[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
Chapter 124: The Blaga Family (4)
A massive hall filled with glass cases.
A long sigh of disappointment echoed through the space.
Catalina Blaga looked genuinely baffled.
Just moments ago, she hadn't been alone—there had been someone else there with her.
But now, she was by herself.
“I thought bringing him here would make him give in right away.”
With a regretful expression, Catalina gently traced her finger along the glass case beside her.
The relics stored here were a lifetime collection. Some of them were legendary artifacts that had appeared only once in the world before vanishing without a trace.
Akrich's Life Vessel, the Ten Thousand Echoes Fan, Amrita, the Storm Linker, and so on.
To exaggerate only slightly: if even one of these artifacts were leaked to the outside world, half the planet might be drenched in blood.
“He couldn’t possibly have failed to recognize their value.”
Kwon Hanul was a top-tier hunter. There was no way someone like him wouldn't sense the power these relics held.
“This won’t be easy.”
Catalina frowned, frustration clouding her expression.
Among all the blood bounds she had subdued until now, none had ever been this difficult.
“What other methods are there?”
Should she just ambush him in the dead of night? She was seriously entertaining the idea when a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
“…I don’t remember feeling this way with the others.”
Where had she felt this sensation before?
Not recently. Not in the last few years. Not even decades ago.
But somewhere deep in the past—she had definitely felt this before.
Abruptly, Catalina Blaga rose from her seat.
She pulled back a dark purple curtain that covered one of the walls, revealing a hidden door.
Before entering, she took a moment to fix her hair and straighten her clothes. Then, she opened the door.
The room inside wasn’t large.
But with only one item placed within, it didn’t feel cramped.
A deep crimson cloak hung on the wall.
Catalina pressed her face into the cloak with trembling hands and whispered, “Founding Ancestor… I’ve come to visit.”
After rejecting Catalina Blaga’s offer, Kwon Hanul followed Troy to his new lodgings.
They didn’t speak a single word on the way there.
Eventually, they stopped in front of a large mansion.
“You’ll be staying here from now on.”
It was much larger than the estate used by the Hyukcheon Clan.
“Even for a blood bound of Lady Catalina Blaga, it’s rare to be given a place from the start. Be grateful.”
“How generous of you,” Kwon Hanul replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. Be grateful to his kidnapper? What a joke.
“Watch your mouth. If you badmouth Lady Blaga around here, you might end up as a corpse the next morning.”
Troy glared at him, clearly displeased.
“If you’re so worried, then how about taking these off first?” Hanul said, holding up his shackled wrists.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Come on, don’t be petty. Even without the cuffs, where would I run off to?”
“Lady Catalina warned me not to judge you by common sense. Said it’d only get me into serious trouble.”
Just then, the mansion doors opened and someone stepped outside.
“Troy! What are you doing out here?!”
A young woman greeted them with a bright smile.
Troy’s face immediately hardened when he saw her.
“Rabbit? What are you doing here?”
“Oh come on, didn’t Lady Catalina say she needed someone to monitor the mansion? So I brought a few blood bounds I’m close with and volunteered.”
Kwon Hanul looked past Rabbit at the others with her. Their harsh expressions made it clear they didn’t exactly hold him in high regard.
“Yes, she did say that but… of all people, you… already…”
Rabbit gave Troy a curious look, and his voice trailed off.
“Thanks! Then starting now, I’ll be Little Dragon’s personal guide.”
Rabbit stepped aside and pointed toward the mansion entrance.
“Well then, Little Dragon. Shall we head inside?”
Rabbit gave Hanul a full tour of the mansion.
To be honest, Hanul didn’t hear a word of her explanations—he was too focused on Rabbit and the blood bounds with her.
Even though his magical power was suppressed by the shackles, his senses remained sharp.
‘At least three of them have stats at S-rank or higher.’
They had the baseline qualifications of world-ranking hunters.
‘And that woman… looks like she has all stats at S-rank.’
Rabbit was the strongest among them. Hanul couldn’t even guess the full extent of her abilities.
“What are you trying to figure out by measuring us?”
Rabbit suddenly broke the silence. Hanul responded without hesitation.
“Just curious. I’ve heard a lot about Catalina Blaga’s blood bounds but wanted to see for myself.”
“And now that you’ve seen us?”
“You’re all impressive.”
Hanul said it honestly.
Rabbit laughed heartily.
“Well then, behave yourself. Don’t even think about doing anything stupid.”
Suddenly, Rabbit came to a stop. They were at the mansion’s top floor.
“This is your room. Get some rest.”
With that, Rabbit and the blood bounds disappeared.
Hanul sat on the bed, gathering his thoughts.
“So, it won’t work on high-level blood bounds.”
He didn’t even need to use the authority of the Vassal Bloodline to know it instinctively.
His current bloodline wasn’t strong enough to control them.
If he wanted to dominate them, he would need a special method.
Powerful presences were surrounding the mansion.
Rabbit and her group were keeping watch.
“Catalina Blaga. She really does mean to imprison me.”
If Hanul wanted to escape, he would first need to gain control of the mansion. A little freedom was the first step to planning her escape.
“A-A-Apologies, we’re c-coming in now!”
A voice stammered outside the door.
It opened, and half a dozen attendants entered.
They immediately threw themselves to the floor.
“B-B-Bath and m-meals have been p-prepared!”
They were trembling with fear—excessively so.
“Hello,” Hanul greeted politely.
But the attendants only pressed their bodies flatter to the floor.
Hanul was taken aback.
This wasn’t like the Hyukcheon Clan, where attendants were treated as contracted employees. These ones acted more like slaves.
No one lifted their heads.
“It’s okay. You can get up.”
One of the attendants finally spoke, voice shaking.
“In-In the Blaga family, w-we are not allowed to look the Master in the f-face. D-Doing so… is punished s-severely…”
Hanul studied the attendant. A whip mark peeked out from under the collar.
Not just one. All of them were hiding injuries beneath their clothes.
“So this is what it’s like here.”
The Blaga family possessed the Vassal Bloodline—a lineage that granted control over people.
And with that, came extreme social hierarchies.
But this was a problem. If Hanul wanted to escape, he needed control.
“From this moment on, I am the master of this mansion. You will follow my orders.”
He invoked the authority of his Truebloodline—narrowing its range to avoid being noticed by Catalina Blaga’s nearby blood bounds.
That alone was enough. The attendants immediately submitted to him.
Messages floated in the air.
To manifest the core of the Vassal Bloodline, one needed to form a following.
But not just any group—those governed by the Bloodline’s demands had to be dominated.
“Please… give us your orders.”
Unlike blood bounds, civilians didn’t just submit—they lost their sense of self entirely under the force of her True Bloodline.
“First, gather all the information you can about the Blaga family’s organization and structure. Bring it to me by tomorrow.”
Hanul issued his first order.
That night, Hanul went to bed early.
By the time the full moon was high in the sky, the door to his room creaked open.
Several figures silently entered and surrounded his bed.
Oddly, no sound accompanied their movements—as if sound itself had been erased.
One of them pulled out a needle, thin as a strand of hair.
In a flash, they plunged it into Hanul’s forehead.
As it pierced his skin, the needle dissolved into poison.
The attackers exchanged glances and began to step away.
Hanul’s voice froze them in place.
He was already sitting up in bed.
“If you wake someone up in the middle of the night, the least you can do is apologize.”
Kwon Hanul sat up in bed. One of the assailants, staring in disbelief, muttered under his breath.
“…How is he still alive?”
“Oh, you mean the poisoned needle?”
Kwon Hanul ran a hand across his forehead. Just moments ago, the skin there had turned black from the poison—but now, it had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
“I guess I’ve got a pretty sturdy body.”
The assailants spread out, surrounding him.
“Fool. If you’d just kept your mouth shut, you might’ve lived until tomorrow.”
“You’re a little too confident for someone who doesn’t know what I’m capable of.”
At that, the assailants scoffed.
“And just how do you plan to fight us—tied up in shackles?”
With a dry metallic sound, the shackles binding Kwon Hanul’s wrists dropped to the floor.
They all stood frozen, eyes darting between the fallen cuffs and Kwon Hanul.
“…How did you do that?”
“I guess I’m pretty smart, too.”
Kwon Hanul glanced down and read the message that appeared before him:
[Genius Bloodline analyzes the artifact’s structure.]
[Artifact’s lock has been disengaged.]
Finally freed from the cuffs that had been so suffocating, he started to flex his wrists.
“…Not that it matters,” one of the assailants—no, one of the Bloodbound—spat, eyes fixed on him.
“With your skills, you won’t even be able to handle one of us.”
“So just die quietly.”
“At least we’ll make it painless.”
The Bloodbound took turns delivering their threats. This time, it was Kwon Hanul’s turn to smile.
“Can’t even handle one of you? Haven’t you heard anything about me?”
“We have,” said the closest one.
“They say you killed Jose del Pablo and stood your ground against María Sánchez. Impressive, sure—but it all sounds a bit too exaggerated to be true.”
“Exaggerated?” Kwon Hanul echoed, a puzzled look on his face.
“You were supposed to compete in the Sky Arena, right? That means you must have three S-rank stats. But even with those, there's no way someone at that level could take on Jose del Pablo and María Sánchez.”
Just because something is true doesn’t mean people will believe it.
If anything, the more outrageous the truth, the less likely people are to accept it.
These Bloodbound were convinced the rumors about Kwon Hanul were nothing but overblown hype.
Each of them drew their weapons. Kwon Hanul clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Man… This is so unfair, I might just have to raise my stats out of spite.”
At that moment, one of the Bloodbound behind him lunged forward, pulling a dagger from his coat.
A crimson aura slashed through the air, aiming straight for Kwon Hanul’s throat.
Just before the blade could land, Kwon Hanul moved—his hand snapped up and grabbed the attacker’s wrist.
Black Dragon Ascension Art: Basic Form
Willow-Strike Style: Sweeping Kick
He yanked the Bloodbound’s arm and slammed him into the ground. The man hit the floor hard, back-first.
Without pause, Kwon Hanul stomped down on his neck. The man’s eyes bulged before rolling back.
“If you guys come at me , it actually makes things easier for me.”
He had been wondering how to deal with the Bloodbound guarding the mansion.
“How about we make a deal?”
The key to Bloodbound domination lies in getting the target to want to submit.
You can persuade them with words. Bribe them with riches. Or simply beat them into submission—it doesn’t matter.
“From now on, the loser obeys the winner. Sound fair?”
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]