“Ha did you really think you could kill me?! Me?! You’re nothing but shit! Die! Die! Dieee!”

Deep inside the pit he’d created, Daelos could be seen taking out his rage on the now dead hydra. Ripping off its scales and punching its corpse, he failed to notice the sharp pain rising in his arms before he collapsed on top of the beast.

Looking into the pit, Helga and her party were stunned. They’d just witnessed a human single handily take out a beast that should be rated SS! If news about this got out he’d be famous in an instant!

Staring at his passed out body, an ingenious idea came to mind. “Cassie do you think you can get him out?”

Although she was surprised by the question, she nodded to confirm that she was able to.

“Good n-“

“Hold up!” Before she could continue the voice of their ever so charming beastman sounded out. “Your not thinking of saving this asshole are you? Did you forget what he did to me, Cassie and Amara! If we save him, who knows how long it’ll be until he turns on us! It’s not worth the risk.”

“He won’t turn on us.”

“How do you know that! You’ve only known the guy for 3 days! And for all three of those days we were his hostages!” She’d never really doubted Helga’s decision before, but ever since that guy showed up it seemed as if Helga had become someone else. From her perspective she couldn’t understand why Helga was so insistent on keeping this guy around.

“You haven't interacted with him much so you wouldn’t understand. During three days I’ve been figuring out what makes him tick.” Looking at her with a serious expression she calmly explained her reasoning. “I’m certain that if we save him not only will he not attack us, he’ll even owe us a favour.

“Ergh. Amara you interacted with him! What do you think.” Looking towards the quiet elf, Shea hoped to get some back up.

Seeing all eyes on her, Amara was stunned. “I think Helga’s right. While I was conversing with him he never showed an ounce of bloodlust towards me.”

“What about when he was about to kill Helga before the hydra showed up!!”

Stepping in, Helga explained herself. “That was because I was trying to answer for Amara when he talking to her. If I had just let her answer for herself then none of this would have happened.”

“*Sigh* Fine, but even if he owed us a favour what would you ask for?”

Accepting her defeat, Shea decided to cave in.

Seeing that they were now on the same page, a beautiful smile blossomed on her face. “He’ll join us until we reach SS rank.”

“But what about showing the world that an all-female party like us can do the job just as well as men?”

“I understand that, but we’d be idiots to let an opportunity like this go! Having someone who’s capable of defeating a SS class monster on our side would be nothing but advantageous for us.”

“I agree” Throwing in her opinion Amara stepped forward.

“He’s not that bad.” Stepping forward Eliza also spoke in his favour.

“I’d like a new sparring partner.” Even Cassie wasn’t totally against the prospect.

All eyes focused on Shea. Waiting for her to answer.

“FINE!! Let’s rescue him.” Although unhappy, she did realise that she was out numbered 4 to 1.

“Great! Now lets get him out of that hole.”

…

“How’s he looking?” Staring at the unconscious Daelos in front of them, Helga looked at Eliza and asked.

“Not good, his arms are covered in hydra blood.” Shaking her head in response.

“Shit!”

Just like its spit, a hydra’s blood is extremely acidic and highly toxic. Just having it touch your skin is enough for it to burn through your hand and poison your blood stream.

Looking at his bandage wrapped arms, several purple veins could be seen on his face. “Can you stall the poison?”

“I don’t know. Hydra poison is extremely toxic! I might be able to keep him alive for a few hours but anything after that is unknown.”

“Dammit! Isn’t there any way to slow the poison?”

“I have an idea.” Speaking up, Amara stepped forward. “If we encase his body in ice, we may be able to slow down the poison’s speed.”

Hearing her suggestion, Helga turned towards Eliza. “Can it work?”

“Theoretically yes, but you’d need to constantly supply the ice even when we’re sleeping. The toll it’d take on your body would be immense.”

“I can handle it. I’m only losing a couple days of sleep.” Joking about it, a silly smile appeared on her face.

Jumping into the conversation, Shea’s voice boomed out. “Amara!! Don’t joke about this! We’re talking about over 10 days of you being awake! Your body won’t be able to handle it! Not to mention the immense concentration it’ll take just to constantly supply the ice!”

“Do you have a better idea! If we don’t go with my plan he’ll die within a couple of hours!”

“So what! We owe him nothing!”

“He saved our lives!”

“And then put them in danger!”

Not willing to back down both girls stared at each other waiting for the other to start something.

Seeing the situation take a bad turn, Helga stepped in and tried to mediate. “Okay girls calm down.” Looking at both of them she tried to think of a solution to their current dilemma. “Eliza when we arrive back at the capital where should we take him to get healed?”

“The church would be the best option as they have elixirs and people who are better than me at healing.”

“Okay…I got a plan. Shea’s right, having you spend over 10 days awake is not an option.”

“Helga!” Widening her eyes in surprise, Amara stared at the party leader.

“But we can’t him dying in a few hours…Shea your strong and agile. I need you to carry him while both you and Amara head towards the church at your fastest speed.”

“HELGA!”

“This is an order as your leader! You said the pressure on Amara was too much and now you have a chance to help her. Will you really abandon your friend over a grudge?”

“Tsk fine.”

“Wait-“ Interrupting the conversation, Cassie just thought of a very glaring problem.

“What is it Cassie.” At this point Helga was starting to get annoyed by the constant interruptions. Is this how he felt when I kept answering for Amara?

“Ignoring the fact that he doesn’t have any documents on him. Doesn’t it look suspicious if two demi-humans are seen carrying around an immobile human with them? As much as we get along with them, you and I both know how other humans view demi-humans.”

Shit I forgot about that!

“We don’t have a choice. If its just Amara and Shea alone, they can reach the capital in half the time it’d take all of us.”

*Rip!*

A tearing sound was heard from Eliza’s direction. Turning towards her the party saw her rip off her church emblem and hand it to Shea. “Take this! This should allow you to get a competent healer at the church! It should also help if the guards try to trouble you at the city entrance.”

“Eliza this-“ Shocked by her sudden actions, Shea was momentarily at a loss for words. She knew just how much that church robe meant to her and how the church in general held such a big place in her heart…and yet she willingly ripped it for the sake of a stranger who was previously about to kill them.

“I believe in you Shea!” Seeing the hard look in her eyes, Shea had no choice but to accept the cloth emblem.

When she held it a warm feeling flowed through it and into her body.

“It has the law of light’s aura on it, this should help with any fatigue you’ll experience.”

“Shouldn’t you give this to Amara then.”

Shaking her head she answer Shea’s question. “The ice will be cold and extremely heavy. Your burden is more physical than Amara’s and this cloth can only really help with the physical aspect.”

“Understood.”

Seeing that everyone ready, Helga looked towards the elf. “Amara, if you could.” Motioning to the unconscious young man, Amara walked towards him and gathered the law of water around her as she slowly changed it ice and covered his body.

*Sigh* “He’s ready.”

Picking him up, Shea placed him on her back as she dashed in the direction of the capital. Following closely behind her, Amara could be seen keeping pace.

Watching the two girls disappear from sight, Helga switched her attention towards the pit. “How much do you think hydra scales are worth?”

…

“What do you want Soleed?” Sitting across from the purple glowing monster, Daelos sat on a simple wooden chair surrounded by the darkness of his mind space.

Ignoring the dissatisfaction in his voice, Soleed sat calmly and stared at him with its now green fire eyes. “What do you want?”

“Huh? Isn’t that what I’m asking you! Why’d you bring me here?”

-Slience…

“I’ve been watching you for a while now and I can’t seem to understand what your goal is?”

“My goal?”

“Yes. What do you hope to achieve by living this way. You say you’ve freed yourself from the shackles of morality, but from what I can see your just a child throwing a tantrum.”

“Hahaha, are you lecturing me. You! You know nothing! My only goal is to get strong and kill whoever stands in my way.” Scoffing at his comment, Daelos responded with his own.

“But what happens after you get this desired strength? What will you do?”

What will I do? I’ve never thought about it in the long run. What will I do?

“I-I” What will I do?

For the first time since he’d freed himself Daelos was at a loss for his future. After he got his strength what would he do. Would he return to the academy? Try to go back home? Or simply waste away obsessing over his new found power?

What will I do?

“I see your having trouble deciding your future. Maybe I can help you with that.”

Looking into the eyes of Soleed, he waited for him to continue.

“D-Daelos”

“huh?”

Turning around, the figure of a purple haired teenager in a graceful dress stood before him. Her beautiful long ears were exactly as he remembered them. Sharp but soft. When he saw her it was as if time itself froze as memories of their time together flooded his mind like a broken dam.

“Lyla” Just speaking her name made his voice go hoarse as an abundance of feelings welled up inside him.

…

"Are you okay back there?” Yelling towards the struggling Amara, Shea was about to slow down to help her catch up, but before she could Amara’s shout stopped her from doing so.

“I’M FINE *COUGH* JUST KEEP GOING…WE’RE ONLY A DAY AWAY.” Although it was clear to see how tired she was. Amara kept pushing forward as she focused on keeping the ice from melting. Compared to 4 days ago, her face was abnormally pale as she’d been pushing herself past her limits, both mentally and physically.

…

Instead of going to greet her, Daelos sat in his chair and slowly calmed himself. “Why are you here?” Contrary to his previous feelings of emotion, his voice was indifferent as his eyes became cold.

Wincing at his tone, Lyla recovered herself as she went and stood in front of him. “What you did to those beastmen is unforgivable! I cried and begged you to stop but you didn’t listen! You slaughtered them all with a smile on your face and then what you did to that child *sob* She was innocent! You didn’t have to kill her the way you did!.”

“Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Is that all you have to say! After 6 months of silence the first thing you say to me is some shit about the dead! ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!!! 6 FUCKING MONTHS I WAITED FOR YOU AND NOTHING! NOW HERE YOU ARE ACTING ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY! HOW DARE YOU! GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY SIGHT!!”

All his previous emotions turned into rage and hate. He’d been abandoned by his father, abused by his mother and hated by everybody else. When he thought his life was going nowhere he appeared in another world only to be thrown in a dark cell and abused for the next three years. And when he’d finally accepted death, he was given hope by Lyla. She promised that she never leave him and that they’d be together forever.

The way he saw it was that just like his father, she had abandoned him. When he needed her most she’d left him to fend for himself. She saw what he was turning into and chose to look away. What she did caused him a pain like no other. Even his parents didn’t do as much damage to him as she did. She gave him hope and then left him by himself. At least with his parents he knew where he stood. At this moment his hate towards her surpassed that of anything else.

As his rage started to overflow, the space around them started to tremble eratically as a boundless aura escaped from his body and swallowed everything in its path. His eyes became bloodshot as he felt himself quiver in anger.

A look of horror covered Lyla’s face as she felt the full force of his rage directed at her.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

At the other side, Soleed’s green fire eyes burned with intense joy as he found Daelos’s rage beautiful.

“How is this possible! You shouldn’t be able to do this while I’m in your mind space!” Still horrified by what she saw, Lyla couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

“Oh my dear Lyla, do you still not understand.” Speaking to like he was talking to a child. A mocking tone could be heard in Soleed’s voice. “Right now his rage is more than the Agnos Requiem can contain.”

“That’s impossible! The Agnos Requiem is a tier 5 ARTEFACT! It’s impossible for a mortal to overpower it!”

“Impossible? My dear girl, the impossible is happening right in front of you.”

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Explosions could be heard coming from Daelos’s body as the colour of his mind space started to fluctuate.

Blue

Green

Yellow

Orange

Grey

Purple

Black

White

And finally Red.

Settling on a colour, the space started to stabilize as Daelos could be seen calming down.

Taking her chance while he was no longer enraged, Lyla tried to speak with him. “Daelos I-

“Soleed” Ignoring her, the now calm Daelos turned towards Soleed and spoke in a deep voice. “You asked me what my goal was after I gained the power I desire right? Well I finally have an answer for you.” Turning to look at Lyla, his eyes became bloodshot once more and his voice became a whisper. “I’ll bring destruction.”

And with that his figure vanished.

…

Sitting a top his throne, Soleed mused to himself “Destruction huh, should be an interesting show.”