Chapter 8: Slayer.
—
After an unknown amount of time had passed, drenched in the blood of the hound monsters, his senses finally returned. Unknowingly, he had already made his way back to the southern part of the harbour, where the blue-stripes soldiers and Margarita's company had once entered the safety of the protective bubble.
As he entered the bubble, he noticed many battle able-bodied men and women looking at him with admiration. Then, a person wearing a purple dress, who he guessed to be a bard, began chanting, soon followed by many others.
"SLAYER, SLAYER, SLAYER, SLAYER!"
Feeling awkward under the gaze of hundreds and embarrassed by the chanting directed at him, Richard instantly adjusted his Selfless state of mind to stay calm, fearing he might make a fool of himself.
Walking up to Margarita, he removed his already destroyed inner clothing, leaving him with a slightly muscular, bare torso and wearing only hakama as trousers. Wiping the hound blood off his face with that bloody inner clothing, he told her, "You don't need to wait for me. You can sail now. I still need to save some of the trapped survivors in the city."
One of the dwarves wielding an axe, standing beside the man in purple, let out a boisterous shout after hearing this, "See, lads! Our demon slayer still wants to save some folks! While we just want to save our bellies! Bah! Shame on us! Who's with him?!"
"YEAH!"
"LET'S GO!"
"Fucking yeah, we're going! It's rare to fight the Wild Hunt spawn again without risking your neck."
"Ves, prepare the men for extraction. We will need many stretchers. Shani, I need your expertise for this."
"Sure, Roche. I will gladly help."
Looking at the dwarf who rallied the crowd to help him save the trapped survivors still in Novigrad, Richard smiled and nodded at him, and the dwarf smiled and nodded back.
Margarita, looking at the bloody, muscular, and chiselled Richard with steam rising from his body due to his otherworldly power, turned her head to see her Lodge sisters. Requesting, "Can I have a couple of ships before you go to Kovir? Richard is my friend. I want to help him. And Triss, can I entrust the students' safety to you?"
"I'm sorry, Rita. I can't go to Kovir. I need to find Ciri. She is in danger. The Wild Hunt is currently after her."
Sighing and turning her head to Philippa to ask her to protect the children instead, Margarita heard the owl lady's suggestion.
"Dear, why do you need to go to Kovir? With the arrival of the Second Conjunction of the Spheres, there is no place that can be considered safe. I assume those mages that Triss sent to Kovir will have a hard time as well. Instead, with this gentleman here, we can create a safe haven wherever we go. And Djikstra wouldn't mind lending a few of his ships, right, darling Sigi?"
"Fuck off!"
Even though the reasoning was sound and logical, Richard couldn't help but frown. He could feel the aura of this blind woman changing, similar to the King of Redania, Radovid, during his first meeting with that man. It felt like she was trying to manipulate him into doing something for her while simultaneously planning to kill him because his abilities were beyond comprehension.
Because of this, Richard immediately went on full guard, causing the temperature in the area to rise to a boiling, sizzling heat, making the lady in question flinch, along with many others who had recently been chanting for him. Luckily, he was stopped by a hand placed on his right arm, releasing his intention to draw his sword. Seeing Margarita's burnt hand, Richard quickly adjusted his breathing to draw in the surrounding hot air, so as not to harm the others.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
Turning to Margarita, he then asked, ignoring the presence of the blind women altogether, "Why do I feel she's like Radovid?"
Margarita, hearing this, couldn't help but chuckle while looking at Philippa, tongue-tied at being compared to her protege. Taking the bloody inner clothing out of Richard's hands, and ignoring the pain of her burnt palm, she explained, "Philipa is the one who raised him."
Scrutinizing the blind woman with his Transparent World to delve deep into her blood inside the muscle on her brain, but finding there was no innocent children's blood on her hands, Richard decided to let her go, even though many innocent men and women had died by her hand. Because, when it came to adults, there were many factors to consider.
"So basically, she is his mother."
"Don't you dare call that whoreson my relative…"
"Would you look at that? My darling Phil being called the mother of that cunt Radovid, of all people."
"By my bugger ass, if that ain't the truth of it!"
"Wow, that's a burn. I like that line. I think I know my next poem."
—
Radovid, the Red, with his fiery wrath,
In politics' intricate dance she plays her part.
Remember, in the end, it's her, no other,
Who shaped him thus—she is his mother.
—
ZAAP!
Ignoring the screaming bard in the purple doublet who was clearly trying to get himself killed, Richard once again walked out of the protective barrier to save the people of Novigrad. Luckily, his job was now easier since a capable commander named Roche was helping him, directing them to the locations they already knew in the town.
The presence of a head doctor named Shani was also a great help, as his rejuvenating breath could only restart the vitality in the patients' lives, not heal them. If not for her intervention, guiding the rescue team on what to do and what not to do when bringing someone to the protective bubble, there would have been many accidental deaths on the way to safety.
Because of that, with the combination of a doctor and portable CPR, many people were saved when the individuals on the brink of death arrived at the makeshift healing center. Handing the last person he saw in this entire town to Margarita, who was currently casting a healing spell on another patient, Richard told her,
"You guys can start to set sail now. I will hold the monsters back so that everyone can get on board."
Knowing that the protective bubble Philipa conjured using the focusing scepter must be taken down first so that it could be placed at the center of the fleet, and in that short window of time, there would be a bloodbath since the monsters from the land of Aen Elle would come knocking at their door, Margarita nodded in understanding.
"Then I will stay with you. To open up a portal."
Remembering his First Form of breathing technique, which had a close connection with the water element, Richard shook his head and answered, "You don't need to worry. I have my way to get to the ships. Besides, I don't like portals."
—
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