Mid night massacre

The entire Phoenix family was in disarray after the events transpired in the morning. Mary's sudden death caught everyone off guard. At that moment, several elders sat around Mary's casket. Walter was in disarray. His usually combed hair was a mess, and his eyes were puffed out. There were no more tears in his eyes to shed. The sadness of losing his wife overshadows the hatred towards the Bronsons. Except for Sasha, none of Mary's children was there with her. Due to rising tension between the duke of Midtown Vernon and the duke of South town, Edward and Oliver went to the Duke's manor. They were oblivious to what had happened in the clan. On the other hand, Phoenix Grace locked herself in the combat room, destroying the dummies to vent her anger and grief. Despite her young age, she had the heart of a warrior. While Sasha was learning how to sew with her mother, Grace learned archery and swordsmanship from her brothers.

Unlike Grace, who was destroying the dummies, Parker remained inside his room, preparing to end his life. The neat and tidy room was in a shamble. Every corner of the room was destroyed by Parker. His trophies were shattered, dresses were torn apart, and even the mirrors in his room weren't spared from his wrath. He simply destroyed everything that he treasured in his life. The only thing that remained untouched was the portrait of him and his mother. But even the portrait was turned around as Parker did not want his mother to see what he was about to do.

He threw a long piece of cloth onto the chandelier above. Tears rolled out of his eyes as Parker prepared to hang himself to death. He couldn't imagine a life without Lydia or his mother. Now that both of them had left him, he saw no reason to exist in the world. Because of him and his femininity, he lost the two most important people in his life.

There was no reason for him to live any longer.

"I am coming, mother. I will meet you soon," He was about to put his head inside the knot he had created to hang his neck when he felt his room shaking. Everything in the room trembled. Clanking sounds resonated in the room. Halting his movements, Hunter looked around. His legs walked towards the window without his control. The windows cracked open as a cold breeze of wind brushed past his face. Not a single cobrine stone lamp lit the streets as usual. Instead, the compound was empty, desolate, and dark.

Parker looked around the empty compound. Silence haunted the compound. Suddenly, Parker was sent flying from the windows with enough force to make him collide with the wall a couple of meters behind. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Blood spurted out from his shoulder, turning his white robes red. When Parker looked down, he saw a steel arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

"Argh," Parker wanted to scream, but only a muffled cry escaped his mouth. Due to the pain, his vision slowly blurred.

"Don't kill him," Parker heard a dangerous, thick voice. He could hardly lift his head up. When he finally did, he vaguely saw several figures entering his room through the window.

"Who…who…"

Boom!

A figure kicked Parker in the face, almost knocking him out. The figures entered Parker's room clad in black robes from head to toe. Their eyes glistened like rubies under their dark hood. One of them just grabbed Parker by his long black hair. Parker growled in pain, but they ignored it. The portraits and glass pieces got crunched under their heavy boots. A strong scent of blood permeated from the cloaked figures as they dragged Parker out of the room.

The blood poured out of Parker's wound left a long bloody trail on the way. Parker grabbed the man's hand, trying to free himself. However, Parker was too weak. He couldn't even move the man's hand an inch away from his hair.

"Who-" A maid who saw these figures tried to shout in shock. Before her cry could escape her mouth, a cloaked figure swung his sword, literally cutting the maid in two halves.

"Make sure no one escapes," Parker heard the cloaked figure dragging him speak. His killing lust made the corridor colder. As the cloaked figure dragged Parker, he felt his hands becoming wet and slimy. To his utter shock, Parker saw the two gory body chunks. He knew everyone in the Phoenix clan, but Parker couldn't recognize the body at that moment. His mind went blank, and he failed to process what was happening. Who were these cloaked figures? What were they doing? Why were they doing this? So many questions riddled Parker's mind. But his body refused to let his brain analyze the situation because he was in too much pain. His family had pampered him so much to the point they had never even let him suffer a simple cut. So physical pain such as this was something new to Parker.

"What-"

Another unfortunate servant exited a room at the wrong time. The cloaked figures showed no mercy. The one who slaughtered the maid earlier swung his bloody sword once again. This time, the sword aimed for his neck. The servant's shout was short-lived. Slowly, his head fell clean off of his shoulder. By the time his head hit the ground with a small thud, the cloaked figures had dragged Parker around the corner.

Silence haunted the main hall. Walter, Sarah, and the elders who loved Maria sat around the casket with gloomy faces. Their grief was pretty visible in their eyes. Until now, they were all oblivious to the killings happening in the mansion. When the blacked-robed figures and Parker were just a corner away from Walter, the elders, and the guards, the black-robed figures halted their steps.

"Keep his mouth shut until I finish casting the spell," The figure who led the others ordered. Parker tried to scream. Yet, the figure dragging him quickly shut his mouth from behind. Parker squirmed but Parker was nowhere close to overpowering the man.

The lights flickered in the corridor when the leading figure raised his hand over his head. Slowly, the astral energy in the atmosphere sucked into the man's body. Golden sparks appeared around his hand, slowly glowing brighter and brighter. The man cast a chantless spell that only high-level mages were capable of. Parker's eyes glimmered in the tiny orbs of light hovering in the air. Soon, the little specks of light merged together, forming a chakra on the ground around them.

Parket saw a red glow on their chests as the golden chakra grew bigger and bigger. Countless runes, magic symbols, and words transcribed from ancient texts appeared in the chakra. Inside the round chakra, there were countless smaller rings. They all expanded in size with time. But suddenly, the chakra exploded into millions of golden specks without a trace. As soon as the chakra disappeared, Parker felt empty as though something had been stripped away from him.

"Now let's dance, hehe," The man who cast the spell slowly opened his eyes. A devilish grin emerged behind his dark mask.

"Make him watch," Another figure said before walking around the corner, finally giving the people of Phoenix clan a glimpse of them.

"Who-" An elder's shout was abruptly cut short by the blacked-robed figure with a single sword slash. The elder's head flew away from his shoulder. Blood spurted from the elder's neck, raining down blood upon the Phoenix clan. Every single one in the hall was caught completely off guard. Before they could react, the blacked-robed figures waved their hands, forming a fiery chakra from which countless daggers made of fire shot toward the guards.

"We are under attack!" A warrior shouted. The fiery daggers penetrated the three guards who jumped in front of Walter to save him. They were all armed to the teeth with silver armor, yet the daggers went through the like hot knife through butter. Countless holes riddled their bodies. The knights hit the ground with a heavy thud. The daggers hit the wooden pillars and wall, lighting the place in flames.

Some of the elders tried to get the hell out of the hall through the door but all the doors shut closed by an invisible hand.

"Parker!" Walter saw Parker being held hostage by a blacked robe figure. His grief disappeared instantly. Instead, his killing intent shot through the roof. He leaped over the casket of Maria to reach Parker. The black-robed figures kept firing the daggers, but Walter quickly picked up the metal shield beside the dead knights to shield himself. In a few blink of an eye, Walter closed the gap between him and the two black-robed figures casting the fiery dagger spells. He bashed the heavy metal shield against them, knocking the two out of his way to Parker.

Meanwhile, Sarah tried to conjure elemental beasts to fight off the ambushers. But she couldn't feel the astral energy around her. The leader nullified all the astral energy around them. As a result, no one except the leader and his buddies could cast a spell or use a martial art technique. Simply put, the entire Phoenix clan was turned into mortals from cultivators. No matter whether they were a mage or a warrior, without astral energy, they were nothing more than targets for the black-robed figures to hunt.

Walter's speed surprised the leader. Two of the seven black-robed figures who came inside were knocked out by Walter, one was holding Parker hostage, and the other three cast several spells to kill everyone they saw. So the task of stopping Walter fell on the leader's shoulder.

"Let him go!" Walter roared, dashing toward the one holding Parker hostage. But when Walter was just an arm reaching distance from Parker, a crystalized wall materialized before Walter, stopping him from moving forward.

"Father!" Sarah's voice resonated in the area. Walter turned around to see a sword flying toward him. He caught the sword in mid-air and stabbed the crystal wall. Meanwhile, the entire hall was engulfed by scorching hot flames. Everything the clan cherished and loved turned to ashes. The fire ravaged the place without showing any signs of slowing down. Mutilated dead bodies riddled the ground. In a quick few moments, everyone who fought against the black-robed figures was slaughtered without mercy. Parker's eyes turned red, seeing all the blood and destruction. His mind failed to process everything. When he saw the flames engulfing his mother's coffin, he used all his strength to bite the man's hand.

The black-robed man growled in sharp pain. He grabbed Parker's head, smashing into the crystal wall before them. The collision immediately formed several cracks in the wall.

"Son of a-"

Parker almost lost consciousness. His vision blurred, only seeing the orange and hearing wood crackle under scorching hot flames. Once a beautiful gathering hall turned into ashes just like that. Images of him having a laugh with his family, playing with his little brothers, and getting his butt kicked by his little sister while his parents laughing from behind flashed across his eyes.

Boom!

Walter punched the wall, shaking the crystal wall. But before he could break it, the black-robed figures fired several dark arrows, penetrating Walter's back. Blood spurted onto the crystal wall out of his mouth. He groaned.

"Father!" Sarah tried to run to her father, but a black-robed figure grabbed her by her hair and punched her to the ground. Walter's body lost its strength. His legs gave up as he dropped to his knee.

With a single wave of his hand, the leader made the crystal wall disappear. He slowly stepped toward Walter.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Phoenix Walter. You disappointed me," The leader spoke in a demonic voice. He slowly unsheathed his sword.

"STEP AWAY FROM HIM!" Sarah screamed, only to get a violent kick from the black-robed figure beside her.

"You should have rolled down like a good dog. It's not too late, if you beg me-"

To his surprise, Walter spat on his face instead of crying for mercy. An intense killing lust exploded from his body. His body trembled. In a blink, he slashed his sword across Walter's head, cleaving the head off of the shoulder.

"FATHER!" Sarah's scream was ear-piercing. She tried to crawl into her father's headless body.

Parker's vision slowly cleared up. He was mortified when he saw his father's head staring at him with open eyes. Parker threw up immediately.

"Stand up," The leader grabbed Parker by his hair and picked him up. The man behind Parker noticed the leader's gaze fixated on Sarah. Even without a word, they all knew what was about to happen to Sarah. The man behind Parker once again grabbed Parker from behind.

"You are a pretty bitch aren't you?" asked the leader. Sparks flew from his fingertips and soon, the sparks became a stream of fire that charcoaled the ground beneath.

"No," Parker panicked. He tried to reach out for his sister when the leader directed the stream of fire to Sarah. The flames engulfed the young girl.

"ARGGHHHH!" She screamed in agonizing pain.

"SARAH!" Parker screamed as loud as he could from one hand. His heart ached and he felt like dying. The smell of burning flesh nauseated his nostrils.

As Sarah was rolling on the ground, crying in agony, the leader punched Parker in the face as hard as he could.

When everything was said and done, the black-robed figures gathered around Maria's body.

"What about the two elder sons?" asked one of the black-robed figures.

"Black Mamba is on the task. They will receive the same gift as him," the leader looked over his shoulder to Parker, who remained on the ground unconscious.

"He was a dancer, right? Break his legs and sell him to a slave trader for cheap. That feminine bitch should suffer the rest of his life for thinking about my sister," The leader took off his black mask, revealing his face. It was none other than Roman Bronson, Lydia Bronson's elder brother.

"And as for this bitch," Roman looked at Maria.

"Burn her with him. Reunion by flames, I like that," he turned around to leave the place through the ceiling. Suddenly, he halted his steps.

"Lydia?" Roman uttered the word. Parker's ear twitched, but no one noticed it.

"It's done. You don't have to worry about it anymore," said roman in his natural voice without turning it into a demonic voice with astral energy.

"I'll be home for dinner," Roman smiled.

A few moments later, Roman looked over his shoulder at his men.

"Now let's go finish what we started," with eyes full of excitement, the black-robed figures except two disappeared from the hall to hunt down Parker's little sister and two little brothers. The remaining two had one more task to perform, break Parker's legs and sell him to the slave traders.