19: Masive Surge in Mad Points!

Val's handsomeness was unnatural. Even when he was growing up, it was clear how attractive he was. Aurelia developed an intense urge to monopolize him, to have a taste of him. Such things were impossible between siblings, so she tried to force it. In the end, she failed to achieve her goal and also got kicked out of her home.

Val thought that that would be the end of the matter, but she seemed to have a weird obsession with him. Maybe it was because he was too attractive. Although years have passed since they last met, she still wanted to fuck him, her own brother!

He felt so disgusted with her that he held nothing back as he attacked her. He continued his assault, brutally smashing her head into the wall again and again.

She was almost rendered unconscious by his brutal onslaught. Since he was nothing but a sex toy in her eyes, he would also treat her like a broken thing that needed to be beaten to be fixed!

+50 Mad Points!

What he was doing seemed really crazy.

Thus, he was rewarded a huge amount of mad points by the system!

Amazing!

Just as he was about to bash her head into the wall again, a cold voice rang out from behind him.

"Stop it!"

This sudden intervention came from none other than Joshua. The commotion had attracted him, and he was stunned and appalled to witness his children locked in combat.

It was far from pleasant, especially when it was Val who was effortlessly overpowering his elder sister, Aurelia. After all, it once again reminded him that the person he had abandoned due to the schemes of a bastard was so much more than he could've ever thought.

Catching sight of her father, Aurelia felt as if she had seen her savior.

"Father! Save me! Brother... Brother is aiming to kill me!" Aurelia shrieked, her voice echoing throughout the hallway.

"Bullshit!" Val spat, his eyes blazing with contempt for her deceit. "I am only teaching you a lesson to fix your attitude!"

Val hates being deceived. Anyone who had ever dared to make false claims to undermine him has met the same grim fate. If they were weaker than him, they were terminated immediately. And if they happened to be stronger, they were hunted down after he became stronger than them, and eventually, they met their doom at his hands!

Aurelia had dared to spit lies in his face. He had no intention of letting this offense pass without consequence!

Meanwhile, the father and daughter pair were shocked upon hearing his words. Who the fuck uses such brutal means to teach a lesson?!!!

'He's lost his mind.'

The same thought flashed across both Aurelia and Joshua's minds in response to his ominous proclamation.

They finally understood they were in the presence of a madman!

+40 Mad Points!

"Goodnight, sister of mine."

Saying so, with a final, ruthless push, Val shoved Aurelia's slender body into the cold, stone wall of the corridor.

Thud!

The force of the impact sent an eerie crack echoing through the hallway as her skull met the unforgiving surface. A crimson flower bloomed from the back of her head, trickling down her golden hair and staining her white dress with an unsightly blotch of red.

Her stunning features immediately twisted in a grimace of pain and shock. Her once lively doe-eyes glazed over with mist, the light in them extinguishing almost instantly.

The last vestiges of consciousness deserted her, and her legs gave out under her weight. As a result, she crumbled to the stone floor. She was like an elegant, porcelain doll that was shattered by the brutalities of reality.

She lay there, slumped in an ungainly heap against the chilling stones, motionlessly.

Seeing her like that, Joshua felt horrified.

Was she dead?

Had he killed her?

"You... what have you done?" Joshua stuttered, his face a mask of shock and disbelief.

"Relax. I held back. She's not dead." Val retorted, nonchalantly.

"It doesn't seem like it, you bastard!"

Walking past Val, Joshua knelt down to check on Aurelia.

Heaving a sigh of relief upon feeling her weak breaths, he turned his gaze back to Val

"She's your sister. How can you be so cruel to her?" Joshua said after hardly processing the situation.

He didn't like Aurelia, but that didn't mean he was okay with seeing her dead or being killed by his own son in front of him. After all, she was the last present his first wife had left him! How could he ever feel at ease watching her die?

"Aren't you aware?" Val shot back, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice.

Given Joshua's abilities, he should've been able to discern the happenings in the corridor from his study.

Therefore, he should be aware that it was Aurelia who was at fault.

Her scandalous desire to sleep with her brother was undeniably repugnant, and her aggressive assault on Val when she didn't get her way was simply unsolicited.

Val had merely defended himself.

Joshua was sane enough to recognize that Val wasn't the one in wrong here. It was his only daughter who had committed a crime and was timely punished. She asked for it and she really deserved it.

Deciding to treat the unfortunate event as an aberration, Joshua instructed, "Next time something like this happens, report it to me first. Don't lay a hand on your siblings."

He was really afraid that this little bastard would kill his siblings just because he could and they offended him.

Val responded dismissively, "Whatever you say."

His voice dripped with detached compliance, underlining the deep-seated resentment that pervaded their familial bond.

After that, Val walked away.

"Shadow guards," Joshua called out and several men in black appeared around him instantly. "Tend to her injuries and send her back to the inner region. Make sure she understands that she is not to return home until Val is here."

The shadow guards, well-disciplined and trained, responded immediately in unison, "As you command, Lord Joshua."

Meanwhile, Val returned to the seclusion of his humble abode and decided to put the 100 Mad Points he had gathered to good use.

His fingers danced in the air as he manipulated the system interface to exchange his Mad Points for a precious stat point.

[Ding! Deducted 100 MP!]

[Congratulations! You've gained +1 SP!]

[SP may be allocated to any stat of your choice through the system interface.]

Val rubbed his jawline thoughtfully.

'Where should this precious resource be allocated?'

'Let's put it in stamina!'

The question of 'why' could be answered by a brief trip down memory lane.

The haunting memory of his lethal dance with the beast Ravengar that had taken place not too long ago was still fresh in his mind.

The beast, impervious to his physical strikes and bloodline abilities, had proven too formidable an adversary, driving Val to a hasty retreat back to the fortified sanctuary of IronSpire Stronghold. If he had dared to engage in a futile fight, draining his stamina bar without inflicting any damage, he would have been too spent to escape and thus inevitably succumbed to his fate. The decision he made might seem hasty, but it was undoubtedly the best one.

That perilous chase was imprinted vividly in his mind. Each labored breath had been a battle in itself, his heart hammering a relentless rhythm against his chest, his legs bearing the weight of invisible chains, dragging him down as he propelled himself towards the stronghold.

By the time he reached the majestic gates of the Stronghold, he was a hair's breadth away from collapsing in exhaustion. Right now, he was staying awake solely by relying on his impressive willpower.

This encounter served as a wake-up call. It showed him the cruel reality of the treacherous Eldrich world where the ability to endure and outlast was as critical as power and agility. Hence, he opted to utilize his hard-earned point to bolster his stamina. It was a strategic decision molded by lessons derived from past encounters and the primitive instinct for survival etched deep within his being.

[A stat point has been consumed]

[The size of your stamina bar has increased to 11 points!]