The Top Isn’t the Peak

Maun helplessly dropped the sword in his hands. The clank of the sword as it hit the frozen solid ground echoed for a long distance. Maun slightly laughed and kneeled down on the ground, feebly looking down on his previously arrogant decision.

In front of him, a devil's incarnation was unbothered as she went back to her family's carriage and went by on their way inside despite the large gaping hole now present. The previously lively wall that was filled with numerous skilled men was now reduced to nothing, not even their corpses had ashes that he could bury.

Although he looked down on everyone here, he did make a few acquaintances that he believed to be skilled enough to be worthy as his followers. Now there was nothing, he finally understood just why the Aria family could rival entire Empires and come out on top. Every single person in that family was a monster hiding in human skin.

"No mortal should have that kind of power…" Unfortunately for Maun, the Aria family does possess that kind of power. No one knew just how every single person in the family was such a monster, they all knew better than to dig deeper than they were allowed to know.

The thick wall-crafted castle walls that were reinforced with magic were now gone. As far as everyone knew, anything below a Tier 6 magic spell wouldn't be able to even scratch it yet now it wasn't even dust left. Rachel Aria, the 3rd child of the Aria family could wreak havoc with multiple kingdoms being unable to even fight back against her tyranny, this was how much power she had in her possession.

Rachel stretched her limbs and nonchalantly said to Gwen, "That's what you should do when people don't take the Aria family seriously, got it, Gwendolyn? Although Father told us to leave them be, they started it so when he asks about it you side with me."

Gwen was still reeling in the terrifying sensation, reading about the description wasn't doing the entire event any justice. She saw Rachel reach out her hand, close it, and a great force started to slam against the wall from out of nowhere. She couldn't even feel anything wrong as the wall suddenly started to collapse on itself. The speed made it even more uncanny, those affected couldn't even scream as they were already dead before they could register what happened.

As their carriage slowly passed by the wreckage, the coachman sighed and muttered a prayer under his breath. Although Rachel heard it, she didn't force the coachman into stopping nor did she do anything uncouth. She merely let him be and enjoyed her well-deserved rest.

After a gigantic part of the wall was no more, they finally reached that part where everything was fine again, there were even more guards inside as they handled supplies, guided visitors, and talked to each other. Further in, there were multiple buildings for housing, merchants selling their wares, people working at specific establishments, and even restaurants where the guards could go grab a bite.

Gwen looked at just how vast it truly was and thought, 'The Aria Estate is just as big a kingdom indeed. Everyone here's either extremely rich or extremely strong. Their backgrounds are all irrelevant but if it's major like a prince or a Baron then they might get some special treatment."

Countless people came out to see what all the common was about when they saw the carriage with the Aria family's symbol. They all looked at each other and without hesitation, all piled on to greet those inside.

"We serve Aria with all our heart!" A sudden outburst could be heard as all the guards in the vicinity roared at the top of their lungs. The visitors by the side didn't pitch in but knew that this was what the 3rd child wanted everyone to say when they meet someone from the Aria family.

Out of all the children in the Aria family, the 3rd child, Rachel, was the one who had the most pride in her bloodline. Respecting her family's name and reputation above all else. Her extremely eccentric personality made it hard for everyone in the Aria Estate to live properly, needing to abide by her rules or else they meet a gruesome death.

From the side, a merchant weakly whispered to his friend, "Did the Devil's Child wipe out another batch? She seemed to have held back this time otherwise we would've died alongside them."

The merchant's friend whispered back, "If doing business with them isn't so profitable then I don't think I could stomach being here for another second. The Aria family's so scary."

Gwen heard the merchants speak, which meant that Rachel could do so as well. Oddly enough, when Gwen looked at Rachel's expression, she didn't seem offended, rather she seemed quite delighted, "Ah, that's what I like to hear."

"Sister Rachel, what about Mom?" Gwen questioned Rachel.

Rachel immediately drooped down on her seat as if she lost her will, "It's… it's fine, right? I held back this time! Mom wouldn't be that mad, right? Right?" She started nibbling on her thumb as she muttered to herself.

Trying to distract herself, Rachel immediately thought of an idea, "Oh yeah, didn't you want to see me take on more monsters? Yeah, right? Then tell Mom that she has to let me go with you! You won't let big sis down, right?"

Rachel was trying her best to convince her youngest sibling. She was brutalized the last time her mother scolded her, nearly breaking apart as the punishment was too severe. Her black hair had a few white strands after going through all that.

Gwen looked at Finn and poked him in the cheek, still unconscious, "I don't think he's waking up. Sister Rachel, you're scary so I don't want to go with you anymore."

Rachel's heart dropped, after realizing what she had done, she knew the consequences would be even more severe than last time. She couldn't do anything to Gwen as she was still a two-year-old child. If anything, she only had herself to blame as she wasn't convincing enough.

Rachel then thought of an amazing idea that could possibly turn the tides in her favor, "Do you know what Mother has in store for you?"

Gwen's interest was piqued, she had no concrete information on this part of Gwendolyn's life so anything that could help her piece together the puzzle was welcome, "What?"

Rachel gave a slight cough and leaned in closer to Gwen, almost eerily, "Mother wants to arrange a marriage with you. Did you see those icky men outside? She'll marry you off to one of those! How terrifying!"

'Marriage? Don't tell me…'

Gwen acted confused, "Marriage? Marriage to who?"

"It's a very bad man! He's called Felix Mascre, he's going to take you away from us! You should skip that meeting and come hang out with me, instead! I promise to keep you safe!" Rachel placed down all her cards, if this doesn't work then she might just have to say goodbye to her freedom.

'Felix? The main love interest of Pia, the protagonist? Is this… don't tell me… If this was what happened, then Gwendolyn's sacrifice, at the ending of the story, makes sense!'