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Leo

Lucky for Leo, Allis showed up at the inn not long after he cleared it. Since the inn was closer to the clinic, she wanted to check there before heading for the market to try and find Elaria and Glia, but now they could just stay at the inn to protect everyone while Leo left to put an end to the purge.

He 'asked' one of the mages how many of them were there, and they said eighty two. Leo didn't have the time to comb the town without using some 'very' experimental ideas, and after his first gravity incident, he wanted to test such things in a more controlled environment with a clear mind first.

Leo had hoped that whoever was in charge would just shit themselves at the sight of Fel, letting him use them to order every mage in town to the base with a sound spell. Unfortunately when Leo flew over the base he saw another dragon with hostages, and Leo flew closer to hear what was going on.

It only took the Dragon 'implying forced consent' on Fel for Leo to lose it, especially after seeing what happened to Kesl not too long ago. So Leo casted an atomizing spell around the dragon's wrists and tail, freeing the hostages so that he could pull them back to safety. And since the dragon was basically a de facto leader, he pulled Fel back from killing him.

Ignoring Fel's outburst, Leo took a glance at a large pile of mutilated bodies that seemed casually thrown to the side of the large street, and any consideration for restraint was instantly destroyed.

“Sorry Fel, but it looks like I’ll need him alive as well, for what I plan to do after.”

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Rak

Rak was nearly unable to process what happened as he glanced between the bleeding stubs of where his missing limbs used to be, and the mage standing in front of Fel and his former hostages.

Rak scowled at the insect between him and the others. 'Was I … wounded by this bug… I, a dragon who could squash armies, was harmed by this lowly thing!' His thoughts screamed.

A rage filled shriek came from Rak, as he fully shifted into his massive second form.

He grew into a four legged, three storied high,gray scaled, behemoth of a winged lizard that was nearly a hundred feet long from head to tail. Unfurling his massive leathery wings, they shadowed ominously over the ants below him, and the hands and tail of his second form replaced his missing ones.

'Leo', as Fel called it, looked up at him with annoyance. “Change back, or lose your wings.” He commanded.

Rak cocked his head in confusion at the insignificant little thing below him. 'This pest dares to order me, and in my second form? Is he suicidal or just a fool?' He mentally questioned.

Rak barked a deep gravelly laugh. “I don't know how you managed to cut the limbs of my weaker form, but I'd rather die than take orders from an in- Ahhhh!” He howled in pain as his wings were ripped off with magic.

Leo crossed his arms and walked closer to Rak, with complete disregard for the size difference. “I will not repeat myself. Next you will lose your tail.”

Rak scowled at the disgusting creature, as his thoughts spiraled into a rage. 'This filthy thing dares to make light of me!? I'll crush it like the worthless insect it is!'

Rak growled, then raised his claws to strike at Leo. “You insignificant lit-AHHHH!” He screeched in agony as the street was filled with the sounds of flesh being torn apart.

Leo glowered as he flung the floating mutilated tail to the side. “I'm running out of safe parts to rip. So seeing as your full forms don't share damage, next I'll start breaking bones.” He stated with a commanding malice.

For the first time in Rak's life, he was afraid. And not only was he afraid, he felt the chill of death when he looked upon the small thing. He didn't notice it before, probably because he was in a blinding rage, but It was pouring out more mana than he could ever imagine any creature wielding. It was like he was staring into an abyss, and unfortunately for him, it was very much staring back.

Rak's eyes went wide as he looked down at the creature in sheer terror, and he started to tremble while taking a few slow steps back. “By the gods, what ar- AHHHgghhh!” He was cut off again by the spine chilling crunching of bone, as one of his legs became twisted and mangled.

The sound made even Leo slightly wince, but after the creature took another glance toward the pile of bodies, any sympathy that it had instantly vanished. “Since I can only guess that you've somehow forgotten, I told you to change, back.” Leo commanded once again, and Rak quickly shifted back without a word, while the stubs of his arms and tail were still dripping blood.

Leo walked over to Rak, who tripped backwards in fear, but screamed in pain when he landed on the base of his cut tail. “Now you're going to say what I tell you, and if you say anything else, I will cauterize your limbs with temperatures so high, that even a dragon like you will feel it. Do I make myself clear?” Leo ordered as they looked down at Rak, who was now a broken mess of his former self.

Rak nodded with sheer terror plastered across his face. Leo started to instruct Rak on what to say, as he casted a massively wide spread spell that seemed to be directed everywhere, and when Rak started to speak, his booming voice could be heard from all around the town.

A nearly omnipresent voice could be heard throughout Telnar. “This is the guardian, Rak. All mages cease your attacks and come to the front of the former guard base. Also, do not attack any more people on your way back, this is a direct order. Disobey and I will personally skin you alive.” Rak repeated multiple times before Leo ended the spell.

As soon as the order was given, Fel marched over with blinding rage still present. "Done? Now let me skin the bastard!" She snarled.

Rak stumbled back in fear once more, as Fel could very well do that with the state he was in.

Leo held her back with magic while wearing a sympathetic expression. "What I plan for him will help us, trust me Fel." He paused to look over the pile of mutilated corpses, and Rak realized that he was already a dead man walking.

"He will get what he deserves."

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Fel

Fel was filled with a rage and hatred that she hadn't felt since she killed all those nobles for their sick thrills, right before her grandfather died. She didn't just want Rak dead, but would also see him suffer for all that he's done. As hypocritical as she knew it was, she wanted to set an example of what would happen to those who relished in the suffering of others.

Fel's light grayish blue eyes were fixed on Rak with murderous intent. 'I'll trust Leo for now, but this garbage will die before the day is done…' She swore to herself.

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Sel

Sel had to witness many gruesome killings, be audience to a dragon fight, was nearly killed by a dragon, and watched what she could only assume was a ‘minor god playing mortal’ mutilate a dragon. Safe to say, Sel was nearing the end of her mental endurance for today.

Leo ordered Vesta to try and regroup her scattered forces, and start aiding those still alive, as well as requesting that they start taking a body count on the town.

Leo turned to Sel, who gulped under the hard look to his glowing white eyes. "You are the leader of the guard, right? I know that we were the ones who brought this hell on your town, but will you be willing to help us? If not, then you are free to leave and rejoin the town as a civilian, or leave Telnar all together. The choice is yours."

Sel looked upon the slightly glowing man with caution. ‘He's letting me have a choice? What's more, he's talking to me like an equal, and actually requesting my help instead of ordering it. With the power that he showed, I would have expected to be forced to get on my hands and knees and grovel at his feet as I beg for my life. I’m almost tempted to ask if he’s a minor god, but what does it matter? My town is in ruins, and my people need help.' The thought finished as she felt a determination wash over her.

Sel sneered at Rak, who was trembling on his knees next to Leo. "Considering that my 'kingdom's' response was to write off the lives of everyone in the town, and send sick sadistic monsters to kill all those I was sworn to protect." She paused to spit on the broken dragon. "It would be an honor to serve my town again." She finished with a practiced salute.

Leo cocked his head slightly, and gave Sel a once over before giving her a smirk. "Okay then, reestablish your guard and assist us in our efforts, and tomorrow I'll need to fill you in on what we do from here, as well as a job opportunity you might be interested in." He ordered her, before she left to assist the town.

'Thank the gods that he wasn't just another arrogant ass of a lord.'

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Leo

One by one, mages started showing up, and Leo restrained them with magic as they appeared, pulling them into a formation as they floated just a foot off the ground. Most of them yelled and struggled at first, but when they saw their guardian on his knees with blood dripping from the stubs of his arms, all of them froze with fear.

Leo walked up to one of the mages and asked how many people they killed, and their head instantly twisted backwards when they refused to answer, so he asked the next one, who pissed themselves after giving a number.

Leo repeated the process without any resistance from the mages, and a few of them even fainted when he approached them, which prompted him to kill them if they didn't give a number before they passed out.

When Leo was done, he walked back to Fel with a chillingly cold expression. "An average of fifty people… with all eighty two mages, plus this sick fuck, that's well over four thousand people….." He remarked through gritted teeth.

Fel's rage towards Rak subsided for only a moment as her expression became mournful. 'Less than I expected, still more than should have ever been lost…' She thought as her eyes became distant.

Fel refocused on Leo. “So we're at ‘after’ now, what are you going to do with them?” She asked while gesturing to the restrained mages.

The glow of mana around him momentarily flared, as his visage hardened into determination.

“Now you will take me to Selaria’s academy.”

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Fel

All of Fel’s anger immediately dropped at Leo’s request, as there was an unsettling implication.

Fel took a cautious step back. “Leo… You're not planning on wiping out the academy… Right?” She asked with deep worry.

Leo relaxed only slightly, the glow in his eyes blinking out for only a moment to show a deep brown. “No, I won't harm anyone who wasn't directly involved here, but I need to go there if we don't want any more trouble from Selaria.”

Now that Fel’s head was clear enough to consider the situation, she felt mild fear with how casually Leo had been killing what were essentially completely defenseless people. Even though she herself would have killed them all outright for what they've done, the actions being committed by Leo made her worry if he would step back from a clear line that he set up for himself, and how all he's done up till now would affect him when, or if, he does.

Fel looked at Leo with slight concern. “Alright, but…… Nevermind, let's go.” She told him while phasing in her wings to take flight.

Fel felt a tense air around Leo as they flew to Selaria’s academy, with their captives being pulled along from behind. She was worried about him hurting people that had nothing to do with the massacre, and knew that she couldn't stop him if he wanted to, so she would just have to trust him at his word.

‘My first real leap of faith with him huh… I hope that you ‘are’ more like me than I’d like to admit….’ Fel thought as they reached the academy.

Floating just outside the gate, Leo lined up all the mages into a floating grid with their backs to the academy, Then floated up to look over the academy. It was an estate with four large buildings, not of selarin architecture. The design was closer to tiefling, but much of it was entirely stone, which was the only touch of selarin craftsmanship. They were long, massive, and blocky structures, with the main building being five stories high and having large ornate windows all over the sides which were divided by large stone buttresses.

Leo waved a hand in the air, and every window on every building bled away into nothing. With another wave, hundreds of people started flying out of the windows, and Fel’s gut sank a little at their flailing. She was slightly relieved when she realized that he was just emptying the buildings, as all those people were placed safely outside the gate, in full view of all those restrained from the attack on Telnar.

When there seemed to be no one left to pull out, Leo floated in between those restrained in the grid, and those on the ground who were utterly confused.

Leo looked upon those pulled out of the academy with a somber expression, and casted another spell. “Hello all those who are studying or are employed at this academy. My name is Leo, and I am here today because of a multitude of reasons.” His voice boomed over the crowd, as it was being amplified by a sound spell.

Leo held out a wide arm to gesture to those restrained behind him. “These people and what they've done, is the main one. Now many of you might recognize the people behind me, and yes, some of them are dead, and that partly has to do with why I'm here. These people were sent by your academy to exterminate an entire town, not only that but many of them took sick pleasure in killing, torturing, and raping their victims. Some of which were ‘VERY’ close to me.” He finished with a growl, before casually waving a hand up.

Rak was pulled out from behind the gate to be in full view of the crowd, while he trembled with fear.

Leo gestured to the broken man. “And this sick bastard that you see here, took his time getting off on it." Leo paused to start pacing in the air, locking his hands behind his back while he walked as if he was on the ground. "Now I like to think of myself as a good, calm, and restrained man, but when over four thousand innocents get butchered for fun, then saying that I've ‘lost my shit’ is only a surface level description, because that's like saying I've had an ‘okay day’.” Leo stopped pacing to slam Rak to the ground onto his knees, making a slight crater just in front of the gate.

Leo scowled, and his body glowed brightly with mana that seemed to pull off him like fire. “So the reason why I am ‘here’ isn't because of what happened to those people, but it 'is' because of the reality that it happened at all that has made me realize something far too late.” He stopped to snap his fingers, and all the structures behind him started to slowly bleed away into nothing, but a massive amount of grayish brown dust started to gather into a ball, seemingly out of nowhere.

Leo sneered at the crowd, because the display started a commotion.. “Quiet!.. As I was saying, what I've realized was that I never needed to hide, and that if I wasn't sneaking around and playing secret savior, then the massacre at Telnar would never have happened.” He paused to look over the crowd, and snapped his fingers again.

Screams of pain could be heard coming from Rak, as grayish brown dust started to form on his skin, and seemed to be sinking into him.

Leo’s body glowed brightly. “Now all of you may be wondering who I am exactly. Who is this near god like being to wield such magic? Well in light of my realization, I'll tell you, because I am most certainly not a god. I am a man, a human, a lord, an arch mage, and a very pissed off summon.” He stated with a third snap of his fingers, and all those restrained behind him started to bleed away, all of them screaming in terror as they realized what was happening to them.

Leo spread his arms wide as the buildings were nearly gone. “And I want you all to spread the word that if you ‘ever’ hurt the people of Telnar or those close to me, then I will personally make you, and all that you hold dear….” He trailed as the last of the restrained mages and what was left of the buildings vanished. “Simply bleed away.” He finished just as Rak stopped screaming.

Leo floated down to Rak, who seemed to have completely turned into a metal statue, his face permanently warped into sheer agony.

Leo spat on the statue and gestured to it for the crowd. “And let this be a monumental reminder, that I will make good on that promise. Whether it's kingdoms, dragons, or even gods. Cross that line with me, and I will not hesitate to meet you on the other side.” He ended his speech with a cold malice, before he floated up to Fel, who was completely speechless.

“Come on, I want to go home…”

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Leo

Leo was flying alongside Fel as his rage and anger started to fade away, fast, as other emotions finally surfaced while he went over all that happened with a clear head.

'I was hiding to keep myself and everyone around me safe, but the reality was that nothing could harm me, and everyone else got hurt as a result. If only I didn't hide. If only I had flattened the area earlier. If only I destroyed Slessi's collar before-' The stream of self doubt stopped, as a chilling thought finally reared its ugly head.

"I just killed nearly eighty people…"

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Fel

As Fel and Leo flew back to Telnar, she did not know what to feel about his little speech and actions. Fear, respect, reverence, horror, satisfaction, awe, sadness, and even more emotions filled her thoughts, but the one thing that confused her was the lack of worry about Leo revealing himself.

‘I thought I would be more afraid of Leo exposing himself to the world, but it's probably the smartest move, considering he could just snap away people on a whim, which is definitely way more scarier, but his anger should be fading soon, so hopefully he’ll step back behi-” A loud crash sounded from the ground behind her, jarring her out of her thoughts.

Looking around, Fel noticed that Leo was no longer with her, and after backtracking a bit she found him sitting in the middle of a large crater.

Fel flew down to him, and when she started walking closer she could hear him sobbing heavily into his arms while they were folded on top of his knees.

Fel wanted to say something, but realized that Leo was no longer flowing with mana, and she couldn't feel the ocean of power that he seemed to have been pulling from.

"Why, why didn't I feel anything then?... I just twisted there heads like a fucking bottle cap, and I felt nothing!? … Am I no better than those I killed!? God fucking damn it!" Leo wailed in self hate.

Fel's light grayish blue eyes softened and her long tail drooped at the sight of him, as the display brought on her own memories of the first lives she took out of anger. The deep pain of realizing that there was in fact a monster within yourself, and that it was just as merciless as those you despised while it hid right below the surface.

Even though Fel was justified in who she killed, a bunch of sick mages that were torturing people, she couldn't even sleep for a few days after that, and it took weeks to come to terms with her actions, but that was all on her own. Even months after the fact, she still had traces of self hatred for how casually she took a life, but eventually she did grow numb to it, especially when working under Yez.

So as Fel looked at Leo, she steeled herself, and swore that she wouldn't let him go through that pain alone, nor would she let him grow numb to his reverence for life.

Fel walked over to Leo's side and knelt down to bring him into an embrace, as she pulled him close to her chest, she curled her long tail around him and phased out her wings.

Fel gently ran a hand through his soft short brown hair, while she tried to comfort him the best she could. "Shhhh, Leo. You did what you thought was right." She told him in an almost motherly tone to calm him.

Leo's voice hitched as he spoke. "But I felt nothing! I literally snapped my fingers and people died, while I felt nothing but hatred! For fucks sake, they were completely restrained!" He wailed while his head laid against her shoulder.

Fel grimaced. 'God's I suck at this, this would have never worked for me..…But if he's like me, then I should do it how I would need it done to me.' She thought as she pulled him off to look directly into his eyes, which had returned to their original dark brown color.

Fel hardened her look. "Did or didn't those people torture, rape, and massacre thousands of innocents and soldiers alike in Telnar." She questioned him directly.

Leo winced at Fel's bluntness. "That's… that's not the problem." He remarked while breaking eye contact, but Fel placed a hand on his head to force him to look.

"Ok, you were angry when you killed them, so what? The reason you killed them was because they were vile pieces of shit that got off on what they did, it was a mercy that you didn't make them suffer more for what they've done." She continued bluntly, while making sure every word landed.

Leo was frozen for a few moments, unable to come up with a counter to her points as his mouth opened and closed multiple times. But then he started trembling. "It… It was just so easy….." He breathed out, as he slumped completely in her arms.

Fel felt his words strike at her core, as she began to tear up. "I know. And that's why you need to remember the reasons why you did what you did, and if you felt like you messed up or were wrong in some way, then learn from those mistakes. Use that to better yourself now, so that you can be proud of yourself later." Fel told him softly as he fell silent at her words.

After a few moments Leo started chuckling between soft sobs, which prompted a confused Fel to ask if something was wrong.

Leo finally relaxed into her embrace, still chuckling as he did so. "Fuck, now I really can't say that you're nothing like me." He remarked in a little disbelief, but there was a warmth behind the comment.

Fel hugged her arms around him a little tighter, and realized that tears started streaming down her face at some point without her notice. "Hey, I'm the one who summoned you. If anything, you're like me." She responded playfully.

Leo scoffed with mocked offence. "Damn, I must be full of myself then if that's your response." He remarked warmly as he pulled away to look at her.

Fel smiled, while her chest felt a bit lighter for some reason. "And I'm such an ass if you could ruin a moment like this." She jabbed jokingly, while she became lost in his eyes.

Leo seemed to have become just as transfixed as Fel, while they just stared into each other's eyes, both of them knowing what they wanted to do, but letting the moment last as long as possible.

After a minute of really seeing each other, they synchronously both leaned in for a light, but emotion filled kiss.

‘Okay…. Maybe he's above tolerable....’

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