Chapter 41: [Ch. 41] Saving the Dragon Prince (Past)
I looked down at Korph silently and noticed the whip around his neck, strangling him.
The guard holding Korph down began to laugh, "Who is this small child?"
"Kill… them…" Korph managed to whisper out through his damaged throat.
I nodded apathetically, "Very well."
The guards all bellowed in laughter, "How could a small child even try to kill us?"
I glanced down, ignoring their bellowing laughter and saw an abandoned hilt on the ground. It bore the symbol of a dragon.
Ah. I've heard of this. Apparently, if you force your magic into the hilts here, it can form a weapon. They say that the hilt takes on the form of the weapon belonging to the user's respective nation. My kingdom's weapons were heavy-weight double-edged swords.
But, I wonder....
Do I really need to follow that?
I stared at the hilt carefully. I forced my magic through it, sending shockwaves amongst the crowd. They stared wide-eyed as the weapon took the form of an unfamiliar shape. My eyes curved upward as I looked at it with pleasure.
A bone-chilling laugh escaped my throat.
In my hands was a large scythe adorned with screaming skulls. An ominous, ghastly grey glow leaked from the blade.
The guards hesitantly took a step back seeing the inauspicious weapon. The head guard screamed at them, "Cowards! Just kill the boy!"
I looked at him without feeling any sort of emotion. There was an evil look behind my eyes as I stared at the disgusting trash before me. I willed the blade to grow larger and swung it once in a circular motion. The guards who were charging at me were suddenly stopped in their tracks. Their upper bodies suddenly detached from their body.
Not even a faint cry could be heard as they collapsed to the ground.
The whip around Korph's throat finally relaxed and disappeared. Korph watched in horror as the guards groaned and screamed at the sight of their own bodies cut in half.
I formed a fist, "Silence."
Instantly, the heads of the guards all burst and their bodies grew limp. I walked over to Korph and reached my hand out to him. He flinched unconsciously, looking at my expressionless face now covered in blood. I noticed his flinch and slowly withdrew my hand.
Why do I feel so disappointed? It's only natural for him to be afraid of me.
I forced the scythe to disappear and handed him the hilt, "Is this yours?"
He nodded, still watching me cautiously. He grabbed it from my hands and forced it into his pocket. I picked him up and slung him over my back. Noticing his tense body, I spoke in a low tone, "I won't hurt you."
He relaxed slightly but still remained alert. I wrapped my arms around his waist and began to jog back towards the magic circle. He groaned as his blood began to drip onto my back. I shifted my eyes to him and found that he was observing my face with a complex expression. I forced myself to stare straight ahead.
Why is he staring at me like that? I think I prefer it when he glared at me instead.
When we made it to the magic circle, Raylon was there waiting anxiously. He rushed over to us and grabbed Korph from me, "What happened to you two?"
I didn't care to explain. I spoke while looking around, "Just a small setback. Did you both finish your jobs?"
Korph tossed me a surprised look. He didn't understand why I didn't explain to Raylon that I saved him. Korph looked away and whispered painfully, "I finished mine."
Raylon didn't notice the strange atmosphere and added, "I finished everything as requested."
I gave a nod, "Good. Let's go."
"Wait!" Korph reached out and grabbed onto my pants, "We can't just go back!"
I shook him off, "We've released the slaves. It's finished."
I turned back to Korph and froze. He leaned against Raylon gritting his teeth with tears dripping from his eyes. I shifted my eyes away suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
He's... Crying?
Korph shouted out, "It won't matter! Don't you see? They will just get more slaves! Do you even know what they were doing to my people?! They were treating them like rats! They subjected them to inhumane experiments. Most of them were already dead by the time I got there!"
I looked at him impassively, not knowing what to say.
He whimpered, "The rest could only wish they were the ones who had died."
I looked towards the faint red glow in the distance. I had heard whispers that the Dragon clan slaves were being tortured while I was planning this excursion. However, I didn't know if it was actually true. Seeing how torn up Korph is, it must have been even worse than I had thought.
"Understood."
He picked up his head to me in surprise, "W-What?"
I raised my eyes to meet his, "Go into the magic circle if something goes wrong."
Without another explanation, I vanished into thin air.
Korph wiped the snot over his face and pounded at the ground while screaming. The memories of what he had just seen were fresh in his mind.
Raylon shouted in concern, "Hey! Just calm down. You've lost a lot of blood."
"I hate them, Raylon. I hate them."
Raylon patted his back, "I know. We will get revenge on them. Don't worry. In the meantime, let me check your wounds."
Raylon carefully checked his body and made a face at the wounds. Korph picked up his head, "Is it bad?"
"You should live... However, it will definitely leave a scar."
"Scars are desired in our clan. It's supposed to represent our strength and prowess." He clenched his fists as he whimpered, "So then why do I feel so weak?"
Raylon shook his head, "You aren't weak."
Korph chuckled dryly, "Oh yeah?"
He smiled at him, "Yeah. This will only make you stronger."
Korph threw him a self-decrepitating glance. After a while they heard clamoring in the distance. They looked to see the faint glow growing in the distance. Korph squinted his eyes, "Is that a fire?"
I answered from behind them, "Yes."
They both jumped. Raylon stuttered out, "W-When did you get back?"
"Just now." Ignoring their confused looks, I helped Raylon carry Korph to the circle, "We should go."
The circle enveloped us and we found ourselves being stretched once more in utter darkness before coming to a white light. They blinked in pain and groaned. Korph held his mouth trying not to vomit, "I really hate that."
Raylon held Korph as he stared at me, "What did you do?"
I checked Korph's wounds while I spoke, "Do you know how to take down a country?"
Raylon raised an eyebrow, "You start a war."
I shook my head, "That's too time-consuming and would only result in unnecessary death. If the original citizens survive, they would most likely rebel. It's not practical."
"Oh? Then how do you do it?"
"Through money."
"What exactly did you do?" Raylon asked in suspicion.
I ignored him and started to heal Korph. Korph felt his pain dissipate as a tender and warm light covered his body. He looked up to meet my eyes with a complex expression. I stared back at him before looking away. Raylon waited for me to answer, "Moao?"
"You'll see." I said cryptically before standing up.
Korph patted his body and pulled at his clothes to look underneath, "Wow! There's not even a scar! You must be one heck of a healer!"
I stood up and felt the room spin. I swayed and felt my body fall forward. Raylon reached out to catch me. "Are you alright?"
A shock spread across my skin leaving behind a wave of nausea at his touch.
I smacked away his hands, "Don't touch me."
He pulled his hands away looking dejected, "Sorry."
I opened my mouth to explain, but found it pointless so I closed my mouth. I leaned against a desk as I heard an overwhelmingly loud buzzing noise in my ear. I winced at the stinging pain in my hand and my throbbing head.
Looks like I overdid it again.
I shouted, "Amanda."
Amanda quickly opened the door, "Oh! You're back! What happened?"
"Take care of them." I managed to mutter out before I rushed out of the room.
Amanda was confused but decided not to pay it much attention. She turned to them with a smile, "It's late, but are you hungry?"
Korph answered without a second thought, "Yes."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Nekoru
Nekoru *does a little dance*
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone