Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start - Chapter 298

Chapter 298: CHAPTER 298 – Margaret Found.
Earlier.

“…I’m telling you, something’s off about those two,” whispered the stocky servant with sunken eyes, glancing over his shoulder as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “Illace, the guy who never speaks is talking too smoothly, and the other guy… he moves like he’s hiding a sword up his spine.”

He stood in a shadowed hallway just outside the wine cellar, whispering into the ear of the man known only as Karn—Damien’s personal servant, shadow, and enforcer.

Karn’s eyes narrowed.

“They claimed the Master approved the recruit,” the servant added quickly. “Said he’d meet him after the guest leaves.”

As Alex had suspected, not everyone bought their lies. Someone, suspicious of their actions, had decided to report their actions.

Hearing those words, Karn said nothing at first, his gloved hands folding behind his back while his face remained a blank slate of indifference.

Then, slowly, he turned his gaze toward the grand sitting room.

Through the thin slit between the double doors, he could make out Damien’s form lounging across from Ben.

Still talking. Still smiling.

Ben was dangerous, sure—but not yet a threat.

He could become a problem if he discovered something, but that was if he did.

So, staring at Damien, who hadn’t said anything yet, Karn’s lips thinned. He stepped closer to the door, bent slightly, and whispered, “Master.”

Damien didn’t even turn. He just gave a lazy flick of his wine glass and a subtle nod.

Permission.

Karn vanished into the corridor without another word.

…………………………..

Now.

CLANG!

Sparks flew.

Karn’s blade scraped against Verathian, Alex’s sword thrumming with power despite the mana-suppressing enchantments surrounding the cellar.

“You’re not servants,” Karn growled, eyes like slits of iron. “I knew it.”

Alex’s illusion cracked fully now, his true form rippling into view as his blue eyes met Karn’s with lethal calm.

“Good eye,” he muttered, pushing the servant back with a flick of his blade.

Karn was strong, undoubtedly so. After all, the guy was a peak star-connection realm expert.

He was strong enough to push Alex back—that was if Alex was still a star-formation realm expert.

Now that Alex was in the star-connection realm, there was no way a villain’s support character of the same realm could defeat him.

Behind him, Lilia ignored the clash, sweeping into the cell and dropping to her knees beside the corpses. Her illusion held for a moment longer, then shimmered away.

Her hand hovered above the twisted limbs and pale faces. Then—

A whisper.

So faint, it might’ve been imagined.

Lilia leaned in. Her hand brushed aside the broken arm of a lifeless girl, revealing a small opening, half-covered by blood-stained fabric.

A trapdoor—one that couldn’t be opened without a key, and if forced open, alarms would go off.

However, as she glanced at the ongoing fight, she didn’t think an alarm would make a difference.

With a surge of mana, she forced it open—

WHHRRRMMMMM.

The entire building shook. Dust cascaded from the ceiling. The mana circuits embedded in the walls flickered wildly.

“Damn it!” Karn hissed, stumbling slightly.

Alex didn’t give him a chance to recover.

He surged forward, blade slashing in a silver arc.

Karn blocked, but barely.

The shockwave from the clash rippled through the hall, shattering two of the torch sconces on the walls.

He gritted his teeth and kicked Alex back, only for Alex to twist midair and land cat-like on his feet.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Karn said, circling.

“Neither should you,” Alex replied coolly. “You serve a monster.”

“No,” Karn said. “I am the monster he sends when words fail.”

They clashed again.

Metal screamed.

Mana exploded in sharp, focused bursts. Each movement between them was precise, deadly, and honed.

Karn was fast—faster than most—and his strikes held a darkness to them.

A twisting, suffocating energy that made even the air feel heavy.

But Alex was faster.

He parried a downward slash and spun, elbow crashing into Karn’s temple, then twisted Verathian around to slash—

Karn ducked.

But blood spilled anyway.

A long line was carved across his cheek.

“Tch.”

Meanwhile, Lilia descended the stone steps beneath the trapdoor. Her violet eyes widened as she spotted a small chamber lit by a single dying mana crystal.

In the center of the room—Margaret.

She was bound, barely conscious, lips dry, clothes torn, her body curled tightly against the cold.

It hadn’t even been a day, but her condition made it look like she had been trapped here for ages.

It was then that Lilia realized something.

‘My life force is being sucked out!’ She exclaimed inwardly.

It didn’t take a genius to understand why Margaret’s condition looked like that. It was because her life force was being sucked out continuously.

As for her clothes, they seemed like the result of whipping.

‘That bastard…’ She growled inwardly, her fists clenching.

“Margaret,” Lilia breathed.

As if hearing her words, Margaret’s head twitched.

Then the building shuddered again—alarms going off simultaneously.

Upstairs, in the sitting room—

Ben jolted.

“What was that?” He asked, shooting to his feet.

Damien smiled, slowly rising with the poise of a noble. He straightened his cuffs.

“My house,” he said calmly, “appears to be under attack.”

Ben’s eyes flared.

“You knew.”

Damien turned to face him, and for the first time, his mask slipped.

His eyes glowed faintly red.

“Oh, Ben. Of course, I knew. Do you think I’d let anyone touch what’s mine… without watching?”

Below, in the cellars, Karn lunged at Alex in a reckless charge—

Only for Alex to sidestep, then elbow the man in the gut hard enough to knock the breath out of him.

Karn staggered—

Alex’s blade pressed against his throat.

“Move,” he warned, “and you lose your head.”

But Karn only laughed, blood leaking from his lips.

“You’re too late,” he hissed. “You saved one girl. But the others—do you know how many you didn’t? You think you are a hero just because you saved one?”

Alex’s eyes turned cold.

“No,” he said, his voice like frost. “But I know the one I did.”

There was no way Alex would fall for such easy provocation.

Behind him, Lilia emerged with Margaret in her arms.

“Ready?”

Alex nodded.

The mansion trembled again. This time, it wasn’t the trapdoor—it was the magical alarm. Magic circles all across the estate activated at once.

Footsteps echoed. Dozens.

Servants, guards, and enforcers.

All of them were running toward them.

Alex stepped back, grabbed Karn by the collar, and knocked him unconscious with one swift blow to the head.

Then, he turned to Lilia.

“Let’s move out. I’m sure the others will take care of the rest.”

Lilia nodded, holding Margaret tighter.

The storm had begun.

A storm Damien didn’t even know about.

According to him, Karn should’ve won against Alex and captured him.

He would soon realize that wasn’t the case.

…………………………..

Above, in the hall.

Ben’s hand slowly moved to his waist, fingers wrapping around the blade’s hilt hidden beneath his coat. His green eyes, once calm, now burned like molten gold.

“You knew,” he said again, voice steady, deadly quiet.

Damien turned fully now, no longer playing the polite noble. The poise remained—but it was now something more primal.

His every movement screamed arrogance, confidence, and a hunger deeper than blood.

“Oh, Ben,” he said, smiling. “Of course I knew. Do you think I’d let anyone touch what’s mine… without watching?”

Ben didn’t answer. He moved.

In a flash of light and steel, he lunged.

He didn’t know for sure, but the sound of alarms was a signal from Alex for him.

The table between them shattered into splinters as Ben’s blade cut straight for Damien’s heart.

The air trembled from the force of the strike—blindingly fast and undeniably lethal.

CLANG!

The impact was met not with flesh, but with claws.

Damien’s fingers—now elongated, blackened, and sharp as razors—met the sword head-on, stopping it easily.

The force of the block sent a shockwave spiraling out, smashing furniture and fracturing the floor beneath their feet.

“Heh,” Damien chuckled darkly, licking a thin trickle of blood from his knuckles. “There we go. No more charades. Now that the cat’s out of the bag…”

He pushed the sword back with a flick, sending Ben sliding a few meters across the floor.

“…I suppose it’s time to bury the mutt in my parlor.”

Ben didn’t waste time with words. His foot cracked the ground as he shot forward again, blade dancing through the air like lightning through stormclouds.

Each clash rang louder than the last.

Damien’s claws swept through the air in wide and elegant arcs, carving gouges into the floor and walls.

Despite the strength in his arms, his expression remained casual—he wasn’t even trying yet.

“You’re fast,” Damien mused. “But you’re still young. Still learning. Still… weak.”

Ben’s response came with a burst of light around his chest.

Three stars.

Glowing, translucent, and vast—each pulsing with sheer, raw energy. They orbited his heart in a triangular formation, his aura deepening until it shook the very air.

The floor beneath his feet cracked, and the light in the room flickered.

“I’ve grown,” Ben said. “And I’m not the same idiot from the past.”

Damien’s smile widened.

Then, slowly—deliberately—he raised his hand.

With a low, sickening crack, his bones shifted.

His flesh twisted. Veins bulged black across his pale skin, and crimson lines branched along his arms.

His eyes turned into glowing, hellish red orbs.

His once-tailored suit split at the shoulders, revealing a back lined with bony, elegant protrusions like the edges of folded wings.

Then they appeared—four stars. They were larger and darker than Ben’s, swirling around his chest like planets orbiting a singularity of hunger and blood.

He spoke, his voice now deeper and smoother, every syllable laced with danger.

“Then let me welcome you, truly, to my house.”

His transformation was completed in an instant. His claws were now longer, and his fangs gleamed.

His entire form was darker and sharper, like a true vampire noble of old lineage and power—which he actually was.

He had the blood of an ancient vampire.

He extended his arms slightly, tilting his head as if inviting Ben to strike.

“Come now, Ben. Before I tear you apart, show me what you have learned.”

Ben didn’t hesitate, nor did Damien.

They rushed at each other without a second thought.