Second Arc (His Art of War) - 124. Ecrin Village IV
Once the dark aura covering Angel and the rebel leader faded, they were already behind the farthest house. He threw the leader on the ground.
"Kneel!" he commanded in a cold voice.
The leader followed his orders with a trembling body since he realized who was in front of him, King Angelus of Euphorion. He never expected his plan to kill Princess Rose would invite the most dangerous person on the Andromeda Continent.
"P-Please don't kill me, Your Majesty. I-I'll tell you everything," the leader begged in a stammering voice.
Angel smirked evilly.
"I don't need you to tell me." He extended his hand to grip the leader's face.
"I'll find out by myself." And he cast Corruption of Mind to the leader. The dark aura coming out of his hand enveloped the leader's body.
He closed his eyes as he looked at the leader's memories. While the leader screamed in pain, his head felt like being stabbed by thousands of needles which were getting more and more painful. Angel's head felt heavier when the leader's memories moved into his head. He gritted his teeth since he was not only getting the information but also disgusting memories of what that leader did in the past.
Angel released his hand and opened his eyes breathlessly. His eyes stared at that rebel leader who fell motionless to the ground with rage.
"Disgusting!" he said with a cold voice, his hand moved to press his sword on the side of the leader's neck. This was the first time he had seen such a disgusting memory. In one swing, he separated the leader's head mercilessly. Even though people who have been affected by his Corruption of Mind would lose their memories, that rebel leader has not only robbed and killed for his personal gain, but he had raped many women and tortured children. And he didn't want to give a second chance to someone like that.
Meanwhile, Rose called his name in a panic as her feet moved and her eyes swept around her.
"Rai! Rai! Where are you?" Her hand gripped her rope dart, ready to attack her enemies since she heard a scream from this direction. But there wasn't a single enemy left. She continued to walk until she found a man in a black military uniform standing next to a headless corpse at the back of a house, his hand gripping a bloody sword.
"Rai?" Rose approached him, her hand still gripped her rope dart tightly, preparing to attack or fend off his attack, if she was wrong.
Angel thrust his sword into the leader's chest and left it there.
"That's all of them," he said.
Rose stopped to his side after confirming it was Angel. Her eyes stared at the corpse and confirmed that it was the leader.
"Why didn't you interrogate him first?"
"I have got the information, Your Highness." He turned to Rose.
"My mission is complete. I think we should go back before midnight." Walking through the forest after midnight was not a good idea as there would be more monsters roaming around at that hour.
"I can't," said Rose as she turned and walked to the house the villagers were hiding in.
Angel moved his feet to chase her.
"You promised me you would come back as soon as we took care of them," he reminded her. His hand started to emit a dark aura to make her faint.
"Yes, but my battle is not over yet," she said without stopping her steps.
"What do you mean?" asked Angel with a frown. Though he was confused by Rose's words, he could see her worry on her face.
Rose didn't answer but hastened her pace. And knocked on the door after arriving in front of the house.
"It's me, open the door," she said. And the villager opened the door for them.
As soon as the door opened, the man who was badly injured before was already lying weakly on the bed and his son who sat beside him could only cry. Several other villagers tried to clean the wound and treat him in panic. While on the other hand, the pregnant woman started to look pale. Several other women tried to calm her down, but it seemed like she was about to give birth to her baby due to being too shocked and stressed by the incident.
"This is my battle as a doctor," said Rose.
In that instant, his dark aura faded.