Father Valarian kept gazing at what remained of Lord William. Honestly, he didn't know how he was going to explain this.

Sigh.

He sighed, "I need a vacation," then glanced again at the headless corpse.

'At least he was useful by getting himself killed. I didn't have to make my hands dirty,' Valarian flashed a small smile.

Then he turned to face an empty spot in the street, and immediately after that, a golden light appeared in that spot. In the next second, a man was standing there, wearing the same clothes as Valarian but less "holy."

"You're Holiness; what should we do?" The man asked with a bow and deep respect.

"Bring the bodies back and clean up this mess," he ordered.

The man bowed and then asked again, "And that man?"

Father Valarian thought for a moment. "Gather all the information and keep an eye on him, but only from afar."

"It will be done, Your Holiness," as the man was about to disappear, Valarian called him.

"Oh! One more thing: whatever you do, don't come close to the two girls, understand? I don't want you to end up like our friend here," he said, pointing with his thumb to the headless corpse.

The man felt a shiver down his spine. 'Getting near the girls is instant death?'

"Yes, Your Holiness. I will ensure the girls remain untouched and gather information from a safe distance," the man replied, his voice filled with a mix of obedience and apprehension.

Father Valarian nodded in approval. With his brief interaction with Aron, he realized what kind of man he is—an overprotected, obsessive man with no problem killing anyone who gets near what he considers 'His'

People like him are troublesome to deal with but easy to avoid; just don't get near their 'treasure,' and you'll be fine. Probably.

'Like a Dragon, huh?' Father Valarian chuckled internally. From his perspective, Aron's behavior is like that of a Dragon that he has read about in books. Little did he know that he had just met a real Dragon in humanoid form.

Because of this, he didn't want his subordinates to meet his wrath. Make no mistake, he trusted his subordinates' abilities to handle any situation, but the act of 'devouring' his magic by Aron's Mana planted a slight fear in his heart. When facing the unknown, it's better to be cautious than sorry.

Father Valarian waved his hand in the air, and immediately, a golden light covered every person in the street caught in the middle of all of this and those who suffered from Aron's aura. After that, he disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a trail of golden light.

…

"Hey! That was cold! Brrrr!" Aron jumped, yelling at Pethra. The little witch had done something evil, but what did she do?

Well, as Aron was cleaning the blood on his pants by the river that runs through the town, Petra, like an evil little devil, sneaked up behind him with a piece of ice that she found on the edge of the river. Since the sunlight wouldn't reach this part of the river until noon, there were still some remnants of ice left from the cold of the night. But what did she do with the ice, you may ask?

What a stupid question! Of course, she put it under Aron's shirt behind his back, giving him chills as the ice ran down his spine.

Pethra couldn't contain her laughter. "Hehehehe~ Sorry, couldn't resist. You looked so serious, and I thought a little frosty surprise would lighten the mood."

Aron's eyes glowed dangerously. "Lighten the mood? Huh? Let's see how your mood will be when I throw you into the bottom of the river."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Heheh~... Eh?" Pethra was caught off guard, and before she realized it, she was in Aron's arm, being carried like a sack of potatoes.

"Kyaaa! Help! The evil, big-bad monster is going to drown me!" Pethra cried out in a mix of genuine fear and playful exaggeration, realizing that her prank had backfired.

Aron couldn't help but crack a smirk, though his eyes still held a hint of mischief. "Oh, so now I'm the big bad monster, am I?" He teased, his voice laced with amusement.

Pethra's expression shifted from panic to a mischievous grin. "Well, a handsome big bad monster, soo…" Then she displayed an innocent face with pleading eyes. "Can the handsome, big-bad monster forgive the little princess this time?"

Aron flashed a 'gentle' smile. "How about…"

"Yes?" she said, displaying a more innocent face.

"..No." Then he took steps toward the river. Aron couldn't resist playing along with her. He held her firmly in his arm, enjoying the moment of power he had over her.

"NOOO! Help!"

"Kasumi, help me! Kasumi!" She cried for Kasumi, but hearing no reply, she stopped her playfulness.

"...Kasumi?"

"!!!" Aron stopped in his tracks and immediately glanced at where Kasumi was supposed to be. Seeing her standing there, he sighed in relief. For a moment, he thought that she had gone missing or that something had happened to her.

Kasumi was deep in thought, thinking about what happened today, more specifically,

'How weak have I become?' She clenched her fists, and the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became.

It's worth mentioning that Kasumi was by no means 'weak.' In fact, she was strong—even stronger than Aron right now. Yes, she couldn't use her shadow magic to the fullest, only a few tricks, but she was trained by the best assassin Clan in the East, Clan Kage. Her techniques were far superior to anyone else's so far. In the right circumstances, she could assassinate anyone.

But why couldn't she fight Boldar, even though she could kill him in a split second? Well, the catch was the slave collar.

Kasumi is broken, like all the women who fell into Vincent's hands. Vincent never used physical abuse to 'train' and 'break' his slaves. To him, that would damage the 'product,' so he used another method.

Using his skill and his amulet, he could make the women see nightmares every time they closed their eyes, and those nightmares were real. Kasumi felt everything and experienced everything over and over again, mainly her captor and the betrayal by one of the closest people to her.

Seeing the image of her friend placing the slave collar around her neck every night for two years left her traumatized.

She was betrayed, abandoned, and sold as a slave, and no one even asked about her or helped her. She had a family—not the best, but at least she had a home, a place to go back to. But with the actions of one person, her life changed completely, and she found herself alone and weak.

Because of this, the moment Boldar pulled out the slave collar, Kasumi surrendered herself to fate completely without any resistance. And that is a dangerous thing.

"..."

Aron and Pethra stared at Kasumi for a while, seeing that she didn't respond and was lost in her thoughts. Aron and Pethra glanced at each other, then out of nowhere, they displayed the most 'evil' smile in existence.

"Hehehe~" They both approached Kasumi from behind slowly, and the poor fox was unaware of the 'danger' behind her. As her two good friends, Aron and Pethra believed in equality and sharing everything, even pain.

"Hiiii!!!" Kasumi jumped like a scared cat when she felt something cold running down her spine. She quickly turned around, only to be met with Aron and Pethra, who were grinning devilishly.

"What was that for-" She couldn't finish her sentence when Aron suddenly grabbed her and placed her on his right shoulder.

"W-W-What are you doing, Master?" Kasumi stuttered, her eyes widening in surprise, and she instinctively grabbed onto his clothing for support, feeling slightly off-balance.

Aron chuckled, his mischievous grin still in place. He didn't respond to her and took a step forward.

"Enjoy!" Pethra smiled and waved at her friend. Honestly, she felt relieved that Aron didn't throw her in the river. Or so she thought.

The moment Aron heard Pethra's voice, he immediately stopped. Then he rapidly made his way back to her, and the little witch froze in her place, seeing him approach with a wicked smile on his face.

Stopping in front of her, Aron spoke, "I believe in equal treatment," and without hesitating, he placed her on his other shoulder.

Pethra's face immediately darkened. "Wait, what? You can't be serious!" she protested.

Aron chuckled, enjoying the sight of his friends' reactions. "Oh, I'm very serious, Pethra. It's only fair that we all share in the experience, don't you think?"

"W-What experience? And what treatment? Say something!" Kasumi started to panic as an idea came to her mind.

'Cold, river, experience, treatment, and placed on the shoulder? Oh no!'

Kasumi's eyes widened with realization as she connected the dots. "Wait, you're not... You wouldn't!"

"HAHAHAHA~" Aron started laughing like a maniac. "Get ready for a chilling adventure, HAHAHAH~" And with no more delay, he started sprinting toward the river.

The two girls paled, and their hearts sank as Aron's laughter echoed through the air. The two girls exchanged a look of terror when they knew that something unpleasant and chilling was about to happen.

"A-Aron! Please reconsider."

"M-Master, please don't do this!"

All of their pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead of listening to them, Aron increased his speed.

""NOOOO!""

The last thing people saw was a tall man carrying two beautiful girls on his shoulders, leaping in the air. His laughter echoed through the surroundings while the two girls clung tightly to him, their screams mingling with his laughter.

SPLASH!.