He wanted to speak again to hopefully persuade Leonard to stop, only for another backhand, reinforced with mana, to be swung to his cheek, shattering his teeth.
His body squirmed from the pain; his luxury robes, now covered in dirt and soil, were causing some of the flowers to wilt.
"How dare you ruin the sacred garden! Those flowers are worth more than your life, and you dare cause them to wilt?!!" Leonard cursed in fury. His knee then slammed into the old man's chest again, lifting him off the ground for an instant before a downward elbow smashed him back into the soil.
The man coughed blood violently, the crimson spray staining the sacred garden soil he had been so proud of protecting.
The flaring mana around Leonard distorted the very air. Sparks danced across his arms like black fire, uncontrolled and unstable. His movements carried no discipline, no artistry of combat, only sheer destructive force.
"Again with the blaspheme?" Leonard clicked his tongue. "It appears that you haven't learned your lesson."
With the accusation continuously flying around, the elderly man tried to crawl, but to no avail.
"I was wrong, Sir. Forgive this old man." He couldn't move a single muscle, his voice croaking in desperation, but Leonard's shoe slammed down on his back, pinning him into the earth with a quake-like thud.
The pressure of uncontrolled mana bore down like a mountain, suffocating and oppressive.
"Forgive you? Why are you asking me for forgiveness? You should ask the beautiful flowers for forgiveness." Leonard calmly said.
"The flowers are lifeless, Sir. They don't deserve any attention. It is their honor to be buried alongside the woman." The old man finally understood his hidden meaning.
All along, Leonard wanted him to learn that the so-called beautiful flowers in his eyes were nothing more than just mere decoration without much value.
The man's eyes bulged in terror as he glanced at Leonard. 'This is a madman who couldn't care less about the difficulty of growing these flowers.'
When the old man finally came to his senses and realized his intention, Leonard paused his attacks.
He was actually exhausted from trying to gather so much uncontrollable mana into a form of attack.
His clothes were stained with blood sourced from the old man. Had the latter been any regular person, then they would have long succumbed to their injuries.
"So I have clearance to use this place as a proper burial, right?" Leonard asked.
"Naturally. You're free to bury as many people as you want." The elderly man hurriedly said, afraid of receiving another round of thrashing.
While the elderly man was beaten into submission, the women watching from afar couldn't even breathe.
Shirley's knees gave way as she covered her mouth, trembling uncontrollably. The others bit their lips hard, trying to remain composed, but couldn't hide the fear crawling in their chest.
The elderly man was no longer a figure of authority, no longer a proud guardian of sacred grounds. He was a broken husk dangling in Leonard's grasp, bones shattered, blood drenching his robes, eyes glassy with disbelief.
This version of Leonard made them feel foreign and scared of losing him.
"It's a good thing that you still have some uses for him, Mirelle." Caroline suddenly said. "If you didn't, then the one on the receiving end would have been you."
Mirelle was silent at the remark. She understood that Leonard wasn't just furious with the elderly man's snide statement. But rather, it was a collection of anger stemming from their incompetence.
And it wasn't just their incompetence alone, but Leonard's included.
His confidence and somewhat arrogant behavior inadvertently resulted in today's situation.
What defensive barrier or hidden people are lurking to keep him protected?
None of that was actually useful in times of crisis!
He had perceived death at that particular moment and thought he was a goner.
This was the main reason why he was so infuriated.
He was infuriated at himself for being incompetent and weak!
'This cursed Inverted Mana Flow Disorder!' He clenched his fist tightly, his eyes gazing at the feeble old man on the ground.
Their recovery ability was finally reaching its end. They had no more mana to help sustain his wounds.
"Toss him out to the berserk slave!" Leonard flatly commanded. Since this elderly man had the nerve to watch the people outside get destroyed by the berserk slaves, he shall follow suit.
"Yes, Boss!" Mirelle readily jumped the gun and grabbed hold of the elderly man. She wanted to tell Leonard that she was willing to commit such an immoral action.