Stevin and Airina jumped to their feet at Enna’s words, gathering magic in their hands.

  “What Road are you, Airina?” Stevin asked, just as I was starting to get up.

  “Windseer,” said Airina, rushing toward the entrance.

  I sighed to myself as I straightened my back, but soon panicked, feeling Relia’s shadow form move around.

  “Stay there,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder towards the wall. “Do not act rashly now.”

  At my words, the movement stopped, allowing me to finally join the rest. walking toward the entrance of the cave.

  “Your Grace,” said Enna, pointing toward the several torches approaching us. “They appear to know of our location.”

  I turned and looked at the entrance of the cave, then looked inside. “Could it be that this is their cave?”

  “This small cave?” Airina asked, frowning. “I think it's silly to think it's theirs.”

  A silly question on the surface, yes, but if this cave was occupied, while days away from the first sign of civilization, it meant that the people living here would either be another tribe of savages or people with bad intentions.

  Hopefully, they are just some lost adventures. Right?

  Yep. Nope. Of course not.

  As the night made way for their approach through the woods, the people finally took shape in our eyes.

  Six men, tall and small alike, stopped fifty feet away from us, watching us with grins on their faces.

  Behind them, dragged forward on a cart by an old horse, a man, two women, and a young boy stood inside an iron cage, beaten to a pulp, their clothes a bloody ruin.

  “Didn’t know we had guests,” said one of the bulkier men, taking a step forward, eyes glued to Enna and Airina. “And what a sight our guests are.”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” Stevin asked, ready to start dancing at a moment’s notice.

  I would have actually paid attention to their conversation if not for the sight inside the cage.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the sheer brutality they showed these people, regardless of gender or age.

  It was a disturbing sight, even if most of their bodies were hidden in the darkness. I saw enough. I smelled enough, since somehow, the smell of their blood even reached my nose.

  “Why are there people inside the cage?” I asked out loud, interrupting whatever Stevin was talking with the bastards, not taking my eyes off the iron cage and its contents.

  “People?” the bulky man frowned, approaching the cage only to pull a woman’s hair, slamming her head against the cage in the process, “These are not people, they are merchandise.”

  The woman could only groan, already too weak to weep or yelp in pain. The sight broke my heart.

  But ‘Merchandise’?

  ‘Ephe, did I hear that right, or is it just another auditory hallucination?’ I questioned inside my head.

  [No Auditory Hallucination Detected.]

  [The man said Merchandise.]

  “I see,” I muttered, my heart starting to beat louder. “And how much for all of them?”

  “Your Grace?” Enna asked, surprised and clearly confused.

  “Silence,” I replied, before turning back toward the man. “Tell me how much for all of them.”

  “A direct man. I like that,” the bulky man nodded, finally letting go of the woman’s hair. “But unfortunately, they are not for sale… to you. However, I am up for an exchange. All of them for the two ladies near you.”

  Tempting, if not for who the women were, or whom they would go with. I would rather listen to these crazy women bickering for a lifetime than give them to bastards like that.

  “I see, and the price isn’t negotiable then?” I asked again, hoping for a different answer.

  The man shook his head, “Either we make the earlier deal, or… well, we just take the women from you while you and that cheeky brat over there can feed the worms.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  At that sentence, the shadow of Relia started moving again.

  You damn fools, you don’t even realize I have a fucking Cataclysm hidden in my clothes! And no, I’m not talking about no pants.

  “Sit, Relia,” I whispered, only for her to stop listening to me.

  “Your Grace?” Enna questioned what I was doing again.

  [Danger.]

  [The Vampire is losing control.]

  [New Directive: Kill the Men.]

  [New Directive: Free the Captives.]

  [New Optional Directive: Do not Reveal the Vampire.]

  [Recommendation: Do it Now.]

  I clicked my tongue, unable to properly comprehend what Ephe was telling me to do or why I acted so quickly on that thought.

  But I like to think that the sight of the people inside the cage did it.

  “Kill them.”

  Stevin, Enna, and Airina grinned, as if waiting for me to speak those words. But before they could do that, the moon shone just right through the leaves straight on the cage.

  My mind went numb. My eyes were teary at the real heartbreak.

  Not for me. Not for my words. Not for the people whom I’ve sentenced to death. But to the sight I saw in the cage.

  Gods, were those people in bad shape… weakened, eyes devoid of life, devoid of any hope for it, any salvation. In their eyes, they long stopped believing in it.

  Just like I was.

  Like I was when I reached the hospital just in time to see them closing the bag holding Julia’s corpse.

  Like I was when I returned to our apartment alone, sitting at the table, looking into the void.

  Like I was when the people around me, Julia’s family, despite being heartbroken themselves, tried to console me, knowing what I could’ve and most likely would’ve done to myself.

  These people gave up on life, just like I did. They gave up on hope, just like I did. They didn’t even acknowledge us, just like I didn’t acknowledge the others around me.

  This wasn’t Stevin’s battle. Wasn’t Enna’s battle. It wasn’t even Airina’s or Relia’s. It was mine.

  “Do not attack,” I muttered, stopping the three in front of me from gathering magic.

  “Your Grace?” Stevin frowned just as the six men in front of us brandished their swords.

  The bulky man chuckled, “Seems our negotiations failed.”

  I moved forward, past Stevin, past Enna, past Airina, taking the sword from the side of her hip in the process.

  “They are mine.”

  The men froze for a second as the light of the moon started reflecting the red of my eyes, the white of my hair, realizing, or at least misunderstanding, what they were up against.

  So they dashed forward.

  But it was too late.

  I sighed, looking once more toward the cage, before speaking loudly for all of them to hear.

  “I, Elio Welchia, Ruler of Calcan Castle, Seed of the Reigncraft, Deny the order of time. Veilstep.”

  The world lost its colors.

  And the men… lost their lives.

  You may like to know why I didn’t use the Law of Separation on them and instead used a sword. No?

  It's because I do not think I killed men today. What I killed were not people, but people-shaped monsters. Even the way they bled on the ground looked fishy to my eyes, so it was good that I rid this world of such… creatures.

  Pity that they didn’t get to suffer the pain they provoked in others. What a pity indeed.

  As for Stevin and the rest, well, they were still by the cave’s entrance, frozen on the spot even though Veilstep had expired for a few seconds now. Even Relia’s shadow stopped moving.

  [Congratulations.]

  [Directive Followed - Registe-]

  ‘Wait,’ I told Ephe inside my head, ‘Not yet, hold it back for now. Let me at least help these poor people first.’

  [...]

  [Understood.]

  ‘Thank you.’

  Slowly, I moved toward the cage, knowing that the people inside it saw what happened, just as well as I could see them start trembling violently as I approached.

  I crouched near one of the corpses, placing the sword on the ground visible to their eyes, before moving away from it.

  “Good evening,” I said gently to the people inside, “Do you understand me?”

  They stood silent, still shaking.

  At that, Enna started walking forward, but I raised my hand, signaling for her to calm down and wait.

  I moved further away from the cage, finding the two perfect things I needed, hoping this would somehow calm them down enough to listen.

  After picking them, I approached the cage again, this time going near the bars, putting my two hands through them.

  At my movement, the people cowered in fear, all but the woman who was slammed against the bars from before.

  She was frozen, terrified.

  There was something off about their bodies, but I didn’t care at the moment as I approached her just enough so that she could look down at me.

  “I will not hurt you. The people who did are dead.” I said quietly, placing my hand towards her as slowly as possible.

  And as she found the strength to move, to fight back, to save herself, I revealed the flower I was holding inside.

  “For you,” I muttered, placing it down in front of her, making sure that she saw it before I turned and approached the small boy and the mother who was holding him tight.

  His breath was quick, ragged. The poor boy was hyperventilating in his mother’s arms, fearing I would harm one of them.

  His mother met my red eyes with her teary ones, her lip busted, and an eye barely open from being punched. Yet her soul herself begged me not to harm them. Not to harm her child.

  But I smiled, moving my hand toward the pair gently.

  “You are safe,” I said to her. “Your child is safe.”

  And then I let go of the small firefly I was holding in my hand, letting it fly quietly in front of the two.

  Even the child opened his eyes and watched, a flicker of life returning to his colorful eyes.

  “Forgive me,” I spoke louder, drawing their attention.

  They turned… all of them did. They were listening to me.

  “We have a priestess with us, her name is Enna,” I smiled, signaling for the three of them to approach. “She will take care of you and your wounds while the rest of my friends and I take you all out of this cage, okay?”

  Tears were gathering in their eyes at my words. And as they nodded gently, I knew they were tears of relief.

  At that moment, I wasn’t Elio, I wasn’t an alleged vampire, I wasn’t Julia’s husband, or a man of Earth. I was only Their Hope. Their Salvation.

  And that… was enough.

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