A small smile appears underneath Verz’s mask as she watches the boy maintaining eye contact, refusing to back down, even when his body had so clearly passed its limits.
Noticing the signs she had been waiting for, that the boy was becoming delirious from exhaustion, Verz decided it was time to break the ice and see if she can gain his trust. Without breaking eye contact, Verz bent down and, with a single hand, picked up a nearly complete corpse by the neck.
Raising the corpse, so it was level with her, its feet still dragging on the floor due to being slightly taller than her, Verz pointed to it with her free hand. "Sun Clan."
Due to the boy's physical state, the aura that was emanating from him had been gradually weakening, but the moment those two words left Verz's mouth, it instantly doubled, and his reptilian pupils focused as he released a hate filled hiss.
Though due to the language barrier, the boy did not know the meaning behind the words, something deep down inside him resonated, causing his blood to boil.
"Well, at least he isn't on the Sun Councils side." muttered Rock from across the room.
"Yup, definitely not a fan," said Ethemesua coldly as she looked around the room. "But I think your observation skills are a little… slow, rock for brains. So what's the plan, Captain? Even though his hatred for them is evident, I don't believe he is in the most cooperative of moods."
Verz ignored the others as the hand she was pointing with curled into a fist. Moving so fast that the splitting of the surrounding air could be heard, Verz's fist smashed into the corpse, instantly obliterating it and showering the area, Velcea and Kelora included, in an arc of blood and guts. "Dead."
The gore covered duo stood for a few moments in shock before Velcea wiped the blood from her face, spitting out the bits that had entered her mouth and picked up a nearby corpse, holding it towards Verz. Repeating the same actions and words as Verz, she punched the body with a lot less strength, causing it to explode in much larger chunks. "Dead."
Knowing that Verz could not dodge or break eye contact, Velcea snickered before she started cleaning her cloak.
“Children, if you are done playing who can make the most mess, we should get back to the task at hand,” said Ethemesua as she watched the boy with a weird glint in her eye.
A minute, cough came from the boy, and when Verz turned to face him she saw a smile on his face, displaying a small amount of amusement at what had just occurred, but there was also the hint of victory in his expression. “GODS BE DAMNED VEL. You made me break eye contact.”
"I swear if you weren't female you would be marking everything as your territory," replied Velcea in a smug voice.
Kelora licked her lips, which were still covered in blood. “Although this is rather entertaining, I am starving, and we really need to leave if we want to make it back before the harvest festival starts. Just knock him out already.”
Verz sighed. “How you ever survived to your fourth evolution will always astound me Kelora. Use your brain for once. Do you think this child is as simple as that? He has long since passed the point of exhaustion, has mana poisoning and if you look carefully enough, under the blood, his skin is of varying colours showing the signs of rapid regrowth. His willpower and stubbornness cannot be underestimated in the slightest. If we take him by force now, we will be making an eternal enemy."
After briefly glaring at the demoness, Verz continued. "I would also say this fight was not as one sided as it appears, and whatever gave him the mana poisoning and ability regrow lost limbs also enhanced his strength to a ridiculous level… unfortunately, when that happened, his meridians would have been stretched and warped. Meaning that for the next few months at least, he is going to be weaker than a newborn. If we were to act rashly while he is in this state, we could kill him."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Rock chuckled and shifted his weight, letting the girl under his foot breath a little easier. A small amount of relief washed over him knowing that the one who committed the massacre was no longer a threat. "I swear you should have been a member of the Inquisition, Captain, with predatory skills like your's the corruption would be a thing of the past."
Verz took a step forward and was now only about five feet away from the boy, which triggered another low growl. "Looks like he knows he is at his limits and is playing a bluffing game."
Holding up both hands, Verz slowly reached for her mantle and lowered it before removing her mask.
Beautiful, mystical silver eyes radiated from of what should have been flawless, delicate features. However, large, vicious looking scars and large patches of skin that looked like it had been burnt or melted, littered Verz's face.
Pointing to a corpse nearby, Verz repeated the same words she had done earlier. “Sun Clan.” Then she pointed to her face. “Did this.”
The boy frowned slightly, his brief moment of clarity gradually fading as even his rage could not keep the exhaustion at bay. So is she trying to say the enemy of my enemy is my friend? It appears the 'Sun Clan' are a group of people and that I am not the only one who has a bone to pick with them.
The boy’s eyes had softened slightly but not enough, so Verz decided to do something more drastic. Slowly removing her cloak as not to spook him, she started unbuttoning the clasps on her leather armour.
Velcea hurriedly stepped forward but was stopped by Verz’s outstretched hand. “Verz, are you sure we can trust him? If people find out-”
Ignoring her companion, Verz removed the front portion of the armour, revealing her naked chest causing Rock to stare intently at the ceiling as if his life depended on it.
Like her face, deep white scars littered her enchanting figure, small lumps of flesh were missing, creating craters in her otherwise enchanting, snowy white skin.
With a shaking hand and hatred evident in her eyes and voice, Verz pointed out one final time. “Sun Clan.” She then pointed to a hideous, deep scar that was directly above her heart. “Dead.”
Even though there was the language barrier, her actions spoke volumes, especially to someone like the boy, who, although he had no memories, was able to draw on a wealth of knowledge. Slightly confused by the meaning of dead as she was clearly standing in front of him, Mors decided he had misinterpreted it, and it meant 'kill'.
The boy’s eyes started to blur, and it took a few moments to formulate a response. Pointing to a corpse by his feet the boy responded in their language. “Sun can… dead. dead Sun.” After watching Verz's reaction, he continued and pointed to the door. "Dead Sun can, dead."
Verz’s face, that had been extremely tense since revealing her chest suddenly light up in a radiant smile as she re-equipped her leather armour and held out her hand towards the boy. “Yes… let’s make all the Sun Clan dead.”
The boy stared at her hand for a few moments as he thought about his options before finally raising his hand shakily. Just as he was about to take it, he started to topple over, causing Verz to step forward and catch him in her arms eliciting a snigger from Kelora.
As he was about to lose consciousness, the boy spoke out. “This is your one chance. Betray me, and I will burn your world and everything you hold dear to the ground.”
“No clue what the little feller said but I get the feeling that it wasn't goodnight.” chortled Rock as he leant down and gave a quick chop to the back of the girl's neck, rendering her unconscious before picking her up.
“And just to make it perfectly clear, I am not carrying that bundle of killing intent,” hissed Ethemeusa. “The fact that he has draconic heritage is making my skin crawl.”
“Thought you would have been trying to jump his unconscious bones, you know with the Scale Councils breeding program and all?,” snipped Kelora.
Ethemeusa moved forward in an intimidating manner. “You’re the perverted one yo-”
“ENOUGH! Due to failing myself, I have let everyone’s unprofessionalism slide tonight but the next person who fails will be training recruits for a year. Let's go.” Said Verz as she wrapped part of her cloak around Mors and haphazardly slung him over her shoulder, having no experience in dealing with children.
“Captain, what do you want to be done with the girl?” said Rock.
“Bring her. All demons and demonic hybrids are powerful beings. After we identify what sin she has, we will know how we can make use of her.”
“Where to?” asked Velcea in a hard tone, still irritated by the copious amounts of blood covering her. “I doubt we will be able to slip past the garrisons with the hornet's nest our little friend just kicked. Shouldn't the king, or what’s left of him, be around here somewhere?”
"We will be taking the route through the mountains. Last time we travelled through the Snow Demon’s territory, we paid double so they should let us pass," replied Verz as she disappeared into the dark corridor.
"Ahhh fuck, I knew it was going too well," spat Rock.
Kelora nodded. “What, still upset that you lost everything but your underwear last time we were there?”
“1 year.” Verz voice echoed down the corridor carrying a hint of amusement.