novelraw Chapter 57: Talia’s Resolve
Chapter 57: Talia’s Resolve
The first tent Talia slipped into had an entire family fast asleep.
A man, a woman and their two children laid on thin beds, covered by blankets that smelled funny.
Her blade slid across the neck of the man without hesitation. The skin parted and blood sprayed all over the bed and unto the ground.
Although the warm blood touched her, the woman did not wake up before the blade crossed her throat too.
This was not the first time Talia had killed.
To get the hesitation out of the way, she had taken part in killing the lookouts earlier that night.
Unfortunately, because she lacked Blood Storage, she could not just absorb and store blood It had spilled onto the ground and soaked into the dirt, wasted.
She moved toward the two children on the floor... then she froze.
They were small, curled against each other.
Talia had set a limit at age four because anyone above that age tend to have clear emotional memories of their family.
They understood relationships like their mother and father.
They might adapt to new parents, but they would never forget and that was dangerous because they might come for revenge one day.
The children before her seemed to be six and seven.
She tried to find reasons not to kill them.
Perhaps they were not close to their parents or perhaps they were abused and they would be happy to be freed.
She looked around the tent and saw paintings on the wall.
The children and parents were smiling and they all looked happy even though their family were bandits and killers.
Talia closed her eyes in pain.
She did not want to leave hidden dangers behind, people who might train for the sole purpose of coming after her and her family.
Especially if her plan was to train them to be useful to the Morvath family.
She had considered lying to them, telling them that someone else killed their parents but unfortunately her other plans required her to publicize that it was the Morvath family who wiped out this camp.
That meant that the chances of them finding out the truth were not zero.
She knew what happened when you left the children of your enemies alive, after all she was a proof.
Her own uncle had failed to wipe out her family and now she was on a path that almost guaranteed she would wipe him out in the future.
She did not want the same thing to happen to her.
The irony was not lost on her.
’I have to do this,’ Talia thought as she stared at the children’s peaceful face and soft breathing. ’At least I can grant you a peaceful death.’
’For vengeance,’ She closed her eyes and swiped her blade across their throats as fast as she could.
A drop of tears fell from her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand as she slowly stood up and turned around.
Only then did she notice that Jensen was standing right behind her, he had been watching the whole time with the same calm expression he carried around.
"My Lord... I am..." Talia tried to make an excuse, but Jensen cut her off.
"No need to apologize." He said as he glanced at the dead children. "Just continue."
Talia sighed in relief and immediately left the tent.
Jensen stared at the children for a while before he turned around and walked out of the tent.
Although he had never directly killed children, he most definitely had a hand in the death of many when he collapsed the entrance to the mine and sealed everyone inside with no supplies.
He knew what he did and he would do it again if he had to.
As for Talia shedding tears, that was none of his business.
He gave her a job and so far, she had been executing it well.
She could cry all she wanted for all he cared, as long as she kept doing a good job.
He walked out of the tent and turned his attention to the men.
***
{A few minutes earlier}
The bandits saw the two men charging toward them and produced their weapons immediately ready to defend themselves.
Even though they were drowsy and tired, they were not stupid... at least, that was true until they realized something.
"Wait," one of the more perceptive bandits said as his eyes narrowed. "Are those Level 1s charging at us?"
"What?" another asked.
The charging men got closer and the bandits took a closer look causing their faces to change.
"Fuck," someone said. "These bastards poisoned us and now they think that just because we are weaker, they can kill us?"
"KILL!"
Two of the bandits rushed toward Roden and Jim.
They were Level 2s, although they were drowsy, they were still strong and fast, and they closed the distance quickly.
"WAIT!" Heinz shouted as he tried to warn them that they could not use their mana, but it was too late.
The bandits aimed for Roden, who was slightly ahead of Jim, but he jumped over them and his feet cleared their heads.
The bandits spun around as they tried to use their skills, but nothing happened.
Their eyes widened and panic flickered across their faces as they realised that they could not kill Roden as easily as they had expected.
Before they could do anything else, Jim’s left hand wrapped around the first man’s head.
His fingers dug into the temples while his right fist drew back and struck the man’s skull with all his might.
The sound was clear as the man’s skull exploded.
Bone fragments sprayed outward with pieces of skull flying in every direction as brain matter splashed across everyone around him.
The man did not have time to scream.
Everyone except Roden froze as he kept advancing toward Heinz.
Jim activated Blood Absorption immediately and the blood from the headless body rose into the air and the body shrivelled.
The other bandit turned around and immediately try to retreat but Jim’s claw pierced through his chest from behind.
The bandit’s rib cage exploded forward, the bone shards tore through his shirt with his chest opening like a flower.
Jim’s claws emerged from the front, wrapped around his pulsing heart.
The other bandits could see it... still beating at least till Jim clenched his fist bursting her heart in his grip causing blood to squirt from between his fingers.
The bandit’s eyes went blank as his body slid off the claws and fell to the ground.
One of the bandits tried to flee in another direction after he saw the nightmarish scene.
Seeing this action Heinz grabbed a spear leaning against his tent. He pulled it back and threw it in one motion.
The spear flew straight and true piercing the fleeing man’s back pinning him to the ground... killing him instantly.
Heinz eyes turned back to the fight, his action statement enough.
Previously, when he thought Posey was attacking, allowing everyone to flee would have been a good distraction to create a chance for him to escape.
But now, he that had a chance against these level 1s as long as his men worked together, he had no plans to run and leave everything he built behind.
He tightened his grip on his staff and prepared to fight... even if it was close combat.