Chapter 117: Regret (2)

Seeing that more than half of their group was already lying on the dirt lifeless and mutilated, the remaining guards' confidence took a serious hit. They hesitated for a brief moment, looking at each of what to do.

However, this proved to be a mistake that veterans of their calibers shouldn't have made. No matter the situation, on the battlefield there is no place for hesitation. The singular arrow whistling through the air shed light on their mistake as it mercilessly pierced another in his left eye, causing him to fall back down to the ground with a loud thud.

From the three remaining guards, the one on the left, closest to the dogs, looked at the war hounds with an angry expression and while waving his sword in the air, he shouted at them.

"You muts, what are you doing there! Go and obey your masters! TEAR THEM APART!"

His rant was interrupted when the demonic boy in front of them erupted in a loud bray. 

"They... " Aiden spoke between two breaths. "They won't help you. They already know their place, they have more brains than you lot."

He looked at the two hounds whimpering in the corner and addressed them. His voice suddenly changed, it was several octaves deeper, akin to a wolflike growl. Yet it was still understandable to everyone present. As he spoke, the mask's eye sockets were bathed in deep scarlet light, replacing the golden glow it had before.

"You two. Defend the girl!"

To the guard's shock, both dogs silently obeyed the boy's command and walked over the blonde archer girl growling menacingly at their old masters.

While all of this was playing in front of him, and as more than half of his elite guards fell down one by one, the Warden, had a sorrowful expression on his face. He tried racking his brain for a solution, an answer that could save him from his impending demise. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything. 

Seeing that the two hounds obediently took their new place, Aiden returned his attention to the remaining guards in front of them. All three of them had their weapons raised in front of them, nervously gripping their weapons. 

Seeing them shivering in fright, Aiden snickered once again and raised his right clawed hands in front of his masked face.

Looking at the blood dripping from his ebony thick claws, he felt a desire to lick those tantalizing scarlet droplets. It carried the life force of multiple humans… He suddenly felt it was way more appetizing than anything before.

Slowly, his left hand crept to the edge of the mask, subconsciously wanting to lift so he could have a taste. As his hands grabbed the edges of his thin white mask, he was suddenly awoken from this trance by her sister's voice coming from behind.

"Brother? Are you okay?"

Shaking his head, he lowered his hands, fencing towards the three remaining enemies.

"Yeah… Let's just end this, we should return home. After all, you don't want to miss dinner and your treats!"

The mention of desserts curbed a smile on Lily's expression. Grabbing another arrow from her quiver, she readied her bow for another shot, aiming at the previously loud guard.

"Yes, brother! It's time to go!"

As she released the bowstring, Aiden also flickered, only to appear in front of the other two with his hands swinging in a horizontal arc from the left and the right ready to meet in the middle. 

Although the attack was sudden, both guards have already seen this pattern, and instead of trying to face it head-on, they both jumped back, dodging the deadly blow.

As the claws swiped in front of them, barely missing their studded leather vest, they swung their swords downwards in a vertical swing, aiming each of the boy's shoulders. 

While the attack was fast for the average person, to Aiden who had much higher attributes than them, it was as if he was watching it in slow motion. Raising his hands, he parried both blows with ease. 

Meanwhile, the last guard seeing the arrow flying towards him swayed to the left, avoiding the deadly tip by a hair's breadth. Then, as to close the distance, he jumped forward, charging at the ranger only a few feet away. 

Before he could get into melee distance, the two war hounds, that they brought in, had lunged at him biting into his left ankle and his weapon-holding right wrist.

Growling madly, they pulled on the grabbed limbs while also sinking their teeth deeper, tearing through the muscles and thews. Reaching all the way to the bone and marrow, causing the man to cry out in pain. Only to become silent in the next moment when an arrow mercilessly pierced him in the eye.

Parrying their counterattack, Aiden's already scarlet glowing eyes flashed brighter for a moment as he pushed on the parried weapons with great force.

The sudden increase in weight was too much for the two guards, they took another step to the back, only to be met with the wall. Gritting their teeth, they tried their best to desperately push against the incredible pressure. 

The blade slowly approached their necks, despite all their efforts. In the end, they tried to at least divert its course, but all their efforts proved fruitless as the blades slowly, but steadily cut into their thyroid slowly cutting through their trachea, causing fatal damage.

However, Aiden didn't stop there. He continued to exert the force, even as their eyes turned grey and they both breathed their last, he continued to tear through muscles. A loud crunching sound signaled the moment when he cut through their spines. 

The last remaining man, the warden watched in horror as this demonic boy slowly but decisively separated the heads from their bodies. When he finished, he grabbed the heads with each hand, then turning towards the singular shaking warden, he threw them in front of him on his desk, before he walked back and stood in front of him once again.

The gruesome scene didn't seem to affect Lily at all, he walked next to his brother, grabbing his right arm, and resting her head against it. Both hounds silently walked behind the girl, obeying the boy's orders.

"So… where were we?" Aiden asked with the same calmness, as before the battle, causing another wave of chill run down on the Warden's back.

"Please… I beg you…" The warden begged, then turning her face towards the blonde-haired girl he continued. "I beg you both… Spare me! I"m sorry…"

Grabbing the man by the throat, Aiden threw him over his desk, right into the floor that was already soaked wet with all the blood.

"If you beg, do it properly. On your knees!" Aiden spoke, adding some power behind his otherwise chilling voice.

The man obeyed immediately, raising himself from the floor. His face was smeared with a mixture of blood and dust, giving him an even more miserable visage.

"I'm sorry, I made a huge mistake, I will change my ways, I promise!" The warden desperately pleaded to the girl, who didn't even give as much as a glance. Lily was keeping her eyes on his brother, who was once again, grabbing the edges of his mask.

"Lily, please avert your eyes. What I'm about to do, might scare you." Aiden solemnly spoke, as he lifted the cover from his face and walked behind the kneeling man.

In response, Lily smiled and shook his head in denial.

"No, brother. I want to watch it. I will never be scared of you. I want to see this through to the end."

Aiden could only sigh and concede to her words. Tensing the muscles in his right hand he contorted it into the same attacking gesture, as he pulled it back a bit.

Although the warden couldn't see what was happening behind him, the sudden chill that washed over him caused his bladder to finally tear through the last strands of his resistance. He wet himself. 

"Please… please… noooo…" He begged with a tear-, blood- and dust-stained face all the way to the very last moment. He felt a jolt of shock, and then a searing pain through his back as Aiden claws mercilessly ripped his nervous system apart. 

Grabbing his still-beating heart, he gently grabbed it, and with another push, he tore through all the way, to the warden to see his own organ in the hands of another as the very last image in this life.

As the man's voice faded, Aiden pulled back and crushed the organ before he swallowed it.

Once again, he felt the surge of energy fill his body, rapidly restoring his spent reserves, mixing with his own. Although he hadn't noticed it before, as he felt the energy course through his body, he saw a notification firing up in his system.

However, he couldn't pay attention to it, as soon his mind was, once again, filled with images, memories, moments of another life.