Chapter 125: Interrogation of the Soul (1/2)

Without wasting anymore words, George and Dawson began their battle in a corner.

Dawson’s greatsword was at least two meters long, while in comparison, George’s blade was laughably small. Right from the start, this difference in weapon size put him at a severe disadvantage. With their roughly similar strength, Dawson was able to suppress him, while George couldn’t do a thing to break through Dawson’s barrage of attacks.

With their Fighter’s Aura enhancing them, their clashes ended with Dawson coming out on top constantly. For every strike, he would merely get pushed back half a step; while George was pushed back over ten steps in total since the start of the fight.

It was in such a disadvantageous situation nearing defeat that George reached for his waist, and with a flick of his wrist, fired off a throwing dagger at the man’s head in a flash of silver light.

However, this wasn’t the first time they fought, Dawson knew of his tactics beforehand. He promptly twisted his head evading the dagger calmly; which caused it to miss him by a hair’s breath.

Without giving him any time to counterattack, George rushed in with a swift slash from the side that whipped through the air. Greatswords were not suited for close combat thus Dawson had no choice but to back away from this confrontation. George knew of this fact as well and immediately closed the gap between two, not letting him gain a single step on him.

The fight seemed pretty even up until now, but that rumor still nagged at the back of my head. If Dawson truly was able to defeat a four-star, then it would be impossible for George to win this fight.

However, whether or not Dawson was hiding his might was a matter for the future; as trouble came knocking on the door right as their fight started. The Second Chief, Dohby, wasn’t in the mood to watch some duel between experts; so he turned towards me with a bored look in his eyes.

“I heard my little brother wanted to take off a lady’s mask before dying, I wonder who that lady is?” Dohby threw me a mirthless smile while staring intently at me; clearly he had already determined that I was the lady in question.

The only masked people here were me and Regine, but there was only one person with Shadowfang on his back and a sword by his waist. It was only to be expected that he managed to recognize me instantly. However, calling me a “lady”……was something I just couldn’t accept. Before I could correct him, Dohby did something that stunned everyone present. He jumped off his horse and pointed his greatsword at a defenseless old villager.

Turning towards me, he said: “Take off that mask or I’ll kill him.”

The old man was at least 60 years old and had an almost emaciated look as he stood there with a bent back. Being rushed here by the bandits had almost cost him his life, yet before he could even catch his breath, he was immediately taken hostage by Dohby.

Even so, he didn’t show any sign of weakness; instead, he stared right back at the man. His gaze plainly said that even if he was old, he still knew how to resist silently. That man must have been a hunter when he was young.

*Slash!*

Before I could even react, Dohby sliced the old man in twain and callously flicked the warm blood off his greatsword and onto the faces of the nearby villagers…

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The sudden death of that old man instantly stoked the flames of rebellion within the hostages; especially in people like Io and Eddison who immediately stirred at that cruel display. Unfortunately, they were immediately suppressed by the surrounding bandits. Without weapons, they weren’t able to put up a proper fight before they were put in place by a single sentence of Dohby.

“Whoever dares to resist, I’ll murder their entire family! Io, Eddison, the two of you had better behave yourself or your women will pay the price, right here right now!” With that, the smoldering embers were immediately put out. He threw them a taunting look before turning his attention back onto me:

“Have you made up your mind? If you choose to be obstinate, I’ll continue killing more villagers. Every ten seconds I’ll kill one more till you take off that mask or until we run out of hostages.”

“…”

You actually tried to use some strangers to threaten me? Do you think I’ll give in just because of that…..

…….yes, yes I will…

The moment Dohby killed an old woman who screamed “Old Coot” with her dying breath and turned his demonic hands onto a crying boy, I finally relented.

“Master!”

Ancarin shouted at me out of concern the moment she noticed me reach for my mask. Taking it off was the last thing she wanted, as my identity was one that must never be revealed.

Regine was a lot more direct in her persuasion as she promptly grabbed my hands and stopped me from taking it off.

Thus, the boy died the very next second…

“Ah…” wailed an elderly villager. He had originally been set aside by the bandits, but the death of that little boy was simply too much of a shock for him. He desperately tried to save the little boy, but unfortunately for him, this action was seen as resistance by the bandits. With a kick and a punch, a nearby bandit swiftly knocked him down and began to beat him into submission.

With tears of blood in his eyes, the old man miserably crawled towards the severed halves of the little boy and tried to piece them together. Yet just as his wizened hands were about to touch the boy, a boot descended from the heavens and cruelly destroyed his futile efforts. With both of his hands and legs pinned down, all the old man could do was cry in pain.

However, his pitiful cries fell on deaf ears as the bandits continued to beat him while laughing uproariously. These bandits knew no pity, only cruelty.

I didn’t know what his relation to that boy was, but one thing I knew for certain was that he wasn’t going to take it like that. As he laid sprawled on the floor, he ignored the savage beatings of the bandits and fixed his bloodied eyes towards me, hatred clearly reflected within.

“Why won’t you take off your mask!? All you had to do was take it off and my grandson wouldn’t have died! My son and his wife are all dead, all I had left was my grandson…why wouldn’t you save him…you cold blooded monster, you aren’t fit to be human!”