The Evolution Of A Goblin To The Peak

Chapter 1243: Information and Return II

Freida stared at the stack of papers spread across her desk, but the words blurred together. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t focus.

Her gaze kept drifting toward the window, her thoughts wandering to the same person they had for days.

Her son.

He had disappeared without a trace several days ago. The guards assigned to protect him were missing as well. No reports. No bodies. No clues.

Nothing.

She didn’t even know if he was still alive.

The uncertainty gnawed at her heart far more cruelly than any confirmed tragedy ever could.

Knock. Knock.

The sudden sound shattered the heavy silence of the room.

”Enter,” Freida commanded, though tension already coiled tightly in her chest.

The door opened, and one of the family guards hurried inside. He dropped to one knee, his voice trembling with urgency.

”Matriarch... the young master has returned!”

For a brief second, Freida simply stared at him, as if her mind refused to process the words.

Then, her eyes widened.

”What did you say?” Her voice was sharp, almost breathless.

”The young master has returned, Matriarch. He is at the main gate.”

The chair scraped loudly against the floor.

Before the guard could even lift his head, the door burst open with a violent bang. A powerful gust of wind swept through the room as Freida shot past him like a streak of blue lightning.

He barely caught a glimpse of her fading silhouette before she vanished from sight.

Whoosh!!

In less than a second, Freida reappeared at the estate’s main gate.

The sudden surge of her presence startled the stationed guards, but they quickly regained their composure upon recognizing her.

”Matriarch!!”

”Greetings, Matriarch!!”

Their voices rang out in unison, but Freida barely registered them. She gave a distracted nod before her eyes locked onto the two figures just beyond the gate.

Her breath caught.

There he was.

Her son.

Relief crashed over her like a tidal wave, so overwhelming that her knees nearly weakened beneath her. The tightness in her chest finally loosened as she let out a long, trembling sigh.

He was alive.

Fadu saw her.

”Mom!”

The cry ripped out of him, filled with emotions.

Freida turned just in time to catch him as he crashed into her arms. She wrapped herself around him instantly, holding him with a strength that trembled beneath the surface.

Her mana surged without conscious thought.

It poured into his body like a rushing tide scanning bone, flesh, and blood.

No fractures. No internal bleeding. No curse. No lingering poison.

He was unharmed.

The tightness crushing her lungs loosened.

Then, Fadu spoke.

”Mom...” His fingers twisted into her clothes. His body shook violently. ”Uncle... Uncle Wiptar... he’s dead...”

The last word dissolved into sobbing.

Freida’s breath stopped.

Fadu buried his face into her chest, his voice breaking apart between gasps.

”They killed everyone... the guards... they slaughtered them... We ran... but they kept chasing us... Uncle...”

His body jerked as if reliving it.

”He told me to keep running. He turned back. He blocked them... I couldn’t— I couldn’t help him...”

Freida felt something cold spread through her veins.

”Wiptar... is dead?” she whispered.

The world seemed to fall silent as her mana erupted. A violent tidal force burst outward from her body, distorting the air and cracking the stone beneath her feet. The ground split in jagged lines. The nearby guards staggered as invisible pressure slammed into them, forcing some to kneel. The wind howled outward from her position.

Wiptar.

Her brother.

The boy who had stood in front of her when she was small.

The one who fought anyone who dared to make her cry.

When Fadu was born, Wiptar had placed a hand on her shoulder and laughed.

”Leave him to me. I’ll protect him the way I protected you.”

Her fingers dug slightly into Fadu’s back.

Her vision trembled not from weakness, but from fury too vast to contain. For a brief second, grief threatened to tear through her restraint.

But she crushed it.

The raging mana compressed instead of dispersing, growing denser, heavier like the ocean before a devastating tsunami.

She lowered her head and pressed her cheek gently against her son’s hair. Her hand moved slowly along his back, soothing.

Her voice, when she spoke, was frighteningly calm.

”Don’t cry.”

The ground continued to tremble.

”I will find whoever killed Wiptar.”

The air felt suffocating.

”And I will make them wish they had died before meeting me.”

Whoosh!!

Multiple figures materialized behind her in sharp bursts of distorted space.

The higher-ups of the Rulman Household had arrived.

Each of them radiated immense power. Their mana leaked instinctively in response to the Matriarch’s fury, layering upon hers until the estate itself groaned under the pressure.

Stone cracked.

Dust fell from nearby walls.

The ordinary guards could feel the crushing pressure weighing down on their bodies.

Freida finally noticed the person who had arrived with Fadu. She had been so focused on her son that she hadn’t paid attention to the other figure beside him.

Her gaze shifted to Souta.

”And who might you be?” she asked calmly.

Souta offered a polite smile. ”Greetings, Matriarch. I am called Atos. As for the details, you may ask Fadu.”

Freida gave a slight nod as her senses silently scanned him. She quickly determined that he was a monster but not one native to this place.

”Mom,” Fadu said, wiping the tears from his eyes, ”Atos saved me. I promised him that he would be rewarded if he escorted me back safely.”

Freida’s expression softened as she looked at her son. ”Don’t worry, my child. I will not mistreat your savior. I will properly repay him for saving your life.”

She then turned her head and glanced at one of the figures standing behind her. Her eyes settled on a middle-aged man with thick hair and a full beard.

He was her husband.

Wresho Rulman.

”Take care of our son,” Freida said as she gently passed Fadu into her husband’s arms.

She then looked at the other high-ups who had gathered. ”Return to your duties. There is no need for all of you to remain here.”

The immense pressure in the surroundings gradually eased.

Freida instructed one of her subordinates to prepare a room for Souta and ensure he was properly accommodated.

Once everything had been arranged, she cast one final glance at her son and then swiftly left the scene.

Souta glanced in the direction Freida had left before shifting his attention to the higher-ups.

’Strong... The Rulman Household is far more powerful than I imagined,’ he thought, his gaze lingering on Wresho, who was carrying Fadu.

Even without directly probing them, Souta could roughly judge their combat abilities from the sheer density of energy leaking from their bodies. The pressure alone spoke volumes.

If he tried to fight them now, he would be completely overwhelmed.

This clone wasn’t enough.

For a direct confrontation, his main body would be required.

”Sir, please follow me.”

A gentle voice sounded beside him.

Souta turned and saw a maid standing respectfully at his side. He gave a slight nod, and she led him deeper into the estate. After guiding him to a spacious guest room, she informed him that he could call for her if he needed anything, then quietly excused herself.

The door closed softly behind her.

Souta was left alone. He sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced toward the window, his thoughts drifting.

The strength of the Rulman Household was no joke. Seeing the higher-ups in person allowed him to better estimate their capabilities.

They were on an entirely different level.

Souta exhaled and stretched out his hand lazily.

”I have nothing to do now...”

Murmuring to himself, he leaned back slightly and closed his eyes, replaying the events from earlier in his mind.

...

Somewhere within the Rulman Household, a man paced restlessly in a closed room. Sweat slicked his forehead, and his expression was dark, almost feral.

He was Dihra Rulman, Wresho’s brother.

One of the higher-ups who had appeared at the main gate moments ago, he had seen everything. The return of Fadu, alive and unharmed.

’That brat... he came back alive?! What the hell were they thinking?! How could they let him return here?’

Panic clawed at Dihra. The thought that Fadu might survive had never once crossed his mind. He had tasked his men with capturing the boy and killing everyone with him.

How could they fail?! How?!

Even if capturing Fadu was impossible, he should have been killed at all costs. Their failure now meant disaster.

’I will be exposed. I have to act... or I will be killed.’

Dihra’s mind raced. The Matriarch would soon learn of his scheme, and when that happened, he would be nothing more than a lamb led to slaughter. He knew her power all too well and he had no desire for a direct confrontation.

’I have no choice... I will do it.’

He stopped pacing, his jaw tightening. Decision made, he prepared to act.