Alicia told the Belefort family everything related to Peter's death, including the fact that she worked with the Skyhall to capture the Dark Lord. She didn't leave the part where she actually tortured the Dark Lord himself. The elders shivered in fear. Some outright dropped to their knees, praying to the gods to save the family. Many elders were furious at Alicia for endangering the family. For a few minutes, the elders murmured and gasped in shock.

"Silence," Francis raised his voice as the noise finally fell flat.

"How many times have we told you to leave Peter's matter alone?" Francis asked Alicia. His eyes glimmered with anger. Because Alicia was a prodigy and his doting daughter, he always ignored her obvious anger issues. Even when she tried to gather the Belefort family to seek revenge against Ghost after the tournament, Francis only gently talked her out of it. He had never shown any anger toward Alicia.

"What happened to Peter in the tournament was unfortunate. But he wasn't blameless, either. You need to be ready to get burned if you play with the fire long enough," One of the gray-haired elders rose from his seat and said.

Alicia clenched her fist.

"Unfortunate? Is that what you call what happened to Peter?" Alicia's voice burned with rage and murderous intent. The elder almost took a step back.

"He is right," Alicia's anger disappeared immediately when she heard Francis. Instead, she was stunned by her father's words. She couldn't understand how Francis could accept what Ghost did to Peter at the tournament like others.

"Am I the only one who thinks Peter doesn't deserve Ghost's cruel treatment?" Alicia said, gritting her teeth.

"But he was alive, wasn't he?" Francis coldly asked Alicia.

"If you had left that matter alone, he would have been alive by now. The Dark Lord may have killed him, but you are just as responsible as the Dark Lord himself,"

Alicia couldn't believe she heard these words from her father. Even Norvin had never expected such cold treatment from Francis. Looking at Francis's treatment of Alicia, the elders dared to speak their minds. Soon, an old lady with neatly combed white hair stood up.

"Does Noah Winston know you went behind his back?" asked the old woman.

"He has nothing to do with this," Norvin said.

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"I disagree. He has everything to do with this. He might be the only person who could protect our family from the Dark Lord. is it true that the Dark Lord said quote as long as she is a Belefort, they will suffer untimely deaths?"

Norvin was startled. The old lady spoke the Dark Lord's words like she was there.

"How did you know?" Alicia coldly asked the woman.

"So it's true," the old woman collapsed as the elders gasped in shock. It was none other than Michael who spread the rumors in Ice Fair through Sadie. He wanted some of the important elders in the Belefort family to know what had happened even before Alicia told them. Still, the elders were startled to hear it from Alicia's mouth. The elders couldn't even think straight after realizing they were officially on the kill list of the Dark Lord.

"You can't blame her for everything. She was Peter's sister, for god sake. If you stay still and do nothing if the same had happened to your son, daughter, or brother," Norvin questioned the elders.

Another elder stood up,

"I don't know what we would have done after the tournament. But we would have definitely avoided messing with Ghost after knowing he is the freaking Dark Lord. He slaughtered Immortals and literally removed Itholan from the face of the world,"

"And where was the Skyhall when he killed Peter? The Great Eight clans need pawns to sacrifice to the Dark Lord. They won't let their own get killed," another elder voiced his concern.

"Because of what you had done, we might get wiped off,"

"He slaughtered Immortals. Do you think we stand a chance against him?"

"He didn't have to come here by himself. Any one of his generals could burn us to the ground,"

One by one, the elders stood up and raised their voices. Francis could do nothing but watch his daughter get blamed for everything. The unfortunate thing was the elders were right. Alicia had no words to defend herself. Deep down, she knew her entire family was in danger because of what she did.

At that moment, Norvin hated the Skyhall more than anyone. They roped Alicia into this plan and never appeared to save Peter. He could only imagine what would have happened to Mutrad and his men.

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"I will accept any punishment you give me," Alicia dropped to her knees. The hall went silent. Norvin saw Francis rise from his throne. He hoped Alicia's mother was here. Unfortunately, the poor woman was too devastated to hear her son was dead. She lost consciousness the moment she saw the blood stains and the dead bodies in Peter's home. She was still under the care of healers.

"Alicia, I don't blame you completely. You did what any loving sister would have. I know you wanted to avenge Peter. But at that same time, you ignored our warnings. You went behind our backs and endangered the entire family. You let your anger cloud your mind," Francis sighed. He couldn't speak those words looking into Alicia's eyes. But he had to do this for the sake of his family. He hoped it would be enough to calm the Dark Lord's anger.

"As someone who lost a brother, I understand your feelings. Taking that and your contributions to the family into the account, I hereby exile you from the Belefort family,"

Tears gushed out of Alicia's eyes. Norvin was startled by Francis's words. But the elders looked relieved and satisfied with Francis's punishment. None of the elders expected a death sentence for Alicia, so they were quite satisfied with removing Alicia from the family.

"From now on, you are not a Belefort, and I restrict you from using the name under any circumstances," a teardrop escaped Francis's eye. His voice stuttered. With Alicia's exile, his bloodline came to an end.

"Let's just hope this will be enough for the Dark Lord," said an elder.

Norvin clenched his fist. He wanted to punch everyone to death. However, he managed to suppress his anger. The last thing Norvin wanted was to make things worse for Alicia. Suddenly, a bright beam of light shot through the ceiling and landed right beside Alicia. The bright light blinded everyone. They closed their eyes using their hands. After the light beam faded away, they saw Noah Winston standing beside Alicia.

"Noah!" Norvin shouted. He had never been so happy to see Noah. Just Noah's arrival made Norvin heave a sigh of relief.

Noah did not utter any word but lifted Alicia to her feet by her shoulders. He wiped off the tears on her face and gently smiled.

"Let me take care of this," said Noah. He turned his gaze away from Alicia to Francis.

"Is this what the great Belefort family has reduced to? You'd rather exile your daughter than seek justice for your son's death?" Noah was calm, but his words were as cold as ice.

If Noah was just a guardian, Francis and the elders would have raised their voices against him. But he was a Supreme Guardian, the leader of the Guardian Guild. Hence, they dared not to disrespect Noah.

"I lost my son. I am not going to lose my family too," said Francis.

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"Nothing you say will revoke my judgment. She is not a Belefort anymore," Francis said these words with a heavy heart. He had to look stout in front of the elders. He couldn't afford to look weak. But only he knew how painful it was to make this decision. He felt like something was squeezing his heart.

"She won't be a Belefort anymore," Noah turned as he lifted Alicia's hand.

"Because she is a Winston," UNder their gazes, Noah put a ring on her finger. It wasn't an engagement ring but the Winston family heirloom. The white ring symbolized the marriage union between them. No one expected Noah to marry Alicia then and there. Even Michael did not expect Noah's bold move. He thought Noah would be furious and vent his anger on Alicia, which would break their relationship. Instead, it brought Noah and Alicia closer.

Even Alicia and Norvin were stunned. Alicia just stared at Noah without batting an eye.

"If Ghost wants to hurt her, he'd have to go through me," Noah grabbed Alicia's hand and walked toward the door. On his way, he raised his finger as a light beam shot toward the ceiling. Francis saw a tiny object fall down from the ceiling. It soon exploded into oblivion.

Everyone realized that the Dark Lord was watching them all this time. Just the thought was enough to make their hearts skip a beat. Noah crushed the Spyder under his feet and exited the hall without turning back. The elders were still in shock. Francis's mind was blank. He just saw his daughter getting married before his eyes. Everything happened so sudden. He dreamed of doing Alicia's marriage as the grandest event in Ice Fair history, but the gods had another plan.

********************************************

Meanwhile, Michael was looking at a blank mirror. Michael was surprised to see Noah actually located his Spyder. It seemed to him Noah's godly powers were slowly developing. Of course, Noah was nowhere close to Michael in terms of power or god level;

"That was unexpected," said Michael.

"I don't get him. He did the exact opposite of what we imagined,' said Ayag.

"Life is full of surprises huh," Michael smiled. Granted, what Noah did surprised him, but it didn't mess up Michael's plan whatsoever. The longer Alicia was with Noah, the more problems he would face. However, Michael admired Noah for sticking by his woman's side even when she was in the wrong. At Least the two of them shared that in common.

"My lord," Azazel entered the room.

"Lord Elidyr is waiting for you outside," said Azazel.

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"Everything ready?" Michael asked.

"Everything is ready, my lord,"

Michael took a deep breath. Since he got the elven rune, it was time to reach the 6-star Alchemist level.