For a few minutes after that, Klaus was in a dark mood, anger simmering just beneath his skin.
But then, with a sharp exhale.
A cold glint flickered in his eyes, his resolve once again solidifying.
"Every single thing- I will pay them back in bucks Anarzel."
Clench.
"...No matter what it takes me." he promised himself.
His nails dug into his palm, the thought of getting revenge like a fire burning furiously within his chest.
Clench.
He clenched his hands even harder.
The vision of dragging the treacherous bastard to hell.
Gritting his teeth.
It was enough to keep him going.
Enough to make him endure.
Enough to make him bow.
'For now.'
His hatred, he would do well to conceal them, until the right moment.
'U-ntil the right moment.'
With a sharp exhale, he glanced around him.
'Should I be happy or not?'
A wry smile crept up his face.
Shaking his head.
He noted how Anarzel's word seemed to have gotten to the slaves.
They all either avoided his gaze or had a grim expression whenever their eyes met his.
'Do I look like some damn monster?' Klaus grimaced.
The weight of their apprehensive stares settling uncomfortably within him.
"Uuf." he exhaled sharply.
He really needed it.
"It doesn't matter anyway."
He could only try to comfort himself.
The slave caravan slowly dragged itself up the frozen mountain, with more and more slaves stumbling and periodically falling to the ground.
And a couple of times,
Just what the broad-shouldered slave was avoiding, would occur.
Those who couldn't walk anymore would be taken off the chain, liberated from the stifling weight bearing down on them, and unceremoniously tossed off the road, down into the abyss yawning below.
Klaus watched them fall, an unreadable expression on his face.
With a light sigh, he said under his breath, "Poor fellows. May your souls rest in peace."
Overall, it could be said that he was in quite the mood.
It was a bit strange to be in good spirits amidst this disaster, but unfortunately, he knew thinking about it wouldn't solve anything.
...If anything, it would only send him spiraling into despair and desperation.
And he was doing his very best to avoid those two emotions.
He had... had enough of them already.
And what made matters worse was the fact that he couldn't make use of any of his abilities.
And somehow, he had t-his weird feeling that he was forgetting something.
But what could it be?
He thought hard on it, harder than he would have thought possible.
But eventually, he had to know when to give up.
Slowly, the sun started to set, and the blinding skies slowly began to darken. Not to his surprise, he found out that he could still see perfectly well within the endless dark. Perhaps even more than he could in the day.
He had always had that ability anyway. If he had to guess, it probably had to do with his bloodline sequence: The Hunter Pathway.
'Or…~
Just then,
"Stop the caravan! Prepare to camp!"
His thoughts were interrupted by the loud, thunderous voice.
Following Groundbreaker's command, the slaves stopped and fell to the ground, exhaustion weighing down on them. Shivering, they tightly wrapped their arms around their bodies, in an attempt to stop the frigid cold seeping into their bones.
And even if it wasn't doing so well as to work out for them.
They still continued anyway.
'It wasn't as if they had any other choice.'
Shaking his head.
Klaus noted that some of the slaves were from various other empires. Which means:
"They are all slaves of war."
Makes sense.
But,
His eyes widened, shock rippling through every fiber of his being.
'Doesn't that mean that the fifteen thousand-or-so imperials the empire had faced were simply a part- probably even a quarter of Napoleon's men.'
He shivered.
Glancing at Napoleon who as always, sat on his white stallion.
He gritted his teeth.
'One way or another. One of us will have to die.'
With a light exhalation.
He decided not to think too much about it.
First of all, he still had to somehow find a way to break free from this fucking runic binding chains.
Whooosh!!
Chilling wind howled past them, sending cold chills down his spine.
Shivering.
He stared ahead of him.
There was a protruding mass of rock stretching towards the heavens right ahead of them, it was responsible for protecting them from the furious rage of the howling wind.
...If not for it, he was sure a lot of slaves would have died.
Him included.
Even with that, without their awakened abilities and physique- the cold of the frozen heart mountain range was still too cold to resist.
He felt like he was breathing in ice!
"Damn it!"
Clenching his teeth.
Step~
Step~
The soldiers got busy herding the slaves into a tight circle, forcing them to share warmth and proceeded to light up a large bonfire in the center of the camp- although not before tending to their precious horses.
The heavy wagons carrying food, water, manifested traits, and other cargo, to which the main chain was firmly attached to, were pushed forward single handedly, by Tatiana- in order to block the raging wind.
While he assessed his surroundings, Klaus noticed the young soldier from before watching the mountain with a complicated look on his face.
For a second there,
He thought he saw a red light flicker within the young soldier's eyes.
"Hmm?" His brows arched upward.
Gazing at the young man with a scrutinizing gaze.
He realized now that the young soldier was back to normal.
"'Was it really just a hallucination?"
He might not have awakened his bloodline. But even back at the family, he was hailed for his acute sense, and pre abilities of the first sequence of the hunter pathway.
Hence he really doubted if that ominous glint was some mere hallucination.
'Whatever. It doesn't have anything to do with me, anyway.'
Shrugging it off.
He glanced at the higher-ups and,
Frowned.
The empire's god-like archer was nowhere to be found.
"Weird." he muttered under his breath.
"Where the hell could he possibly be?"
Everyone stared at him as though they were looking at some freak of nature. Of course they weren't to be blamed.
A wry smile crept up his face.
...He had been talking to himself all this while, after all.
Throwing them a smirk, they all avoided his gaze.
'...Who cares! Look wherever you want slaves- I won't be the one dying anytime soon, anyway.'
"Hmph." he harrumphed coldly, clearly trying to please himself.
Before long, the bonfire was blazing.
The stronger slaves tried to find their way closer to the fire- and he did well to join in the fray, and with the whole cautiousness they had towards him- all thanks to his old pal.
He faced no difficulties nor competition.
The weaker slaves were forced to sit at the outer end of the circle, with the chilling coldness creeping into their bones.
Staring at them, he shook his head.
'I would've opted to help them. But alas, I'm no saint. And most importantly, I am in no better shoes.'
Letting out a light sigh, he moved a little bit closer to the flame.
Of course, in the process of doing that, he ended up dragging his partners along with him- those shackled closest to him. That's why the familiar scholar, short guy and the broad-shouldered guy all ended up with him- and at that, with little to no effort!
'Hah!' A light smile crept up his face.
That felt good to know.
As a hunter, it was his duty to help others, and at that, even to his own detriment.
'Well I still managed to stop three slaves from freezing to death. That's still something, right?'
He nodded.
Step~
Step~
The soldiers walked among the slaves, giving them water and food- if it could even be called that. Klaus, just like everybody else, received a few sips of frigid, cold water and a small piece of rock-hard crusty bread.
'Euk!' Klaus looked at the "food" in disgust.
But alas,
Rumblee~
His stomach got the better of him.
Hence, despite the unappetizing look, he forced himself to eat the whole thing. Not only was he hungry, but he somehow had this weird feeling that very soon- he would need as much strength as he could muster.
Although even after finishing the meal, he was still left as hungry as he was, previously.
But on the bright side of things.
"Hah!"
He wasn't the only one.
***
The short slave that had been walking behind him looked around, anguish and anger seeping into him.
"By all the old and new gods, they used to feed me better even in the dungeon."
~Spit!
He spat on the ground, desperate.
Or perhaps to get his intention out.
Whichever one it was.
Honestly.
He could care less.
A few steps away from them, where the paved road ended, and sharp, glistening rocks began. A scattering of bright-crimson berries were growing from the snow. Klaus had noticed them before, clustering here and there along the road.
He even noted how resilient the pretty things were. And he would have eaten it if not that he was more knowledgeable.
Sigh!
The short guy's eyes glistened and he could feel it.
Greed.
It was slowly crawling its way towards the slave.
Slowly eating him from the inside.
It was on the verge of consuming him.
Crawl.
Crawling towards the berries on all fours. He was just about to touch it when,
"I would advise against eating those, my friend."
It was the scholar, once again.
"You and your advice again! What's it this time around!"
The scholar smiled apologetically.
"Those berries are called Crimorias. They grow in places where human blood is spilled... in abundance. That's why there's always a lot of them along slave trade routes."
"So?"
"Fool," Klaus said while shaking his head. "Crimorias are poisonous. A few berries might be enough to kill a newly awakened."
"Wtf!" The short slave flinched back, fear flickering within his eyes.
***
I paid him any attention, no more.
Heck!
I could even care less about his survival.
Whoosh!
The wind howled more furiously, its chilling wind flickering violently.
Zzzzrrr!!!
The bright incandescent flame slowly showed signs of wavering.
A- almost like it was being consumed.
"Just great...! Ghosts? Demons? What's it this time around?"
As if to answer my thoughts, a thunderous noise rang from above.
And in the next second, something massive came crashing from the sky...