Chapter 98
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"So you see... Heheh... Madame Tussaue was the talk of the town for the whole of two weeks! Hahaha!"
Major Myner was doing his utmost best to entertain Lars until they could identify Charley's whereabouts, but all their attempts so far had come to nought. It was as if the boy and his purchaser had disappeared into thin air!
And with every moment that passed, it was obvious that the incredibly handsome youth before him was growing ever closer to blowing his top.
Myner was nearly turning mad with anxiety as he saw Lars' gaze turn murderous - if he didn't find a solution quickly, it might not just be him to perish; he feared that the ruthless boy with a serial killer's eyes would not even spare his family!
So when his aide tried to stay indiscreet and catch his attention for a new update, he ignored all decorum and frantically waved the man over.
He shot daggers with his stare and urged the man to hurry over lest he run out of time in front of this ticking time bomb of an arrogant young master before him!
"Yes yes! Please tell me there's some good news, please!"
"S-sir...! Major sir... I'm sorry, the only information we have is that he was bought for 500 platinum coins... With the price, it's likely that..." The aide looked around nervously as if afraid that the walls would sprout ears as he lowered his stance and voice even lower to whisper, "...The Trenel family has purchased him..."
"WHAT??!" Myner shot to his feet and grabbed his aide's collar, nearly strangling him as he lifted the much lighter and weaker man up forcefully and shook him like a dog mauling a rat in its mouth. He splattered saliva all over the assistant's face as he roared out loud his frustration.
"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO NOW, HUH???!!! HOW IN THE WORLD, HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE EVEN ARREST SUCH A GREAT PERSONAGE??! AND NOW YOU TELL ME YOU SOLD HIM TO THE TRENELS?!! OF ALL PEOPLE, THE TRENELS...??! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE??? I'LL MAKE SURE TO HANG EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU SCOUNDRELS WHO EVER TOUCHED THAT BOY CHARLEY!!!"
Myner released all his pent-up stress and anger in that one outburst; but it was also a calculated move. In those few sentences, he had claimed ignorance to his mens' actions, shown his displeasure, promised to seriously punish those involved as well as deflected the blame and subsequent ire of Lars towards the Trenel family!
Or at least that's what he thought he had accomplished, for in that swift instant, he was rendered immobile by a chilling, frighteningly thick killing intent! He couldn't even breathe at this moment, so heavy was the aura of death suffusing his entire body!
His eyes began to roll up in his head as he suffocated just from the presence released by Lars, and he began to choke and splutter blood mixed with saliva as the boy who looked now more like a demon lord walked up to him and grabbed his chin roughly.
"Thank you... As your reward, you and all the slaver, extortionist, kidnapping scum in this entire building..."
"...Can die a swift death!!!"
Without warning, a Grandmaster aura exploded outwards, swallowing every guardsman and soldier in the building who had any scent of blood on them. Lars did not know why, but he could literally smell the disgusting odour of a bloody red aura surrounding the major, one that reeked of cruelty and perversion!
And Lars decided that whoever it was, as long as they were part of the City Guard as a soldier or guardsmen, it was impossible for them not to be aware of what had been done.
He decided to slay them all, whether they themselves were responsible for the kidnappings, slavery, murder... Or whether they were just complicit, ignoring the plight of those whose lives were forever destroyed by the greed of their superiors!
As Lars channelled his mana, he released a cloud of energy projectiles and guided them by his spirit sense and his willpower to seek out and strike dead every combatant in the building, sparing only the administrative, cleaning or support staff.
Level 4 Spell: Farsight, Level 6 Spell: Greater Hold Person and Level 7 Spell: Heat Needles, together with his soul-imprint: Insight!
He spread out his senses and concentrated, splitting his will to lock on to every single one of his targets, accurately binding them and controlling their movements, whether they were as low as a Normal level combatant or all the way up to the Master level Major Myner.
Then he set a mental marker on each of them, allowing his spirit sense to guide the needles to unerringly pierce through the walls of the building separating him and them...
And sending the blazing hot needle of pure mana bursting through their brains!
Within a mere few seconds, a total of 44 corpses hit the ground, eliciting screams and shouts of alarm all over the building!
Then Lars slowly walked over to the Major's aide who had turned into a blubbering mess, having soiled his pants from abject terror and the sight of his boss who he had looked up to as a god among men being turned into a lifeless body right in front of his eyes!
Lars then asked him slowly and carefully with a big and friendly smile on his face.
But in the eyes of the Major's aide, he was a demon clothed in human skin, an angel of death here to reap the souls of every man who encountered him!
Lars then quietly spoke, saying, "Good man... Can you lead me to the nearest slaver's den...? Or if it's closer, the nearest den of those good old Trenel fellows...?"
His smile looked that of a ravening monster as the Major's aide nodded dumbly.
"But first, go and clean yourself up... You stink...!" Lars wrinkled his nose and walked back to his seat, along the way flicking out a wisp of flame to incinerate the dead bodies and turn them to ash, bones and all together.
* * * * *
[1 hour later]
Lars had painted a trail of carnage, fire and chaos across the city as he visited den after den of slavers and hideout after hideout of the Trenel family, leaving no survivors to tell the tale wherever he went.
He was so thorough in his work (only sparing civilians) that the news took nearly a full hour to spread: An avenger was visiting the establishments of the flesh traders and was here to punish all the sinners who were involved!
Another rumour was that with the rescue of the more than 600 children and the declaration of a Legendary-realm apex powerhouse that he would not forgive whoever harmed those witnesses, the masterminds behind the slave trade were erasing their trails and taking care of any loose mouths that might expose them to the light of the authorities!
Yet another of the stories going around was that this was a retaliation from a rival gang who were making use of the weakened state of the city's powers to take over the slave trade. The word was that they were striking quickly and decisively without care of reprisal from the noble houses backing the slavers.
However, both the stories above were quickly quashed, as all the slaves were set free to return jubilantly to their homes!
And they all told the same story without fail: A valiant golden-haired boy, so beautiful that he would put even the greatest beauties of Gorun City to shame; leading a group of men and a woman clad in the outfits of desert raiders!
* * * * *
[A further 30 minutes later]
"What???!!! Charley!??! You're safe and with Sharon...???"
Lars was dumbstruck when he saw a sheepish Seline and Sharon emerge with a still nonchalant and laidback Charley.
"S-sorry, I... I got Sharon to make sure Charley was bought back so as to ensure his safety. I d-didn't think that, that things would get this out of hand... Sharon was supposed to look for you and inform you as soon as she brought Charley back, but the boy kept insisting that he would bite off his tongue and commit suicide if we didn't let him get some food... He said that, erm... I quote him: "That bloody miser Lars wouldn't even let me spend a single silver coin to buy anything good to eat! I'm starving!"... Yeah..."
"And... After that... We just couldn't track you down as you were moving so fast and wiping out everyone who could have witnessed your passing... And even those who survived and were untouched were too traumatised or fearful to even tell us which direction you went in next!
Seline lowered her gaze in embarrassment, not quite sure how to face Lars, but had decided that she could just act cool and pretend that nothing had happened between them.
Her cold treatment and refusal to look at him threw Lars into confusion, but not as much as the fact that...
He had just painted the town red with the blood of countless enemies... When Charley was safe all along?!?
"Well..." Lars mumbled dejectedly.
"At least I have... PLENTY OF MONEY!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Lars cackled with laughter and lacked even a shred of remorse for his actions of slaughtering more than 300 guardsmen or slavers who were involved directly or indirectly in the slave trade. And Seline, Charley and even the unflappable Sharon looked on, uncomfortable as they saw for the first time just how much greed and the love of money could corrupt a person that they thought they knew...
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"So you see... Heheh... Madame Tussaue was the talk of the town for the whole of two weeks! Hahaha!"
Major Myner was doing his utmost best to entertain Lars until they could identify Charley's whereabouts, but all their attempts so far had come to nought. It was as if the boy and his purchaser had disappeared into thin air!
And with every moment that passed, it was obvious that the incredibly handsome youth before him was growing ever closer to blowing his top.
Myner was nearly turning mad with anxiety as he saw Lars' gaze turn murderous - if he didn't find a solution quickly, it might not just be him to perish; he feared that the ruthless boy with a serial killer's eyes would not even spare his family!
So when his aide tried to stay indiscreet and catch his attention for a new update, he ignored all decorum and frantically waved the man over.
He shot daggers with his stare and urged the man to hurry over lest he run out of time in front of this ticking time bomb of an arrogant young master before him!
"Yes yes! Please tell me there's some good news, please!"
"S-sir...! Major sir... I'm sorry, the only information we have is that he was bought for 500 platinum coins... With the price, it's likely that..." The aide looked around nervously as if afraid that the walls would sprout ears as he lowered his stance and voice even lower to whisper, "...The Trenel family has purchased him..."
"WHAT??!" Myner shot to his feet and grabbed his aide's collar, nearly strangling him as he lifted the much lighter and weaker man up forcefully and shook him like a dog mauling a rat in its mouth. He splattered saliva all over the assistant's face as he roared out loud his frustration.
"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO NOW, HUH???!!! HOW IN THE WORLD, HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE EVEN ARREST SUCH A GREAT PERSONAGE??! AND NOW YOU TELL ME YOU SOLD HIM TO THE TRENELS?!! OF ALL PEOPLE, THE TRENELS...??! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE??? I'LL MAKE SURE TO HANG EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU SCOUNDRELS WHO EVER TOUCHED THAT BOY CHARLEY!!!"
Myner released all his pent-up stress and anger in that one outburst; but it was also a calculated move. In those few sentences, he had claimed ignorance to his mens' actions, shown his displeasure, promised to seriously punish those involved as well as deflected the blame and subsequent ire of Lars towards the Trenel family!
Or at least that's what he thought he had accomplished, for in that swift instant, he was rendered immobile by a chilling, frighteningly thick killing intent! He couldn't even breathe at this moment, so heavy was the aura of death suffusing his entire body!
His eyes began to roll up in his head as he suffocated just from the presence released by Lars, and he began to choke and splutter blood mixed with saliva as the boy who looked now more like a demon lord walked up to him and grabbed his chin roughly.
"Thank you... As your reward, you and all the slaver, extortionist, kidnapping scum in this entire building..."
"...Can die a swift death!!!"
Without warning, a Grandmaster aura exploded outwards, swallowing every guardsman and soldier in the building who had any scent of blood on them. Lars did not know why, but he could literally smell the disgusting odour of a bloody red aura surrounding the major, one that reeked of cruelty and perversion!
And Lars decided that whoever it was, as long as they were part of the City Guard as a soldier or guardsmen, it was impossible for them not to be aware of what had been done.
He decided to slay them all, whether they themselves were responsible for the kidnappings, slavery, murder... Or whether they were just complicit, ignoring the plight of those whose lives were forever destroyed by the greed of their superiors!
As Lars channelled his mana, he released a cloud of energy projectiles and guided them by his spirit sense and his willpower to seek out and strike dead every combatant in the building, sparing only the administrative, cleaning or support staff.
Level 4 Spell: Farsight, Level 6 Spell: Greater Hold Person and Level 7 Spell: Heat Needles, together with his soul-imprint: Insight!
He spread out his senses and concentrated, splitting his will to lock on to every single one of his targets, accurately binding them and controlling their movements, whether they were as low as a Normal level combatant or all the way up to the Master level Major Myner.
Then he set a mental marker on each of them, allowing his spirit sense to guide the needles to unerringly pierce through the walls of the building separating him and them...
And sending the blazing hot needle of pure mana bursting through their brains!
Within a mere few seconds, a total of 44 corpses hit the ground, eliciting screams and shouts of alarm all over the building!
Then Lars slowly walked over to the Major's aide who had turned into a blubbering mess, having soiled his pants from abject terror and the sight of his boss who he had looked up to as a god among men being turned into a lifeless body right in front of his eyes!
Lars then asked him slowly and carefully with a big and friendly smile on his face.
But in the eyes of the Major's aide, he was a demon clothed in human skin, an angel of death here to reap the souls of every man who encountered him!
Lars then quietly spoke, saying, "Good man... Can you lead me to the nearest slaver's den...? Or if it's closer, the nearest den of those good old Trenel fellows...?"
His smile looked that of a ravening monster as the Major's aide nodded dumbly.
"But first, go and clean yourself up... You stink...!" Lars wrinkled his nose and walked back to his seat, along the way flicking out a wisp of flame to incinerate the dead bodies and turn them to ash, bones and all together.
* * * * *
[1 hour later]
Lars had painted a trail of carnage, fire and chaos across the city as he visited den after den of slavers and hideout after hideout of the Trenel family, leaving no survivors to tell the tale wherever he went.
He was so thorough in his work (only sparing civilians) that the news took nearly a full hour to spread: An avenger was visiting the establishments of the flesh traders and was here to punish all the sinners who were involved!
Another rumour was that with the rescue of the more than 600 children and the declaration of a Legendary-realm apex powerhouse that he would not forgive whoever harmed those witnesses, the masterminds behind the slave trade were erasing their trails and taking care of any loose mouths that might expose them to the light of the authorities!
Yet another of the stories going around was that this was a retaliation from a rival gang who were making use of the weakened state of the city's powers to take over the slave trade. The word was that they were striking quickly and decisively without care of reprisal from the noble houses backing the slavers.
However, both the stories above were quickly quashed, as all the slaves were set free to return jubilantly to their homes!
And they all told the same story without fail: A valiant golden-haired boy, so beautiful that he would put even the greatest beauties of Gorun City to shame; leading a group of men and a woman clad in the outfits of desert raiders!
* * * * *
[A further 30 minutes later]
"What???!!! Charley!??! You're safe and with Sharon...???"
Lars was dumbstruck when he saw a sheepish Seline and Sharon emerge with a still nonchalant and laidback Charley.
"S-sorry, I... I got Sharon to make sure Charley was bought back so as to ensure his safety. I d-didn't think that, that things would get this out of hand... Sharon was supposed to look for you and inform you as soon as she brought Charley back, but the boy kept insisting that he would bite off his tongue and commit suicide if we didn't let him get some food... He said that, erm... I quote him: "That bloody miser Lars wouldn't even let me spend a single silver coin to buy anything good to eat! I'm starving!"... Yeah..."
"And... After that... We just couldn't track you down as you were moving so fast and wiping out everyone who could have witnessed your passing... And even those who survived and were untouched were too traumatised or fearful to even tell us which direction you went in next!
Seline lowered her gaze in embarrassment, not quite sure how to face Lars, but had decided that she could just act cool and pretend that nothing had happened between them.
Her cold treatment and refusal to look at him threw Lars into confusion, but not as much as the fact that...
He had just painted the town red with the blood of countless enemies... When Charley was safe all along?!?
"Well..." Lars mumbled dejectedly.
"At least I have... PLENTY OF MONEY!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Lars cackled with laughter and lacked even a shred of remorse for his actions of slaughtering more than 300 guardsmen or slavers who were involved directly or indirectly in the slave trade. And Seline, Charley and even the unflappable Sharon looked on, uncomfortable as they saw for the first time just how much greed and the love of money could corrupt a person that they thought they knew...
"So you see... Heheh... Madame Tussaue was the talk of the town for the whole of two weeks! Hahaha!"Major Myner was doing his utmost best to entertain Lars until they could identify Charley's whereabouts, but all their attempts so far had come to nought. It was as if the boy and his purchaser had disappeared into thin air!And with every moment that passed, it was obvious that the incredibly handsome youth before him was growing ever closer to blowing his top.Myner was nearly turning mad with anxiety as he saw Lars' gaze turn murderous - if he didn't find a solution quickly, it might not just be him to perish; he feared that the ruthless boy with a serial killer's eyes would not even spare his family!So when his aide tried to stay indiscreet and catch his attention for a new update, he ignored all decorum and frantically waved the man over.He shot daggers with his stare and urged the man to hurry over lest he run out of time in front of this ticking time bomb of an arrogant young master before him!"Yes yes! Please tell me there's some good news, please!""S-sir...! Major sir... I'm sorry, the only information we have is that he was bought for 500 platinum coins... With the price, it's likely that..." The aide looked around nervously as if afraid that the walls would sprout ears as he lowered his stance and voice even lower to whisper, "...The Trenel family has purchased him...""WHAT??!" Myner shot to his feet and grabbed his aide's collar, nearly strangling him as he lifted the much lighter and weaker man up forcefully and shook him like a dog mauling a rat in its mouth. He splattered saliva all over the assistant's face as he roared out loud his frustration."WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO NOW, HUH???!!! HOW IN THE WORLD, HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE EVEN ARREST SUCH A GREAT PERSONAGE??! AND NOW YOU TELL ME YOU SOLD HIM TO THE TRENELS?!! OF ALL PEOPLE, THE TRENELS...??! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE??? I'LL MAKE SURE TO HANG EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU SCOUNDRELS WHO EVER TOUCHED THAT BOY CHARLEY!!!"Myner released all his pent-up stress and anger in that one outburst; but it was also a calculated move. In those few sentences, he had claimed ignorance to his mens' actions, shown his displeasure, promised to seriously punish those involved as well as deflected the blame and subsequent ire of Lars towards the Trenel family!Or at least that's what he thought he had accomplished, for in that swift instant, he was rendered immobile by a chilling, frighteningly thick killing intent! He couldn't even breathe at this moment, so heavy was the aura of death suffusing his entire body!His eyes began to roll up in his head as he suffocated just from the presence released by Lars, and he began to choke and splutter blood mixed with saliva as the boy who looked now more like a demon lord walked up to him and grabbed his chin roughly."Thank you... As your reward, you and all the slaver, extortionist, kidnapping scum in this entire building...""...Can die a swift death!!!"Without warning, a Grandmaster aura exploded outwards, swallowing every guardsman and soldier in the building who had any scent of blood on them. Lars did not know why, but he could literally smell the disgusting odour of a bloody red aura surrounding the major, one that reeked of cruelty and perversion!And Lars decided that whoever it was, as long as they were part of the City Guard as a soldier or guardsmen, it was impossible for them not to be aware of what had been done.He decided to slay them all, whether they themselves were responsible for the kidnappings, slavery, murder... Or whether they were just complicit, ignoring the plight of those whose lives were forever destroyed by the greed of their superiors!As Lars channelled his mana, he released a cloud of energy projectiles and guided them by his spirit sense and his willpower to seek out and strike dead every combatant in the building, sparing only the administrative, cleaning or support staff.Level 4 Spell: Farsight, Level 6 Spell: Greater Hold Person and Level 7 Spell: Heat Needles, together with his soul-imprint: Insight!He spread out his senses and concentrated, splitting his will to lock on to every single one of his targets, accurately binding them and controlling their movements, whether they were as low as a Normal level combatant or all the way up to the Master level Major Myner.Then he set a mental marker on each of them, allowing his spirit sense to guide the needles to unerringly pierce through the walls of the building separating him and them...And sending the blazing hot needle of pure mana bursting through their brains!Within a mere few seconds, a total of 44 corpses hit the ground, eliciting screams and shouts of alarm all over the building!Then Lars slowly walked over to the Major's aide who had turned into a blubbering mess, having soiled his pants from abject terror and the sight of his boss who he had looked up to as a god among men being turned into a lifeless body right in front of his eyes!Lars then asked him slowly and carefully with a big and friendly smile on his face.But in the eyes of the Major's aide, he was a demon clothed in human skin, an angel of death here to reap the souls of every man who encountered him!Lars then quietly spoke, saying, "Good man... Can you lead me to the nearest slaver's den...? Or if it's closer, the nearest den of those good old Trenel fellows...?"His smile looked that of a ravening monster as the Major's aide nodded dumbly."But first, go and clean yourself up... You stink...!" Lars wrinkled his nose and walked back to his seat, along the way flicking out a wisp of flame to incinerate the dead bodies and turn them to ash, bones and all together.* * * * *1 hour laterLars had painted a trail of carnage, fire and chaos across the city as he visited den after den of slavers and hideout after hideout of the Trenel family, leaving no survivors to tell the tale wherever he went.He was so thorough in his work only sparing civilians that the news took nearly a full hour to spread: An avenger was visiting the establishments of the flesh traders and was here to punish all the sinners who were involved!Another rumour was that with the rescue of the more than 600 children and the declaration of a Legendary-realm apex powerhouse that he would not forgive whoever harmed those witnesses, the masterminds behind the slave trade were erasing their trails and taking care of any loose mouths that might expose them to the light of the authorities!Yet another of the stories going around was that this was a retaliation from a rival gang who were making use of the weakened state of the city's powers to take over the slave trade. The word was that they were striking quickly and decisively without care of reprisal from the noble houses backing the slavers.However, both the stories above were quickly quashed, as all the slaves were set free to return jubilantly to their homes!And they all told the same story without fail: A valiant golden-haired boy, so beautiful that he would put even the greatest beauties of Gorun City to shame; leading a group of men and a woman clad in the outfits of desert raiders!* * * * *A further 30 minutes later"What???!!! Charley!??! You're safe and with Sharon...???"Lars was dumbstruck when he saw a sheepish Seline and Sharon emerge with a still nonchalant and laidback Charley."S-sorry, I... I got Sharon to make sure Charley was bought back so as to ensure his safety. I d-didn't think that, that things would get this out of hand... Sharon was supposed to look for you and inform you as soon as she brought Charley back, but the boy kept insisting that he would bite off his tongue and commit suicide if we didn't let him get some food... He said that, erm... I quote him: "That bloody miser Lars wouldn't even let me spend a single silver coin to buy anything good to eat! I'm starving!"... Yeah...""And... After that... We just couldn't track you down as you were moving so fast and wiping out everyone who could have witnessed your passing... And even those who survived and were untouched were too traumatised or fearful to even tell us which direction you went in next!Seline lowered her gaze in embarrassment, not quite sure how to face Lars, but had decided that she could just act cool and pretend that nothing had happened between them.Her cold treatment and refusal to look at him threw Lars into confusion, but not as much as the fact that...He had just painted the town red with the blood of countless enemies... When Charley was safe all along?!?"Well..." Lars mumbled dejectedly."At least I have... PLENTY OF MONEY!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"Lars cackled with laughter and lacked even a shred of remorse for his actions of slaughtering more than 300 guardsmen or slavers who were involved directly or indirectly in the slave trade. And Seline, Charley and even the unflappable Sharon looked on, uncomfortable as they saw for the first time just how much greed and the love of money could corrupt a person that they thought they knew...
