"What!"
At Kaebo's words, a flicker of surprise crossed Abaddon's face.
It flashed across his features like lightning, widening his eyes for an instant and briefly catching his breath.
But then that surprise burned away as quickly as paper thrown into an Inferno, becoming an expression of savage fury.
His gaze sharpened like a blade, his face tightened, and his body tensed into a guarded stance, as though he were about to attack.
"Father would never betray us! Kaebo!" Abaddon's voice thundered through the corridor.
His eyes remained fixed on Kaebo, burning with the fury of someone whose inviolable boundaries had been crossed.
"What are you saying! Are you trying to undermine us! Or are you making up pathetic lies!"
In disbelief, Abaddon raised his Power Axe and pressed its still-bloody blade against Kaebo's neck.
The sharp edge rested against Kaebo's skin. One light stroke would slit his throat, sever his windpipe and arteries, and end his life in an instant.
Abaddon's hand trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the tangled anger and anguish churning within him, making his body shake beyond his control.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me, Kaebo!" Abaddon's voice echoed down the corridor, urgent and anxious, as though he were pleading for the truth.
"Father hasn't betrayed us! Brutus ordered everything! Tell me! Tell me!"
Kaebo neither backed down nor evaded him. He made no attempt to explain or defend himself.
He stood there silently, looking at Abaddon's face, twisted with rage, at those blazing eyes, and at the Power Axe pressed against his own neck.
Then he slowly sank to one knee before Abaddon.
He lowered his head and deliberately pressed his neck against Abaddon's axe blade. The sharp edge scored a shallow cut across his skin, and a drop of crimson blood slid