23 Season 1 Episode 23: Forgiveness

"ARGHHH!" May Stafford screamed till she was hoarse. She struggled madly yet she discovered that there was a powerful force restricting her from getting up from the ground.

Her unrelenting screams raised goosebumps in the heart of Colton Grey, sending a chill down his spine. May Stafford was in so much pain that she wished she was dead.

Currently, she was in a kneeling position in the Inner Hall Division, in front of Claude Rayforth, the winner of the Inner Disciple Contest.

Just a few minutes ago, a group of men dressed in servant clothes entered the Outer Section, ignoring the eyes of the bewildered crowd, and moved in the direction of Colton Grey's room. After which, screams of agony rang out from the room as the group of men walked out, with one of the men unceremoniously dragging May Stafford's body with a single hand, followed by Colton Grey slowly walking behind them in silence.

"Re… Release me, please...." May Stafford choked, both her hands clawing helplessly at the man's hands but to no avail. This scene caused those in the surroundings to stare in incredulous disbelief as they stared at the group of men with trepidation, lowering their heads, not daring to meet their eyes.

As soon as they reached Claude's Inner Hall Residence, May was directly forced to her knees.

BOOM!

The sounds of her kneecaps slamming against the ground thundered out, with cracks seen on the surface of the ground as she knelt in front of Claude.

Her gaze shifted to Claude, whose eyes were incredibly fiendish. In this instant, just a single glance was sufficient to pierce through all the way to her soul, causing her to feel a bone-biting chill right down to her core.

When Colton Grey stared at Claude, he could no longer look at him normally. His entire body was trembling from fear. He was just a mortal who couldn't practice cultivation, while Claude was an Inner Disciple, and the winner of the Inner Disciple Contest.

Claude swept a glance at him, and just a single glance made Colton feel as though an incomparably sharp beam of light was lacerating his body, shredding his soul into pieces. He had finally realised what kind of monster he had aggravated.

The two of them simply weren't people belonging to the same world!

When Claude shifted his glance back to May Stafford, her entire body froze as though she was awaiting judgement.

"A few weeks ago, I had decided to travel to the Gryfino forest in order to train for the Inner Disciple Contest. I was planning on fighting a few wild beasts in order to gain more experience as well as improve and sharpen my cultivation techniques."

In the dead silence, Claude spoke without interruptions. There was only his voice, echoing through the air.

"However, who would have thought that there would be people pursuing me, trying to kill me while I was in the middle of training? A bit rude, wouldn't you agree? Luckily for me, they were attacked by a group of wild beasts, and the fight ended with their demise. So now, I put this question forth to you: Who in the Golden Avarice Academy would try to kill me? Because truth be told, I don't remember pissing off that many people. In fact, the only people that I can remember who might have a problem with me, are you two and Elder Thomas. And I know the elder is just too afraid of infuriating the Second Elder, so I'm sure he wouldn't consider sending people to take care of me. He'd most probably just try to take me down in a fair game. And plus, he was in the middle of a cultivation breakthrough when I left for Gryfino, so it couldn't possibly be him."

He gazed at May and Colton, as he indifferently exclaimed, "So that leaves the two of you."

"Claude! I didn't do it! I swear on my mother's life!" At this moment, Colton finally spoke, shedding whatever dignity he still had left. "Think about it! We don't even know each other that well. How could I try to kill someone who I barely even know?"

A cold glint flashed across Claude's eyes as he heard Colton Grey's shameless wail.

"What you said is true," Claude nodded his head, as if he was agreeing to what Colton was saying. But before Colton could continue with his words, Claude's gaze fell upon him and instantly, he felt a terrifying pressure bearing down on him. "But the problem is; because I don't know you that well, I can't trust what you're saying to be the truth."

His ice-like eyes swept over to both Colton and May, and instantly, they felt a bone-chilling cold shuddering their very soul. An overwhelming killing intent gushed right into their bodies causing them to involuntary tremble.

"Regardless of who the mastermind was, you both messed with the wrong person. And for that, I have to punish you." Claude took a step forward and as his step landed, a booming sound rang out and Colton Grey fell onto the ground, as traces of blood leaked from his mouth.

May Stafford, who was still kneeling on the ground, was moaning in misery.

"Claude, I'm sorry. I offended you earlier. It's my fault. Please forgive me." May's voice was quavering.

"Forgiveness?" Claude eyes gleamed with demonic light, his voice cold as ice, announcing their death sentences, "You lost that chance the moment you messed with me."

As he spoke, a silver sword appeared in his other hand, streaking forward, and both their heads were sent flying as a rumbling sound rocked the area.

Claude's face was calm, as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary.

"Young master, you can leave this to us." Randall approached Claude with a smile, politely speaking.

Claude nodded his head in response, as he turned and headed to the bedroom. He wanted to take a new set of clothes and bathe.