Chapter 273 - The Hooded Ones
"F-Fith sister...
"
His throat was so dry that just saying her name felt like swallowing blades.
He stepped on top of the severed hands and feet and reached out to her, pulling her away from the tens of thousands of other corpses.
Her bright red hair that she was so proud of had patches missing along with her scalp making a bloody scene. It seemed like someone had pulled her hair with such force that the skin itself came off.
Both her legs were bent backwads, her arms covered in bloody scratches. She was missing the nails of her fingers. Seemed like they had been pulled out.
Her ribs were poking out of her abdomen, proof of the numerous beatings she had received.
Her pretty face was perhaps the only body part left intact.
Her eyes seemed hollow and weary with dried streaks of blood stuck to the side of her face. But out of all the things, it was her expression that caught Hao Xuan's eye. It wasn't one of pain or disgust, but one of relief.
She must have been so relieved at her time of death that an expression of relief was embedded in her countenance even after the soul had left the body.
That's what hurt Hao Xuan the most. She was tortured to the point of crying bloody tears and even welcoming death with open arms.
He shook his hand and a robe appeared in his grasp which he used it to cover her up, giving her some modicum of dignity after death.
"Who....?
"
That was the only thing he wanted to know. A name, just a single name would be enough to get started. To start a bloody massacre from one side of the kingdom to another.
*Beep*
Baracus's hesitant voice rang in his ears, waking him from his daze.
"Something....is coming.
"
He gently laid down her body near the edge of the platform and closed her eyes.
He wiped the tears from the side of her face with his shirt with a half-smile on his face. A smile that would send shivers down the spine of everyone that was unfortunate enough to witness it.
"Don't worry, they will not have an easy death. The ones that did this to you, not a single one of them will have a complete corpse by the time I'm done with them. I'll show them what real pain is.
"
He whispered into her ears as if she could actually hear him. But it wasn't for her, it was more of a promise to himself.
With a wave of his hand her body disappeared. He couldn't leave her in this wretched place and carrying it out while fighting would not be feasible, so he stored it away in a storage ring.
He stood up and looked at the innumerable other corpses in front of him. Most of them were in an even worse condition, missing limbs and whatnot.
The more he looked at them, the colder his eyes became. There was an entire pile of corpses on the side made up of children. And it seemed like they had been treated the same as the others.
*Tap*Tap*Tap*
Sound of footsteps came from behind him. He turned around to face the source of the noise. It seemed like it was a group of 10-15 people coming his way.
He held out his hand and the glaive which had been laying on the platform starting shaking and suddenly flew into his grasp. (Imagine Thor calling Mjolnir)
This was one of the many perks of having a living weapon.
Living weapons could understand and respond to their master's wishes. When the bond between the user and the weapon was strong enough, they could even take human forms.
After stepping into the Spirit Realm, information regarding many such abilities had become available to him. Every now and then he could even hear whispers from the glaive, it seemed like it was eager to speak up but couldn't right now.
With the glaive in his hand, he stepped as far back from the platform as possible while still maintaining visual on it, i.e at the edge of his now 37-meter radius line of sight.
When he held the glaive, everything he was currently feeling was passed onto it. The overwhelming bloodlust coursed through it, making it shake with delight. Because what kind of a weapon wouldn't like killing? Weapons were made to take the lives of others and right now, that's all Hao Xuan wanted.
He took in a deep breath to calm himself down, or as much as he could in a situation like this.
His two hearts slowed down their beating. It was slower but much more forceful than before. It felt like mini-explosions were taking place inside his chest. Whenever he was ready to attack, they would give him a burst of energy to lay waste to everything in front of him.
"Relax, let them get closer,
" he whispered to Black when he saw his body start to expand.
Black looked at Hao Xuan and nodded hesitantly. Being so close to him, he could also feel his raw emotions that were like a dark cloud hovering atop his head.
Black's body which was now about 4 meters long coiled around Hao Xuan's chest, waiting to pounce at the incoming targets.
As they came closer, Hao Xuan could hear them chatting with one another.
There were two different groups of people with black hoods hiding their faces.
The ones on the right were about 7 people with 1 in the front, probably their leader. And the ones on the left were about 10 people with 2 in the front.
The ones in the lead were loudly arguing with another other.
"Goddamnit, how did they even escape? Who was on duty tonight?
" the one of the right asked.
"I don't f*cking know man,
" one of the 2 on the left replied while waving his hand like it wasn't any of his business.
"The seniors aren't gonna be happy about this.
"
"What can we do now? There's only so long we can hold back the mortal armies so we have to make a move right now.
"
"F*ck! It took us so long to make this place. This was going to be the next headquarters for this entire region.
"
"I know, but what's done is done. Get moving, remove all the evidence.
"
"Has the cover story been written up already?
"
"Yeah, we're saying that it was the work of those new humans that came in a few years back.. We even captured a few of them already.
"