-Chapter Fifty-Nine-
What Creates a Broken Villain - Part One
“Quarren, my child. You must understand, we’re not doing this to torment you. You talent, boy, is one of many generations! You will elevate our family back to its former glory - I will not tolerate failure.” A cold, gruff tone sternly spoke, opposite to a young, teenage boy.
The boy, with his light blonde hair, stood with his eyes dead and soulless, at the ground.
“Where is my answer? Do you understand me, Quarren?”
“...Of course, father. I will not let you down.”
Quarren Leos, born with the curse of being the first talented Mage of the Leos family in multiple generations. As a child, he did only one thing.
Pursue strength.
That was the only thing that would satisfy his father and make up for their family’s loss of prestige.
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The route to restoring glory was simple for Quarren, who dedicated his entire life to his relentless, hell-like training.
And naturally, his talent propelled himself forward into becoming a Holy Knight of the Kingdom of Farrien.
Farrien was a country like a small pond; it was located in the small and southern tip of the Continent, mostly separated from the affairs of the remaining Continent.
And then, over the other side of the desert, there was the Holy Empire, where the founding headquarters of the Stecian Church and the Holy Knights Order awaited him.
So naturally, after serving Farrien, he went there in pursuit of greater strength.
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Life-changing moments are sneaky. Deceptive. They hide in the background of mundane and ordinary events.
And then out of nowhere, it appears, and it knocks someone out of their life of complacency, with enough force to send them into a stupified stun.
It was just another day. An exhausted mess, Quarren had just gotten finished adapting to this new nation, in a new environment filled with countless warriors stronger than him.
Here, in the Holy Empire, he was no monstrous talent, but just another rookie with prospect. After spending a hellish day training, the squadron decided to hit the pub.
Quarren, bulkier and heavier than his other peers, sat down with a heavy clunk in the fiery-lit tavern, the fibres of his arms and calves straining and calling out in agony. But he ignored them with nothing further than a grunt, lowly sighing as he looked around him.
The other uniformed rookies seemed to be doing this regularly, judging by how comfortable they were.
“Hey Quarren, you’re the newest. Go up to the front and put in the order for our drinks. It’s the tradition for the newbie to do it.”
Quarren gave his peer a glare, but with a click of his tongue, heavily rose to his feet and crossed the busy, lively floor.
“Jeez, he’s a stiff guy, isn’t he?” he heard them chuckle but ignored them, arriving at the counter at the front.
“Uhh… twelve pints of your draft beer, please.”
“Twelve pints, right away,” a woman’s voice answered, but he didn’t pay attention to it, too focused on fetching the money from his pouch.
As he raised the money onto the counter, he heard the same voice speak, “You must be the newest addition to the rag-tag Holy Knight trainees?” it asked with a hint of amusement, and suddenly, Quarren’s nose twitched at the momentary scent of flowers.
Looking up, he found himself stunned at the woman opposite him, smiling at him with pretty eyes. He couldn’t tell what was behind those eyes filled only with friendliness.
And then he realised he’d been staring in silence for far too long.
“O-oh… yes, that’s correct, miss.”
“Oh geez, ‘miss’?” she laughed, throwing her head back. “Just call me Kata. Looks like they scored themselves a straight-lace type of thing this time.”
Quarren blankly blinked at the forward woman.
“Alright, alright. Go take a seat. I’ll be out with your beers in only a moment.”
In a daze, Quarren watched her turn away, before doing so himself, returning to the table where his peers were silently staring at him, without him realising.
“Hey! Don’t tell me you caught the hots for our tavern goddess!?” they hit him on the forearm, jolting him back to reality.
“Yeah! Come on, Quarren! You can’t be that naive in love. Let your big brothers tell you how to have some fun, aye?” one of them sketchily suggested and Quarren gave them a disapproving glare.
“See? I told you. He’d stay a hundred metres clear of a brothel.”
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After that day, every week when they went to the tavern, Kata was always there working. Before he knew it, Quarren, who had been treated with respect and fear in people’s eyes, had found a place of belonging among his fellows and his weekly tavern visits.
They were people who didn’t hesitate to treat him like a close friend, something that those below his status in Farrien never dared to do.
It was a new way of life that existed beyond his past self, a person who was raised only as a medium of gaining power. And he took joy in this new place.
One night, Quarren was returning home alone. But for some reason, he kept thinking of Kata. Even though it wasn’t the night for them to go to the tavern, for some reason, he thought he’d go anyways.
“She’s off tonight. Sorry, Quarren,” the bar manager told Quarren, who mustered an unfazed smile back to the man.
“Oh, I see. That’s alright, I was just curious. Umm… I’ll still grab a pint then.”
“Aye sir.”
Well, it was fine. Before he knew it, Quarren had disappointingly downed the pint and left the tavern, sighing on his way home.
It was that strange twilight period of the day. It was after the day where everyone on the street had gone home, but before the night where the party-goers were yet to file out into town. As such, Quarren was the only one on the street, left all alone with his thoughts.
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He let his feet carry themselves forward toward home, passing over the numerous streets. And then his ears perked up as he heard something.
A distant cry for help, sounding desperate.
A sharp inhale, Quarren turned to the direction the cry had come from. As a Holy Knight, it was his duty to maintain the peace. He took off, passing through several alleyways, arriving at the sketchy part of town.
Oh yeah, a crime could definitely happen here, he thought to himself as the muffled cry was heard again.
But having drawn closer, it sounded familiar.
Hmm? No way. There’s no way that is Kata… Quarren sprinted down the alleyway, and he arrived at the scene urgently beckoning him.
A familiar figure was fighting to escape the hold of some filthy looking degenerate, tears in her eyes, her strength feeble, her clothes slowly being torn.
Upon seeing the sight, Quarren felt something unlock within him. Something he never felt before.
His muscles bugled. The air shifted. Their surroundings were dyed red.
A powerful punch sent the miscreant sprawling down the walls, and Kata stumbled, almost falling.
“W-whoa there,” Quarren caught her, looking down in worry. But she was shaking, and so fragile, in his arms.
“Thank you…” she softly whispered.
Quarren pursed his lips, feeling his face heat up as he embarrassedly looked around them.
“Alright. Let us go, shall we?”
Kata pulled away, tears still in her eyes, as she looked up in surprise.
“M-Mr Quarren… it was you…?”
“...Were you harmed at all, miss?”
—-----------------------
It was a new joy in life. Fulfilment and gratification that came beyond pursuing one’s own selfish desires.
There was happiness Quarren had never experienced before, to live for someone else.
He and Kata made the sweetest couple their small town had seen, and all his mates celebrated them.
Within time, they even moved in together, and became engaged.
But alas, life-changing moments are sneaky. Deceptive. They hide in the background of mundane and ordinary events.
And then out of nowhere, it appears, and it knocks someone out of their life of complacency, with enough force to send them into a stupified stun.
One day, Kata came to deliver some food for Quarren while he was on duty at the Royal Palace. That ended up being a tragic mistake, because the Prince happened to be out and about, and that was when he caught only a glimpse.
A glimpse for a second, the lovely picturesque sight of a lovely wife delivering her beloved husband some food, and chattering away like there were no worries in this world.
And the Prince, who was known for being a womaniser, thought, “I want her.”
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It was a grey, stormy day. Thunder and lightning rained down like divine punishment on the Empire’s streets, and Quarren was sprinting down every street, searching desperately.
Finally, he rounded an alleyway and found a still figure, leaned up against the wall in the rain. With nothing but a filthy rag to cover her shoulders, she was covered in dirt and blood, with no other clothes, tossed out like a wet rat once she was done with.
When Quarren found her, her eyes had already lost their light. He took her home, bathed her, fed her, comforted her.
As the night went on, she finally began to speak again, and she spoke of the horrible things that happened to her.
Quarren was furious, but his love for her did not diminish at all. He assured her over and over he still loved her, and they can move past this in time.
She can take as long as she needs to heal, he will support her through it all, and they will run away from this Empire together.
The master he served so faithfully, the Holy Royal Family, has betrayed him in the worst way possible. His colleagues were the ones who acted as the Prince’s hand and feet and abducted his wife from her trip home, before delivering her to his room tied and gagged.
The hatred in Quarren’s heart will not be quelled in a million years.
His closest friends heard of what happened, and condemned the Prince. Together, they decided they won’t allow this crime to go unpunished.
Quarren and Kata had been the sweetest couple of sweethearts from their little town.
Each of them felt Quarren’s anger like their own. Afterall, they were one big family.
In the coming weeks, Kata seemed to be slowly healing. Quarren stuck close to take care of her without a shred of negligence, until he felt it was safe enough for him to step away from her side for a moment.
But then, he returned that day, having not left for longer than thirty minutes, and as he pushed open the door to their small, humble villa, the apples he happened to buy on the way back, fell to the ground from his arms.
And he also fell to his knees, in despair, at her hovering feet in the air.
A rough rope connected the ceiling beam to who had been the love of his life and the primary meaning for his existence. But was no more.
And it had been whisked away from him.
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It took a few days, but Quarren swallowed every ounce of hatred in his body as he returned to his position of Holy Knight.
The Holy Prince was so audacious he even made fun of Quarren’s wife going missing, but Quarren only smiled and bided his time.
He acted like he was still faithful, all for the sake of getting a step closer and closer to the Royal Family.
Finally came the day it may have been possible. The Prince was getting married, who could believe it?
Quarren’s plan was not exactly detailed, but a rag-tag bunch of Holy Knight rookies can only arrange so much when attempting to assassinate one of the most heavily protected Royal descendents in all of Vertex.
Still, he and his faithful friends hatched a plan. They’ve bided and bided. Soon, their time for revenge will come to them.
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It’s a delusion. The Prince had one personal guard at the Ninth Tier, as well as three personal guards at the Eighth Tier.
Meanwhile, Quarren and his rag-tag bunch were still at the Seventh Tier. To seek to assassinate the Prince is but a delusion.
And yet they went for it anyway. Sometimes, a man has to do what he has to do.
And it only ended in the way one could expect.
They made their attack, one night, when the Prince was out in the open. The result?
Quarren watched his closest friends get slaughtered single-handedly. It was all to create one small opening for Quarren. He saw them hold back the Prince’s guards.
And even as they were dying, their eyes were telling him one thing, as they all fell: “Go!”
So Quarren burst into action. He tossed aside the feeling of despair from seeing them lose their lives, and he charged the Prince down.
“RAHHHHHH!” With a spear in his hand, he explosively rushed forward. The Prince’s eyes filled with fear as he saw Quarren coming, and in that moment, it was righteous justice meted out upon the lustful bastard.
The spear burst through the Prince’s stomach and blood spewed forth. It’s done, Quarren thought, as the Prince’s personal guards spun back around in worry.
“Your HIGHNESS!” they screamed, and as the Prince’s body hit the ground, a dozen spears were plunged into Quarren’s body. He stood still in the rain, not even bothering to dodge the attacks, and smirked brazenly down at the unmoving Prince.
I spit on you, you bastard.
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Quarren Leos, Holy Knight Apprentice, barely survived his wounds after attempting an assassination on the Holy Prince. The other assailants were killed on the spot, six dead, but Quarren Leos survived his wounds. One thrown in prison.
As Quarren was tortured day in and day out for his crime, he was consoled by the fact that he had done what was right, and let himself go.
Now, it was just an empty shell sitting in that jail cell. But at least Kata can rest easy in Paradise now, knowing her death was avenged. And soon, Quarren can join her, he thought, as he looked up at the artificial light coming in through a small crack in the wall.
If Goddess Stecia, you truly exist, then please. Hear my prayers. Send him to Purgatory, not Paradise. Please. Please. Please.
I have nothing left to ask for in this life.