Chapter 204 - Rogue's will

Bones shattered; the excruciating pain spread from the arms upwards. The man tried to scream and move to no avail. Staxius's aura with the strength to overpower a vampire was used on a mere rogue. The crowd which gathered were gone, the way he spoke cleared all doubts. They assumed that the one who accused was confused and dazed. Achilles, Avon and Viola watched; their faces horrified by what he did.

"What have you done," Achilles grabbed his shirt and gritted.

"Isn't it obvious," he returned her gaze with one twice as imposing. "-I'm clearing out trash," a quick tug, he cleared her grip.

"Listen to me," he knelt, the eyes devoid of emotions, "-I spared your pitiful life earlier, and this is how you repay me?" disgusted, one thought came to mind and that was to end it all. "Don't get me wrong, I've got a bit of compassion inside but reserved for the people I trust and admire. In thy case, nothing, a pebble on the road, a drop of water in an overflowing river – worthless. Therefore, I'm taking both arms as compensation for all the trouble. Pull something like that, and I'll take the legs. Next, I'm going to break you limb by limb till the head is the only thing left functional. At that stage, I'll gouge out the eyes, then pierce the ears, and lastly, I'll burn your tongue. Double cross me again – and I swear that I'll end all who you deem precious as well," the face serious, the posture stern and aura intense, he stood.

Scared beyond belief, even the party members could but step away. What Staxius said was honest and true. Unfortunately, the twins overheard everything and gulped.

"Now then," with eyes as cold as ice, he continued to slowly crush the man's arms. All the way from the hand to the elbow then shoulders, nothing spared nor left for luck. Slow, meticulous and excruciating, the man suffered relentlessly. This was done out in the courtyard, publicly where all could see. Despite that, none could careless since their attention was someplace else. Each crack sent nauseating sounds, Avon, Achilles, Undrar, and the Lymsey sister watched unable to do anything. In that instant, many realized just how cruel the man they called master was. All the small glimpses of happiness and comfort from him was genuine. It grew to the point where many took it for granted.

Following each crack, bone fragments pierced through the muscles and skin. A bloodied mess of which Adete took care. She hovered with her arms out, all the blood that bled levitated and formed a crimson orb.

*Crack,* he finished. "May this serve a lesson, don't take favors granted by others  free." Anger, hate, and despair emanated from the man. "Listen very carefully," the moment it ended, he voiced seriously,"-remember what I said, try as much as to cry or scream then I'll show you what true pain feels like." Unleash aura dispelled, free to move again, the man stared up at Staxius, adrenaline took over, the arm numb and devoid of motion.

"You f.u.c.k.i.n.g monster," he gritted, the face filled with tears and snot, "-FUC," *SLASH.*

The twins hurled, Achilles stared away in pain, Viola lowered her gaze and Avon shook his head. Rather than keeping his mouth shut, the man tried to scream and lash out. Enough was enough, using the orbs Adete gathered, in a blink of an eye, it changed into a blade and cut the rogue's tongue clean off. He coughed and gasped for air, the blood rushed and drowned the inside. Not wanting to let him die yet, Staxius made it so the blood had a place to escape rather than getting killed. To stop the bleeding, the orb solidified and froze the injury in place. A pink muscle laid on the floor, to which he stomped without care. The persistence vanished, face down and seeing his tongue get crushed – the man's survival instinct took over. Resistance would be futile; the eyes lost its vigor – he gave up.

"Getting my hand dirty this early in the morning isn't good," *Ancient Magic: Teleportation,* he vanished with the man in tow.

Nothing, the courtyard remained as innocent as before. No one realized what happened, the sisters were left frightened to their core.

"V-viola," Emma approached.

"W-was that t-the guild l-leader?" Emma asked, tears flowed. Unable to look them in the eye, Viola stared at the floor. Achilles could not believe her eyes; she fell to the floor. "How cruel can one be?" she gulped with her hands over her mouth.

"It's best to forget what we saw here today," Viola sniffed and gathered her thoughts. "That goes for you two as well," she turned and embraced the twins. They cried wholeheartedly; it got the attention of the others.

"Poor girls," some pitied, "-they probably lost their party," the adventurers sympathized without knowing the real reason.

"It's been a long time," Viola spoke again after a few minutes. "Let's go somewhere quieter," she offered and led the rest to the dormitory. As silent as a morgue, the party sat and wondered.

"I still don't believe it," Avon spoke, the rest sat opposite one another.

"Let's not dwell on the matter," Viola's mind returned to normal. The only ones who were deeply touched by said incident were the twins and Achilles. Avon wasn't sad, the boy was amazed.

"Viola," Emma called, "-how can you be so calm around a leader like him?" Emmy completed the question. "Aren't you afraid?" they wept.

"Honestly," she sighed, "-I'm scared as well," the gaze faced upwards. "Behind all that, there lives a man who cares. Staxius cares about people he swore to protect and help. Only those who are worthy will be given mercy, the rest can go to hell. The world is a battlefield, the strongest survive and the weakest die. Adapt as much as you want, but if the strongest decides to hunt you down, then it's game over. Outwit thy way to a better future. Needless to say, this doesn't apply to the man we obey, he's as smart as he's strong."

"Don't worry so much," Avon intervened, "-it's all good," the voice casual. "Why worry about things that are beyond our control. What happened earlier was a shame but it's to be expected. Master gave the man a chance to surrender but you saw what I did, he was going to scream,"

"Fair point," Viola agreed to which the conversation closed.

"I wish it could be as black and white," Achilles voiced, "-I'm a hero from another time – my belief has always been to protect the weak. There's no way one who had vowed to the citizen will stand by and watch." Conflict about what ideals to follow made her on edge. 

"Go against the master if you want," Avon said without the inclination to get involved.

"Is that so," she thought, "-I'm not angry, but confused as to why that had to be done," her eyes focused, "-I need answers," to which the lady stormed out the room.

"Come on you two," Viola sat with the twins, since they were still teenagers – it would not be right to leave that tragedy to hold their still growing mind back.

Far from the camp, about a thirty-minute run, Staxius teleported. "Isn't the morning breeze lovely?" he asked – the rogue laid on the floor unable to move.

"AHHHH," he screamed, the eyes red and cheeks swelled to which he used his legs to move over and bite Staxius.

*BAM,* annoyed, he kicked the man's face as if it were a ball. A broken nose, lost teeth and cut cheeks, the man's vigor rekindled.

"How annoying can you be?" Staxius knelt, and pinched his ears, "-I thought you gave up earlier, what happened, where did all this will come from?" Not able to reply, the man continued to scream, "monster, monster, monster," is what he thought whilst screaming. Bored, he tugged and removed the ear, "-oh damn," he held it in front of the eyes. The fight to try and hurt Staxius continued, no matter how much pain was inflicted, the man didn't concede.

"I'm bored," nonchalantly, he sat next to the rogue who laid face first on the ground – the adrenaline wore out, all the pain rushed. "I must say you impressed me," he stared out into the distance. "There's a reason why you haven't given up yet," a glance, the eyes emotionless and face tilted. Even with all that pain throbbing, the rogue didn't give – he continued to fight.

"It's hopeless now, no arms, no means of speaking, the hearing is probably beyond recovery and face shattered. There's no way survival will do any good," he stood. "That fighting spirit and will to survive is good, I like it. To which I make this promise, thou unknown by name and spirit, I shall grant thee mercy in the form of a painless death."

*Immortal yet mortal, I, Staxius Haggard, God of death, order thee to leave thy mortal vessel, Soul Extraction.*  

Eyes which once lit with passion subsided. The rogue died painlessly after having suffered at the hand of Staxius. The will to not give up left an impression, to which he extracted the man's soul. Like the cursed-sword of old, the emotion left behind was now bound to him. 'That amount of resentment will serve in the near future – worry not, foolish rogue, I shall find a new vessel for thee to reside in soon.' The Void flame conjured and burnt the body.

"A roundabout way to kill someone don't you think?" Adete came forth.

"Not really," the eyes gazed far out, "-he made an impression." A grey mist with a skull manifested on his palm. "See, that's the rogue. Trapped but at peace – his consciousness is gone. We can say that he passed on. I extracted the soul and separated all the dying resentment, hate and all the willingness to survive from the soul. That fighting spirit alone might prove to be the foundation for a new cursed-blade. I could always use Daemonum Gladio, however, it has yet to call on me – that blade is as elusive as a cat."

The corpse burnt, without much thought, Staxius waited. The trees swayed, the flowers and grass came to life, the sun shone, the wind peaceful and gentle. It could not get any more idyllic than this. As if a dandelion, the ashes followed the wind and scattered around. In the distance, a figure could be seen running.

"Master," it called.

"Achilles?" he asked and walked, "-slow down." Out of breath, she panted.

"I have questions," she spoke whilst breathing heavily.

"Give it a moment," the voice monotonous, "-gather your breath then speak."

"I want to know the reason why one would go to such lengths," she didn't listen and asked.

"I see," the voice deep, "-it's simple," he walked. "The rogue was a fighter and a fool. I shan't justify my actions for tis was best."

"It was best to torture an innocent?" she fired back not knowing the full story. It was expected that one would assume so.

"Innocent," a side-glance later, "-think again. Why would I go through all that trouble to hurt someone on purpose? Do you really think I enjoy hurting others?" a statement that made Adete laugh. Achilles' doubt remained strong. "The plan was to stop after crushing the man's arm. Sadly, he tried to scream and fight back to which I took his tongue. Afterward, once we teleported again, he continued to fight despite the pain. I took his ear and continued the assault without stopping – the spirit wavered but didn't break. In the end, I slit his neck. The man rests in peace in the afterlife – he shall be reincarnated soon as the son of a nobleman. That became known after I extracted the soul, separated the resentment and regrets. He shall be fine," the voice reassuring, Achilles gave.

"May I ask where's the body?"

"Cremated and one with the flowers and trees," they walked towards the outpost, "-he died peacefully, tis a given for the fight for survival made an impression."

At peace with what Staxius said, Achilles let out a smile. Staxius's way of evaluating people seemed unequal at best but there was a purpose behind each action. It was nice to see that he didn't kill for pleasure, an enigma to whomst the hero held at high esteem.