|Third Person POV|

(15 Minutes ago)

Musky smell of sweat with the metallic taste of blood, a sole man, merely five foot two, stood tall, surrounded by over forty bodies of men, all adorned in shiny silver armor.

But, at a closer look at the skin the heavy armor revealed, one could only see black. It wasn't the skin tone black, but black like burned meat.

It revealed wet patches of fleshy pus through the skin that had melted off. Clearly, the insides of their bodies had been melted.

The man turned back with a sigh like he had just washed some dishes, walking up to three bodies, not in any sort of armor, but torn rags.

"Don't worry, I am right here. It will be fine, just stay conscious!" He could only bite his lip as he heard only one breathing.

An incredibly beautiful black-haired girl with dog ears and a long fluffy tail whimpered in response. Light returned in Kael's eyes.

He quickly crouched down, placing a hand on her waist that was slashed wide open. The wound revealed the insides of her stomach that made even the very used-to-death Kael hold back a puke.

That whimper she let out wasn't a whimper, but the closest thing to a war cry she could muster.

"It's okay, it's okay, I will get you help. Just stay conscious." With that, Kael did the closest thing to a bandage he could make from the rags of the dead bodies of the other two bodies.

Fortunately, she's a beast kin… They were much tougher than an average human, so he still had time to get her proper help. But he seriously needed to hurry.

"AHHH!" Kael's heart skipped a beat as he heard the painful roar of another girl with blonde hair in a thin rag. Both her arms were cut off, her legs broken.

And… a spear passed through her heart, blood covering her lips as she was still biting the neck of the knight most likely responsible for it.

He was dead. It was clear by how far the girl had bitten him. His neck's thickness had basically halved…

"I–I finally took my revenge…" Tears streamed down the girl's face before her head fell lifelessly.

Kael's fist clenched.

The more he looked around, the more he realized he didn't have just one person he needed to bring medical attention to… Almost all slaves were injured. And many had died like ants.

He couldn't blame them; they had fought to the best of their abilities.

But holy knights had the clear advantage of teamwork with their advanced formations. Their equipment was top of the market, too. Compare that to slaves who couldn't move for probably decades and were tortured relentlessly.

That they were fighting at all was already a big deal. It was only Kael himself's powerlessness he could blame.

Tham! Tham! Tham!

"More?" His heart stopped beating for a second. Sobs of others beside him also resounded at noticing a massive army of more than a hundred holy knights rushing towards them.

"We can't fight them! No way we can!" A man cried. His body was completely hunched, spine shattered.

"Shouldn't it be better if we just killed ourselves?" He suggested through a madly wide grin. He was just a small-time bandit with little to no high-stakes battle experience.

He was a bully, not a warrior. But even the warriors of the group were listening to him, their bodies shaking.

"Kael… Do you think that too?" A very old man with a bald head scratched his long white beard, scrutinizing the trembling Kael. More than thirty bodies of knights with foam escaping from their mouths lay limply around him.

"Maybe." If the slaves were only fearful before, they almost broke down at Kael's words. He had been leading them with a kind smile and had gotten them this close to the stairway. It was outside just a few hundred meters away. But now, he was thinking suicide too?

"Maybe. If we get captured, there won't be any opportunities for suicide. It would be smart to use this god-given chance and end it all right now." Kael continued.

"Hm…" The old man just sighed, massaging his old back. "I had been wrong about you, it seems."

Many slaves had already aimed knives at their throats or arms, ready to end their pain completely, forever. While the others could just tremble, still not sure.

A small girl, barely fifteen, stood frozen in fear, her back against the coming army of holy knights. Two of the holy knights instantly leapt with wide grins, aiming their swords without mercy.

The little girl, Sasha, had been locked up for the last three years. Her crime? Stealing from a noble lady's purse who was visiting her small town. If she didn't, she would've starved to death.

Even though all people had committed a crime under the law, Kael just couldn't call himself a hero and consider criminals just criminals. They were unlucky humans.

With a deep breath, Kael clenched his right fist. It instantly burned deep red, flames dancing around his hand fanatically.

He raised his fist. "No one can convince you otherwise if what you want is easy death. But… I refuse to believe you want that."

Just as the slashes reached mere centimeters away from Sasha's red hair, Kael vanished from the spot.

Kael's image blurred ahead of Sasha, her footing instantly managing to stabilize as she jumped towards Kael with all her strength.

Kael caught her in one arm, pulling her closer to his chest while extending his burning hand against the slashing swords.

"You just want someone to realize you that…" Kael sighed, a smile appearing on his face as Sasha released herself from his hug, pointing a dagger towards the knights.

Both knights looked at each other as their swords just froze against Kael's hand. Next second, their pupils dilated as Kael tapped, did a low sweep kick.

They looked even more shocked as the kick merely brushed their knees, bursting out laughing before raising their swords back.

Kael stood back up, turning fully towards the trembling slaves. "So… Am I right, or wrong? Will you accept expected failure, or keep digging deeper and deeper till you see the light on the other side?" He snapped his finger, and the next second loud screams caught all hundred knights' attention.

Both knights looked perfectly normal from outside, but at a closer look, there were violent flames escaping from their mouths, ears, and noses as they fell on their backs, waving arms and legs like helpless cockroaches before their skin began burning too, with the strong smell of flesh burning.

"I am not sure about you, but God, I miss sunlight, my friends, my family, tasty food, peaceful sleep. What is death? Just darkness. Make a choice already." Kael said through a chuckle.

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