CHAPTER 125(The Final Piece)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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CHAPTER START---

Hidden in the thick treeline at the far end of a small lake, the Trifecta remain still as they wait for time to pass, in the middle of the lake with a wooden bridge leading to it is a traditional Japanese castle.

A stone foundation rising from the water holding a five-story building, traditional tiled rooves of dark grey with white walls and black windows.

Under the dark night sky, they can see torches lit in some of the windows, some guards carrying torches as they patrol the grounds, but all they cared about was the top floor. The single chamber on the top floor was where Warlord Maru rests, the convoy had only just returned to the castle, it's only a matter of time before they had their chance to strike.

"This is your mission Yang so take point," Thalie says softly, catching both Yang and Welf off guard.

"Uh... isn't this your kinda thing, I'm the dungeon guy not the people person," he reminds her.

"Yeah and that's fine, but I need to see how you approach things like this, all you have to do is infiltrate the castle, that's easy enough since the top floor has windows and these guys are mostly level one, then interrogate Maru and get the Vitality Crystal, easy..."

"When you say it like that yeah it sounds easy, but...I just think you should take the lead and let me back you up."

At this point Welf cuts them off, "the light just went out, Maru is probably asleep," he points out as they look toward the now dimly lit top floor.

"Trial by fire Yang, I'm not showing up until you fuck up, go," Thalie commands as she nods to the castle.

"Fuck...I've got a bad feeling about this," he says before wrapping cloth black cloth around his head leaving only his eyes exposed as Thalie does the exact same. Crawling on his belly he quietly descends into the water, quickly swimming over to the castle in the black water, not using any magic on the off chance that someone detects it or spots his extremely distinct magic.

Arriving at the stone foundation of the castle, Yang digs his fingers into the sides to make handholds with brute force, climbing up the side of the wall.

Glancing down as he arrives at the top of the foundation where the wall of a room begins, he sees Thalie using his newly made holds and climbing below him.

Taking a deep breath he pulls himself up harshly, generating enough force to fling himself high enough to land on the lowest tile roof.

*CRACK*

He looks down to see one of the tiles he stepped on snap under his weight as he fails at landing gently enough to avoid it. Wincing at the noise he looks over his shoulder to see Thalie giving him a raised brow, as if to ask 'Seriously?' at his accident.

'We can't all be ninjas,' he thinks while shaking his head.

Looking at his feet he very carefully and slowly steps at the meeting points of the tiles to avoid any more cracks, eventually making it all the way to the wooden ridge of the roof. A foot-wide square post connecting both sides of the tile roof that Thalie was already waiting atop as he steps onto it.

Leaping through the air to the very top of the castle, arcing through the air as quickly as he can Yang arrives outside the window of Warlord Maru, seconds later he feels a tap on his shoulder, looking to his right he sees Thalie there giving him an annoyed look with her eyes.

Deciding to bring it up later, he removes a dagger and slides it between the wooden shudders, easily opening the simple hook lock and allowing him to enter the room.

Seeing only one candle lit the well-furnished room, a single body sleeping in a large bed with four tall bedposts, oddly western for an otherwise traditional Japanese castle. Large wooden beams in the ceiling keeping up the roof above, looking around once more before stepping inside he sees nothing to indicate a trap. Jewelry scattered across the dresser and a few katana's on the walls. Some female clothes and underwear in the corner as well as female samurai armor on an armor stand. A purple and red flower pattern spreading across the intricate plates.

Looking over to Thalie and giving her a nod, he removes a piece of cloth and slowly steps into the room through the window.

As he creeps his way over to the bed, Thalie leans against the wall out on the roof and keeps an ear out for any activity.

Prepared to subdue his target, he creeps over to the bed only to pause, seeing a purple-haired woman laying in the bed sleeping peacefully.

Looking around for Warlord Maru, his eyes fall onto the armor once more before tracking back to the woman, her neck had the same purple flower tattoo the armor had, Warlord Maru was a woman it seems.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Yang quickly lunges at her, immediately capturing her mouth with the cloth and gagging her as she struggles and fights to break his grip, lifting her into the air by her head before easily holding both her arms with one hand, a level one had no chance if any level 6 decided to restrain them after all, this was too easy for him.

After tying her hands together and gagging her, Yang sits her up on a chair from her room before standing in front of her. Her white robe keeping her modest as gorgeous purple eyes glare at him with hate and venom. He steels his nerves for what's to come next.

"Warlord Maru, I need the Vitality Crystal, my source informed me you have it here, hand it over and I'll leave and we can pretend this never happened," he says in a calm tone. His voice was low enough for her to hear but not enough to travel to the other end of the room, "understand?"

Hearing his question, she nods her head hesitantly, she appeared to want to live more than anything else.

Reaching forward he slides the cloth gagging her down just enough to see her pearly white perfect teeth between soft pink lips.

"Where is it?" he asks once more, narrowing his eyes at her.

"G---!" she tries to scream, only for him to cover her mouth with his hand at a speed far too great for her to track.

Her eyes open in shock, she'd been calm before, expecting this just to be another rival warlord attacking, but this person was strong, too strong to be anyone currently in the far east, they only had a handful of level two adventurers after all, and she was one of them.

"Try that again and you'll regret it," his voice was almost a growl as he glares down at her, "now we're going to try that again, one chance, tell me where the crystal is or I'm gonna kill you."

Removing his hand once more from her mouth, she seems to think it over, looking up at him as if she were peering into his soul.

"You'll have to kill me," she growls out before spitting on his boots.

'Damn it,' he groans internally while reaching out and grabbing her neck, slowly tightening his grip, and lifts her off the chair. "Let me know when you're ready to talk..." he mutters to the woman as she feels her airways compress.

Looking down at him defiantly, daring him to keep this going, she doesn't even struggle in his grasp as she just stares down at him, refusing to give him any satisfaction.

As her eyes are about to close, Yang drops her back into the chair, she gasps harshly, air feeling like swallowing razor blades as she breathes in greedily to fill her lungs.

"Ready to talk now?" he asks, leaning down to be face to face with her.

Looking up to meet his gaze, she leans back in the chair and gives him a cocky smile, ignoring the pain caused by the handprint on her neck.

"Heh, knew you wouldn't do it, just another pussy trying to play assassin," she chuckles lowly as he furrows his brows.

As the light from the candle hits her face, Yang sees the beautiful woman giggling to herself, she looked not much older than him as he took the time to study her. Taking another deep breath he tries to keep them back on track.

"Tell me where the Vitality Crystal is or I will kill you, last chance."

Looking up at him and batting her eyelashes at him, she gives him a teasing grin, "awe, you're cute when you try to be tough... but I don't think you'd just kill a beauty like me," she says before leaning back in her chair and relaxing, "make me an offer and I might sell it to you, might give you a bonus too," she licks her lips seductively before giving him a small wink.

Getting annoyed at her attitude, Yang decides to try once more, " Give me the crystal or---."

"Or what?" This time Thalie is the one who speaks as she casually enters through the window, "you already failed so just stand back," she sighs deeply while gesturing for him to step back which he gladly does," you overpromised and didn't follow through, she won't take you seriously now."

Seeing the new person, Maru immediately feels her blood run cold, she'd be running out of the room if she could. The man who restrained her was definitely powerful, but he handled her with hesitation. He was gentle even when trying to threaten her and that removed any fear from her, but the newcomer was too casual in this situation to be anything but bad news.

Seeing Maru being quiet, Thalie walks over to the woman's desk and takes her chair, positioning it opposite Maru and sitting herself down to look directly at the woman, almost close enough for their knees to touch.

Looking back at Yang for a moment she signals for him to stand beside her before she gives Maru her full attention, "sorry about my friend, he's new...I'm not, where is the crystal?" Her voice was calm, she didn't need to make any threats, anyone with a survival instinct could tell she was dangerous.

Cold sweat began forming on Maru's forehead and she stared forward that the woman, brown eyes peered into her purple, that was all she could see between the layers of cloth wrapping Thalie's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Maru bites out, adamant to keep her composure.

Immediately Thalie reaches forward, without a word she cups the woman's chin with one hand while forcing her other hand into her mouth, two fingers grab one of her teeth and pull.

*CRACK!*

The tooth shatters, only half of it coming out at Maru screams into Thalie's hand that moved to muffle her cries.

"Now look what you made me do... see I need you to talk, so I'll avoid the teeth, but you can experience that 31 more times before we leave if that's what it takes alright, that gives you maybe 43 chances total," Thalie says as the woman slowly begins to calm down, using all her training to maintain her composure under the immense pain.

Yang cringed at the sight, trying to keep his cool but already failing at the brutal tactic Thalie used, he felt his gut twist as the blood runs down Maru's lips, her whimpers quickly fading away as she tries to put back on her Warlord demeanor for them.

"Now," Thalie speaks once more," about that crystal... anything you wanna tell me?" she tilts her head slightly not unlike a puppy trying to get a treat.

"Mmmm," Maru can feel shards of her tooth in her mouth, searing pain like a white-hot nail in her gum, a mouth flooded with blood, "no," she bites out harshly before clamping her teeth together. She knew it wouldn't make any difference with the strength of these people, but she wouldn't make it easy for them, no matter how little her resistance.

"It's ok, your mouth is hurting I understand," Thalie says in a calm voice, casually reaching out and taking Maru's hands quicker than she can jerk them away, "42 chances left," she says softly before the tearing and cracking sound of her index finger being torn off is heard.

Thalie immediately puts her hand over the girl's mouth to muffle her cries.

Yang felt sick at the scene, immediately moving his eyes to the open window and trying to ignore what has happening. This was why Thalie took the lead when dealing with people. He couldn't become a cold-blooded killer like most adventurers without a reason, if Maru was opposing him in one way or another he'd have no problems with killing her. But torture was too much for him. He was glad there was a professional on his team.

"Now Maru... you understand what happens when you run out of options right?" Thalie asks in a soothing voice, like a mother talking to her child, a comforting tone that completely betrays the current situation, carefully selected.

Hearing the calming voice, Maru felt relieved for a moment. Maybe if she just gave it up then she'd be fine. All she had to do was give it up and this will all be over. This woman would leave her alone.

Her mind wanted to believe the honeyed voice, but the pain in her body told her otherwise, "What crystal?" she whimpers out, the pain of speaking causing her eyes to get watery.

With a deep sigh Thalie leans forward and places a hand on Maru's lap, "you're such a pretty girl, and you must be smart to be a warlord... you really should know better than lying to me," she immediately reaches into the girl's mouth and pulls another tooth out, this time clearly extracting it from the gum.

Her hand muffles the girl's pained screams, blood dripping down her hand and the girl's chin to stain the white robes. Tears flowing freely as Maru struggles against her hand, desperate to get out of this hell.

"41 chances left sweetie, c'mon now don't make me hurt you anymore, I don't like this any more than you do," Thalie pleads with the girl, "just give me the crystal and we'll leave."

Feeling the girl stop shaking in her hand, Thalie removes her hand and wipes it on Maru's robes. The girl shuts her eyes tight to help deal with the pain, instinctively jerking back at the gentle touch on her robe, fear eroding her resolve, pain eroding her reasoning, Thalie's soothing voice and honeyed words confusing her mind and tugging on her will.

"I...the crystal, I can't give it to you...please," she begs, keeping her eyes shut and turning her head away, trying to get her mouth as far away as she can while pulling her hands away.

"Ahh, so you do have it," Thalie's eyes narrow at the girl, "you lied to me," she sounded hurt at the realization. A fake tone so perfect it sent a chill down Yang's spine, she really was a master at this kind of thing.

"N-no no, please I-I, please, I didn't mean to," Maru begs, sobbing unabatedly, ugly crying as she realizes her error.

Slowly resting a hand on Maru's knee, Thalie's calm voice was heard once more," do you think I like punishing you Maru... I don't want to hurt you but you keep making me hurt you, please stop making me hurt you," she releases a deep sigh before putting on a hurt voice," you lied to me, you looked me right in my face, you saw how genuine I was and you lied...I can't cut your tongue out Maru," the girl's eyes snap open at those words, that's what she expected," but you stared right at me with those big, beautiful, purple eyes..."

Maru immediately tries to jump up and get away only for Thalie to stand and pull her into a hug, holding her in the air by her neck before she even knew what was happening.

Lifting Maru off the ground so she could be eye to eye with Thalie's 6ft2 height, Maru and Yang are surprised by the genuinely hurt look on Thalie's face as she slowly moves her hand toward the girl's right eye.

Yang looks away as Maru struggle valiantly, only for two fingers to reach into her eye socket and tear the entire eyeball out. Thalie drops the organ to the floor immediately and covers the girl's mouth, pulling her into her chest and hugging her while keeping the screams muffled.

Maru felt more pain in the last 10 minutes than her entire life put together, even for living in The Far East, this was true hell.

"Shhh, shhh, it's ok," Thalie whispers softly as she gently pets the girls head as she bawls into her hand, resting Maru against her chest," please don't make me hurt you Maru, you're so beautiful, it'd be a waste to hurt you, you can be so much better than this... no more lies, ok?"

Shaking her head against Thalie, Maru indicates she wouldn't lie anymore, she just wanted this to be over.

"Good girl," Thalie gently kisses the top of the girl's head while gently rubbing her back, "now just tell me where the crystal is and we can leave alright, and I'll never bother you again..."

Weakly leaning away from Thalie, the woman removes her hand from Maru's mouth.

"In my sword handle," she nods toward her sword on the wall, the purple Katana beside her armor.

Looking over at Yang, Thalie realizes he looks as if he's about to be sick," check the sword," she commands, immediately snapping him out of his daze as he walks over and snaps the handle.

With a soft snap, the false handle, hollow wood, breaks in two, and out falls a small green crystal, glowing brightly with magical energy. Yang reacts quickly and catches it before it shatters on the floor, holding it up to Thalie for her to see.

Turning back to the girl and pulling her back into her chest once more, Thalie gently strokes her hair as she puts on her soothing, motherly voice once more," I'm proud of you Maru, you did good... does anyone else know where it was?" she asks.

"Mmm mmm," the girl groans out, shaking her head to signal 'No'.

"Alright, we'll leave you alone now ok," Thalie says as she releases her hold on the girl.

As Maru looks up with her one good eye and an empty, bloody eye socket, blood pouring out of her mouth and from her missing digit on her hand, she sees Thalie's soft eyes completely devoid of emotion, back to being cold and dangerous.

"Ngh---" is all Maru can get out before Thalie reaches both hands into the girl's mouth, shattering most of her teeth as she pulls at her lower and upper jaw separately.

A wet tearing sound is heard after a loud cracking of bones and she completely tears both the girl's jaws off, instantly killing her.

Hearing a wrenching sound in the room, Thalie's head immediately snaps over to Yang as he's struggling to keep his lunch down, leaning against the window desperately trying to get some fresh air and not focus on the mangled corpse of the previously beautiful girl.

"The rival clan executes high-value targets like that, can't leave any loose ends," Thalie casually says before walking over to him, "take the whole sword we'll dump the useless pieces somewhere," she says before stepping out of the window as he places it in his inventory with the crystal.

Swimming through the lake once more and arriving at Welf's position with no complications, the man immediately greets them.

"How'd it go?" he asks, only for Yang to stumble past him and pulls his cloth face wrap down, emptying his stomach onto the forest floor.

Seeing this Thalie only gives him an annoyed eye roll," so dramatic, it wasn't that bad, you've done a lot worse things to monsters...and she was a literal warlord," she points out.

Wiping his mouth and ignoring the confusion on Welf's face, Yang walks back to his team and looks directly at Thalie," you're really fucking good at your job, but that was every kind of fucked up," seeing Welf about to ask a question he immediately turns to the man," I don't wanna talk about it..." he says quickly before beginning their walk to the ship.

"Why aren't any women in this world fucking normal..."

END CHAPTER---

Thalie can kill you physically and emotionally...gotta love a woman who can do both :/