Traitor of Humanity

Right after the lord of the Zefer family had return from his trip, he had called all of his mistresses into his bedroom. No one knew the cause of the incident, but that day, none of those mistresses came out of that bedroom alive.

...

After driving away Throm Bilin, Merab Zefer had went to a famed clinic in an immortal city to find out what exactly what had been done to him. The acute pain that he felt in his groin, or more accurately, in his testicles, during their life and death struggle… gave him a horrifying premonition. The clinicians in larger cities are usually more capable than those in smaller cities, Thus, he felt some hope for salvation but after the examination…

This was what the clinician had to say... "I apologize, sir. But this isn't something that I can do anything about. You say you were struck by poison? I can only tell you that this is a very vicious poison. It is not one that inhibits sexual drive, but most likely, one that after entering the bloodstream, seeks out your sexual organs, and directly corrodes them. If an antidote is taken on the spot, it can be stopped, but repairing the damage after the fact is… impossible."

It was at that moment, that Merab Zefer swore, "…Throm Bilin, Bilin family, I swear on my family name of Zefer, that I will never let go of this grudge until the day I die!".

After getting back home, Merab Zefer still had a tinge of hope that maybe that clinician had made a mistake in his diagnosis, or was for some reason, lying to him. Thus, he called all of his mistresses to his bedroom to have them excite him with their bodies. He had them provide him every service he could think of. In the end… nothing happened. There was no reaction. In order to prevent this shameful fact from getting out, he silenced every single one of his mistresses then and there, either choking them to death or smashing their heads in with his fist.

When the news got out that Merab Zefer had killed all of his mistresses so suddenly, everyone in the mansion was appalled. The people that took the naked and bloody corpses out from their lord's bedroom just could not keep their mouths shut about this shocking atrocity. They knew that their lord was closer to a devil than a saint, but he never killed anyone for no reason. Just how had these mistresses offended him...

...

Later that day, an even more shocking event happened.

Merab Zefer's second son, Ross Zefer, drew his sword in a mad attempt at trying to kill his father. Of course, with his strength that is even lower than that of the deceased Fabin Zefer's, his attempt was laughably futile, and he was swatted away like a fly.

When the people in the mansion heard about this, they were first shocked. Then, they calmed down. It was no wonder that the second son did what he did. The second son, Ross Zefer, was born from one of Lord Zefer's mistresses, one of the mistresses that were killed without reason earlier this day!

What actually ended up most surprising, was that the heartless Merab Zefer had pardoned his second son's act of treason. Normally, shouldn't the price for such an act, no matter how futile it was, be death?

When Merab Zefer was watching his second son being dragged away by his subordinates, kicking and screaming, swearing that as long as he lives, there will be a day where he will kill him, his birth father. Although there was fury burning within him, strangely enough, he did not blame his second son for this act of treason.

Even if he is an unfilial son, he is one of the last sons that he will ever have in his entire life.

Of course, neither did he blame himself for killing his son's mother.

Instead, his fury was directed at one man, Throm Bilin!

After Ross was dragged away, when there was no longer anyone around, Lord Zefer sighed. It had been a long time since he had felt this tired.

"How are families destroyed? This, is exactly how families are destroyed…"

Merab Zefer didn't know, but from this moment on, from the moment that he mentioned the word "family" in this way, his personality had begun to change.

…

Under the darkened sky, in one of the cells within the prison of the Zefer Mansion, a teenage boy sat cross-legged, staring at the moon through the window bars with tears lingering in the corner of his reddened eyes.

Compared to the other prisoners within the prison, there were no chains, nor any visible wounds, on his body at all. There were even blankets, food, and water, placed within his cell. For a prisoner, this can be considered quite the luxurious treatment. This teenage boy is Lord Zefer's second son, Ross Zefer.

After having attempted to kill his father, Ross was dragged away by some soldiers and locked in this prison cell to be grounded for an indeterminate amount of time. The specific duration stated by his father was until his head cools down, but Ross himself knew that would never happen. Even if his body cools, the fire of rage in his heart will never go out.

Ross's mother, despite being one of the lord's mistresses, had the role of a servant of the Zefer family. Her looks were uncommon, but her background was insignificant. She was simply pull off the streets and forced to work in this mansion. She was the type that would work hard every day despite getting little in return. After Ross was born, she had taken care of him alone, even while working.

Ross loved that mother of his. As for his father, he only felt a sense of distance from him. Born as a son of the Zefer family, he was provided healthy foods, clean clothes, and sturdy shelter, a training environment that included equipment that he could practice with, and soldiers that he could spar with.

Being the son of a mistress, no one in the mansion had any expectations for him, but Ross did not care much about that. His only complaints were the elder brother (now deceased) who would always find a reason to bully him, and his father's official wife who always looks at him as though he is some disgusting stray. As for his relationships with his other relatives… he had many sisters. Over the years, he watched them come and go. Being half siblings with them, Ross never proactively tried to interact with them. He was never one that was good at speaking to girls, unlike his younger brother Seth.

Speaking of that younger brother, Seth was probably the only relative, or even person, that Ross ever felt like he got along with in this mansion besides his mother, even if just a little bit, even if just because of how cheerfully that little boy a whole generation younger than him calls him "elder brother". Imagine Ross's surprise when he learned two weeks ago how that cheerful little boy ripped his hateful elder brother apart.

"If only I had half the talent that Seth has, then I could take revenge for you, mother…" Ross regretfully said.

Just thinking about the appearance of his mother's corpse cause his heart to clench, and his head to burn with madness.

Ross touched his chest with one hand. Under his shirt, there was a pretty bad bruise on his chest. This was where his father had struck him with a palm strike when he had drawn his sword in a reckless attempt to slash him down. Although his father had held back so that no damage was done to his bones, Ross was still sent flying into the opposite wall, the impact shaking him so badly that he wasn't able to get up until the soldiers dragged him away.

"Why… Why am I so weak…" Ross lamented.

It was just then that through the cell window, where a trickle of moonlight entered through, a sheet of paper seeped through the gaps of the window bars, and floated down until they hit the cell floor. One sheet landed, and then another, and another. Each page had a number at the bottom, indicating that they can be assembled into a book.

"Who's there!?" Ross cried, but no answer came back. Neither did he manage to catch anyone's shadow by looking through the cell window. It can't be that these pages are appearing out of thin air, right?

"What is this?"

Out of curiosity, Ross picked up the pieces of paper. At the top of the first page, in what seems to be freshly dried ink, were written words in bold:

"Another Helianthus Manual (Paladin Cultivation Technique)"

After Ross began reading through the manual, his face went through many expressions. Shock. Excitement. Confusion... Deep Hesitation. Determination. Indescribable Pain...