The fight of Loki and Elise against 5 normal bandits didn't last long. As an Awakened human and something like an Awakened animal, Elise and Loki were physically stronger than most normal humans, and it was close to impossible for them to get beaten by the 5 normal humans.
The outcome of the fight was already obvious even before the fight began.
Currently, all five bandits lay on the ground, their expressions twisted in pain, their limbs contorted. While most of their knees were broken, and some were missing their eyes, they were still alive. Elise refused to kill them, and she restrained Loki from doing so as well.
Auriel had anticipated this outcome, understanding that changing someone's mindset and beliefs was a challenging and time-consuming process. For now, he was satisfied with Elise's progress in wielding a weapon and defending herself against the bandits.
However, a flicker of concern crept into his thoughts after seeing how Elise beat up the bandits skillfully even though she was blind.
'She is too dangerous. I should make her a complete puppet— it can wait for the time being I think...' Auriel thought and closed his eyes, this time truly succumbing to sleep. He was tired and didn't have any strength to prevent his eyes from closing.
As for Elise, she was standing right in front of the tent. Her emotions were in disarray as she felt a peculiar sensation within her, unsure of what it meant.
She didn't break the rules that she learned from the church as she didn't kill them, but this made her think about what Auriel said and what she was seeing.
From her point of view, she knew that these bandits were really the worst of the worst, unrecyclable human trash. Their souls were tainted to no return. Did she really need the church to judge them and execute or rehabilitate them according to their sins? Deep down she knew that these bandits deserved death.
Elise didn't think more about it as she didn't have any way to send these bandits to the Church of Life's judges. There was only one choice left—killing them.
She lifted her staff as she prepared to bash their skull inside but lowered her arm in defeat. Then she tried again and again and again, but it was futile. Whenever she tried to swing her cane to crush their head, she couldn't do it.
The anguished cries of the bandits, lying on the ground, tormented her sanity and hindered her actions. She even briefly considered herself lucky to be blind and not see the miserable sight of the bandits.
Without saying anything, she dismissed her staff, sending it back to her soul, and closed her ears with her hands, preventing herself from hearing the voices of the bandits. Then, with slow, careful steps, she entered the tent and sat down on Auriel's side, a little bit closer than before.
Hugging her knees, she buried her face, uncomfortable with the dried bloodstains that streaked from her eyes to her chin and across her bloodied blindfold. She wanted to remove her blindfold and wash her face with cold water.
However, she hesitated. She didn't want to show what was under her blindfold to anyone. She despised the blood stains but she hated to be looked at with disgust. As a young girl, she couldn't help but be conscious of her appearance.
Thus, she harshly rubbed her robes against her face, attempting to remove any traces of blood. The excessive rubbing caused her already pale face, drained of blood, to redden due to irritation.
Suddenly, she heard heavy, metallic footsteps approaching. She lifted her head as the smaller-than-usual tiny golden light shone under her blindfold, making her able to see the soul bodies.
There, in front of her was another blob of light. It was bigger than the charcoal-gray blob of the Auriel, around 8 times more. This blob was clear black and adorned with some dots of white. It was giving Elise a heavy urge to defend her neck as if she could die every moment without knowing how.
Then, this black blob walked toward the 5 bandits that were laying on the ground, and without any hesitation, he crushed one of the bandit's heads with his metal boots.
The other bandits who saw this began to scream with fear, making Elise cover her ears with more force than before. But the black blobs or commonly known as Archpaladin Asher's steps didn't even stop for a moment and stepped on their heads respectively.
Elise trembled after seeing that 5 small blobs, which were the soul bodies of the bandits, dove into the ground and disappeared from her sight.
Then, the black blob approached the tent and entered inside, and simultaneously, the faint golden light under Elise's blindfold disappeared as if it had never existed.
"Death is a lovely thing isn't it?" Archpaladin Asher spoke with his usual joyful tone, but there was an unsettling undertone to his words. He took a quick step and settled down between Auriel and Elise. "You have shown me a beautiful sight today, and I am grateful for it. Ask me anything you want, I will try to realize it."
This unexpected offer was so valuable, which seemed too ridiculous for Elise's achievement of defeating a few ordinary bandits. That is why she couldn't help but be suspicious about it.
However, her suspicion momentarily dissipated, and a faint glimmer of trust formed within her toward Archpaladin Asher. She even entertained the idea that perhaps he would keep his promise.
As Elise was about to part her lips and let out her wish, she stopped herself. She felt something dark and vile slithering around her neck and penetrating her temples.
With a sudden urge, she willed a minuscule amount of golden light manifest over her eyes. It was too little that she wasn't even able to see 2 meters away, but that was enough for her to see the soul body of the Archpaladin.
What she witnessed at that moment sent shivers of fear coursing through her. The white dots of the clear black blob formed a twisted smile, fixated on her directly.
Despite the unnatural trust Elise felt towards Asher, a terror came over her as her instincts were screaming at her to run away, but she held herself well.
Then she pointed at Auriel and said the logical wish instead of her true wish. "Heal him…"