Book 2, Chapter 119 - Ending the Charade (2/2)

“This matter is outside of your control, Master de Winter.” Natessa’s voice remained perfectly tranquil. “Hell’s Army handles business in a very non-traditional way. If we are threatened, or if someone were to try and violate our independence, I’m sure the Governor would understand our necessary response.”

Anger twisted within the knight commander and emerged on his face as a hideous smile. “Are you threatening me?”

Natessa was as noncommittal and dispassionate as ever. “Many of the members of Tartarus Squad hail from noble families. I’d be curious how you intend to explain to them why their children were executed on elysian soil. I imagine you might be asked what manner of mission they were on in the first place. You are an ambitious man, Your Excellency. If you wish to continue climbing the social ladder, than you’ll need the support of these families. These are important matters to consider. You should weigh them carefully.”

Eckard could only glower and grumble. Natessa’s points obviously had more of an effect than his.

“Very well.” Frost stared at each of the instructors in turn. He had come to understand that he would not have his way today. Continuing to press the issue would only embarrass him further. He curtly waved a hand. “Let’s go.”

Frost de Winter led his defeated troops from the field.

The members of Tartarus Squad could hardly believe their eyes. What had happened to these hateful instructors, where suddenly they were acting as defenders? Why would they rather spit in the face of the knight commander and risk angering a future leader of Skycloud?

The rest of Hell’s Army had caught up now. Several hundred soldiers surrounded the trainees.

It was then Eckard turned his fury on them. “Son of a bitch… grab all of ‘em. You shits are gonna get flayed for what you pulled!”

The mission was over. Teal Ridge had been wiped from existence. There was not a single living soul left in the ruins of the village.

Half a day later a regiment from Skycloud army arrived and began cleanup operations. The story they put out went like this: In retaliation for Frost de Winter’s attacks on the Dark Atom in the wastelands, the terrorists leveled Teal Ridge. Although Commander Frost had hurried to the village’s aid as fast as he could, it was too late. He managed to exterminate the heathen element hidden in Skycloud domain, but the village was lost.

News of what happened to Teal Ridge incensed the populace, and army enlistment doubled in most areas. Enmity toward the Dark Atom reached new heights and curses on the terrorists were heard in every corner of Skycloud domain.

“Nineteen!”

“Twenty!”

“Enough! That’s it for today.”

Cloudhawk collapsed to the floor, his back cross-crossed with nasty gashes from the whips. He was covered in blood from head to toe. His actions in Teal Ridge had deeply annoyed the instructors, so his team was sentenced to a hundred lashes spread over ten days. Cloudhawk, as the ring leader, was given double the punishment. Twenty lashes a day, for ten days.

He was also removed from his post as captain. Tartarus Squad would be commanded by the instructors directly from now on.

In reality Cloudhawk was happy with the way it turned out. Twenty lashes was certainly no happy thing, but his body was far more robust than the average person’s. The consistent beatings actually toughened him up and sped up the latent potential of that strange virus living in his bloodstream. It made him more tenacious, served as a sort of physical training.

“Damn… you guys don’t know the meaning of ‘go easy’ do you. I thought we were friends.” Cloudhawk was laid out on a stretcher, trying his best to ignore the pain that stabbed him to the bone. It didn’t work. It was so bad his vision was starting to go dark, but he grit his teeth and fought to keep his eyes open. He even managed to give the sour-faced instructors a cheeky grin. “Oh, right,” he said curiously, “How do you think Frost is going to take all this? I hope it won’t cause you all too much trouble.”

The giants of Hell’s Valley were speechless. This guy was absolutely shameless [3]. It didn’t seem like their cruel punishment was much of a deterrent.

“How do you think you were able to get those people out of the village?” Natessa spoke softly, but her voice was enigmatic. “Did you not find it too easy? Didn’t it all go too smooth?”

Cloudhawk thought back, and indeed it did all seem to work out well. Frost’s forces had reached the city long before he ran into him, so why didn’t he go straight for Cloudhawk? It was chaotic, sure, but Frost would have easily ambushed him at any time and then denied killing him. He was out there breaking orders, after all, what could Hell’s Army have said after the fact?

He’d snatched up several hundred villagers and swaggered through town without meeting much resistance. He did come across the Butcher, but not Frost. Why would the commander send a subordinate to stop him? There were only two possibilities; one, Frost’s head was full of dogshit and he made the wrong decision or, two, he knew Cloudhawk would win but didn’t care.

It dawned on him. “Why?”

“You shouldn’t underestimate Frost de Winter. Master Arcturus holds him in high regard for a reason. There are many talented young men and women in Skycloud, why should he pour all his effort into him specifically?” Natessa lifted her head and stared into the sky. She thought back to Frost, to the look in her eyes, and for all her insight she couldn’t read what she found there. “I don’t know the reason, but there is always a reason. Perhaps Frost didn’t agree with wiping out an entire village.”

This was certainly a new consideration.

Frost was a bitter, cold man. Aside from his master, he didn’t spare a thought for anyone. He especially was not one for pity. On the contrary, it was clear he looked on the normal folk as little more than insects. Why would he give the gift of mercy to a bunch of ordinary villagers he looked down on?

“Well, forget it. Hey, tomorrow how about you take it easy on me alright? This really hurts.”

“Another word and we give you two hundred more!”

“Alright! Alright… so cruel.”

1. This is how it’s written, although it has been explicitly stated that Eckard is not a demonhunter. However, I’ll leave it as the author wrote it.

2. nsfw

3. In Chinese, shameless is called ‘having thick face skin.’ Here the author writes ‘The skin of his face was so thick a knife couldn’t cut it.’