MTLNOVEL Chapter 127 Catching Henry
"Peculiar?" Asphalt echoed. "Everything about that kid is obscured and peculiar. Ever heard the story of the fallen Super-family... the Bloodgales?"
Zane shook his head. "Nah. First time hearing it."
Asphalt exhaled slowly. Then he began.
"There were once seven great Super-families—each dominating the awakening era. The Bloodgales were the most brutal among them. Berserker bloodline. They drank the blood of corrupted beasts to gain strength. Madness was part of their power."
Zane nodded slowly.
"Howard Bloodgale," Asphalt continued, "was a genius of the clan. When he was barely thirty, the academy sent him alone to the Mariana Trench—a forbidden mission. He was ordered to eliminate a sea monster that had awakened from the abyss."
"He succeeded. But something changed. He drank the monster's blood to gain the upper hand… and survived. For a week after his return, everything seemed normal. Then... Henry was conceived."
Zane's eyes narrowed. He said nothing.
"Two weeks later, Howard broke through—but it came at a price. His body mutated. He lost his sanity. He went berserk. He slaughtered the elders of the Bloodgale family like beasts. Only the patriarch, Hogwart Bloodgale, managed to restrain him... and even then, he lost his right arm and left leg."
"Howard is now chained like an animal, locked in the family's forbidden chamber."
Zane clenched his fist.
"That's how the mighty Bloodgales fell. Once a top-tier Super-family… now reduced to one of the Ten Normal Nobility Houses."
Asphalt's voice dropped lower.
"But that wasn't the end of their nightmare. Henry was born five months after conception. His mother died of severe anemia during childbirth. Doctors said he drank up her blood while still in the womb."
Zane's stomach turned.
"When Hogwart saw the baby's twisted form—his eyes pitch-black, his veins dark, and skin almost pale-blue—he panicked. He tossed the child into the river, wanting to erase the curse. But Henry didn't die."
"The kid survived. Raised in an orphanage. The Bloodgales brought him back only when he was four. But even then… he wasn't family. He was a secret. A ghost child. They feared him. No one talked to him. No one touched him. And yet, for some reason, they allowed him to enroll in this year's Academy intake."
Asphalt fell silent.
Zane's gaze drifted toward Henry again—still laughing, still flickering beyond the trees like a harmless stray cat.
"He's innocent in all of this…" Zane muttered. "He's like me. Lonely. Cursed. Cast out."
Asphalt turned sharply toward him.
"What are you even saying? Zane, that kid is nothing but a blood-sucking monster."
Zane didn't flinch.
"I know."
But deep inside, another thought flickered through his mind.
How would you react… if you knew my wife is a vampire?
Zane looked at Henry again.
"That kid doesn't need fear. He needs help."
"Whatever, man. Just be careful around Bloodgale—especially the kid," Asphalt warned again, casting a suspicious glance at Henry. "Besides, we've got that massive stash from Sir Ronaldo. Let's just focus on launching the real People's Bank after we get out of this place. Honestly, I still don't like selling shares to that old cot."
Zane smiled faintly, patient as always.
"Hey, don't worry. I thought this through before I made the deal. We've made too many enemies lately. We need allies—powerful ones. And Ronaldo's exactly that. Since he's invested in us, he'll protect us during this trial. Think about it: the Academy is still unknown territory for us. None of us has even stepped foot inside. After this Ranking Tournament, we'll be starting from the bottom—completely fresh. If we don't have someone pulling strings on the inside, we're just setting ourselves up."
Asphalt grunted, his expression still doubtful. But then he nodded.
"Yeah… true. With a 6-Star awakener and senior teacher backing us, things could lean in our favor."
He shifted his gaze toward the ruins, where Henry was still teasing the twins.
"But what are we going to do about him?"
Zane looked at the boy flickering in and out of sight like a shadow.
He smiled.
"Master Ronaldo, as agreed—please restrain the kid and bring him here."
Ronaldo's eye twitched slightly. The "please" softened it, but he was a proud man, and didn't like being ordered around—even politely. Still, he gave a curt nod and vanished, moving like a cold breeze cutting through the jungle.
While Henry was still playfully dodging Har and Dar, a sharp sense of danger crawled up his spine. His feline ears twitched beneath the hoodie.
He blinked—and Ronaldo's aura was right there.
Henry bolted instantly, his figure disappearing from everyone's view like mist blown by wind.
Ronaldo narrowed his eyes.
"That's... very fast. Too fast. Did he just use a bloodline technique?"
The failed attempt stung his pride. A 6-Star awakener, missing a kid barely out of diapers?
Unacceptable.
He exhaled slowly to calm himself—then launched after Henry again. He missed. Again.
And again.
Now he was irritated.
"Fine, brat. Let's see how fast you are… when the world around you freezes."
He weaved a series of intricate hand signs. His palm extended outward—and with a forceful blow from his mouth, a freezing gust of wind spiraled through the air.
The ground began to frost. Ice coated the ruins. And then—
CRACK!
Henry's right foot froze inside a block of jagged ice.
Zane's eyes widened in amazement.
"He didn't even chant… He just cast it."
Henry tried yanking his leg, but the ice didn't even crack.
"Hey! Baldie! Let me go or I'm never being friends with you!" he screeched in a shrill, catlike tone.
Ronaldo circled around Henry slowly, exhaling a calm breath.
"Little brat… come here," he said with an almost gentle voice.
He held onto Henry's right hand, touched the ice around his leg—and it dissolved into mist with a faint hiss.
Henry stretched his leg, then tried to dart away, but his arm was still caught.
"Stupid baldie! You're such a spoil sport. Let go of my hand!" he whined.
Ronaldo ignored him and brought him over to Zane.
"Here you go, just as we agreed."