Capítulo 13: Dance of Death
Seven assassins came out of hiding and surrounded Alisa. Each of them was emitting a scent of blood, indicating that these masked men had killed lots of people in the past. They were like ferocious beasts staring at their prey as they craved for her blood.
"Who sent you?" Alisa asked without showing any emotion on her face.
"What good would asking do for someone who is about to become a corpse? Die!" The leader of the seven assassins spoke with a hoarse and sinister voice that dripped with so much dread like he was a diabolical being that crawled his way out from the pits of hell.
Unfortunately for him, Alisa wasn't the least bit affected by what she deemed as a 'cute' intimidation. She had experienced worse than this one, especially when she fought the strongest man on earth before. Compared to his aura, these seven wannabes were just midgets.
The group lunged forward with coordinated attacks, aiming to kill her in a swift and decisive blow.
"Oh, I'm impressed that trashes like you have learned some tricks." She chuckled mischievously as she evaded each attack gracefully as if she was dancing around them. Her movements were too smooth and fluid that the assassins felt like she was as slippery as a slime.
Fueled by anger, the leader of the assassins slashed violently towards her shoulder as he screamed. "Don't mock us!"
Alisa tiptoed towards the side and allowed the blade to just brush past her with a slight margin. The leader missed his attack and suffered from the backswing recoil. He felt the coldness washing over his back when he realized he was unguarded. With a horrified look, he desperately twisted his body to guard Alisa's attack but it was too late.
Alisa grabbed his nape and applied a very strong grip that snapped the leader's spine in an instant. His body limped and she released his corpse to the ground. The other six were shocked that she easily dealt with their leader without breaking a sweat. They wanted to run away, but Alisa had already begun making her move as she disappeared from their sight. Soon enough, the secluded corner was filled with bloodcurdling screams and the sound of bones breaking. Alisa moved in a blurry motion and she twisted their limbs and head one at a time, sometimes violently pulling out their whole spinal cord along with their heads. The street was painted with blood and spilled internal organs. If anyone ordinary were to see it, they might puke in disgust from the gory scene.
Alisa looked down at her bloody hands and her expression twisted out of frustration. The stench of her assailants' blood clung to her which was nauseating. She really couldn't stand it when she was smeared with someone else's blood.
"I need to hurry and find a public washroom. This is so troublesome." She muttered under her frosty breath as she walked away, leaving only the brutally mutilated corpses on the ground.
At some point later, the patrol guards eventually discovered the remains of the assassins. They went to the head of the royal guards directly since the incident happened near at the palace which would be troublesome if someone important died after the banquet. Isaac Cloverfield, the commander of the royal guards, went to the king in haste and reported the matter. He was enraged at the matter and mobilized the royal guards to investigate the matter as soon as possible.
At the same time, the news had reached Raphkiel's ears. while he was still staying in the palace. He was currently preparing for his long-time plans of leaving the country for good after what he had experienced with Meryl's betrayal when he heard some of the staffs of the palace talking about the brutal incident. His face contorted into a frown and thought about it. Only one person came into his mind.
"No way she had offended someone already, right?" Raphkiel said to himself. However, it wasn't his business to interfere with such matters. They weren't close to begin with and they just happened to make a deal regarding the kidnapping of the Chalandrian's marshal and their cooperation had ended a long time ago.
He informed his subordinates as well as his secret bodyguard, Jude Arnor, to move out his things once he was done with his personal matters. He departed for the palace in order to have a private talk with the king. As he arrived in the palace study, he saw that the king wasn't in the mood tonight. Upon seeing Raphkiel, his face brightened up a little bit.
"Raphkiel, what brings you here?" He said gently and gestured for him to sit on the sofa in front of him.
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for coming without informing you. I have an urgent request to make."
Seeing the seriousness plastered on his son's face, he had a feeling that it wasn't something good. He frowned and asked, "What is it that you want? Are you here to talk about your marriage with Meryl? I could have it scheduled as early as possible but I am currently entangled with the murder case right now."
Raphkiel shook his head and explained. "I won't proceed with the marriage anymore, Your Majesty. Instead, I want you to grant me an edict to expel me out of the royal family. In short, I want you to disown me."
"What?! Are you crazy? How dare you ask me something as absurd as disowning you!" His chest heaved from anger as he berated Raphkiel.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I have thought things thoroughly. I don't want to compete for the throne and I'm tired with the battlefield. I'm pretty sure I have earned enough merit to buy my freedom."
"What in the world happened to you? You've been so eager to marry Meryl before you went to the Western Battlefront and now, you're throwing a fit such as leaving the royal family. Tell me!" His voice was getting louder as he scolded him.
"You can find it out on your own, Your Majesty. I have no intentions of destroying someone's reputation just because they betrayed me. But my decision is firm. Whether you issue a royal edict or not, I will still leave. Goodbye, father." Raphkiel was now speaking in a cold tone as he lost the last bit of warmth in his heart.
He thought that his father would be able to understand him, but he was just like everyone else. He was also the worst. He only kept him because of his martial prowess and as an exceptional strategist. If not for the fact that he had never lost a single battle, Augustus won't be impressed at him no matter what. He had known this for a long time.
Throughout his whole life, he lived a life of solitude and suffering under the hands of her controlling mother who was disregarded by Augustus himself. When the time came when he learned to understand things, he was constantly abused by his mother. She claimed to love him so much, but she inflicted scars both on his body and soul to the point he developed an intense repulsive dislike towards women. She even tried to poison him to death along with her. Fortunately, the maid who was taking care of him noticed it and swapped the poisoned food with a normal one without his mother knowing. In the end, it was the maid who had died after his mother found out and forcefully fed the poisoned food to her. She was the only one so kind to him and yet, she died because of him. He resented himself. But more than that, he resented the royal family as well as his own mother.
He ignored the king's angry shouts and left the palace. His mother married twice and provided insurmountable wealth to the second husband before divorcing him. That man was currently living in Eidelweiss and built his own business empire over there, but they faced a crisis that endangered the family's assets. He secretly contacted the family some time ago and offered his help under one condition which was to become head of the Arnor family. Surprisingly, he accepted to his demands. That's also where he got the surname Arnor. He'd rather use that family's surname rather than the king's and her mother's.
He boarded the only ferry that would take the citizens out of the hidden continent that night. He was so tired and currently being plagued by a severe headache so he sat on the corner seat in the farthest back of the ferry where there were fewer people to take a nap since the journey would take long before they would arrive to Eidelweiss. It didn't take that long before he finally fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Alisa had just finished cleaning herself in a washroom found near the ferry dock where she could board a ferry en route to Eidelweiss. She groaned in disgust when she remembered how hard it was to remove the stains of blood from her dress using hydrogen peroxide that she bought in a pharmacy. She was still emitting a faint foul stench of dried blood, but it felt much better now. She sprayed a little bit of light, fragrant perfume and arranged her messy hair. Once she was satisfied, she left the bathroom and hurriedly boarded the ferry. She almost missed it since it was already time for it to depart.
There were lesser people who wanted to go outside the continent. She felt glad. At least they won't be complaining to the stench of blood on her. She went to the back on the farthest seat and sat beside a young man who was currently sleeping. She didn't notice him and had no interest of looking at people. Alisa was also tired from the recent events that happened, starting from the grand parade to the banquet and then the sudden assassination. Her eyelids began drooping as she was trying hard to stay awake, but then decided to just let her guard down.
Little did she know that once she fell asleep, her head eventually leaned towards the side and landed on Raphkiel's shoulder which slowly woke him up. As he felt the touch of a woman on his shoulder, he was enveloped with the feeling of disgust and repulsion and wanted nothing more than to drench his shoulder in rubbing alcohol to wipe off the traces of the woman, but he abruptly stopped as he saw the familiar pretty face that was showing a serene expression as she snuggled up to him while at the same time, gently wrapping her arms around his waist. He was shocked.
"Alisa..." He softly called out her name unconsciously.
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