[WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC AND BRUTAL SCENES. IF YOU FIND THIS DISTURBING, PLEASE SKIP!]
With a highly precise movement, Calian stabbed the black dagger right into the back of the slave hunter's neck, piercing straight through until the tip of the blade protruded from the front of his neck. However, Calian did not let the man die right away at all.
As blood began to spurt and the man's life hung by a thread, the purple-haired youth focused his mind. He used his [Time Loop] blessing once again.
He did not heal the man's wound, but rather used reversion on a small portion of the blood vessel network around his wound.
Calian held back and slowed the rate of bleeding, partially locking the flow of time so that the man remained awake on the brink of death without being able to truly die. He deliberately prevented a quick death so that the criminal would feel absolute torture and suffering nearing the end of his life.
Wolvin, who was still pinning both of the man's hands to the ground, felt a cold chill creep down his spine. His wolf tail and ears drooped slightly. He shuddered seeing the actions of his husband, who could apparently turn into a much more cruel figure when he was angry.
Darling, you are truly different when angry. thought Wolvin in disbelief, his eyes never leaving the youth's figure in front of him. This is my first time I seen your face so cold and emotionless like this. You did not even let this criminal die peacefully just like that after my dagger pierced his neck, and instead played with your enemy's life and death.
A horrifying sound began to be heard in the area hidden by the bushes. The choked sound of a person like someone choking on their own blood while enduring immense pain continued to be heard surrounding Calian and Wolvin.
The man's body convulsed slightly on the ground. He endured the unbearable pain in his neck and hand until sweat and tears mixed to wet his reddened face.
The man could not speak. His vocal cords had been destroyed. However, his tear-filled eyes stared intently at the face of the purple-haired youth crouching in front of him, staring with full despair as if begging for the torture to be stopped immediately and letting him die peacefully right then and there.
Seeing that pleading look, Calian's face did not change in the slightest.
"The look in your eyes... you act as if you expect me to end your suffering immediately." said Calian with a flat tone and a gaze as cold as ice cubes. "But, I will ask you one thing. Have you or this group of yours ever shown mercy and granted the pleas of all the beastfolk you have hunted and kidnapped?"
The man could only widen his eyes, choking on his own breath.
"You did not, right?" continued Calian. "So, just enjoy every second of it slowly so that you understand the suffering and despair of those you have kidnapped and whose freedom you have snatched away."
The youth slowly brought his face closer to the unfortunate man's ear and whispered softly, a whisper that could only be heard by the three of them in that place.
"Just so you know," whispered Calian in a low tone, "I actually strongly desired to adventure casually and peacefully with my spouse who is currently holding your arm. But, because of the greed of you lowly kidnappers, I was directly ordered by my mother, who is an emperor in this Erthland Empire, to exterminate all of you."
Hearing the whisper that revealed the true identity of the youth currently torturing him, the man's body instantly stiffened rigidly. His eyes widened greatly, radiating a horror that far exceeded the physical pain in his neck. He only just realized that right now, he and also Marquis Khail Burtois had directly provoked the wrath of the imperial family.
Calian ignored his victim's shock and continued his whisper in a threatening tone.
"I will make sure to destroy your group down to its roots! And as a bonus, all the greedy nobles involved in this dirty business, they will all die by my hands along with their entire extended families without a trace!"
Sreeet!
After whispering his final threat, Calian slowly pulled the black dagger piercing the neck outward. The slow friction of the sharp metal being pulled past flesh and cartilage made the man feel extreme pain. His mouth opened wide, trying to scream, but he could not make a sound at all due to his severely injured neck. Only empty air and blood bubbles came out of his lips.
"Goodbye."
Calian stood up, pulling the dagger completely from the man's neck.
Thud!
Along with the pulling of the dagger, Calian raised his foot and with a very hard stomp, he stepped on the nape of the man's neck. The sound of breaking neck bones was heard loudly.
That stomp ensured the man lost his consciousness before finally dying miserably on a puddle of his own blood, with his eyes still wide open leaving behind fear.
Wolvin released his grip from the lifeless man's hands, then stood up. He received his dagger returned by Calian in silence.
Still with his cold expression, Calian casually gripped the collar of the man's corpse and dragged it out of the bushes, returning to the open area where the three Snow Bear clan beastfolk stood guard.
Upon arriving there, Calian dropped the man's corpse in front of the other slave kidnappers who were still unconscious. The three Snow Bears stared in horror at the gruesome wound on the corpse's neck.
However, Calian was not finished yet. The youth walked approaching the three human slave hunters who were still unconscious. By borrowing Wolvin's dagger, one by one he killed the helpless criminals with quick and precise slashes to their necks.
"W-Wait! Why did you kill them all?" asked one of the beastfolk in a shocked tone, his body trembling seeing the one-sided massacre. "W-Wouldn't it be that if at least one was captured alive and handed over to the security forces, we would know the mastermind behind all this?"
Calian cleaned the blood from the dagger onto the clothes of one of the corpses, then stood upright and looked at the beastfolk.
"A prison sentence is too light for all of them who have kidnapped your race!" answered Calian in a very cold and absolute tone, an assertion that accepted no objections. "Besides, I have already obtained all the information I need. From now on, the three of you just need to report that they were all killed in a battle to the soldiers as well as the guild. Do you understand?"
Seeing the flat and cold gaze of the youth in front of them, the three beastfolk instantly shrank back. They could only swallow hard and then nod in understanding in unison.
....
A few moments later, the atmosphere in the forest turned very crowded. The sound of hurried footsteps and shouted orders broke the silence.
The city security soldiers, the adventurers, and also several guild staff had finally arrived at the battle location. They came together with the Snow Bear youth whom Calian had previously asked to report to the city.
However, everyone who had just arrived at the open area was taken aback. Their steps halted upon seeing the large number of armed human corpses lying lifelessly with the same fatal wound on their necks. Puddles of blood stained the forest ground.
"What happened here? Who killed them all?!" asked a soldier in a high tone, his eyes sweeping the battle area before fixing on the five people still alive there.
"Him and me!" answered Calian with a loud voice and without the slightest hesitation, his thumb pointing at Wolvin who stood calmly beside him.
The soldier frowned deeply. His face showed a mixed expression of annoyance and frustration. He stepped closer to Calian.
"Why did you two kill them all instead of leaving even a single captive?!" exclaimed the soldier in a blaming tone. "If it has come to this, we cannot interrogate them and will not be able to find out who the culprit backing this slave group is!"
Hearing the harsh reprimand from the city security forces, Calian did not flinch in the slightest.
"So, what do you think we should have done? Should the two of us have just stayed silent and let the three cornered beastfolk be killed first before we were allowed to act and capture them?" asked Calian in return. His gaze sharpened and pierced right into the eyes of the soldier commander, making the uniformed man step back slightly.
"If you forbade me from killing them, why didn't you, the city soldiers paid by the people's taxes, move quickly to eradicate this group from the very beginning when the reports of missing hunters came in?!" continued Calian with a slightly raised voice, cornering the soldier. "Why did the city have to wait for adventurers to do it?!"
Those consecutive striking questions made the soldier freeze in silence. He could not answer the logical argument just thrown by the purple-haired youth, because the slowness of the army was indeed the root of this widespread problem.
"Why are you staying silent?" asked Calian again, pressing and demanding an answer from the now-silent man. "Could it be that you—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Wolvin stepped forward and gently patted his husband's shoulder. That warm touch on his shoulder instantly made the purple-haired youth stop his sentence.
Calian turned to Wolvin who shook his head slowly, signaling him not to prolong the issue with the local authorities.
The youth closed his eyes for a moment, calming his still churning emotions. He then exhaled roughly in front of the soldier commander, the several adventurers who had come along, and the guild staff who were busy taking notes.
"Forgive me, I have gone too far and spoken out of bounds due to my anger seeing their cruelty in the field." said Calian, lowering his voice and pretending to regret his actions so the situation would not get more complicated.
Calian straightened his cloak. "Our task here is complete. The two of us will immediately return to the city and report officially to the guild administration desk. As for the rest, please just handle it according to your legal and investigative procedures."
Without saying anything more or waiting for an answer from the soldier, Calian turned around. Followed by Wolvin who walked loyally by his side, the two of them walked leaving the blood-filled area in the forest and stepped back toward the City of Sellon.