landbeastnovel Chapter 490 - 487 – Submerged Rage
Chapter 490 - 487 – Submerged Rage
The night grew deeper in the empire’s capital, leaving behind gusts of bone-chilling cold wind. The lanterns along the central market corridors began extinguishing one by one, leaving only faint, dim light from a few stalls still open for late-night customers. The rich and spicy aroma of ramen broth still clung heavily to the air, mixed with the scent of wet earth after the afternoon rain, road dust, fading candle smoke, and a faint fishy smell from the drainage ditches along the street.Sylvia, Alicia, and Stacia finally finished cleaning up their ramen stall. Their bodies were tired, but there was a deep sense of satisfaction after a long and unexpected day. The once-endless queue had completely disappeared. Only a few scattered disposable bowls remained on the ground, thick broth stains drying on the wooden table, and a few glistening oil droplets under the pale moonlight.
The three of them sat for a moment on simple folding chairs behind the stall. Sol curled comfortably in Sylvia’s lap, his eyes half-closed from exhaustion, his tail occasionally twitching slowly as if dreaming. Qilin slept soundly in Alicia’s lap, his holy horn dim like dying embers, his breathing steady and calm. Stacia stretched her arms while letting out a small yawn, her shoulders slumping from soreness after hours of nonstop customer service.
"Finally... I didn’t expect selling ramen to be this exhausting," Stacia complained in a half-joking tone, her voice slightly hoarse from talking too much all day. "My hands are so sore from packing bowls. Even my fingers feel stiff."
Alicia smiled gently, though faint dark circles were clearly visible under her beautiful eyes. She stroked Qilin’s back with loving affection, her fingers tracing the creature’s soft fur. "But seeing people happy and addicted to our cooking... It feels worth it. That little kid even asked for seconds. His eyes sparkled when he tasted the broth. Tomorrow we rest completely, okay? No selling, no nothing. We need time to recover our energy."
Sylvia nodded slowly. Her fingers continued gently stroking Sol’s golden fur in slow, calming movements, as if the touch also soothed herself. "Yes. Let’s head back to the inn now. Tomorrow morning we’ll calmly plan our next steps. This capital is starting to feel... suffocating. Too many eyes watching, too many ears listening."
They quickly and efficiently cleaned up the stall. All the cooking equipment, leftover fresh ingredients, spices, and merchandise were stored back into Sylvia’s system storage without leaving any significant traces. Nothing was forgotten. The zombie horse carriage was already waiting faithfully at the edge of the market. The two undead horses stood patiently with their faintly glowing blood-red eyes in the darkness, their breath releasing faint cold vapor, as if their dead souls could still feel the chill of the night.
They boarded the carriage. Sylvia sat in the front coachman’s seat, her black coat enveloping her slender body. Alicia and Stacia sat inside with Sol and Qilin. The vehicle began moving slowly along the increasingly quiet streets toward The Dragon Inn. The carriage wheels creaked softly over the wet paving stones, accompanied by the muffled sound of the zombie horses’ steps. The night wind blew colder, carrying the scent of wet leaves from the city gardens, fading lantern smoke, and the characteristic smell of damp earth after rain.
Sylvia sat upright, her faintly glowing red eyes calmly staring ahead. Her thoughts drifted to tonight’s successful sales and her recent level increase. For a moment, there was a rare sense of peace in her heart, a brief moment where she felt like an ordinary human simply wanting to enjoy the fruits of her hard work with her loved ones.
But that peace didn’t last long.
Several figures dressed in pitch-black suddenly emerged from the shadows of narrow alleys and rooftops on both sides of the street. They moved silently, like highly trained assassin ghosts, likely subordinates of one of the palace factions or expensive professional hired killers. Without saying a word, they immediately launched a sudden attack.
Throwing weapons flew fiercely: faintly gleaming black poisoned knives, sharp serrated shuriken, and nearly invisible long poisoned needles. The attack was perfectly coordinated, targeting vital points.
Sylvia reacted instantly. Her undead instincts worked faster than conscious thought. Chains of Abyss exploded from her shadows like thousands of living dark serpents. The thick black chains formed a solid living shield in front of the carriage, clashing and vibrating with power.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing against chains echoed loudly in the narrow alley, shattering the night’s silence. Most of the throwing weapons shattered or bounced far into the stone walls. But some managed to slip through small gaps, aiming directly at Sylvia’s body in the foremost position. She was clearly the main target the attackers had thoroughly studied their priorities.
BANG! BOOMM!
From rooftops on both sides of the alley, hidden snipers fired with deadly precision. Poisoned bullets and crystal bullets whistled with lethal intent, aimed directly at Sylvia’s head and chest.
Sylvia’s emotions, which had still been somewhat happy and satisfied after a successful day of selling, instantly tore apart like thin cloth. Her red eyes blazed brightly with pure, burning rage. Her deathly aura exploded without restraint, making the air around the carriage turn piercingly cold and heavy like a graveyard. The temperature dropped drastically, frost forming on the alley walls.
"How dare you..." she muttered in a cold voice full of hatred, her tone low yet echoing like the whisper of death spreading throughout the alley.
Hundreds of black Chains of Abyss emerged simultaneously from her body, shadows, and the surrounding ground. They shot forward at the speed of light, moving like bloodthirsty dark serpents. SCHLAAAKKK! SCHLAAAKKK! SCHLAAAKKK!
The horrifying sound of flesh and bone being pierced echoed in the narrow alley. The attackers hiding in the shadows were forcibly dragged down. Their bodies were stabbed from various directions: chest, stomach, neck, arms, and legs. Blood sprayed heavily onto the alley’s stone walls, creating a horrifying dark red pattern under the moonlight. Short, broken screams were heard, followed by the sound of crushed bones and torn flesh. The stench of blood immediately filled the air.
In just seconds, almost all the attackers died tragically and quickly. Their bodies hung in the air like broken, tattered dolls, impaled by black chains pulsing with dark power. Only one person remained alive, the severely wounded group leader, injured badly in the shoulder and leg. He lay on the stony ground, breathing raggedly, his eyes filled with primal terror as he saw the chains coiling around him like snakes ready to strike at any moment.
Sylvia stepped down from the carriage with slow, oppressive steps. Her black dress swayed gently in the night wind. Her eyes glowed dark red, filled with long-suppressed rage. Her zombie claws extended sharp and pitch-black, emitting a terrifying poisonous aura. Her intention was clear to inject a large amount of zombie poison and let chaos spread throughout the capital. An uncontrollable zombie invasion would be a bitter lesson for the Crown Prince and anyone who dared send assassins after her.
But before her claws touched the man’s skin, Alicia’s urgent voice sounded through group telepathy.
Sylvia... don’t. There are many innocent people in this city. If you release zombie poison now, thousands of innocents will die or turn into monsters. Our identities will also be exposed immediately. We still need time for better preparation.
Sylvia paused for a moment. Her surging rage still burned like black lava in her chest, but Alicia’s wise words brought her back to reason. She let out a long, cold sigh and forcibly controlled herself. Her claws still pierced the man’s heart, killing him quickly, but without injecting the lethal zombie poison.
Instead, black Death Flame ignited in her palm. The cold and hungry dark flames were thrown onto all the attackers’ corpses. The black fire burned quickly and cleanly, turning the bodies into fine black ash that was immediately scattered by the night wind. There was no trace of blood, no evidence, only a faint burnt smell that quickly disappeared into the cold air.
Sylvia returned to the carriage with calm steps, though inwardly she was still somewhat irritated and her anger had not fully subsided. Alicia and Stacia looked at her with clear concern but said nothing. They knew their older sister was struggling to control herself. Sol and Qilin also remained silent, sensing their master’s turbulent emotions.
The zombie horse carriage continued its journey along the remaining city streets toward the inn. The night grew colder, but Sylvia’s internal consciousness was still hot from the suppressed anger she deliberately held back for long-term tactical reasons. She knew the arrogant Crown Prince would never stop. But this time, Sylvia had formulated a new agenda: she would let the man continue moving forward, dancing in the palm of her hand, before finally forcing him to feel absolute destruction.
Upon arriving at the back courtyard of The Dragon Inn, the three girls immediately went up to their suite room. Sylvia chose to sit quietly on the wooden chair on the room’s outer balcony. Her dark red eyes stared straight through the expanse of the starry night sky. The night wind swept across her face, carrying the scent of night flowers from the inn’s garden.
Alicia and Stacia began conditioning their bodies to rest inside the room. As time passed through the silence approaching dawn, the turmoil of anger within Sylvia slowly subsided completely. However, the seeds of a great conflict had been planted that night.