Rias pendragon

The estate was shaken to silence when I kicked open the large birch doors. The eyes of servants and maids darted from the dead guard in my hands to the blood that covered my body. Silverware clattered on the floor just as glass shattered along with wine staining the carpets red, no one dared to move from my view. I became scared for their lives and grabbed hold of a maid I spoke yet demandingly.

“Take me to that depraved bastard you call an archduke.” My words rang in her ears as she avoided my eyes looking directly at the dead guard that dripped continuously with blood with every passing moment. The frightened maid was hesitant at first. After she complied, I kicked the guard’s body across the room accompanied by a thud and clattering of metal on stone. The sludgy sound of insides crept into the minds of the servants whose eyes darted back and forth from the guard with his head nearly unattached and his insides hanging out.

The maid quickly scrambled from my grip, leading me away from the rest. Walking through hallway after hallway I could hear screams and laughter of men and women alike, they were enjoying something. The maid seemed to become scared shivering for her life, reaching for the doorknob, she paused momentarily. Not knowing how long she would take, I kicked the door open ripping off its hinges making it fly directly toward a noble. His head was torn off roughly with a sharp squelch that would pierce the eardrums of the deaf.

The levels of debouching that I lay my eyes upon made the pits of my stomach churn similar to cheese on a grater. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of blood pouring off my armour and blade made waves around the room sending it to a halt, stillness filled the air no more than a calm wind on the edges of low tide. Everyone looked at me, some in tears wanting to be freed or saved yet others in terrified shock no longer showing pleasure. One was brazened enough to speak up, son of the archduke who spoke up completely naked flaunting himself about like a manic.

‘Can I just cut it off?’ I thought as he strode towards me with another man who looked at me seductively placing his hand on my chest. Which I quickly took and snapped separating the bone from wrist. His cries of pain showed to everyone, I wasn’t here to indulge in their little fantasy bondage act.

“The level of debouching is actually disgusting. I’m already in a foul mood and it’s getting worse. So, I’ll ask this simple question… why did you order my girlfriend and friend Samantha to be raped by the two princes multiple times archduke?” My voice though monotone was dark. The air began to freeze with every word I spoke aloud. He in return didn’t speak neither did anyone else as they stared at the man screaming out in pain.

“I’ll ask again. This time with my fist.” I said reaching for the archduke’s son. I could tell on Archduke’s face, that he wanted to answer seeing me plunge my hand into his son’s chest gripping the boy’s heart. A loud pop bounced off the walls of the room as the boy’s heart and mana core evaporated into the air. His panicked face seeped through as he clambered onto his knees. The nobles themselves became panicked. In this panic they all tried to run for the door some slipped due to the liquids staining the ground some simply were unable to move. Seeing them so frantic made me full of hate, as I saw hypocrites. People who reveled in the joy of hurting others now cowering for their own lives. A thin layer of golden fire covered the door and all windows making it impossible for anyone to escape. If you could even call them people anymore.

“I’ll ask again.”

“I only answer to Harmon… he tells me what to do. I ordered the princes to do it but on the bright side their maidenhood is intact.” He smiled which faded ever so quickly feeling the room become a few degrees hotter. With rift-step in toe, I held the archduke beneath my foot. He tried to nudge or worm his way from the iron grip of my foot, even after the thorns wrapped around my foot and shin were perfectly reflected in his eyes.

“You think there’s a bright side because their maidenhood is intact? No there isn’t… you let two princes do unimaginable damage to two girls, making them scared to do anything why?” I wondered my tone calm. He stuttered for an answer until I reached for his chest just like I did to his son, still bleeding from the gaping wound. The nobles on the other hand were quiet the silent, it felt comforting. The walls though a light grey tone of birched wood were now stained red from blood matching the patches of blood on the purple rug beneath my feet. Looking around I saw more men than women in cages or cuffed by mana suppression even in chains to stop them from running having to watch all the depravity go on.

“Because it was fun? You should know this right, pendragons love killing its similar right?” He asked with a smile raising his hands which made me snap. Gripping him by the shoulder I threw his frail body against the wall knocking him temporarily unconscious. When his body fell, I heard a snap from his neck. When he realized I'd broken his neck, paralyzing him from the force of my throw, he tried to scream however no noise came out of his silver-tongued mouth.

I spoke once again my tone now colder and darker. “No, they aren’t the same. I kill because it’s easy, you do all of this because you're just sick in the head… I break people's spirits, you, their minds. This time though I’ll show what wanting death feels like. Maybe it’ll make you feel what all of these feel.” I stepped away from the archduke and pulled his wife off the bed kicking her to her knees, I wasn’t in my right mind but I wasn’t gonna stop now as I made him watch placing red death against his wife’s chest to cut it open.

“You see bodies like royals are incredibly resilient to death but one thing you’re not resilient to is mental break.” I whispered in the ear of the archduchess who looked terrified as I placed red death against her neck. She even went so far as to beg for her life asking that I forgive her husband and her family for everything they’ve done. “Forgiveness? Haha… did you stop when they all begged, did the princes stop when Talia and Samantha begged- No! so why should you get the same treatment?” I looked at the archduke who tried to cry out as I slashed red death right through his wife’s neck.

“Why should any of you get forgiveness? You don’t realise your lives mean nothing when you dive into things like this. Maybe I’ll just let you all burn.” I mumbled turning from the archduke to all the nobles now cowering against the wall connected to the doorway. They now probably realized that I wasn’t going to let a single one of them live not even the archduke’s family whether I could care enough or not.

The daughter of the archduke now seeing her family either dead, paralysed or in shock spoke in a timid voice in the darkest corner of the room. She seemed to be chained to the walls like many others. “They did this too. To me and all of these!” She pointed exclaiming to the two girls and a boy sitting calmly in the back of the room holding chains to a few people huddled up on the ground.

“Now you notice us pendragon.” The younger boy of the three spoke rubbing his chin. His rough scarred appearance matched his arrogant tone, it irritated me to the point I just wanted to keep his heart so I could feed it to cleric beasts. I looked at them and then back at the archduke who shook his head frantically his way of begging for his life. Instead of killing him, I tore out his wife’s heart and mana core throwing them to his feet and showing him something important.

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“Even if you reach for them. They will never be within reach.” My words shook the entire room as the cousins shouted to how I knew those words. “Do you recognize those words? Did your ancestor tell you who I am?” Smiling whilst looking back at the cousins, they caught on before anyone else. I didn’t speak deciding to let it fully skin into all of them of who I was. When the archduke understood, crushing the mana core and heart just inches from his face so the blood would splatter off my boot to his face in one.

“Why after five thousand years why now?!” The cousins asked. The maids on the other side of the door who could look in showed actual emotion of being horrified along with a few others who joined to see the commotion. Feeling a responsibility, the bonds the sister was held in were cut loose from my magic. Afterward, I sent her on her way to the maids who kept sight of me. Turning back to the cousins, they squirmed seeing me reach out for one of them.

The sound of skin ripping, tearing along with muscles doing the same along with the popping sound of the heart pounded in everyone’s ears. My face was emotionless as I continued to rip out the youngest’s heart. I didn’t-- I couldn’t care how everyone felt about this moment all that was in my head was how I was doing this for Talia who may not like the outcome of what I’ve done but I couldn’t stop now. ‘I have to finish this. Make them suffer.’ I repeated in my head over and over again. For a second, I stopped and was about to turn towards the second cousin.

‘Am I as bad as them? No, I can’t be…’ I shrugged off the feeling ultimately proceeding to do the same with the second cousin. I tore out their mana core and heart as the archduke still watched on in disbelief horrified at what I had done. ‘I can’t stop… I have to make them suffer for all time.’ The thought kept repeating again and again as I killed them when I reached the last cousin. For a moment I stopped to think. My face was emotionless and dead inside. Tears streamed down the last of three cousins' faces mainly from seeing her family killed in front of her. Piercing her shoulder with my blade, my emotions returned, and seeing the aftermath of what happened when I suddenly turned them off. The cousin screaming out in pain looked at me as emotion returned to my face, she was expecting anger or hate from me but far from it.

“Don’t look at me with pity! Whore!” She shouted. With her final words, she smiled waving something that would live with her in whatever dark afterlife she goes to. “I hope you suffer eternally.” Returning from the cousin I faced the archduke who was now propped up in a sitting position. He looked at me terrified with sadness, yet pity and guilt riddled on his face.

“How does it feel to feel what all of these have daily? Though I may have gone too far at least you now know what wanting death feels like don’t you?” I asked my words twisted kneeling before him a smile about to show on my face, I wasn’t feeling pity now. The archduke spoke through a bloodied throat and cries of pain.

“Wh-why? They got what they deserved… mordid told us you wouldn’t retaliate.” He said as I leaned in close plunging a knife into the wall behind him marked with the symbol of deathless assassins the very people mordid sent to kill me.

“Oh? Hasn’t he learned after I killed his mother Guinevere and father Lancelot? If you're listening mordid if I must repeat myself, come kill me yourself. You fucking coward!” I snarled plunging my hand into the archduke’s chest killing him by effortlessly burning his heart to ash. When the archduke died, I turned towards all the nobles and with one flick of the wrist I commanded the fire to burn them all to ash leaving not even bone just the darkened ash of nothingness.

After all this, I looked at the people, the maids and the servants along with the only member of the family left. “Speak of this to anyone and you’ll be punished.” I said coldly noticing one noble still alive, yet his mind was broken. He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell anyone about the event of what just occurred here with the death of royals. The maids and servants seemed to comply along with the sister who pleaded for me to do something with her as she now had no home along with the fact she wasn’t considered a part of royalty. I didn’t answer just helping those chained and cuffed free.

For the next forty-five minutes, I separated the heads of the family and hung them naked against the walls of the manor. Carefully one by one they were propped up until I reached the archduke. Instead of just hanging him normally, I did something that the sentinels do to people who committed the worst crimes. The blood eagle. After all that was done using my fire mana, the manor and the entire estate turned to black sand. All that remained was a hill of burnt wood and grey ash.

…

When the morning sun began to rise, I watched from the ruins. Seeing all types of people scream in shock or clamber around to see the duke’s family hung by their arms next to the words that I painted in the blood of someone who tried to kill me probably sent by mordid or wolfgar. After a while through the intervention of Corvus’s mother, everything quieted down. Soon after that, some of the king's guard and queen's guard led by the lord commander entered the estate. The princes arrived after.

Entering the ruins, they strode towards me. Looking at my blood-stained body, the lord commander couldn’t take his eyes off the archduke’s head in my hands. Lord Commander watching me over as I made no effort to move knowing even with rift-step, I couldn’t escape capture forever.

“Your depraved and foul actions caused this crown prince and young prince!” He spoke down to the princes.

“She killed our family!” The brothers shot back rather demandingly at that.

“You both tried to rape the girl I love and my friend! Eye for an eye!” I coughed throwing the archduke’s head to Imra’s feet. With my emotions seeping through I spoke up again. “You forced everyone into silence along with two commanders to cover up your heinous deeds. I killed your family, and I don’t regret it either.” I spat. The heavy sounds of my feet shot through each of them.

Each queen’s guard and king’s guard looked at the princes in disgust even horror as they tried to explain their actions to no avail.

“Don’t speak like you aren’t to blame!” Luna barked her voice foul and monstrous. Turning to my side with a raised brow I looked down seeing my bond tower over me and all the people around me. She was maybe nine to ten feet in height when she spoke again it was less foul, yet the booming distortion resided. “Your actions are not befitting of princes.” After a second Luna proceeded to jump back into my body without a second thought.

“Maybe we should have gone thro-!” Imkli was cut off by Corvus placing his spear against the prince’s neck.

“Speak to her that way again and I’ll kill you myself. Touch Samantha again and I’ll feed you to cleric beasts after losing your manhood.” Corvus’s voice was full of hate and anger far beyond what I normally experienced from being around him but that didn’t stop the lord commander from issuing his command while a few of my colleagues no former colleagues brandished weapons at me.

“Under orders of the king and the council of ten, you are hereby arrested for the crime of regicide!” He exclaimed for all to hear. Some like my former colleagues even commoners voiced their protests against it as I had done the right thing in their eyes. Even Corvus protested but he knew it was all for naught. All I could do was comply with the warrant even if I didn’t want to, I was no match for the lord commander or the mistress even with my mastery in swordsmanship and fire mana.

As I was cuffed, I heard footsteps familiar ones of Talia and Lyra who came running practically begging the lord commander to stop.

“Please stop she was doing the right thing.” Talia cried out being pushed back by a few of the queen’s guards same as Lyra who screamed in anger.

“You bastards! Serving my father like dogs… she did nothing wrong!” Lyra who normally hid from the public showed her disdain for her own family. Their cries of protest didn’t do anything to stop the lord commander who just led me away from the estate. I just shook my head making red death and my armour disappeared from my body. This seemed to keep everyone quiet as I offered no words of reprieve or reprisal only walking steadily behind the lord commander. I didn’t dare look back as tears streamed from my eyes, keeping my head to the ground I ignored all the words of the mumbling citizens around me even nobles who wandered on by voicing either protests or shouts for my execution. Keeping myself quiet I just kept walking trying not to shuffle my feet across the floor of the cobbled street.

“Lord commander this is wrong. You know that right?” A king’s guard protested, walking beside me to keep one eye on me and another on the road before us.

“I know but I can’t disobey my king.”

“You lapdog.” I scoffed at the lord commander keeping his head up I snarled at him showing my teeth made his eyes widen in sudden shock turning up a bad memory or something that reminded him of the past. Looking around hundreds of people have their hands on their chests. Trying to keep myself occupied I looked around to see some familiar faces including Sir Wayne and his wife.

“Can I ask one thing?” I asked the lord commander who nodded his head back to me.

“Sure.”

“Can I talk to my mentor before I enter the keep?” The lord commander nodded to me letting me go only if I was accompanied by a queen’s guard. which I was allowed to personally pick so I picked a lesser-ranked member named Claire.

“I don’t think you’d go through with it.” Sir Wayne said placing a hand on my bloodied face.

“Yeah—it may not look it but I'm in a lot of shock. Even with repressing my emotions, it's hard to keep myself together. Did I do the right thing?”

“Who knows little one. Let's just hope you survive this.” Sir Wayne brought me into a comforting hug maybe this will be the last one I feel for a while.