A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5520

"Outsider? I am Linford blood—hardly an outsider!"

Unmoved, the guard repeated, "Orders are orders. No exceptions."

Jared lifted a hand, gently but firmly stilling Luna before anger drowned reason.

He faced the guard and let a single word fall, cold as winter steel. "Move."

The unseen weight in that word crushed the guard's courage; he stumbled aside without thinking.

Jared and Flaxseed strode through the gate as if it belonged to them. Luna hurried after, skirts snapping against marble.

Gleaming pavilions and painted corridors surrounded them, yet none paused to admire. A storm was gathering, and each of them felt the first electric sting.

Inside the grand hall, the Lord of Eastshire, Marcus Eastshire, sat enthroned, draped in brocade, jade coronet catching torchlight.

A flicker of displeasure crossed her face when Luna entered with two strangers, but it vanished behind courtly calm.

Marcus's voice cut through the hush. "Luna, why have you brought these outsiders before me?"

"My lord, you personally dispatched my father and countless cultivators of Eastshire to the Sixth Hall. Many never returned. Those who did came back empty-eyed, their minds shattered. Why? What is truly happening there?"

A muscle jumped in the lord's jaw, yet his composure resettled like frost on stone.

Flaxseed's laugh boomed like a drum. "These pups? You expect them to shackle us?" He produced a fistful of charms from his robe, crackling gold script already waking on the paper.

Jared lifted two fingers, and Flaxseed tucked the charms back with a reluctant shrug and stepped aside.

Jared's gaze swept the circle of soldiers, icy and unhurried. "Lord Eastshire, steel cannot cage us. Spare yourself needless suffering—reveal the Sixth Hall's location."

A brittle laugh escaped Marcus. "You? A reckless nobody? Enough. Whoever subdues them will be richly rewarded—go!"

The guards howled their answer and surged forward, blades catching torchlight in murderous flashes.

Jared exhaled. Power erupted from him like a silent quake. The oncoming soldiers slammed to a halt, chests heaving against an invisible avalanche. Air itself felt heavy, as though the hall had sunk beneath deep water.