Chapter 36 - kidnapped children

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 - kidnapped children

We went to the forest side, and the carriage owner asked, "So, kid, what do your parents do?"

I looked down, put on a sorrowful expression, and said, "Uncle, my parents got killed by a monster attack, and from that day on, me and my siblings have been relying on each other to survive."

"Now my youngest brother went missing, so even if I don’t have any power, I have to go and take a look. He and my sister are all I have left in this world."

The carriage owner’s eyes gleamed, but he immediately went back into character and said, "Oh, I’m sorry, kid, for bringing that up. It must have been hard to survive with all that."

I nodded and said, "Yes, but what else do we have? We have to survive somehow. I can’t give up. My younger brother and sister need me, so I have to do everything to make sure their hope doesn’t vanish."

The carriage owner nodded. "Hm. You’ve got a good heart, kid. I’m sure you can find your little brother."

I nodded. "I hope so too, uncle."

Nyx looked at me, her eyes wide.

I looked at her and winked and thought to myself, I’m the greatest. I should receive an award for this acting.

Nyx was surprised and speechless at the same time by my acting.

Then we went deep into the forest, and I said, "Uncle, you can leave us here. We can begin to search for our little brother. Thank you for taking us here. I’m really grateful."

But he just waved a hand and said, "No, just wait a moment. I know a friend who lives here. He might be able to help you find your little brother."

I pretended to think for a moment, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your help, uncle. It’s really a massive help."

He smiled, nodded, and went toward the forest.

I looked at Nyx and waited. We didn’t talk.

Then something dropped into the carriage. I looked at it, my eyes narrowed, and a gas came from it.

I used mana coating on myself and resisted the gas.

Nyx did the same, and I went close to her and whispered, "Pretend to be unconscious."

She didn’t reply. She pretended to be unconscious as well.

And I heard the voice of the carriage driver. "Oh, poor boy. Don’t worry. I’ll let you stay with your little brother."

"And I’ll make sure your sister’s body is used in the right places."

His laughter spread through the forest, and he opened the door.

My hands clenched, but he didn’t notice it. He came toward us, went directly to Nyx, and touched her cheek. "Hm. Beauty. We can have an amazing time with you."

And in that second, a dagger appeared from his chest from behind and pierced through it.

But I didn’t pierce through his heart. It’s too easy of a death for him. Nyx opened her eyes, saw there were more people, grabbed her sword, and went for them.

I shouted, "Don’t kill everyone. Keep one for information."

She simply nodded and left.

I grabbed the driver and used black flame on him, not the type that burns to a crisp, but the type that burned continuously and painfully.

He screamed. I didn’t care. I looked at him with an emotionless expression and said, "Talk. Give me all the information about the children and where the others are."

He can’t understand what I’m saying. He’s in so much agony he can’t even scream anymore. His eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

I looked at him, my expression darkened, and I punched him in the stomach so hard he woke up, but the fire was still on him, burning him.

He went unconscious again.

I clicked my tongue, let him burn to ash, and left the carriage and looked at Nyx.

She killed most of them and captured one for questioning.

I went to her side, pointed a finger at the driver, and said, "Ahh, he is so fragile. He didn’t give me any information. He died directly. What a waste. I planned to torture him more."

"No luck, I guess. I have to do with the remaining one."

And then I got the notification.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Corrupted Beast.]

[You have gained 230 EXP.]

All the color left his face. He saw the man who had been bringing him in alive and immediately knelt and said, "Please let me go. I’ll tell you everything."

"Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you everything I got. Money, gold, gems, everything."

Nyx looked at him, expressionless as well.

My expressionless mask cracked, and I smiled, went to his side, looked into his eyes, and said in a chilling voice, "Do you think you have room to negotiate with us, trash? You only have two choices. Talk, or I will make you wish you were never born into this world."

I used fire in my fist and punched him hard.

He screamed, because with the punch his skin began to burn.

I don’t care about this kind of trash who enslaves innocent children.

Then he began to spill all the information we needed about the children, about their base, and everything we wanted.

I’m satisfied with his performance, so I smiled and said, "See? This isn’t hard at all. If you told those things at the beginning, no one’s time would be wasted, right?"

Then with one sword swing I killed him and looked at Nyx.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 24 Corrupted Beast.]

[You have gained 320 EXP.]

She looked at me, a little surprised how I killed him with a smile.

Then she said, "Okay, let’s go. The more time we waste, the more those children suffer."

I nodded, and we went to their base with the information we got from him.

We saw many people there. I went close to Nyx and said, "Hey, I’m going to be an assassin and kill those bastards one by one, and you go and check the children."

She nodded. I’m not underestimating her, but her fighting style doesn’t suit this.

I went silently, stabbed one, covered his mouth, dragged him to a corner, and moved to the next one.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 20 human.]

[You have gained 200 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 22 human.]

[You have gained 280 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 21 human.]

[You have gained 260 EXP.]

[Congratulations!]

[Level Up!]

[Level: 19 → 20]

[Reward: 4 Free Attribute Points]

I saw the children in cages, but I didn’t let that affect my emotions. I’m not a righteous hero to get affected by this. I saw worse than this in the slums. The only difference is now I have the power to stop things I don’t like, but that doesn’t mean I become impulsive.

I moved with ruthless calmness and killed each one with minimal sound and made sure no bandits were near the children anymore.

I used my darkness to cover the cages. I can’t let this be witnessed by those children.

And a cruel smile appeared on my face. I took my sword out and sprinted toward the others. I can take them on with no problem.

I used mana coating and black flame on my sword and cut down the bandits like flies.

I didn’t kill them outright. I let the fire consume them and let them burn to a crisp.

Nyx saw that, and she decided to take action as well. She made sure every child was fine, then she too took her sword and went and killed them.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 22 Corrupted Beast.]

[You have gained 280 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 20 human.]

[You have gained 200 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 20 human.]

[You have gained 200 EXP.] ...

And now only a few of them remained. They were the most skilled ones and the boss of the organization.

I looked at them, and they saw my expression, and even the boss of the organization got unsettled by the smile on my face.

It looked like a demon smiling at them.

He screamed, "What are you doing? Go and kill those two! They are only two of them! Kill them!"

All the people nodded, got their swords, and rushed toward us.

I smiled at that and used a raw fire attack at them. Black flames. They raised shields to cover, but the others who didn’t have a shield got burned. Nyx used ice to freeze them to death.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 23 human.]

[You have gained 300 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 20 human.]

[You have gained 230 EXP.]

And I moved to the next opponent and killed them with ruthless efficiency.

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 28 human.]

[You have gained 400 EXP.]

[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 24 human.]

[You have gained 320 EXP.] ...

[Congratulations!]

[Level Up!]

[Level: 20 → 21]

[Reward: 3 Free Attribute Points]

I didn’t fall behind and killed them, and finally the boss was the only one left.

But he didn’t have an expression of despair like I thought. He smiled and clapped. "Hm. Good, good. You two are better than I thought. But if you two thought I’m like those people, you are mistaken."