Chapter 166 Foolish Night Raid

Chapter 166 Foolish Night Raid

Outside Paris, the Valois Manor

Louis sat in his leather chair, gripping a glass of crimson wine, his expression so dark it could drip poison.

Across from him stood a middle-aged man in a black butler's uniform.

His name was Valeri Raphael, one of Louis's most trusted confidants.

Twenty-five years ago, during that blood-soaked night, it was he who led the charge into the manor, personally killing several of the most loyal guards serving Erwin's father, the family patriarch.

"Valeri."

Louis set down his glass, his voice low. "Did you see today's news?"

"I did."

Valeri bowed slightly. "Erwin is actually still alive... These past twenty-five years, we've searched all of Europe and never found a trace of him. Who would've thought he'd been hiding in Paris this whole time..."

"What does it matter if he's been hiding in Paris?"

Louis let out a cold laugh, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his eyes. "Back then, he managed to slip away because he was just a five-year-old child—not worth the effort for The Evernight Order to hunt down."

"But now..."

Louis stood and walked to the window. "He shouldn't have shown himself at this time."

"Mr. Valois..."

Valeri hesitated, then asked cautiously, "The Evernight Order... will they abandon you because of Erwin's appearance?"

"Abandon me?"

Louis cut him off, a muscle twitching in his face. "You think I haven't considered that?"

He turned, his predatory eyes boring into Valeri.

"Erwin is Lorenzo's son—the rightful heir to the Valois family. Now public opinion is on his side. They've turned him into some kind of victim, a man seeking justice."

"And me? I've become the murderer everyone wants dead."

"Tell me—if The Evernight Order wants a more obedient, more 'legitimate' puppet, who do you think they'll choose?"

Valeri's whole body trembled, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"So..."

A crazed killing intent flashed in Louis's eyes. "Before The Evernight Order makes their decision, I have to eliminate the threat at its root!"

"Erwin must die! And his death must be silent!"

"Only then will The Evernight Order know that I'm the only one who can control the Valois family!"

He understood The Evernight Order's methods too well. They only needed someone who could maintain control—whether that person was called Louis or Erwin didn't matter to them in the slightest.

"But Mr. Valois..."

Valeri hesitated. "Ashfall is at the manor. If we act without telling him and he finds out..."

"That's exactly why we can't tell him!"

Louis said coldly. "Ashfall may be powerful, but he's not a god. As long as we're discreet enough, he won't know."

"Besides..."

A sinister smile curved Louis's lips. "Even if The Evernight Order finds out afterward, I'll just say I was protecting the family's stability by eliminating a threat. Once Erwin's dead, they'll have no other choice but to keep supporting me anyway."

Valeri fell silent for a moment, then nodded heavily. "Understood, Mr. Valois. I'll make the arrangements."

"Remember."

Louis stepped close to Valeri, lowering his voice. "Take the family's most elite death squad. Make it clean. No survivors, no traces."

"Yes!"

Valeri bowed and left the study.

Louis sank back into his chair, lifted his wine glass, and gazed at the crimson liquid within, a satisfied sneer playing at his lips.

"Erwin... did you think that hiding for twenty-five years would keep you safe?"

"Did you think a few pathetic wails online would be enough to bring me down? Tonight, I'll send you to hell to reunite with your dead parents!"

"Tonight is the night you die."

He drained the wine in one gulp.

---

# Paris City Center, Left Bank of the Seine

The storm enveloped the classical apartment building.

2:00 AM.

Dozens of figures in black tactical gear moved like ghosts through the rain.

Led by Valeri, they easily disabled the building's exterior surveillance and climbed silently along the drainage pipes to reach the penthouse living room.

Click.

With an almost imperceptible sound of the lock being picked, the heavy oak door swung slowly open.

Inside, the living room was dimly lit, only the fireplace still flickering with dying flames.

Valeri made a hand signal. Dozens of death squad members flooded in, forming a semicircle that sealed off the entire hall.

Their gazes locked simultaneously on the large high-backed armchair before the fireplace.

The chair faced away from them. All they could see was a slender figure draped in a gray cardigan, sitting motionless as if completely unaware of the killing intent behind them.

"Erwin."

Valeri raised his silenced pistol, aiming it directly at that figure, a cruel and triumphant sneer spreading across his face. "Twenty-five years. You've been hiding like a rat in the sewers all this time. Why couldn't you just stay hidden for the rest of your life? Why come out and throw yourself to your death?"

"But don't worry. Mr. Valois values old connections. Tonight, I'll send you down to see your father."

Valeri smugly pronounced the death sentence, preparing to give the order to fire.

But just then—

Ha ha ha ha!

A mocking woman's laughter suddenly rang out from the shadows on the second floor.

"What a bunch of idiots who don't know they're already dead. You actually think you're the hunters here?"

"Who's there?!"

Valeri whirled around in shock, snapping his gun toward the sound.

The click-click of high heels on hardwood echoed through the space as Ivy, Serafina, and Charlotte emerged from the shadows, their steps languid and swaying.

"Coming all this way in the middle of the night, in this rain, just to die—we really have to admire your dedication." Ivy toyed with the crimson claw blade in her hand, her azure eyes filled with the contempt one reserves for the dead.

Seeing these three breathtakingly beautiful yet lethally dangerous women, Valeri's heart skipped a beat.

He suddenly realized something and whipped his head around, staring at the figure in the chair!

The chair slowly turned.

Sitting there wasn't Erwin at all!

It was Leo, dressed in a black trench coat!

Leo's gaze fell coldly on Valeri. "Valeri. Breaking into someone else's place in the middle of the night—not a good habit."

Hearing Leo speak his name, and recognizing that face that had become a nightmare throughout Europe's underground world in recent days—

Valeri's entire body shook violently. He staggered back three large steps.

"Reaper! Leo?!"

Valeri shrieked. "You—how are you here?!"

"Of course he's here! Because this is our home field!"

With an angry roar, the hidden door on the side of the hall burst open.

Erwin and Pierre emerged, fury blazing in their eyes.

Pierre glared at Valeri, his aged fingers trembling with rage. "Valeri! You backstabbing bastard! You were once the captain of the guard that Lorenzo personally promoted! Lorenzo treated you well!"

"But twenty-five years ago, on that bloody night, it was you who secretly opened the manor's back gate and let Louis's rebels in to slaughter everyone! You ungrateful traitor—today you've finally fallen into our hands!"

Looking at Pierre and Erwin, then at Leo sitting there like a god of death incarnate, Valeri finally understood—this was a trap that had been set long ago, just waiting for these fools to walk right in!

"Fire! Fire! Kill them all!"

The death squad leader beside Valeri descended into complete madness. He screamed hysterically, about to pull the trigger.

But—

Before they could squeeze their triggers—

 

Three lethal figures flashed from the shadows like phantoms.

Ivy's crimson claw blade carved a beautiful arc through the air.

Serafina's deadly legs swept across like death's scythe.

Charlotte's surgical scalpels became a meteor shower.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A few shots rang out.

But every bullet missed.

The three women's speed far exceeded these death squad members' reaction time.

"Ahhh!"

Screams erupted one after another.

Blood sprayed through the air.

In less than ten seconds—

Over a dozen of the Valois family's supposedly elite death squad members all lay in pools of blood.

Some had their throats sliced by claw blades.

Some had their hearts pierced by poisoned stiletto heels.

Some had their carotid arteries precisely severed by surgical scalpels.

The thick stench of blood instantly filled the entire living room.

As the last death squad member twitched and collapsed into the blood, only Valeri remained standing.

 

Valeri's pistol clattered to the floor. He dropped to his knees in the pooling blood.

"Reaper... Erwin... please, spare me..."

Tears and snot streaming down his face, Valeri desperately kowtowed in the blood, his forehead banging against the floor with loud thunks. "I was forced back then! Louis threatened my whole family! That's the only reason I opened the manor gate! Please, I'm begging you, spare my life!"

"I know secrets! So many secrets! About Louis! About The Evernight Order!"

"Secrets?"

Leo stood and walked step by step toward Valeri, looking down at this traitor from on high. "What really happened twenty-five years ago?"

"Why did Louis want to kill Erwin's father?"

"And why would The Evernight Order support Louis?"

"Also..."

Leo's voice became utterly frigid. "That Japanese man who came to visit Erwin's father back then—who was he? What did they discuss?"