Chapter 16: The Value of Life

Without any complaints, Augros charged at the enemies. He was so calm, his eyes focused on what he had to do. Fiorelle did the same, unleashing the power of spirits to slay the monsters in front of her.

For the first time, Zarria experienced the feeling of utter defeat. She felt that no matter what they did from this point onward, failing to protect the innocent lives of the slums had already meant that they’d lost.

What came after that bitterness was rage. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on whoever was behind all this, and she was sure she didn’t have to wait long. Dhein would catch them soon.

Her fists had become coated in celestial powers. She moved forward, punching through every monster she came across.

Though the crowd had went through a mass transformation, there were still some people that stayed normal. Zarria didn’t know if there was still a point in saving them if they were going to be turned into monsters later on anyway, but she did it nonetheless.

Before passing through an alleyway, she saw in the corner of her eye a red-haired girl crouching on the ground in panic. She was holding a little boy up while tears were streaming down her face.

The boy was currently transforming.

“Walter… Walter, talk to me,” she kept saying on repeat.

But Zarria knew that the boy was already beyond the point of salvation. His blood was already rushing out of his mouth, his eyes rolled back as he convulsed in unbearable pain.

“No… no, Walter, please!”

Zarria stepped in, getting her attention. Upon seeing the family crest engraved in her earrings, it seemed like the girl recognized her because a sparkle of fragile hope appeared in her weary eyes.

“Help us, I’m begging you,” she desperately said while hugging the boy.

“Just save my brother. Please, I’m begging you, save him.”

Zarria could only watch in sorrow as the first dark flesh broke out of the boy’s skin. She pulled the girl, who resisted with all her strength, apart from the emerging monster who used to be her little brother.

The older sister screamed his name when the boy had completely been erased, replaced by the new creature that was birthed from his body.

“It’s too late…” Zarria muttered to the girl.

She collapsed to the ground in despair as Zarria, with a heavy heart, slashed the monster in half.

The girl’s sobs filled the gaps of silence left by the chaos around them. Comforting a grieving person had never been Zarria’s strong suit. But today, she had to try her best, especially after seeing how heartbreaking what this girl had just been through was.

While the monster was disintegrating, Zarria sat on her knees in front of the girl gazing on the ground. She would never understand how this girl must have felt the moment she saw her family turn into those nightmarish abominations. The way they suffered fate worse than death was just pure inhumane.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered to the girl.

In between sobs, the girl uttered some words.

“Why… how did it come to this?”

A surge of emotion overwhelmed Zarria’s composure. She suddenly hugged the red-haired girl gently, letting her cry her heart out on her chest.

How she reacted was definitely not within Zarria’s expectation. The girl pushed her away with great anger, her eyes were full of rage.

“This is all your fault.”

Zarria watched in horror as the girl crawled backwards away from her.

“People from that cursed clan are the spawn of the devil!!!”

“YOU MURDERERS!!! LIARS!!!”

“You make the rules and be the first ones to break them. You preach your values that you don’t even live by. Yet, when you punish us, it’s as if our lives don’t matter…”

“You fucking hypocrite… If you’re the way to heaven, then I’d rather go to hell.”

Zarria was stunned by her words. She couldn’t refute any of those now that she had discovered something about their clan.

Their name had truly been tarnished behind their backs. But even way before this, she already knew that some people in their clan acted as if they owned everything. If only it was up to her, she would have banished them long ago. Could it be related to this betrayal that Dhein had uncovered?

What was the betrayal about?

What could possibly be their goal?

Questions kept emerging one after another and Zarria had no answer to any of it.

She was so deep into her thoughts that it was already too late to react when she noticed one abomination lunging at her from behind. She saw the girl opened her eyes wide in terror as the monster inched closer, but it was far too late for Zarria to evade it. She braced herself for the damage she was about to suffer.

An image of a bright blue orb traveling in the air at sonic speed appeared in the corner of Zarria’s eyes. This plasma orb went through the monster, burning a gaping hole in its body.

“God damnit! The recoil is too strong in this one… ouch, ouch…”

Zarria and the girl turned to the entrance of the alley and saw a young man with curly brown hair. He had an average build and a lame posture. He wore an expensive bright gold suit but it was obvious that he was never taught how to carry it.

Jaizen Hemmethe held his arm that had just suffered the recoil force of the hand cannon attached to it. The weapon was sleek and although it looked simple, the design screamed of effectiveness.

“Gotta modify this one still… Ah! Are you guys okay?”

It seemed like more people, especially the contestants of the tournament, have been getting involved to this mess.

Zarria pushed herself up as did the girl in front of her.

“We are unharmed. Lord Hemmethe, what’s the situation?” she replied.

Jaizen scratched the back of his head.

“Well, uh… the news is all over the empire. Everyone now knows that the people of the slums are capable of turning into these deadly creatures. The imperial army is now on its way to wipe out everyone who lives here.”

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