Chapter 301: They Have To Suffer

I returned to the camp, feeling a sense of emptiness inside me after I finished what I had set out to do.

They were all dead, of course. I did not go there to do things by halves. At least those who were not the masterminds were dead.

I used that new realisation that I could control people through those shadow tendrils to force them to beat each other to death, finding it poetic irony for them to die at each others’ hands instead of mine in the end.

While I could only split my consciousness to control one person at a time, the shadow tendrils remained stuck to them as long as I maintained some semblance of pressure over their existence.

And if those shadow tendrils were stuck to those people, they won’t be able to move either. Also, I could materialise those shadow tendrils from any shadow around me so they didn’t need to extend from my body.

Thus... I took that time to have one person beating another to death, then control the next person to beat that one to death, and then just kept continuing until there was just one person left aside from Hrav, Ach and the idiot who I had crushed the legs of.

Those three in particular... The three who were no doubt the masterminds to the entire thing... I was not going to give them a simple death.

That’s why here I was, reappearing in the camp through my teleportation door with those three being dragged along behind me, all of their limbs having been crushed beforehand and their mouths gagged.

Thanks to Siti and Diana protecting their half of the camp... Only half of it was torn to pieces while the other half was relatively intact.

The only good thing was that it did flatten quite a bit of ground and erased some of the buildings that were on that side of the street, which meant we did not need to worry about hidden Anomalies from that side anymore since there were no more buildings there for them to hide in.

Interestingly, there was a single tree that was growing in the crater that was left behind by the explosion.

"I hope you don’t mind... I thought you might want something to remember those that died there," Siti explained, having appeared right beside me without a sound.

I shook my head, "I don’t mind... Thank you."

She smiled at me, "You must be wondering why I would even bother, right? Seeing that I don’t seem to care that much about mortals?"

I hesitated, "That thought did cross my mind..."

"I’ve... Also lost Guardians and watched Vanguards perish during my expeditions... When I first awakened, my first expedition... Half of the people who went with me perished because I had not fully awakened yet. I was still not strong enough to stand on my own."

She gestured towards the crater, "The people who died, they usually wouldn’t have a body for us to bury considering the nature of our work... So I got into the habit of growing a tree of them."

"I really didn’t expect you to be the sentimental type."

"I’m not. I recognise that this is a line of work that people will die. And I know my place in it and where I stand. I may feel sorrow for the people who perish, but it does not change my position in all of this. It will always be better for others to perish instead of me."

The three survivors who I had dragged behind me made gagged noises when they heard what she said.

No doubt, to them, she just said the most delusional and arrogant words they have ever heard, but that’s because they are completely ignorant of what we do and what we are.

Instead of saying anything to them, I closed my eyes and reached out my hand, focusing my senses over the ground and willing it to shift according to my will.

The crater started to draw from the earth around it to fill itself, moving the tree with it and not disturbing it.

The ground rumbled and shifted until the crater was no longer there, replaced with a flat ground like the explosion had never happened to begin with.

Siti let out an appreciative hum, "All that... And you are still not yet fully awakened. I do wonder what would happen once you are actually fully awakened?"

There was another groan coming from my feet as the three survivors saw the display that should have been impossible in their world but I had just done it as casually as one might wave their hand.

The sound seemed to catch Siti’s attention as she turned her gaze towards the ground, her head tilting in confusion as though she had just noticed the three people with crushed limbs and gagged mouths for the first time.

"Hmm? Who are these people?"

I turned to look at them with a cold gaze, "The masterminds who placed the bombs in our camp and killed our people..."

Siti shifted her gaze back to me, "Hmm? Then why are they still here? Just kill them and be done with it."

"They do not deserve an easy death after they made a fool out of me."

"Ah, I suppose that’s true. Might I suggest growing them into a tree then? I do that to people who try to assassinate me sometimes. Very painful. And they can’t die either as long as I keep them alive~"

Before I could reply to that, Diana suddenly popped up from behind me as well with a very excitable look on her face.

"Oh! Oh! Are we talking about torture methods? Are we trying to torture these three? Let me share mine too! I dump them in a pool of seawater! Then just leave them there and drown them from time to time but never really killing them! Sometimes if I get bored, I’ll see how long they can stay underwater until they start to lose consciousness and let them breathe again~"

Siti huffed at her, "As expected, such barbarism. At least have a little class in how you torture them."

"Class? Why should you care about class when torturing someone? That’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one."

"Just ask him. I’m sure he will agree with me."

Both Mortal Goddesses turned to me, clearly expecting me to choose who was right in this instance just to use that method on these three bastards at my feet.

I... Don’t know what I expected from these two...

Thankfully I was saved from needing to give them an answer by Olivia who showed up out of nowhere as well, like everyone had just collectively decided to be sneaky right now.

"My Lord... I take it that you wish to inflict maximum pain upon these three who have taken advantage of your generosity?"

As expected of Olivia, she already knows what I want even without me saying anything to her.

I nodded, "Correct. I had been thinking of handing them over to you to take care of."

"In that case, allow me to take over for you, my Lord. I will ensure that they will wish they will feel regret for all the transgressions they have done to you from the first meeting till now."

I did not argue and merely handed the rope that I used to bind and drag them along to her.

The red Oni took the rope before bending down to pick the three of them up casually, like she was picking three small beanbags off the ground before she strolled away, the three of them hanging in her grasp.

All three of us watched her leave before the two girls turned back to me.

"So... Worked it out of your system?" Diana asked casually.

I let out a sigh, "Nothing I do would bring back the people who died today because of my naivety... So what’s the point?"

Siti clasped my shoulder, "Oh Qing... Even at this point, you are still thinking like this. Do you still not get it? You don’t need a point. You can just do whatever you want. They made you angry, so you killed and tortured them. That’s all there is. You felt like helping them, so you helped them. That’s also all you need to feel for you to do what you did. There is no need for you to justify anything."

"But my actions have led to avoidable deaths..."

Diana clasped my other shoulder, "The only lives that matters are ours, Qing. Everyone else, they should be grateful that they were sacrificed for the greater good of the world."

Siti gave my shoulder another pat before turning away, "Anyway, I was thinking that we could already start moving the main force here to set things up. We already know what this rift is like so we don’t need to hold back anymore. All the survivors here will be categorised as threats and will be killed on sight. You want to join us, Qing?"

I hesitated for just a moment before I nodded my head.

This is not over yet.