Legacy Of The Extra-Chapter 37: The First Ash(4)

"Hell has a special place for people like you." I mumbled, looking at the corpse of the bandit whom I had just killed.

My infiltration worked perfectly.

Every bandit—Other than their Leader—was dead.

'It is time to go to her before anything traumatic happens'

I tapped on my storage ring and inserted my hand inside the black warp that appeared over it. Taking out a medium-sized stick, I kneeled down and tore a piece of clothing from the Bandit's body.

Wrapping it around the stick, I flicked my fingers over it, creating a tiny purple spark that burned the wrapped cloth. Slowly, the burning intensity increased, lighting my surroundings.

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёnovelkiss.com.

The body of the man I just killed lay flat on the ground, his face etched with an expression of horror.

I turned around, guiding the torchlight over the other bodies of the bandits. Making sure none of them are breathing. And if they are, then I will stop it.

Clink.

The sound of chains reached my ear. I turned towards that direction, the light of the torch illuminating a pale and tattered figure.

It was a woman.

She seemed to be in her late 20s. Her black hair was mixed with dirt, her clothes were torn apart, revealing her body, which was filled with bruises and scratches. Her hands and legs were tied with shackles connected to the chains.

I walked towards her.

[Shadow Forge] I muttered. The shadows beneath my feet moved and formed a blade of obsidian in my hand. I looked at the rusty chains that were tied to her shackles and, with one swing, cleaved them in half.

The sound of the chains breaking got a slight flinch from her. Her head slowly raised upwards, her dull gaze met mine. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something to me, but instead, she opted to remain silent.

"Something to say?" I asked her, tilting my head to the side. I don't have time to play around with others. My sole goal here is to take Aeris back with me.

[Disperse]

The others are not my concern.

The woman just stared at me for a short while before her head plopped down. Seeing this, I started making my way towards the door that led to the hallway of the bunker. But before I could turn the knob.

"Please..."

A small plea escaped from behind me. I turned my head slightly, glancing at the woman.

Her eyes met mine again, but this time, she had tears falling down her cheeks. Her lips trembled as she tried putting strength into the words that she wanted to convey.

"Please kill me..."

I completely turned towards her, staring her down. "Are you sure?"

"Please... A few days back, when I was travelling in the caravan with my brother... These devils, they—they ambushed us."

"T-they killed my brother and dragged me along with the other woman and th—then they..."

Her voice trailed off, remembering the harm that was caused to her and her dignity. Her will to live was shattered and broken into pieces.

"After all that, who will even a-accept me?" She slowly crawled towards me, and her hands grabbed my left foot as if begging me to end her misery—her life. "Please, I beg you. End my suffering."

[What will you do, Noah?] Dante asked me, his voice unsure as to what I would do. Which I was also unsure of.

'Should I kill her?' I asked.

[I don't think you should; she might be able to recover later.]

'You really think something like that will happen? Those scars will never fade; they will haunt her till she dies.'

Dante chose not to speak; he just simply listened.

'And even if she lives, the world will not accept a used and broken woman. They will shame her and make her life a living hell.'

It was the same back on Earth as it is the same in this world. People who don't follow the norms of society are alienated. They are not seen as human beings.

They are treated poorly, as if their lives don't matter.

As if they should've never been born.

[The decision is yours, and I won't judge you, but I am still against ending this poor woman's life.]

'I understand.'

I tapped on my storage ring and took out the bastard sword that I always carried. I knelt beside the woman, staring her directly in the eyes.

"It will hurt for a moment." Saying that, I thrust the blade directly at her chest. Piercing the woman's heart. Blood dripped from the tip of the sword as it passed through her.

Her expression went still, with a faint but noticeable smile adorned on her lips. "Thank you..."

I retrieved my sword stained with red. Her body fell backwards, lying still on the floor. The smile on her face remains, marking her bitter and tragic end.

"Ruhe in Frieden," I mumbled, closing her eyelids with my hand.

I stood up and walked towards the door of the hallway, giving the dead woman a last glance over my shoulder.

'This is not the end; there will be many like her in different rooms.' My grip on the blade tightened. 'But I should not forget my goal—'

"To save Aeris."

I turned the knob and stepped into the hallway. It was slightly lit up by the lanterns that hung in the ceiling.

"I don't need this then..." I mumbled, throwing the stick down and squashing the flames with my foot.

I made my way through a long hallway, walking past many wooden doors with small holes in them. I could see inside the room with the help of those holes where, upon peeking inside, I found a few women and children tied with shackles on their wrists and legs.

And in one of the rooms, I found the bloodied remains of naked men. They were chained to the walls. Their bodies were completely still, their stomach ripped open, with their organs lying on a table nearby.

[What a gruesome sight,] Dante mumbled.

'They were tortured by these bandits, and their organs were harvested to be sold,'

I stopped looking around and headed straight for the door at the end of the hallway. It had a sign that said, "Vault". It was also reinforced with steel, making it hard to break with just a simple kick.

"This is it, huh?" I whispered, looking at the reinforced door. "Now, how should I get in?"

Usually, this kind of door in the game requires some strong magic spell to break, or I can picklock it. The latter is not possible for me as I've zero experience picklocking anything.

But the former?

My on the hilt of my sword tightened as I pulled the blade backwards. Mana surged inside my body, travelling from my core to the tip of my sword. Purple lightning crackled around the blade, its intensity increasing by the second.

[Thunderclap Strike]