The entire banquet hall laid silent as the three of them made their way inside.

“It’s that one” Leila said, while pointing towards the Viscount. “He’s Viscount de Lance, the one you’re looking for.”.

The two guards that had been posted inside took up arms, wielding their long swords with both hands. They rushed towards the invaders, blocking their way so that they wouldn’t be able to proceed any further into the hall. By that point, the viscount’s face was pale like a ghost’s.

“Identify yourselves!” One of the guards shouted. Though they were highly on edge from the sudden disturbance, they still held off from attacking. None of the intruders were carrying weapons, that somehow made them feel like they had the situation under control.

“Where’s Katheryn?” Steinar asked, seemingly ignoring the guards as he made his way forward.

“Kath—!” Leila gasped. “Do you mean Lady Taylor!?”

Katheryn Taylor was the name of her lady, the wife of Earl Taylor. Wasn’t she dead? If rumors were to be believed, she should have died by the Earl’s side when their entourage was attacked by bandits.

“You damn—!” The two guards attacked simultaneously, one thrust his sword aiming for Steinar’s chest while the other moved to circle behind him. Their tactics were sound and they clearly knew what they were doing, no doubts that those two had plenty combat experience. So it is understandable everyone’s surprised faces when the ‘fight’ ended in just a couple of seconds.

Steinar dodged the thrust just by shifting his stance slightly sideways, at the same time delivering an elbow strike straight to the sternum of the man that had circled behind him. A nasty ‘crack’, the sound of bones being shattered, resounded across the hall. The soldier that had been hit fell to his back while spewing lots of blood from his mouth, his chest caved in— armor and all.

The other soldier stepped back and assumed a defensive middle guard, he seemed somewhat shaken by the unexpected death of his partner.

“Shit! Someone, call for reinforcements!” The Viscount shouted in a panic, but it was already too late.

Steinar went towards the remaining soldier, he wasn’t even going fast— just casually walking. Still, the pressure exuding from him was so intense that no one dared to make a move.

The panicked soldier tried to react with an overhead strike, but got immediately stopped in his tracks. Steinar used the palm of his right hand to block the pommel of the sword before it could even come down. His left hand went for a palm strike against the soldier’s chin, making another awful cracking noise as the man’s head bent backwards in an unnatural angle.

“You two, grab the swords.” Steinar ordered his ‘pets’, without so much as glancing towards them. Obviously, the girls complied. They certainly could use weapons, given the situation.

The sound of clapping echoed throughout the hall. It was coming from a young girl, on her late teens or early twenties at most. While the others seemed afraid, she alone had an amused smile on her face.

“My, oh my. That was quite the spectacle.” She elegantly got up from her chair and offered Steinar a courteous, slow and dignified bow. “I am Elyn Pryce, it is as pleasure to meet you.” Every single aspect of her, from her movement to the way she spoke, was the very definition of a noble lady with perfect etiquette.

“Who’s that?” Steinar asked, obviously to his ‘pets’.

“That should be the fifth daughter of the duke— I mean, the king.” Leila answered with sword in hand, assuming a short guard.

“Yes, I am. And I know of you, sir Steinar.” She looked him over from top to bottom, her eyes practically devouring him. “My... But I have to say that I did not expect you to look so… Endearing.”

“W-What is the meaning of this, Princess Elyn?” The Viscount asked nervously, cold sweat dripping from his face.

“Whatever do you mean, Viscount?” Elyn mused, staring coldly at the Viscount. “I am just greeting the guests.”

“How do you know me?” Steinar inquired menacingly.

“Scilla told me about you.” The Princess declared, while daringly moving closer to him. “She assumed you would show up here, since it is the place where they are holding Katheryn captive.”

Weirdly enough, Steinar did not attack her. If anything, it seemed like her last sentence made him lower his guard. “I see, so you are with the Occult Circle.”

Elyn purred, now face to face with Steinar. “Yes~. Much to my dear father’s dismay, I have been recently recruited.” Her right hand moved to Steinar’s abdomen, the tip of her fingers tracing over the muscles that showed from under his clothes. “Since we knew you were coming, the circle decided to give you the perfect opportunity with this little banquet.”

“And what is it that you gain from helping me?” He asked, allowing her to do as she pleased with his body.

“Things are more complicated than they seem.” Her hand slipped inside his clothes, as she now caressed his extremely toned abs directly. A very daring act for a princess, that is for sure. Leila and Annie were both frowning as they stared daggers at her. “The Daughters of Nemethea, they are the ones behind everything. I believe my dear father has been brainwashed or otherwise seduced by them.”

Steinar’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the mention of them. “The reason?”

“I do not know.” Princess Elyn shrugged. “As I have told you, it was only recently that I joined the circle.”

“Do you have proof?” Steinar pressed, grabbing her by the collar of her dress.

“Ah~♥” Elyn moaned cutely in reaction to Steinar’s rough advance. “The proof is Katheryn herself.”

“What do you mean?” Steinar inquired.

“Once you are done playing with the Viscount I shall take you to see Katheryn, you will know by then.”

“Is she still alive?” He probed further.

“Barely. Do make haste though, if you wish to exchange a few last words.”

Steinar let go of the princess and turned to face the Viscount and his family.

“S-She’s lying! Katheryn Taylor is not here! It was my third daughter that dealt with her, we are innocent!” The Viscount pleaded, trying to shield his wife and daughters while his son grabbed a knife from the dinner table. He couldn’t fully understand what was happening, the princess was acting completely different to the spoiled brat she was just a few minutes ago. Her speech, her actions, everything seemed like she had completely changed personalities.

“Princess! H-Have you betrayed us?” The Viscount asked with a trembling voice.

“My, such foul accusations… I do not remember the two of us ever being allies.” Princess Elyn gazed at the Viscount with apparent disgust in her face. She had to hold back a lot these last few days, feigning ignorance and pretending to be just a rich spoiled brat in order to get him to lower his guard. It was all part of the circle’s plan to create the perfect opportunity for Steinar to strike.

“Watching as you all get slaughtered will be quite enjoyable.” She said, letting an evil smile creep over her beautiful face.

Steinar rushed forth, though not straight for the Viscount. He went after his son, the one that held a knife with trembling hands. It was over in a flash, no one had time to react. Even Leila and Annie were surprised, for it was the first time they had seen their master move so fast. He grabbed the young man by the neck, took the knife away from his hands and threw it towards one of the Viscount’s daughters. It pierced her neck and blood spurted far, clearly from a severed carotid artery. The woman fell to the ground while bleeding out.

Staring the Viscount in the eyes, he tightened the grip of the hand that held the young man’s neck. It cracked, the nasty sound of his cervical spine being broken as a blood dripped from his open mouth.

“No—!” The Viscount panicked, but was unable to do anything.

Steinar threw the son’s body towards the viscount, knocking him down with it, then he rushed towards the last remaining daughter. It was a punch that he threw to her gut, a very strong punch. It made a loud, nasty noise as her body flew a dozen meters away and struck the wall. Lastly, he went for the wife. She stared in shock as her children were murdered, unable to even react. With a kick he sent her flying as well, though her body was in an unnaturally bent shape when she crashed against another of the hall’s walls. One wouldn’t need any knowledge of human anatomy to say with certainty that she had died.

The viscount was still down, his back laid to the ground and his son’s body over his own. Steinar walked to his side and stepped on his head. It was the end, everyone knew it. He put more strength on his leg and crushed the viscount’s skull, splattering his brain matter all over the floor.

“Take me to her.” He demanded, while turning towards the Princess.

##

Being led by princess Elyn, the three of them arrived at the mansion’s underground basement. It was a dark, humid place. The foul smell of decomposing organic matter hung around the narrow corridors that led to an old wooden door.

“You two… Stay here.” Steinar stopped, blocking Annie and Leila from going further. He seemed serious, and for the first time the girls could notice something other than coldness on his expression. Was it… Grief?

“It was that bitch, wasn’t it?” He asked, clearly glancing towards the princess.

“Yes, it was.” The princess let out a heavy sigh. “The one they call ‘The Mother of Maggots’.” She then continued. “It seems like the daughters wanted to extract some sort of information from Katheryn, though we do not know exactly for what.”

After that brief exchange the two of them proceeded, leaving the other girls behind. They went for the old wooden door, or rather, Steinar went for it. He kicked it open and was soon greeted by the scene inside.

A thin, emaciated figure sitting in a corner of the room with her back against the cold stone wall. She had long blonde hair that had lost all of it’s former glimmer, pale skin all cracked and bruised. But the worse of it all… Her body was rotting, even though she was still alive. Maggots crawling over her, making their way in and out of her wounds. The stench coming from her body was nothing short of what you would expect from a corpse, and she surely looked the part.

In silence Steinar walked towards her. He knelt and with care took her body into his arms, embracing the decaying woman.

“I’m sorry aunt Katheryn… I didn’t make it in time.” He knew what had happened to her, he had seen it many times before. It was a curse, and right now it was in a very advanced stage. There was nothing left he could do to save her.

“Who…?” The woman slowly opened her eyelids. Her hazy blue eyes taking in light for the first time in a long while.

“It’s Steinar. My mother sent me to bring you home.” He whispered softly to her ears.

“Little… Steinar…?” The very act of speaking seemed to be causing her great pain. “My… You… Have... grown...”

“Hmm.” He nodded. Although he was only five years old when Katheryn left, he still had fond memories of her. She had a bright and uplifting personality, very uncommon for a witch. Always worrying about others and their problems, trying to help whenever possible. And above all else, she was someone whom his mother considered to be a sister, a part of the family. Seeing her like this saddened him greatly.

“You… Have… To… Find… My… Boy… Leo...” Slowly, and through much effort, she was able to utter a few more words. “Tell… Him… To… Keep… The… Girls… Safe…”

She passed out. It was unlikely that she would ever wake up again. In truth, letting her wake up would be an act of inhuman cruelty. One Steinar would not allow. His hands went for her neck, wrapping themselves around it. He was choking her, watching as whatever life she had left in her decaying body vanished away into nothingness. It would be better to kill her now than to let her suffer for whatever amount of time she had left. After a short few minutes, she was breathing no more and even her heart had stopped.

“Are you not afraid of these cursed maggots?” The princess asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Curses don’t work on me.” Steinar declared.

“Ah, now that you mention it…” The Princess pretended to be reminiscing. “I think I heard something like that from the circle.”

“Can you cast fire spells?” He inquired, getting up and shaking the maggots away from his clothes.

“No, but I have other spells that could set this place on fire.”

“Then do it. I’m leaving.”

“My… Without even giving me hug?” She pouted. “But then again, you seem to already have two wonderful ladies waiting for you.”

The princess then bowed elegantly. “It was a pleasure making your acquaintance. I have the feeling that we shall be meeting again very soon, I hope that by then I will be able to better entertain you.”

Steinar grabbed Leila and Annie then made his way out without looking back. By the time they had left through the courtyard gates, the de Lance manor was already up in flames.

End of chapter 7: Retribution.