'Thup! Thup! Thup!'

Immediately... several men from heaven knows where, jumped out from different locations all wearing black.

Some even jumped down from the trees 'Ninja' style, as they rushed to surround the 'traitors'.

Jamed looked around nervously, and soon..... the smile on his face slowly faded away, as he quickly understood what was going on.

In a blink of an eye, James and his men were all surrounded by over 600 knights.

Even he was surprised at how many people his father kept as secret guards.

Wasn't Alec supposed to have only 100 secret guards with him?

James had brought out 300 guards just to ensure his victory.

But of course, he had miscalculated and underestimated his father's shrewdness.

This was the ruler of Arcadina he was attacking.

James stood there lifeless, as he soon realized how foolish he had been.

Alec on the other hand, walked calmly towards his disappointing son in rage.

'Pah!'

The crisp sounds of Alec's slap, resounded through the quiet night..... and it instantly sent James flying through the air.

Of course Alec didn't stop there... as he quickly rushed towards James, grabbed his hair with his right hand, and used his knee to hit James' chin and neck.

'Bam!!'

"Ugh!..... ahh!"

James screamed out, as blood suddenly gushed out from his mouth.

'Slpuhhhh!"

Alec looked at the pathetic wimp in front of him, and sneered.

He then used his left leg to crush James' right hands.... while using the other leg to kick James who was currently on all 4's, as many times as he wanted.

Alec's entire weight had now been placed on James' right hand.

'Bam! Bam! Bam!'

"Ugh!... Father....."

'Bam! Bam! Bam!'

'F...fath"

"_"

The more James tried to talk, the more Alec kicked him hard.

He had made his choice, as Alec had asked him if he really wanted to walk down this path.

So there was no turning back now... even if he was his son.

Although Alec loved James, he loved himself way more than anyone else.

So when someone tries to kill him, then there's only one possible outcome from it all.

'Bam! Bam! Bam!'

'_'

Funny enough, whenever James was kicked, due to the momentum from the kick... his body wanted to fly backwards.

But because Alec's left leg was firmly gripping James' right hand.... the whole scenario occured like a stretched elastic band.

As James would always end up coming back to his original position, no matter how many times his body wanted to fly backwards.

And everytime it responded so, it felt like his right arm would soon rip out of its sockets.

All the guards from both sides gulped at Alec's brutality towards his own son.

They could see blood trickling down James' head, as it were a fountain of some sort.

Finally, after countless kicks..... Alec suddenly released his hands and gave enough distance between them.

And soon, James thanked the heavens for giving him a breathing chance.

But of course, before he could offer up his prayers, Alec came running in again like an angry hippo.

'BAAAMMM!!!"

Alec kicked him hard on his chest, and James literally rolled more than 7 times back.

'Splughhh!!'

James' spat out more blood, as he looked at his father with hatred filled eyes.

"Get up!!" Alec said coldly, while looking at his trembling son.

He soon held James' neck, and pulled him up to his feet... while strangling the boy.

"Since you are my son, I'll let you fight me like a man.

At least in this way, you'll die with some sort of honor."

James who heard this, knew that the verdict had already been announced.

He was going to die today!

"Sword!" Alec yelled, and soon... one of his men rushed forward, picked up James' sword that had been thrown a little distance back..... and placed it on James' bleeding and swollen right hand.

His hands looked like they had been mutated with some mysterious creature which was both hideous and deadly.

It now had a green-purplish tone to it, as well as pieces of torn flesh on it too.

And why wouldn't it look like that?

Previously when Alec was brutally kicking James... he had been balancing his entire weight on James' right hand, so of course it was swollen.

In truth, James' fingers felt numb..... as even when he tried to hold his sword it kept dropping to the floor instead.

'Palanglanglang!'

"What?

After taking a little beating, you cant even hold a sword?

Tsk!!..... I thought you were tougher than that.

But it turns out that you're just as weakling!"

It was like those words unleashed James' rage... as that was the word he hated the most.

'WEAKLING'.

When Landon was still around, he wasn't the weakest.... but after Landon's departure, everyone kept comparing his achievements with that of his brothers.

And no matter how hard he tried, no one had ever appreciated his efforts... unless he bribed them to do so.

In a way, he felt lonely... as he didn't have any real friends as well.

He lived his entire life trying to please this father of his..... and at the end, it was totally worthless.

In everyone's eyes... he was still a weakling.

Like magic, that word made him forcefully feel sensation in his numb fingers.

And soon, he gripped his sword while gritting his teeth in anger.

"Don't you ever call me that!" He said, while running and carrying his staggering body towards Alec.

He swung his sword at full force towards Alec's neck, as he tried to kill the giant in one full swoop.

But of course, Alec ducked, and punched his belly once more..... and his spat out blood again.

"Are you joking right now?

Is this the best you can do weakling?"

"SHUT UP!!!

If.... if....if you hadn't crippled me earlier, I'm sure I would've defeated you by now."

"Hahahhaha..... not even in a million years.

Alright!

Since you can't fight anymore, then there's no need dragging this on for so long.

Father is done playing with you now.

So go to sleep.... Forever!!!!"

In a flash, Alec ran up to James... and took out a dagger from his back pocket.

'Slice!!'

In one swift move, the dagger sliced the front of James' neck MIDWAY.

And soon, the head fell backwards... while still hanging from the back of his neck.

James' eyes were still wide open from shock, as he didn't think his father would kill him without any warning.

But he did!

The bastard finished him off just like that!!

'motherf***er!!!', he thought... as he saw his life flash before his eyes.

During his final moments, for some inexplicable reason.... he soon began to think of his mother.

It was at this moment that he realized that the person he loved and wanted to see the most was actually that mad woman.

'I'm sorry!' He said to himself, hoping that she would somehow get the message.

Those were his last thoughts... before he lost consciousness, and slowly left the Hertfilian world.

Eli, Connor and Cary.... had all witnessed their brothers fall from their individual hideouts.

Previously, they had been waiting for him to come along.

But when he didn't show up, they sent out teams to secretly check out the situation.

And when they heard that James had made a move, they decided to wait in the shadows and kill the victor as well.

But seeing how prepared alec was... who knew how many more if his men were hiding out in the bushes?

Just from watching all this go down, instantly..... they knew that tonight, they would have no chance at dealing with this father of theirs.

Once James fell, his 300 guards all knelt down and waited for their own verdict as well.

"Bosco!"

"Yes your majesty!"

"Don't you think that it's a waste to kill perfectly good war weapons?

Torture them for a year, before sending them to our base instead." Alec said, while wiping the blood off his dagger with his clothes.

Alec's mind kept wandering around.... as he thought about the secret message that he had received 2 nights ago.

[1 of your sons is planning to take your life.

Bring at least 600 guards with you wherever you go.... or else you'll die on your birthday.]

Of course, the message was longer than that.

And at first, he thought it was a joke.

But when he thought of his own past, he decided to abide by the note's instructions.

Lucky for him..... he was saved by this mysterious stranger.

In his mind, this person had good Intel and resources.

So if the note said 1 of his sons wanted to kill him... then didn't that mean that his other sons didn't want him dead?

Thinking like that, it was just James that was the bad seed here.

But of course, Alec couldn't be more wrong.

Unbeknownst to all those around.... and even all those hiding within the bushes, the organizers of the whole event were watching as well.

They were having their own Private Show with the snacks that they had gotten from Baymard.

'Crunch!' Crunch! Crunch!

"Sh!!!!!... keep it down.

This is the best part!!" Someone said in a whispery tone.

"Sorry.... but they're so good."

'Cruuuuuuunchhh! Cruuuunnnnch!'

'_'