บท 28: Rage

Hugart was finished with Rebecca so he left the suite and went back to the banquet hall. Once he reached the hall he saw the scenes of destruction and massacre and smiled deeply. He saw his uncle and the 3 Colonels, walking over to them while shouting out congratulations and thanks. They all gathered round the central section and sat down to share some food and drink. Most of the troops for the families had died in the skirmish but the high ranking officials were mostly still alive, along with the sons of the Colonels who didn't participate in the battle at all. They drank fine wine and feasted on fine meats, replenishing all the lost energy from their battles while also rewarding themselves. They began to banter and mess around drunkenly while the bodies of those they had just unjustly slain were scattered around them. Some of them even got drunk enough and started pissing on corpses while others started playing football with heads they cut off. Brigadier General Jamal, took the skull of a young man and used it to drink wine from. All sorts of vile and cruel acts began to unfold.

While they were partying, Lucius was leaving the ruins after destroying the palace and the formations. He was leaving quite leisurely as he now had various resources and such so he didn't need to hunt anymore. After a few hours, he reached the outer region but halfway through he was met with a panting Johnny. Johnny started crying and screaming to Lucius. He stuttered and panicked as he found it hard to explain but Lucius could understand it as a plea for help. Lucius stopped Johnny and hugged him close, he then chipped his finger and drew a symbol with his blood onto Johnny's chest. Lucius then had Johnny insert his qi within the symbol and Johnny disappeared on the spot. He had been sent into the Garden by Lucius. Lucius then proceeded with his fastest speed as he rushed straight out of the forest, using a wind technique to increase his speed. Within 10 minutes he was able to leave the forest and it took him a further 5 to reach the wedding venue.

Once Lucius reached the venue, the first thing he noticed was the abhorrent stench of blood and iron. He looked around the place as he walked towards the hall quickly. He reached the banquet hall and noticed the corpses scattered around. He began to see faces he recognised as anger welled within him. Then he looked to the centre and saw the people partying and playing around on the bodies of those he had once played and sparred with. He saw the prince and the 3 stooges. He began to become more enraged by the second. His teeth gritted and his hands clenched so hard blood began to be drawn under his finger nails. Then he finally turned to see the pile of meat with Wolves Fang in front of it and he realised who that meat belonged to and something within him snapped. A dark cloud enshrouded Lucius' mind and his eyes turned red. His silver hair was tinted grey as a deep killing intent shrouded Lucius like a dark robe covering his body. His brows furrowed and his eyes glistened with a deep lustre.

At this point some lackeys had started to notice Lucius but just as the first bystander was about to point him out, he began to see the floor. Those around him looked to him and were about to shout out but then they also saw the floor. Within seconds, 10 heads hit the floor simultaneously. Within the next second, another 5 were relieved from their bodies. At this point most of the people were too drunk to even notice fully, but they began to sober up quickly under the threat of death. Lucius had already pulled out Devils Calling and began a rampage though. Within another 10 seconds, 50 heads were rolling on the floor. He then used a fire technique called flame breath to burn 70 men to the right and then an ice technique to freeze 65 men to the left. He dashed around the hall using a speed technique, gathering heads as he walked by. He used the blades function to extend their lengths to around 2 metres and then spun around in a circle, causing a whirlwind that took all the heads of the men within the range of 15 metres. 200 heads in one go.

At this point most of the meaningless lower rank officials were dead and the higher rank officials were unsheathing their weapons and forming a formation. They gathered into a group and pushed forward against Lucius. 5 Spirit refiners circled round to attack from behind while 20 attacked from the front, including the 3 stooges and the Prince. Lucius shortened the blade and then twisted his body in an almost inhuman manner to avoid the countless attacks thrown at him, he then kicked out with his left leg and blew the head off a man from behind. He stabbed the blade forward and it pierced through 4 men in one blast, he then turned the right blade inverted and spun round and cut the heads of the remaining 4 behind him. While turned around he spun his left hand towards him and knocked out 12 of the ones to the left. He then raised his hands and caused a rain of ice shards to pierce through those 12 while they were on the floor. He then dashed forward to the remaining 4, the 3 stooges and the prince. He grabbed Kinak's big ears and smashed his knee into his head, exploding his skull and sending pink and white matter all over Manuel's face. He then punched Manuel in the stomach, in the sides, in the chest, and finally elbowed him in the side of the face, exploding his head too. Then he swept his leg low and floored Yatir, he then stomped down and crushed his ankle, shin, thigh bone and then finally stomped a hole through were his heart was in one swift combo. He then grabbed Hugart and ripped both of his arms of in one go, making him cry out in pain and anguish. He then kicked forward and sent the prince flying out of the way.

This all happened within a second, the speed Lucius moved at was completely insane. He had already far surpassed tier 1 in speed so the 3 Colonels and Jamal couldn't help their sons( nephew for Jamal). By the time they jumped forward to attack, their sons were already dead! Lucius turned to them and shouted out loudly, invoking the lions roar battle technique that blasted the ears of the 4 men and caused them to stop in their tracks and put their hands to their ears. In the next instant he stabbed Havier in the liver, both lungs and then the heart with a reverse grip. From the heart, he pulled his blade out, slicing through the side of his body and into Kamir's legs. He turned the right side of Devils Calling into a spear using his qi and then pierced through Kamir's chest from below and consequently pierced through to his throat and mouth, the end of the blade poking out of the mouth as Kamir's throat gurgled with blood. He raised his leg and covered it in a qi barrier and defended against Bravin and Jamal's attacks. He then turned his body from his crouched position and pulled out his two blades. He brought them together and coated them in fire as he slashed down both of them perpendicular to each other, sending out a cross of flames that cut the legs off of Jamal. Stabbing the two blades into the ground, he used them as an anchor as he flipped his body and sent his legs towards Bravin's head, decapitating him with a twist.

Jamal was attempting to crawl away with terror written on his face with fear dwelling deep within his eyes. Lucius walked up behind him with his blades in hand, he walked by and crushed his head as if it were nothing, heading towards the crippled Hugart instead. Lucius was overflowing with rage and killing intent but the last piece of rationality within him was asking, why? Why did they do this? Why did Jack have to die? Why did they have to fight? What could have been worth so much death? He made his way to the crying Hugart and squatted down. He used his blade to lift his downtrodden head, making him look Lucius in the eyes.

"Why? Why did you kill them?"

Hugart began to laugh like a maniac as his face twisted in pain from the broken bones that were piercing his organs as he moved. The kick from Lucius was intentionally weak, so as to not kill him, but even then it was enough to break all his ribs and cause excruciating pain within him.

"Why, you ask? What do you mean why? That old bastard was in my way, he was in the way of me becoming emperor! HE DESERVED TO DIE FOR ME! IT WAS HIS HONOUR TO DIE FOR ME! HE WAS LU- cah. F-fuck...."

Before he could finish, Lucius pierced his blade through his throat and then brought it out slowly. The answer was useless. There was no point to this. They had killed his loved ones for no reason other than for pointless power. Jacks death was meaningless, he shouldn't have died in Lucius' mind. He couldn't understand why they would kill him just for power, just for greed.

Lucius collapsed onto his knees in front of Wolves Fang and the pile of meat. His hair returned to silver and his eyes returned to their vibrant gold. His killing aura dispersed and his mind was cleared of his incessant rage. He held onto the sword and put his head to the pommel. He began to tremble as he stared at the pile of meat. The scenes of him sparring with Jack, cooking with Milly and playing games as a family ran through his mind. Slowly tears began to fall from his eyes. Soon he began to ball his eyes out as he screamed out.

Lucius had lost his innocence.

END OF VOLUME 1: Beginnings