Chapter 44 - The Ark Of Venom

"Pardon?" asked Minwoo, raising his eyebrows.

"She killed without mercy, but not without reason," chimed Raiyen, looking at Ashley in disapproval.

"What reason she had to take so many lives at one go?" questioned Ashley.

Mavislin got behind Ysabeau, hugging her parental figure tightly as she was running away from the humans' gaze.

"Wanna know the truth?" asked Raiyen, with a hint of anger as he folded his arms.

His Aura flared when he stared at the two humans.

"Your kind tried to kill an innocent child. Just because of hearsay."

"What do you mean?"

"Abigail Esther Noble. The first Mage to be killed by hearsay."

Baldwin froze as he heard those words coming out from the Time Mage's mouth. Minwoo and Ashley glanced at each other. The name sounded very familiar.

"Yes, she is quite infamous. But we don't side with our kind in that situation," explained Minwoo.

"Yet your partner over there is fine with killing a child," said Raiyen, with sass.

"Oi! Doesn't mean that I approve of it!" yelled Minwoo, furrowing his brows.

"I didn't want to kill her..." said Ashley, softly.

"Are my eyes deceiving me? Isn't pointing a gun at a child's head called 'trying to kill her'? Or am I blind when you went trigger happy and started shooting a small child?" asked Raiyen, with venom on his tongue.

"As I said, I only wanted to know if this girl did kill the villagers."

"By trying to kill her? What kind of logic is that? You sound so dumb..." replied Raiyen, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You could have asked us directly. We would have said yes."

"How would I know that you won't hide the truth?"

"It's better than firing the first shot."

Ashley looked down in silence.

"So, what were you going to do after you killed her? Parade around with her dead body, like what you did to Abi before putting her on the stake? Or you were about to cut open her skull?"

"Have you got the balls to flaunt after you've killed a child? Is that what you are after? The title of 'child-killer'?"

Raiyen's questions were laced with poison as he continued to mentally abuse the poor stick man.

"Think twice before you try to harm any Mage now. Even if she hasn't got words to say it, you'll bet that there are others out there willing to stand up for her. Don't think just because she can't express her pain in words mean that she's okay with all this."

"You've seen her in action. There are many other Mages out there as powerful as her. It was the villagers who pushed her to her limit, allowing her powers to come at them in full force. And I bet you, she was still up for another round of burning."

"Because once you make a Valkyrie upset, I can guarantee you that you are as good as dead. Since they have quite a hard time controlling their feelings and tempers. So next time, tread lightly when it comes to us Mages. We were holding back."

"But that doesn't explain why Mavislin was targetted. From what I recall, the couple did not allow her to harm any humans. So why did the villagers attacked?" asked Minwoo.

"Abi was Mavislin's best friend," replied Baldwin, looking at the Time Mage for confirmation.

Ysabeau looked horrified as she hugged the poor girl closer. The a.d.u.l.ts had not known what went down at Abi's grave. Z remained indifferent as he allowed the family to deal with the matter.

"Then my assumptions were right. Since Mavislin was Abigail's friend, the villagers had tried to kill Mavislin when she was at Abi's grave. I was there for a bit to save her," explained Raiyen, giving a cold, hard glare to Ashley.

"Surprising, isn't it? To know that your kind is so pathetically mindless. They would do anything to fit into the crowd. If one says that a little girl is a monster, then all will follow suit. If that's the case," said Raiyen, walking up towards the two humans.

Minwoo looked worried but stood his ground as he met with Raiyen's intense gaze. Ashley, on the other hand, was still in shock. It was taking a few moments for him to process the big revelation for him.

"Why don't you all just kill yourself? It would be such a great help if humans did that. Us Mages could have the entire planet for ourselves. We only need the land. We don't need the occupants."

Raiyen gripped onto Minwoo's collar with a strong grasp. The Time Mage's face remained blank as he continued to lift the man and choke him. Even though Raiyen had smaller built than Minwoo, it was the White Rat struggling to breathe.