Chapter 130: Crushing

"Leo Ashford!"

The name detonated like a thunderclap in the opulent private room.

Paxton, barely clinging to consciousness, heard it and his pupils contracted violently.

"No… impossible… how could you be…"

Wilmer's face drained of all color.

The American he'd sneered at and insulted as nothing but nouveau riche trash.

Was actually the Reaper—the man who'd single-handedly dismantled the Drake family in New York and the Romano family in Chicago, tearing them out by the roots.

After a brief, suffocating silence—

"Ha ha ha!!"

"Mr. Wheeler! Wilmer! Did you hear that clearly? He's Leo!"

Edgar, seated in the position of honor, showed no trace of fear. Instead, he threw his head back in wild, ecstatic laughter. "I was wondering who you were! So you're just that rat who only knows how to skulk in the shadows!"

"Leo, should I call you arrogant, or just plain stupid?"

"Fine, you've caused chaos out there—but you actually dared to walk straight into the trap the Rothschild family laid for you, all alone!"

"Let me tell you something! The moment you stepped into this palace, you became a turtle in a jar! There are three hundred elite Gray Cloaks warriors here, plus the Rothschild family's private forces!"

"So what if you can fight? You think you can take on three hundred men? The advantage is mine! Today, you're a dead man!"

However, Elton beside him wasn't nearly as optimistic.

He locked his gaze on Leo's unfathomably calm eyes, a chill creeping down his spine.

As a top-tier assassin who'd crawled along death's edge for decades, Elton understood better than anyone:

A monster at the Reaper's level would never walk into a death trap unprepared.

If he dared to swagger in here, it meant those so-called 'traps' outside couldn't stop him at all.

Even more terrifying—that earlier exchange of blows had forced Elton to accept a crushing reality: he simply couldn't beat the man standing before him.

Watching Edgar's oblivious arrogance, the three women behind Leo laughed without bothering to hide their amusement.

"Truly worthy of being a Rothschild son—that blind confidence and stupidity really are uniquely special." Ivy toyed with her blood-stained claw blade, azure eyes glinting with mockery.

Serafina leaned languidly against Leo's side, red lips curving into a sneer. "He doesn't actually think those useless wastes outside who can barely hold their guns could stop the Reaper, does he?"

Charlotte delivered the final cold cut: "Europe's wealthy families have clearly grown too comfortable. All they breed now are fools."

"Bitches! Still running your mouths when death is at your door!"

Enraged by the women's taunts, Edgar moved to press the emergency signal on his wrist.

At that moment, Elton's eyes hardened. "Mr. Rothschild! No more talk! Call the men in! I'll hold him off!"

Elton forcibly squeezed out the last of his body's potential. Like an arrow released from a bow, he launched himself at Leo again!

He didn't expect to win—only to buy Edgar enough time to summon reinforcements.

Facing Elton's desperate all-out assault, Leo's expression remained ice-cold.

Elton's right hand formed a blade strike aimed at Leo's throat, while his left leg simultaneously swept low in a concealed attack.

Leo didn't retreat—he advanced. His left arm shot up.

Leo's arm, forged like steel, blocked Elton's strike head-on.

In the next instant, Leo's right fist clenched tight and drove straight into Elton's face with devastating force!

The blow snapped Elton's head backward, blood spraying.

Before he could fall, Leo's hands clamped onto his shoulders like iron vises, yanking him downward.

Leo's right knee rose in a brutal strike, slamming into Elton's sternum!

The sickening sound of bones shattering echoed through the room. Elton crashed into the wall and slid to the floor.

The legendary commander of the Gray Cloaks, terror of Europe—completely destroyed in an instant by Leo's savage assault.

Watching Elton's instant defeat, Edgar's arrogant smile froze completely.

"I… I admit…"

Edgar swallowed hard, forcing himself to maintain composure as he looked at Leo. "Leo, your personal combat abilities are truly terrifying. I'm no match for you. I respect that."

"But… this is my territory! My men will be here any second! You'll never leave Vienna alive today!"

"Guards! Where the hell is everyone! Someone protect me!"

As Edgar's panic mounted, Ivy, Serafina, and Charlotte advanced on him with murderous intent radiating from every step.

"You… what are you doing! Don't come any closer!"

Edgar's composure shattered completely. Watching the three deadly beauties close in, he stumbled backward.

In his panic, his gaze landed on Wilmer, cowering and trembling in the corner.

"Get over here!"

Without hesitation, Edgar grabbed Wilmer by the collar and yanked him forward like a human shield.

"Mr. Rothschild! What are you doing! Let me go!!" Wilmer struggled desperately.

"Shut up! Blocking them for me is a great honor!" Edgar snarled, features twisted.

Seeing Wilmer being used as a meat shield, Ivy stopped walking. Her red lips curved into a devastatingly cold smile.

She clicked forward in her heels, stopping before Wilmer. The dark crimson claw blade in her hand glinted with bloodthirsty light.

"Well, if it isn't our distinguished Mr. Finley."

Ivy extended a finger, lightly tapping Wilmer's pale cheek with the blade's flat edge, voice dripping with mockery. "At the boutique, you had quite the nerve, didn't you? Weren't you going to take the three of us to a back room and 'have some fun'?"

"How is it that now, you can't even stand steady?"

Hearing Ivy's taunting, Wilmer's psychological defenses collapsed entirely.

"I was wrong! I was so wrong! I'm a pig! I'm scum!"

Ignoring Edgar's grip on his collar, Wilmer's knees buckled. He dropped to the floor, tears and snot streaming down his face as he frantically kowtowed to Ivy and Leo behind her. "Please spare my life! I'll never dare again…"

"Spare you?"

The seductive charm vanished from Ivy's face, replaced by arctic coldness. "In your next life, remember to control your eyes and your mouth."

Before the words finished—

A flash of crimson light streaked through the air like lightning.

Wilmer's pleas cut off abruptly.

His eyes rolled back and he collapsed face-first into a spreading pool of blood, utterly still.

"Ahhh!"

Splattered with blood, Edgar let out a terrified shriek and tried to turn and run.

Serafina and Charlotte flanked him instantly, gripping his arms like iron clamps.

Serafina kicked the back of Edgar's knees. The high-and-mighty Mr. Rothschild screamed and crashed down hard, kneeling before Leo.

At the same time—

Elton, collapsed in the corner, blood mixed with fragments of internal organs flowing from his mouth, was barely breathing.

Using the last shred of his strength, he fixed his gaze on Leo and forced out a broken, rasping laugh. "Leo… don't get… too cocky yet…"

"You really think… this is all our strength… in Vienna…"

The instant Elton's words fell—

The room's reinforced bulletproof oak door exploded into splinters with an earth-shaking crash!

A suffocating wave of terrifying pressure swept through the ruined doorway like a hurricane.

Two tall, extremely dangerous figures cloaked in black slowly stepped over the debris, emerging through the smoke-filled entrance.