I heaved a long sigh, stepping forward.
Laura, paled, was staring at her turned friends with gaping eyes, her small hands slightly covering her mouth.
In a blur, I appeared beside Laura and shoved her aside. ’No ti for theatrics.’
Twisting my torso, I drove a solid kick into the shy one’s gut. She let out a shriek—inhuman, guttural. Black pus spewed from her mouth and splattered across the stone floor like oil.
I recoiled instantly, kicking off with both feet to avoid the toxic sludge.
The other one—the well-endowed maid—lunged mid-air. Her arms arced down like twin hamrs aid at my chest.
THUD.
I barely flinched.
Felt like soone slapped with a pillow. An extrely soft, cotton filled pillow.
The symbiote stirred, hissing irritably.
Without hesitation, it reacted. A thick, shadowy limb burst from my back and slapped the maid out of the air like swatting a fly.
’Damn bro!!!’
She slamd into the ground hard enough to crack the stone, a dark imprint forming on her corrupted skin.
I landed with casual grace, arms tucked behind my back like a smug villain monologuing mid-battle.
Behind , the shy one screeched and lunged again, wild with frenzy. I sidestepped, spun, and kicked her in the gut once more.
CRACK.
Her ribs folded under the force, and she hit the ground with a sickening THUNK.
The remaining maids—the audience—gasped in a synchronised motion. Despite their grotesque forms, these two were still their friends. Seeing them tossed around like ragdolls had to hurt.
’Not that I cared.’
The two abominations staggered to their feet in sync. Glazed eyes t. A silent nod passed between them.
Then they charged.
Teeth bared. Pus dripping. Screeching like banshees.
’They can communicate even when transford? They should have been Ness’s masterpieces.’
I twisted my hips and drove my fist into the shy one’s face. It crumpled like wet paper. My hand went through her cheekbone, black sludge erupting on contact.
I furiously shook my arm, flinging the pus away.
[ 15 EXP ]
From my back, the symbiote didn’t wait. A second arm ford and punched the well endowed one square in the jaw. There was a grotesque snap, and her jaw dangled loosely, swinging like a at pendulum.
For a mont, she froze—dazed, confused, her corrupted mind trying to comprehend the pain.
Then she scread. Loud, shrill, and so obnoxious I felt the urge to rip my own ears off.
’I’d had enough.’
They had taken a lot of ti to die—unlike their other soul? Or body mates—townfolks.
I stepped forward, extended both hands, and gripped her head.
With a sickening SPLURT, I crushed it like an overripe lon.
Pus exploded outward. So of it landed on my face. I gagged, spitting and coughing from the taste and sll.
’Absolutely revolting.’
But at least she was dead.
[ 15 EXP ]
I didn’t bother looking for a washbasin inside the castle. That would be sane. And that sane thought didn’t exactly cross my mind—I swear.
Instead, I strolled into town, casually making disgusted faces, retching every few steps like a drunk clown on a bad trip.
Eventually, I reached the town square and dipped my head into the fountain, scrubbing my face clean in the freezing water.
The coolness bit into my skin, and for a mont, I just... existed. Letting the water run down my face as if it was caressing my face. The gentleness of the cold water felt surreal.
Then I pulled my head up—and saw the devastation.
The town was unrecognizable. It looked like slums previously but this ti, it wasn’t even a town exactly. Just broken bits of buildings.
’And when they were finally improving...’
Of course it felt sad, my brother gift was gone. Not exactly gone but without people to rule what kind of ruler was I?
Cobblestone streets were fractured. Buildings were crumbling. Shops gutted. What used to be muddy little hos now stood as skeletal remains of stone and ash.
Not a soul in sight.
The townsfolk—once 90,000 strong—were gone.
Sure, I’d slaughtered a few hundred at the castle gates, but that barely made a dent. Where were the rest?
I wandered through the ruins, hunting for movent. For sothing.
Nothing.
Maybe they’d migrated to other sectors of the region. If so... I wasn’t sure I’d bother chasing them.
I was about to give up when I heard it—screams.
Not the cries of victims.
The death shrieks of dying thralls.
I bolted toward the sound, feet launching like a missile across the rubble.
And there she was.
Tauriel.
Hair black as midnight, eyes like twin oceans in a storm, standing amidst a horde of rabid thralls. Dozens. Hundreds. Snarling, screeching, clawing.
But she wasn’t scared.
No.
She was grinning. A feral, wild grin that stretched unnaturally wide.
She grabbed one thrall by the head and popped it like a pimple. Then leapt to the next, twisting its neck so hard it snapped like dry twigs. Another—she punched straight through its chest. The next, she ripped in half with nothing but her hands.
I stopped in my tracks.
Stunned. Speechless.
’What the hell happened to her?’
’Did her skill "Motherly Love" evolve into "Fatherly Beating"?’
The chances were high. But the thing that unsettled most... was the smile. That manic, twisted expression of sheer joy. She liked this.
’Did these people hurt her before? Kill her pet? Insult her cooking?’
Whatever the reason, she was enjoying their demise far more than any sane person should.
’Shouldn’t the hero’s be righteous?’
She did not look like one currently.
Then the symbiote inside pulsed.
It felt the thralls too.
It was excited.
Hungry.
It wanted in on the slaughter.
I grinned. "Alright, partner. Let’s play."
Hands in my pockets, I rocketed forward, feet tearing up the ground beneath .
I was just about to dive into the horde—when everything changed.
A blinding golden light enveloped .
For an instant, I couldn’t see. Couldn’t breathe.
And in the next...
I was gone.
Teleported. Sowhere else entirely.
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