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The Betrayed
Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Over time she began to understand. It wasn't her fault, nor was it her family's fault. It was selfishness, greed, suspicion and enmity. It wasn't her father, it wasn't her uncles, nor her cousins. It was the emperor, it was the ministers. It was those who were afraid of her family, greedy for the Dren family's power. In her solitude she became more and more paranoid. At one point she felt it was the fault of everyone.

"How dare they! We have sacrificed our lives to protect them!", she roared in her mind.

"Why did nobody speak up for us? Why did they just allow all our hard work to be wasted. All our blood, sweat and tears meant nothing to them?" she mumbled to herself.

If anyone was there at the moment, they would see that Siraya's eyes were bloodshot, filled with manic emotions, slowly pulling her into a twisted cycle of pain and despair. She lost her sanity in that forest, and by all accounts her humanity as well.

She began to hate everything. She would lash out at the smallest inconvenience. The animals could feel the murderous aura growing in the forest, they ran as fast as their legs could carry them, but unfortunately it wasn't fast enough. Siraya vented her pain on those animals, slowly degrading into madness. The only sanity she had left reminded her of those that had killed everyone she loved.

She rushed towards the capital. The emperor had already received the report from the border. Knowing that the last Dren general had escaped, he didn't think that the matter had ended. In fact he knew that he was very much in danger. After being an emperor for so long, his gut feeling was almost never wrong. He was aware that this girl of the Dren family was a genius in martial arts. The most talented tactician of her family. He held the hope that like her family, she was willing to be executed without a fight.

After executing the Dren family, he had suffered a huge demise in public opinion. Many of the ministers that were once loyal began to alienate him. Those ministers weren't stupid, they knew the matter could easily be seen through, but he was in a rush to get rid of them. A faint regret appeared in his heart. He knew he had committed a mistake, and it was one that could ruin the country.

However he wasn't willing to sit back and wait for death. He locked down the capital, increasing the soldiers on duty. Placing his elite soldiers around him, as well as many high level martial artists that he had paid handsomely to become his mercenary force.

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When Siraya reached the capital, it was easy to see the increased security. There was no fear in her heart, just the growing insanity. She knew that night was the best time to act. She was still sane enough to know this was a trap, but she didn't fear death. She would drag that filthy emperor, as well as those corrupt ministers down to hell with her.

Night arrived just as it had done since the beginning of time, but on this night, the capital fell into a gloomy and terror filled atmosphere.

Like a shadow, Siraya attacked the soldiers standing on the outer wall. She didn't need to kill them, bypassing them would've been easier, and it would cause less of a commotion, but she didn't care. She just wanted to kill.

She didn't hide it. Her arm pierced through the heavy armour of the soldier as if it was mud, leaving the unsuspecting soldier hurriedly holding onto his organs that had begun spilling out of the gaping hole in his abdomen.

His screams alerted the soldiers around him, but even if they were ready, they didn't fare much better. Siraya was too fast. She was in front of them one second, and the next, their corpses had already fallen as she moved onto the next.

She stepped lightly across the rooftops, her path leading straight to the palace. In her mind, the emperor was the most heinous of those that had Betrayed her family. Seeing the palace from a distance, she could feel a greater threat.

She pulled out the sword her father had gifted to her when she took over his position, and without any hesitation she jumped right into the dense formation of elite soldiers. She slashed through them without resistance, using every despicable tactic she could think of.

She slipped into the gaps between them, used their own comrades corpses as shields, blinded them with dirt and blood. She continued harvesting their lives, even with injuries accumulating, she never seemed to grow tired.

A bloody path had been forged out by Siraya, behind her were the corpses of thousands of soldiers. Their eviscerated remains proof of her anger. She walked slowly up the steps of the palace to the emperors bedroom. Her armour had been damaged to such a degree that some of it was dragging on behind her, adding a horrifying scratching sound as she walked

The emperor listened to the sound that was slowly encroaching, and finally began to feel fear. Although he was surrounded by his personal guard, and the mercenary martial artists, he felt that his executioner had arrived.

Siraya's movements were chaotic, her steps unstable. She seemed to be gravely injured, but when everyone in the room saw her eyes, they trembled in fear. Her eyes were piercing, as clear as day. The monstrous hatred in them was enough to shatter the confidence of them all,but she didn't intend to stand there and chat.

Just like before, she rushed into the crowd, attacking relentlessly. Only defending against life threatening injuries. The emperor saw her being surrounded and watching the injuries increase, he started to feel a bit more at ease... Until he met her eyes.

She was staring at him. Under the attacks of all of these people, her eyes had been locked on his from beginning to end. She slashed them apart while watching him. When the sword in her hand finally broke from overuse, she used her hands instead, but her eyes still never left his.