A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5521

"What—what kind of force is this?" one guard rasped, terror whitening his knuckles around his spear.

Even Marcus' practiced poise was shattered. His eyes went wide, pupils shrinking to pinpoints of disbelief.

All his rigorous drills and all the coin spent forging an elite retinue were undone by a single breath from the stranger who now owned the room.

Jared advanced. Each step was a hammerblow. The marble beneath him shivered, fine cracks blooming in his wake.

Marcus staggered backward, palms flying up as though to hold his approach at bay.

"D-Don't come any closer!" he stammered, voice quaking. "The Celestial Palace protects me. Harm me and they will hunt you to the ends of the sky!"

Jared's answering smile was thin and grim. "The Celestial Palace? Good. I intend to settle accounts with them soon enough. You and that Sixth Hall have spilled more innocent blood than I care to count. Today, your ledger closes."

Marcus' throat worked. "Who... who are you?"

Never—never in all of level seven had anyone spoken so openly against the Celestial Palace. The question echoed inside his skull—what sort of man dared?

"Names are scraps of wind," Jared said, voice low. "The only thing that matters is whether you intend to guide us to the Sixth Hall."

Trembling, Marcus hesitated—then whispered, "I... I know nothing of their sanctuary. I merely obeyed the orders they sent."

Jared's eyes glinted with a blade-thin chill. "You don't know?" The words dripped like acid, each syllable a quiet promise of violence. A beat later, his voice dropped even lower, almost tender in its menace. "Then you've chosen the hard way."

He started forward, boots echoing against the marble floor of the council chamber, every step deliberate, like a judge crossing the courtroom to pass sentence.

"Wait, wait! I'll talk! I'll talk!" Marcus blurted, panic cracking his composure before it could fully form. The plea broke across the chamber, brittle and desperate.

He knew—down to marrow and spirit—that another heartbeat of silence would invite death. Jared halted, the temperature of the room seeming to plunge the instant he turned his stare on the trembling man.

Marcus sucked in a ragged breath. "Sixth Hall lies somewhere deep in the badlands, buried inside a solitary mountain peak. I swear, I only know the direction, not the exact location."

"Only a direction?" Jared repeated, the phrase rolling off his tongue like grinding stone.

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