He who Bends Time-Chapter 83 - regret and avenge

"So..." said one of the group, looking at the little kid.

The kid then appeared to rip his own skin off, revealing a slightly deformed face underneath—it was just a mask he had been wearing. frёeωebɳovel.com

"So what? There was nothing. I saw no one following us from behind," he added afterward.

"Tch! Bloody shit," cursed another one.

"Why’s he upset anyway? He’s just a healing magician. What could he possibly do even if he did meet those hijackers?" asked another, questioning the behavior of the angry one.

"Oh, you must be the new guy who just learned magic. Let me explain," said one of the magicians. "There’s news and clues that the person attacking and causing trouble with our assets is a curse magician. And over here—this guy is Drnim, a healing magician. So, you get what happens after that, right?"

"What happens afterward??" the other man asked cluelessly.

"You really don’t know anything about magical society, do you?" the experienced magician said, slightly annoyed. "In the magician field, there are internal movements and rivalries—just like the one between curse magicians and healing magicians. Since healing magic is typically uneffective against curses, curse magicians tend to look down on healers. That pisses off the healing magicians quite a bit."

"Well, it’s not really a rivalry—it’s more like a low-key hatred," he added.

"A better example of rivalry would be ice magic and fire magic. Those two have been clashing for eons. There’s also the known tension between transfiguration and stealth magic. Then there’s the competition between light and dark magic, and the bad blood between culinary and poison magic. Oh, and I heard there’s some kind of special relationship between space magic and time magic, though it’s unclear what kind—it’s hard to find time magicians these days."

"really..." the new magician said, finally starting to understand.

"I’ll have to disappoint kunch too. He was kind of eager to see another curse magic user," muttered Drnim. "Well, alright, bring that thing inside. The diggers are getting hungry," he said, waving his hand to signal the carriage to move again.

The coachman picked up the reins once more and drove the carriage deeper into the hole.

"You two stay on guard here. Let us know if anything suspicious appears," Drnim ordered the two who had come with him before he and the others headed back inside the hole.

From a distance, Henry observed that all those who had come out—including the carriage—had moved into the hole, except for two who remained at the entrance.

"This must be the place," Henry guessed, considering how everyone was acting cautiously.

Hidden behind a pile of rocks, he waited for another few minutes to see how they behaved near the entrance to the hole. During that time, he noticed that the two guards by the carriage were just standing near the entrance and didn’t go out to look around.

Afterward, Henry took a step forward and moved quietly toward the hole—sneaky as he could be—hiding behind rock debris and the occasional cactus that grew in the area. Jumping from one cover to another, he eventually found himself hiding behind a rock that stood directly facing the hole.

"So much for good guarding," he muttered, surprised at himself that he had made it this close without being noticed by the two on watch.

{Zero Movement Restriction}

He cast an advanced curse spell, and a dark mist spread and rushed at the two guards, entering their bodies. Once he was sure the curse was successful, Henry suddenly jumped out—and the two guards, startled, nearly screamed in fear.

"Ugh!"

"Ah!"

Frightened, the two of them stepped back, and as a result, the curse triggered and they collapsed, falling into unconsciousness.

"My original plan was to make them chase me for the curse to activate, but this works too—saves me the effort of running around," Henry muttered to himself.

After the two had fallen, he moved closer and dragged their bodies aside.

"The Zero Movement Restriction is truly a masterpiece. I don’t think there’s a counter to it below the Forged Field tier," he said, leaving the peacefully sleeping figures behind as he walked deeper into the hole.

As he gradually descended, the hole turned darker, the air thick with a heavy atmosphere lit only by fire torches. Then suddenly, he heard screams—not just one, but several.

"Eaghhhh!"

"Aghhh!"

"That’s definitely a child’s scream," Henry said, quickening his pace and rapidly running down the tunnel until he saw an open area illuminated by fire.

There were a few figures standing in that area, and all got blinded by Henry’s spell. These figures had originally been tending to nests nearby, but Henry didn’t care for the beasts—he was fully focused on running to help the screaming children.

But on his way, he heard a sound—something like the cracking of bones. The sound came from the beasts as they ate, and with caution, Henry got closer. As he did, he felt his head grow numb from seeing what they were eating...

"This... isn’t... This is... children," Henry realized. The body parts that the beasts were devouring belonged to children. The ground was soaked in blood and polluted by the remains of innocent kids. The beasts continued devouring the flesh greedily, not even sparing a single bone.

Seeing the face of a child roll around near the beasts, Henry felt sick. The child had a horrified expression, and her eyes were still wet from the tears she had shed.

"Sinners... those who know neither the value of life nor the limits one should never cross in their crimes..."

{Wailing Agony}

A spell cast from Henry—and the next second, the beasts went mad, slamming themselves against the hard surface of the wall behind them until they all spilled blood and died.

Henry knelt in front of the child’s head and gently closed her eyes.

"The pain must have been unbearable... and I’m sorry. Maybe, if I had acted sooner, I could have saved you. But I will at least prevent anyone else from suffering."

"Rest now, sweet child... the pain is over. And let me be the one to avenge you."

Standing up, Henry walked slowly deeper into the cave—where a mining area came into view.

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