Warning: This chapter contains depictions of violence and gore that may be upsetting for some readers!

…

Arthur stared into Elaric’s terrified eyes, feeling… nothing.

No anger, no pity. Just a bone-deep certainty that this man deserved no mercy from him.

He took out his sword and unsheathed it slowly. Seeing the sword Elaric flailed harder in the air, muffled noises coming from behind the telekinetic seal across his mouth. He wanted to beg, Arthur could see it in his eyes, but he wasn’t interested in hearing excuses.

Arthur pressed the tip of his sword lightly against Elaric’s chest, right over his heart.

Elaric’s struggles grew frantic, his body twisting and kicking helplessly, his muffled voice pleading, and desperate.

Arthur’s gaze remained cold. Slowly, almost he pushed the blade forward, watching dispassionately as the razor sharp tip pierced through the expensive velvet Elaric wore, then his flesh.

Elaric’s body jerked violently. A strangled scream tried to break free from his mouth, but was unable to.

The blade slid deeper, and blood bloomed from his chest. Arthur wanted to make sure Elaric felt the pain of a blade going through his chest longer.

Only after the sword was buried hilt-deep did Arthur release his telekinetic hold over him.

Elaric dropped heavily onto the ornate couch behind him, his hands clawing uselessly at the hilt protruding from his chest. He opened his mouth, struggling for a final plea… but only blood spilled out from his mouth.

Arthur watched without a word as the light in Elaric’s eyes dimmed. A shallow, gurgling noise rattled from his throat and then nothing.

Arthur reached down, gripped the hilt of his sword, and yanked it free. A spray of blood splattered across the nearby carpet and walls. Without hesitation, he swung his sword once more in a clean and swift manner.

Elaric’s head tumbled from his shoulders, rolling onto the floor with a heavy thud.

Arthur stared at the corpse for a long moment, letting the finality of it settle in his bones.

Then, with a cold look in his eyes, he turned and left the room.

He no longer cared to hide his steps, so he did not conceal his presence.

…

The guards finally flooded into the underground annex after hearing the sound of the door smashing. Their hurried footsteps clattered against the stone floors.

Arthur heard them long before they saw him.

Dozens of armed men poured into the hallway, surrounding him in the center.

One of them barked, “Who the hell are you? What are you doing in the underground facility!?”

But Arthur didn’t reply to their questions, he just vanished from their sight.

An instance later, a man’s body crumpled forward, his head severed cleanly from his shoulders, as it thudded wetly onto the floor.

Panic rippled through the group.

“WHAT!?”

“CAST THE BINDING SPELL! NOW!”

Spells ignited, lighting up the underground with frantic bursts of light. Ropes of magical energy shot toward Arthur, trying to entangle him.

He weaved through them effortlessly, his sword blurring into silver arcs.

One man managed to summon a shield spell in front of himself, only to watch as Arthur’s blade cleaved through it, and him like a hot knife through butter.

Arthur moved like a phantom, his every step precise to evade the spells and his every slash taking a life.

A mage screamed as Arthur’s sword plunged into his gut, lifting him off the ground before he was tossed aside like a broken doll.

Another tried to cast a fire spell, but Arthur’s free hand shot forward, covering his mouth and blasting a Mana Bullet down his throat, cutting the chant off mid-step.

The man’s body hit the wall hard, sliding down with a smear of blood as chunks of flesh scattered around him.

Spells exploded around Arthur, missing him by inches. He reached the next group of guards and cut them down in a heartbeat, his blade covered in the blood of his opponents.

From inside the cages the chained prisoners watched, wide-eyed and trembling.

Some pressed themselves against the bars, hope flashing across their faces as they watched Arthur mow through their captors like a god of death. 

They hoped Arthur was here to rescue them, but As Arthur left the underground space, their hope was dashed.

…

Minutes passed, as Arthur stood alone amid a growing pool of bodies, his dark clothes soaked with splashes of blood.

As he reached the gate of the underground chamber, he checked his ‘Map’.

Several more life signs appeared on the map; dozens or so had gathered at the gates, forming defensive lines with shields, swords and staves, desperate and ready to confront Arthur.

The moment Arthur left the underground, the captain barked orders, his voice shrill with fear, “SURROUND HIM! DON’T LET HIM ESCAPE! GIVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”

Arthur stepped into the warehouse, and the guards flinched instinctively at the sight of him covered in the blood of their comrades.

His dark eyes seemed to almost glow in the night, and his sword gleamed like a fang of a beast.

The first volley of spells erupted toward him.

Arthur didn’t slow down. With a flick of his wrist, he slashed, sending a wave of compressed Chi blasting forward, shredding the magic like wet paper.

The wave slammed into the front ranks, flinging martial artists and mages alike into the air, their screams echoing into the night.

Arthur blurred forward and one by one, he cut them down.

A man screamed as Arthur’s blade severed his arm at the elbow. Another tried to run away, only to have a dagger of Chi pierce through his back.

One tried to surrender, dropping his weapon and begging.

Arthur didn’t even glance at him as he passed, his sword flashing in a mercifully quick decapitation.

Seeing Arthur massacring through their ranks, the rest of the guards started to flee. But Arthur opened his ‘Map’ again and tracked down each and everyone of them.

None would leave alive tonight. That was the oath he made when he saw those cages.

The night was filled with the sound of screams of the guards in the abandoned warehouse.

…

Finally, after fifteen minutes, the abandoned warehouse fell into silence again. There was only the sound of the night wind blowing past him.

Arthur wiped the blood off his sword against the tunic of a fallen guard and sheathed it with a soft, chilling click.

He glanced once more at the dead bodies and took out a sphere made of nanobots. He threw it at the bodies and the nanobots started to disintegrate them, not even the blood was left on the floor. Seeing the warehouse clean, he collected the nanobots and entered the underground chamber again.

…

Arthur stepped back through the iron doors and into the underground chamber.

The underground chamber was silent, only the rattling of chains and the uneven breathing of the prisoners remained.

A few of the chained captives flinched instinctively seeing Arthur return. Some shrank away, still unsure if he was their savior or just another monster.

But one small voice broke through the silence.

“Please… save us…”

Arthur’s gaze shifted towards the sound.

Near the far wall, huddled in a cage too small even for a child, was a girl who looked no older than ten. Her limbs were thin, almost skeletal from malnourishment, and her sunken eyes flickered with fragile hope.

Arthur’s expression softened just a little.

He took a step forward and crouched.

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” he said quietly. “I’m here to save you all.”

The girl’s lips trembled. A second later, tears spilled down her cheeks as she began to sob, while clutching the rusted bars like they were the only thing keeping her upright.

Arthur sighed as he stood.

He raised a hand and summoned the nanobot sphere again, then tossed it gently into the air above the stacked bodies of the guards nearby.

It burst apart mid-air, unraveling into a swarm of nanobots. They consumed the corpses in seconds as blood, bones, all dissolved into nothingness.

Then he turned to the cages. The prisoners flinched again as the nanobots swirled around the room and crawled over the cages.

In less than a minute, every chain, every iron bar, and trace of their confinement had been wiped from existence.

Silence fell again, and then… a chorus of whispers, and gasps filled the chamber.

“…They’re gone.”

“We’re free…”

“By the gods, we’re…finally free…”

The girl who had spoken earlier was now clinging to the arm of a woman, still crying.

Still, Arthur noticed a few standing back, appearing tense and wary of him.

He couldn’t blame them, from the looks of it they have been captive to too long.

Seeing their dirty appearance, he raised a hand again and cast a cleansing spell, a soft, silver light passed over the group, washing away the dirt and their own excrement from their bodies.

Their skin was blistered and bruised in some places but was clean nonetheless.

“…Magic…” someone whispered.

“Thank you,” another said. “Thank you, sir…”

Arthur nodded and said, “Wait here…I will be back in a moment.” and turned away.

He walked back to the office, where Elaric’s decapitated corpse was still lying on the floor. One last sweep of the nanobots reduced it to dust. Even the couch and table was gone, leaving nothing behind, not even a drop of his blood remained.

When he returned to the main chamber, everyone was waiting for him in the exact same place where he left them.

They didn’t ask questions anymore. Some of them have gazes still filled with cautiousness, but there were also people who looked at him with hope.

“Follow me,” Arthur said quietly.

The walk back through the underground tunnel was silent, save for their dragging footsteps. When they emerged into the open air, into the moonlight many gasped audibly.

Some covered their eyes. Others just dropped to their knees and wept silently, it finally settled in them that they were free now.

Arthur didn’t say anything, he moved toward the boxes and pried them open.

The now freed people who were in the boxes blinked up at him in confusion. One of them, a boy maybe twelve years old, flinched when he saw Arthur’s sword at his side.

“It’s alright,” Arthur said. “You’re safe now.”

He opened every box. All of them held people, likely captured only recently. Their eyes were clearer, and they looked much healthier than those who were locked in the underground chamber.

Once they were all free Arthur gathered them in one place and stood before them.

“You’re free to go,” he said. “I’m not here to force you to follow me. If you want to leave, no one will stop you. But if you have nowhere to go… I run an orphanage for children and those who need help. You can come with me, you’ll be safe there.”

After Arthur’s short speech, they stared at him in stunned silence. And finally three people decided to go their separate ways.

Arthur nodded as he saw the three of them two men and one woman leave.

After a few moments of hesitation out of the thirty three people present thirty decided to go with Arthur, most of them can’t even walk properly. 

“We’ll come with you…” a younger elf woman said softly. “We… we don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Arthur nodded. “Alright.”

He stepped forward and raised his hand. A few of them gasped and stumbled back as they suddenly felt weightless.

A few of them screamed in panic, but Arthur reassured them. “It’s alright,” he said. “You’re safe, I am using a spell to lift you all.”

Dozens of them were suspended gently in the air, cradled by an invisible force as Arthur’s telekinesis enveloped them.

Then, Arthur rose into the air himself, his black cloak fluttering in the night wind, and lifted the entire group into the skies above Brightwater and flew towards the orphanage.

These people were yet to be marked with the slave marks so that was one less issue, as once the slave mark is branded it forces the slaves to comply with the order of their masters and even their life was for their master to decide.

And Arthur wasn’t naive to think that all the people he rescued were innocent, there might be criminals among the people he rescued, and he was taking them to the orphanage filled with children which might be risky, so he would have to monitor them constantly for some time.

He would have to place some cloaked guard bots that would monitor them. Though there were already some acting as guards for the orphanage silently in the shadows, he would add some more. And there was also his master, Kai staying at the orphanage. So, nobody would dare to cause trouble.

While thinking about all this, Arthur finally reached the orphanage and started to descend.

***

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