Edited by: dragonsam656
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"Hello!! Allen, Ray, I'm your cousin Luca Cain." introduced the young man, his hazelnut hair with eyes that was similar to theirs.
Stunned at the new information Allen gave away a blank expression. He never thought that they could have a grandfather. Maybe because these were times when wars occurred every once in a while he thought, their father never mentioned him that they subconsciously thought that they didn't have any grandfather who is alive.
As he was in a daze processing the new found information Luca picked Allen up as he looked at his face intensely. Looking at his dazed expression he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle as he thought 'How cute.'
As for Ray he kept his stoic face throughout everything. The old man Marquise smiled as he lifted him up and let him sit on his shoulder while his soldiers made their way in and lead the children out.
Outside the cave there was many carriages which helped carried the kids to the destination where the people were waiting for them.
The old Marquise, Luca, Garrick, Ray, Allen and Ambert shared one carriage while all the kids were assigned different carriages to ride.
After a long awkward silence Allen finally got out of his daze and blurted out, "Ambert what are doing here?!"
"Uh....um......I was with you the whole time." said an embarrassed Ambert as he averted his eyes from others' gazes.
'He was with us the whole time? Damn he has no presence at all.' thought Ray and Allen inwardly as they gave the scared looking kid an awkward smile, feeling guilty of their ignorant behavior.
After this conversation settled, the awkward silence once again made its way to the carriage's atmosphere.
After a few minutes of nerve wrecking silence the old man opened breaking the silence, "Uh....um.....so Allen, Ray, how have you both been?"
"We are fine. How have you been gr.... grandfather?" said Allen with a forced smile.
"I have been fine, fine. Hahahahaha...hah." sighed Marquise Cain awkwardly hauling the atmosphere into awkwardness once again.
'The atmosphere is too heavy.' thought everyone in the carriage in unison.
As the carriages arrived at their destination, parents hugged their kids crying and thanked the saviors of their kids. As for the secret of Allen, Ray and Garrick being able to use magic, they already asked the kids to keep it secret to which they complied happily.
Ambert walked towards Haelan in small and awkward strides while Zanna ran towards him inheritance full speed and clung to his thighs with big crocodile tears falling on her cheeks. Haelan patted her head with a warm smile and asked the maid to take care of her. Haelan saw Ambert walking towards him timidly and thought 'So adorable' as he walked towards him and picked him up and asked, "Did you cry?"
Ambert with a bright smile shook his head, his eyes brimming with light. Haelan smiled at him.
Garrick walked back to his family and was strangled by hug by his father, mother and brother. As he was hugged by his family his lips lift up forming a faint smile as he hugged his family back.
Allen and Ray ran towards Reind and hugged him tightly. Reind hugged them back he kissed both of them on the forehead. Following closely behind the boys old man Cain came along with Luca. Reind looked up and stared at them before letting the boys go from his embrace as he stood. Both Reind and Marquise Cain stared each other's for some time before Reind finally spoke up sincerely, "Thank you for helping my boys and bringing them back safely."
"No, it's ok. It was my duty." said Marquise Cain with warmth and awkwardness in his voice as he shakes his head.
On the other hand Luca was shocked on seeing the man who was supposed to be his uncle. His eyebrows furrowed in dissatisfaction. "He is supposed to be my uncle, he, the man who talked in such rude way with grandfather."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier." Said Reind as he clenched his hand into a fist and bit his lower lip. "But, Marquise Cain, it doesn't mean I forgive you." He continued.
"Hah....I know. I didn't expect you to forgive me so easily but at least don't break all of your relations with us Reind, Cassendra is really worried about you. Please sometime pay a visit to her." The old man laughed awkwardly as he scratched his chin.
Ray felt sympathetic towards his grandfather and decided to help him a little. "Papa, why didn't you tell us about grandfather?" Reind found himself in a tight spot when Ray questioned him. He sighed, looked at Allen and Ray, confused.
"Boys, its adult matters, nothing for you to worry about." The old smiled at the boys as turned ready to leave and go to the king to report the whole incident. "Luca, why don't you say goodbye to your cousins."
"Yes, grandfather." Luca replied as he walked towards the boys kneeled down on one leg, rubbing both of their hair, smiling as he ignored Reind's existence and spoke up, "Ray, Allen, let's play next time when we meet again. Ok?"
Both of them nodded their heads softly with curve forming a smile on their faces. Luca smiled as he stood up and said, "See you again then. Bye." and walked to back to the Marquise Cain.
After Luca catch up to Marquise Cain they started to walk towards the king's direction. "Lord Cain, please wait. Would it be alright if sometimes my family and I visit you in the future?" Said Reind in a loud voice from behind.
Old Cain halted on his spot as he heard Reind. He turned and faced him as he replied Reind with a smile, "It would be this old man's pleasure if Duke Kelis could visit our humble house."
Reind gave the old man Cain a faint smile.
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[At the same time when Ray, Allen and the kids were trying to escape from the hideout of the kidnappers.]
Lilian took a deep breath as his eyes narrowed and he walked towards an abandoned cave. The cave gave a nostalgic feel to Lilian. He nonchalantly walked to the entrance when he heard someone calling him from behind. "Hey!! Who are you? How did you find your way here?" Lilian took a quick glance of the man from head to toe as he evaluated the man.
"The lowest strata." Lilian muttered immersed in his own thoughts.
The man got annoyed as he got no answer from the man before him; he took out a short sword and placed it near the other man's neck, the sword's blade touching the skin of the neck.
Lilian raised an eyebrow as he watched the sword on his neck and let out a sigh of disappointment thinking, 'why do I have to do such useless things to distract them?' He looked at the man one time as he touched the blunt side of the sword. The thug became alert by Lilian's action. He gave him a death glare but he suddenly felt a string of pain. As he looked below he found a hand piercing his left chest. The hand slowly retracted outside as red blood started gushing out faster.
Lilian moved the sword away from his neck and threw it. A smile bloomed on his face as he took the other man's hand and placed a squishy soft thing on his hand. The man looked down at his hands in horror as he fell down while Lilian walked inside the cave cleaning his hand with a handkerchief.
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As Lilian entered the cave he went into his incognito mode as he spied and searched for any traces or clues for the kidnapped children. While searching he found two men talking as they were patrolling.
Guy 1: Why did the leader decided to kidnap the kids around this time?
Guy 2: Hah....you are as stupid as one could get. Isn't it because of the five year ceremony?
Guy 1: But what if we get caught? Isn't the security tighter during this event? If we get caught I don't think they will be lenient with us. I can imagine our heads rolling.
Guy 2: You really are stupid. Do you think our leader is so ignorant he would do something foolish? He definitely has a plan, we just have to wait and see.
The guy 1 sighs as he listened to the other man as he shakes his heads.
Guy 1: ok enough of this talk. Let's go the chamber room; we have to change the shifts.
Both of them walked away and changed the shifts with the other two men who were standing guard in front of a giant gate. "You should stuff your ears with cotton; the screams of those pests are so annoying. You will get a headache if you hear it for more than ten minutes." advised one of the guards as he waved his hands while walking away from the gate.
Lilian observed and eavesdropped the whole conversation as it took place. As the two men of the four men walked away he went up to the gate in a nonchalant manner and inquired, "Hey!! What's inside that room?"
The two men were dumbfounded on seeing him but quickly collected their posture again and growled at the young man before them. He sighed at their reaction. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" The man on the right growled as he gave a death glare.
Lilian pointed towards the entrance as he told the two men, "From there and my name is Lilian."
The two men thought he was mocking them and got pissed and swung their swords but Lilian easily dodged them and moved two steps back. He let out a sigh again and smiled as he tilted his head to the side a little before disappearing. The men bewildered looked sideways in order to find him but we're interrupted with a creak sound which comes from behind them.
Lilian got near the gate and started to open it. Slowly as the door opened a little Lilian peeked inside through the small opening while pushing the door. At first he saw a small kid sitting in a chair. But as the door slowly opened he saw ten kids sitting in chairs with lifeless eyes. Their bodies were all skin and bones. Aside from the kids sitting on the chair there were some more in the cages lying down all beaten up without moving their bodies as they lied on different kinds of foul smelling liquids. A few seconds of the horrible scene was enough instill anger in Lilian.
He looked away from the kids with hand covering his mouth and nose. He looked downwards as he went back to the two men and looked up to them with disgust in his eyes. One of the men took a look behind him as his lips curved into a smirk and said, "You like it?"
Hearing that Lilian grabbed the man's hand and squeezed it hard. At first the man just raised one of his eyebrows with a questioning look but as the grip for tighter he let a cry filled with pain. He got forced to his knees. The man glanced at his comrade as if passing a message. As he looked back at Lilian as a cracking sound of bones breaking filled the hall. The other man started to run after he noticed his partner glancing at him.
But before he can run far enough some strings of black pulled him back. Both the men's movements were restricted by the rope-like strings. They tried to move but it only made it tighter.
Lilian walked up to them and took one the man's sword and slowly inserted it in the man's eyes. The man screamed in pain. A delighted smile bloomed on Lilian's face when he heard the man wail. He stabbed his kneecaps and went upwards till his waist. Repeated the process on his other leg. The man wailed in pain.
Lilian repeated the same process with the other man.
Lilian made cuts and slashed on their body in a really skillful way which maximized their pain but minimized their chances of dying.
After a 15-20 minutes when their bodies were a bloody mess and their voice coarse from all the wailing. Lilian started to chant a spell. As he completed the spell suddenly the two men's eyes which were half closed, opened wide as well as their mouths as they wanted to scream in pain but no voice escaped their mouths.
The intense pain of their internal organs burning overcame one of them. He tried to beg him to stop but he could not speak no matter how much he wanted to. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he suffered through the pain.
Lilian saw the two men suffering and said in low and threatening voice, "Where are the children you kidnapped from the central church today? Tell me where it is and I end your suffering here. Don't and then you will suffer a fate ten.....no....thousand times more crueler than this."
The man who his hand was broken by Lilian had laughed hysterically as he spoke, "Hahahahaha......so one of those snotty brats is your master but unfortunately for you they are not here yet. But don't worry; our leader will make sure that brat suffers more painful and cruel fate and torture than those garbage's there. Of course that will be after he takes care of you and that foul mouth of yours........hahahahaha."
On the contrary, to what the man thought his reaction would be, Lilian's expression became indifferent as he walked up to him and grabbed his head with his palm and pulled up his whole body with a hand.
As Lilian's hand grabbed his head and covered his eyes the man felt an intense pain as if someone was trying to crush his head with a stone while simultaneously burning his head. The man let out a cry of pain as he tried to pry off from the clutches of Lilian's hand.
Suddenly he sensed the grip loosening and he quickly, forcefully, pushes Lilian's hand away after using all of his strength. After he successfully escaped from Lilian's clutches he fell down on the floor. As he opens his eyes he slowly pushes his body back up with much efforts and he sees two legs coming towards him and looks upwards, terrified.
Lilian walked up to the man and watches him look up at him with a terrified expression. He bends down on his legs, facing the man. He raises an eyebrow as the end of his lips curved up into a smirk and says, "You like it?"
The man's arms lost all strength and fell back on the ground, hitting his head hard on the ground.
The man looked at Lilian with disdain. The man felt angry, frustrated and powerless in front of Lilian. He had now firsthand experience Lilian's cruelty. He wanted to kill him but much as he wanted to fight he couldn't even move his limbs.
After that Lilian stood up and left them as he let the other man off from his spell. Letting him fall on the ground as his face covered with tears and mucus hit the ground first.
Leaving both the men to die from the pain he inflicted on them.
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Lilian stood up and walked towards the children which were held captive. First he went to the cages where the kids were lying down and called out to them but after not getting a reply he tried shake them as he called out to them, "Hey!! Hey, kid." Still the kid did not reply to him so he concluded them to be dead. When he felt the skin cold as ice and saw no visible movement of the chest moving from breathing.
He walked towards the kids on the chairs.
He stood in front of a kid as he shakes him a little before calling out to him. The kid opened his eyes and saw him. The kid calmly looked up and saw an unfamiliar face but rather than getting shocked he looked at him with lifeless eyes and spoke up weakly, "Mister, who are you?"
Lilian seeing that the kid is alive let out a sigh of relief and answered, "I'm here to help you." He looked around the chair and magic device to find and take off the restraints on the kid. Lilian added, "What are you all doing here? Why are being held captive?"
The kid looked at Lilian with a scrutinizing look but for some reason he didn't feel any danger from him and opened, "We are being held captive here to make those magic stones. Everybody here gives magic for them." He turned his head towards the stones. Lilian looked at the stones and then traced his gaze back to the kid as he still tries to find a way to take off the restraints.
The boy suddenly speaks again, "Mister, you should run away from here as quickly as you can before they find you." Lilian understood who the kid was referring to and answered, "Don't worry I have taken care of them."
The kid was a smart one, more mature than his peers. So, he immediately understood what 'taken care' was implied to. Suddenly two crystals like tears rolled down the kid's cheeks as a weak smile bloomed on his face.
"Thank you, mister. Thank you but I.....we cannot be saved any longer. Our mana has been exhausted to the point where even if you free us, we would be nothing more than burdens to our families. The reason why most of us are here is because our families were too poor to take care of us." The kids inhales then continues, "I do not hate my family but sometimes I cannot help but curse them for selling me here, selling me to this hell. I cannot help but loathe that it was me in place of my brother or sister, they choose to abandon me. But now at the end of my life, I cannot help but pray that they live a happy life. Mister, please take all the stones here with you as our gratitude. Thank you, mister, for killing those men on our behalf, for our sake."
Lilian nodded his head "yes" in response without saying a word, looking directly at the boy. Seeing him accept his token of gratitude the kid smiled brightly as he closed his eyes.
Soon all the children who were restrained to the chairs peacefully closed their eyes after they heard the conversation between them. A bright smile covered all of their faces.
Lilian quietly walked and took all the stones respectfully. He took out a clean handkerchief from his left pocket and carefully placed them all in there before keeping it back in his pocket. After that he quietly walked out of the room.
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After getting out of the room Lilian's indifferent face had an aggrieved expression as he walked past the corpses of the two men he had just killed. After turning from the corner he met a huge army of the bandits awaiting his arrival.
Upon seeing such a welcome an evil smile covered Lilian's face as he says, "Silas, take over my body. Go berserk."
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(Hey!!! Did you like this chapter? And once again a new character is introduced. Sorry for the late update. Thank you for all the support you have given to the story.)