Chapter 21

In the Assassin Alliance, Ares was swathed like a mummy. Sitting across from him was an old man in a silver-gray suit—this was Ronan, the leader of the Assassin Alliance.

He held a wooden pipe in his hand, his thumb gently rubbing the smooth bowl in a calculatedly casual manner.

"Now that Damien is ascendant, he'll definitely come after the Assassin Alliance."

With the downfall of the Celestial Temple as a precedent, Damien was someone who always settled scores. He wouldn't let the Assassin Alliance off the hook.

Ronan hadn't expected Damien to wield this kind of power. He had really underestimated him before.

Desperate to make amends—he could only try to gather allies while he still could.

"Ares, you understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth are exposed to the cold. Now is the time for the Assassin Alliance and Celestial Temple to unite. I hope you can contact Celestial Temple."

Ever since Celestial Temple went into hiding, the Assassin Alliance had been under mounting pressure from Shadow Sect. He couldn't let Celestial Temple hide in the shadows any anymore.

Ronan's cloudy eyes fixed sharply at Ares, waiting for his answer with no room for refusal.

Ares acquiesced cheerfully.

But once he left, the faint smile on Ares's face vanished, replaced by a cold and indifferent expression.

"Cunning bastard, intending to use Celestial Temple as his attack dog," Ares said with a cold laugh.

"War God, right now the most important thing for Celestial Temple is to preserve our strength. We must refrain from contacting Celestial Temple."

Ash had barely escaped during the battle on Devil Island and was now recovering with Ares at the Assassin Alliance.

His expression was equally grim. They were just using the Assassin Alliance's as a sanctuary—they never said they'd work for them.

"Besides, we don't need Celestial Temple's help right now. Damien's greatest weakness is Sophia and his daughter Faye, and we have Milo and Clio in our hands. If we use them right, we can deal Damien a fatal blow."

Ash's tone carried blatant mockery.

Who would have thought that the cold and ruthless Supreme King of Shadow Sect would now have such glaring weaknesses as a wife and daughter?

Vulnerability was perfect, especially a woman like Sophia and a child—they were easier to manipulate.

Ares looked at his bandaged right hand, a cruel smile flickering at the corner of his mouth.

"Then let's teach them a lesson."

"Yes, War God."

Ash had locked Milo and Clio in the basement. At first, they had shouted defiantly, but after several days in that dark place, they were scared out of their wits.

When they saw Ash approaching, they quickly rushed over with flattering expressions.

With a wave of Ash's hand, Milo was seized by two men and tied to a cross.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

"I'm Milo, I'm..."

Milo shouted frantically while Clio cowered in the corner, trembling with fear.

"Don't take my son."

Ash waved his hand again, and someone was already lashing Milo with a lash.

The iron-barbed whip lacerated his flesh. Milo screamed in pain.

"I was wrong! Don't hit me! I'll do whatever you want! I was wrong!"

"Mr. Brown, you know what we desire."

Ash pulled out a dagger and grazed Milo's face. From the edge of the wound, he inserted the tip and lifted up a piece of flesh.

Milo's agonized screams echoed through the basement. Clio shook even more violently, not daring to look.

"I can turn Sophia against you! She's my sister, she always obeys us. I really can!" Milo shouted hoarsely and trembling.

Actually, he had no idea if he could do it, but he craved an end to the beating.

Ash waved away the torturers, looking at Milo contemptuously. Just a couple of hits and he was like this? Celestial Temple's torture hadn't even started yet.

"Seems you don't know about Sophia's background."

Clio's expression immediately became panicked, while Milo was dumbfounded.

Ash looked at Clio and smiled, "Looks like you know."

He walked over, grabbed Clio by the hair, forced her to look up, and stroked her face with the bloody dagger.

"No, no, no, I don't know anything. I really don't know. It was all my husband's idea. I don't know anything."

Clio shook her head frantically, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"I don't even know why he adopted Sophia. We worked so hard to raise her all these years—we didn't do anything wrong by her."

Even at this point, Clio was still deluding herself. What she had done to Sophia didn't deserve to be called maternal.

Ash threw Clio to the ground. She immediately crawled away on her hands and feet.

Someone handed him a handkerchief. Ash took it, wiped his hands, and tossed it aside with loathing.

"Go check on her husband."

Soon, news came back, but Ash frowned deeply.

"You're saying Finn Brown disappeared?"

"Yes, he disappeared three years ago. His whereabouts are unknown," the person reported.

The aura around Ash became frighteningly heavy.

"How interesting. The only person who knew disappeared three years ago."

The lead was cut off again. Heaven itself seemed to be working against Celestial Temple.

His subordinate didn't dare say another word, standing silently to the side.

New York.

Damien came down from his private jet, holding Sophia's hand with one hand and carrying Faye with the other. A car was already waiting for them.

The three got in the car. Damien had wanted to take them to rest first, but Sophia insisted on going to the Brown family home first. Damien could only agree.

The Brown family home was now neglected and somewhat run-down.

Sophia stared at the familiar place, a bit dazed. She had many memories here.

"The nanny said when I was little, I was very naughty. I liked playing in the bushes and even broke Dad's craft pieces."

Sophia looked at the overgrown yard, recalling those years bit by bit, her face showing some sadness.

"Twenty-some years, and I never noticed they weren't my real family. I just thought they didn't love me very much."

She pulled at the corner of her mouth, forcing an ugly smile.

Damien sighed and walked over, "If you don't want to smile, don't."

Sophia's expression looked like she was about to cry. Damien reached out and cupped her face.

"They're not your family. Faye and I are." Damien's voice became gentle.

Sophia's expression finally looked a bit better.

Faye had run into the yard as soon as they entered. Now she was holding something and running over excitedly.

"Look, a grasshopper."

She showed Sophia what was in her hands. Turns out she had gone to catch a grasshopper because she saw Sophia was unhappy.

"From now on, I'll catch grasshoppers for Mommy, so Mommy won't be sad."

A bright green grasshopper was cupped in her hands, full of fresh vitality.

Sophia finally broke into a smile and rubbed Faye's head.

"Okay, from now on Faye will catch grasshoppers for me."

"Daddy too." Faye looked at Damien with bright eyes.

Damien was helpless but said meaningfully, "Okay, Daddy will catch the biggest grasshopper for you and Mommy."