Chapter 22: Like lambs to the slaughter

It was not long before a group of Mutants dawned upon the group. There were more than a dozen, all hungry for blood. Three of them did not get far, being gunned down instantly by the Kid. The rest did not get far either as the executioner lashed at them like a hound without a leash.

From their side, more abominations emerged from behind the trees. It was an ambush, something to be expected. The knights moved into formation and the two forces clashed, two abominations were felled, confidence surged through the rank. But it was not to last, a fail rotation meant the death of three. All by the hand of a single Mutants, a proof of how fragile the human are. Many were shaken by the reminder but they had no choice but to brave through it.

“Do not falter, remember your training!”

Even through the chaos, the medic’s orders came through, reaching every single knights. His system had worked and it had gifted them a chance at success.

Rohan waded through slowly, observing all that was going on around him. All this bloodshed happened because of his oversight. He had known that the Ghost was not one to trust, yet Rohan still could not see through the scheme. And even now, his vision was shrouded in darkness. What was the endgame here? It did seem like the Ghost to sow this chaos and from within, those with flame in their eyes shall rise through the hardship. Only to be hunted by the nomad.

That certainly sounded like something the Ghost would do, extinguishing the flames. But Rohan could not shake the feeling that there was something else here.

Whatever the cause, the Ghost must be put down. Not because of the betrayal, no, the Adjudicator never exercised his power for personal reasons. No, this being would continue to spread his brand of chaos, which could not be allowed.

A Mutants tried to teleport into Rohan but he simply dodged with ease and grabbed the abomination’s head. It tried to break free to no avail, its childlike brain could not comprehend such a strength.

“For all the suffering that you have cause, I hereby sentence you guilty.” The Adjudicator announced, his voice echoed throughout the battlefield. “Your punishment shall be death.”

Pain shot through the abomination but its mind could not comprehend such an extreme feeling. The Mutants then saw an image of its mother flashed briefly. Before it could question such a vision its head was crushed by Rohan’s unbreakable grip.

The Adjudicator walked through the battlefield, handing out sentences to the sinners with frightening efficiency. Yet, not once did he break into a sprint. With his massive stride, Rohan brisk pace could catch up to his targets in a matter of seconds. Throughout the entire skirmish, he never touched the blade on his back either.

The ambush was pushed back, every single enemy slaughtered with little casualties. The knights celebrated their victory under their breath. While everyone knew it was too early, they could not deny the euphoria this had brought.

“Why are they just charging at us like that?” The medic questioned. “They must have known this much was not enough.”

“It’s to slow down our progress, that’s one of the reason anyway.” Rohan answered.

“What’s the other?” Carina asked nervously.

The Adjudicator replied, gazing at the corpses littering the jungle ground. “It’s Madam Mandrake way of purging her most hated existents, her children.” All of them considered the person who sent them to die their mother. Even though none of them truly came from her loin, she was the one to raise and guide them. Rohan knelled down and gave them a prayer. Despite the urging of the anxious knights, the Adjudicator did not budge.

Next to him, the Kid also sat down and gazed upon the man’s expression. It was one she could not understand. The girl tipped her oversized hat down to also pay her respect.

“These… children.” Rohan suddenly spoke, startling the Kid slightly. “They were born to be butchers. Even a newborn could strangle a man to death and if given the chance, it would surely do so. Such a detestable existent.”

“Yet you still pray for them, and to what god…” Carina asked, the young scout could tell the deity this man worship was not the one true lord Atlas. It was a question out of curiosity.

“I pray to none, offering a moment of my life to these creatures is all I could do.” Rohan answered grimly. “They are bred for destruction, yet perhaps there is… was another way. Snowdrop, he truly believes that they could be reformed into something better.”

“Do you… also subscribe to that idea?” Carina wondered.

What she was met with was silence. The Kid glanced up, not muttering a single word. She could tell what Rohan truly believed, the word ‘creatures’ was already telltale. But even though he had no faith for them, the Adjudicator still prayed for the death, to a deity he no longer believed in.

“How were they even born like this?” The Kid questioned. “I thought the Blind order had concluded that there was no eldritch activities among the Mutants long ago?”

The Doctor stepped up to answer. “Because the one to be blessed by the deity was their father. It was Ziggu’ath, who whispers into the ears of those who are resilient. Her words forces their bodies to change into what they desired, forever affecting their bloodline. Since the changes are purely physical, no eldritch influence could be sensed.”

Hearing that had certainly put many on edge, including Carina. The thought of a deity whose spawn could not be detected by the Blind Order was a frightening one. The Kid’s mind was thinking of a different matter. She wondered what had happened to driven the father to this point. To create such a horrifying mutation, dooming his line to violent lives.

The group marched on, encountering more ambushes on the way. None of the enemies could pose a challenge and were quickly dispatched. Some of the abominations did not even possess teleporting power. They were stabbed rapidly by the knights’ spears as they continued to charge forward. The Mutants were fell on after another. Some died on the spot, the other watched curiously as blood spurted out of their bodies. They could not understand why their bodies were not moving, or why their minds were becoming lighter.

As their consciousness faded away, they thought of their mother. When they woke up once again she would be there. Mother would then ordered them around as usual, that was how thing worked. They waited, but there was nothing but the void.

‘Mother… please says something… it’s so… cold.’

At the edge of the meadow, far far away from the action was Madam Mandrake. She had refused to accept the power from the Ghost. But the old raider did carve a part of the rune onto her skin. It was not enough to give her the ability of teleportation, but to connect with those who did.

Through this connection, Madam Mandrake could feel her children dropping like moths to the flame. She imagined their last thought of her, it was them calling out for their mother.

It filled Madam Mandrake with such joy that she burst into a hysterical laughter, such happiness, it was an emotion that had eluded her for decades.