Eyes of a Devil

[So... you're gonna kill him where he stands, right?]

'No... I don't think I will...'

[What? Why?] -Aralis sometimes couldn't guess what went inside her Master's mind.

'Where would be the fun in that?'

With a regal tone, Leylin said: "I don't believe you're being honorable with that request, good Ourin..." -Leylin put his hands behind his back and straightened his posture, making his submissive demeanor a thing of the past.

"HA! Honor?! A piece of shit like you can't preach to ME about honor! Give me your magic crystals, or I'll carve you like a cake!" -Ourin drew out his extravagant cutlass and pointed it at Leylin menacingly.

"I just have one question... How do you think the black robes and Magi would take to one of us murdering a fellow acolyte?" -Leylin asked, not moving anything except his mouth.

"Do you honestly think they'd care if you died by my hand?! Don't be ridiculous! They couldn't be bothered the last time we beat you, so why would finishing the job make it any different?!" -Ourin's smirk carried all the arrogance that a body of his size could hold.

"Your argument sure is hard to refute..." -Leylin then started chuckling out of nowhere.

"What's so fun-- !" -Ourin was about to taunt his prey but something caught him off guard.

Leylin's silhouette had vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was already behind Ourin.

Not saying a word, a fierce kick was thrown out by the Farlier heir. Packing great strength, it propelled into Ourin's waist area.

The redhead felt an intense force coming from Leylin's boot, as it sent his body flying away as if he were a bag of straws.

Ourin fell to the ground, severe pain coming from his gut which made his eyes turn slightly red.

"You dared...! You fucking dared! You actually dared to hurt me! Aagh, you're dead!" -Ourin ferociously stood up with blood-thirsty eyes.

'Is this the advantage of having a superior constitution?' -Seeing how the kick that should've broken some ribs had instead done almost nothing to Ourin, Leylin's pupils shrank.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!" -Ourin waved his cutlass around like a violent black bear. Trying by whatever means to chop down his enemy.

Leylin flashed sideways, dodging Ourin's blade each time. When Ourin's cutlass pricked the small tree behind him, it actually left a deep dent. A strength of 1.7 was not a trivial matter.

'I can dance around with this chimp for a bit longer.' -Leylin mused with a confident smirk.

Ourin wanted Leylin's head and he wouldn't give up in his onslaught. Eventually getting up close to Leylin, he saw the chance to decapitate him.

The redhead beast threw a powerful slash at Leylin's nape, one that under normal circumstances would be impossible to dodge.

'I got him!' -Thought Ourin.

Leylin, on his part, saw this coming five moves ago.

The Farlier heir immediately crouched down moving his feet away from each other, eluding the furious Ourin's lunge.

The onlookers and Ourin himself were left stupefied by this act.

Leylin took this chance to retreat with immense speed.

'Yet another flaw in his defense... *Sigh* I think it's time to start doing some damage.'

Leylin's figure continuously flickered, dodging Ourin's attacks while also getting closer once again.

"So predictable... Even with all that strength and those big muscles, to me, you're nothing but a kid with a blade, little Ourin..."

As Leylin could still speak whilst dodging, it showed that he was holding back. He didn't take this fight seriously.

The spectating youths all opened their mouths in confusion.

"This...! Is this the same Leylin from before?! He... How did he become so powerful?!" -One of the flunkies said incredulously.

Just then, under everyone's expressions of disbelief, Leylin threw out a precise yet deadly strong punch. It hit below Ourin's armpit with his entire strength.

Ourin, following the attack, fell to the ground with a pained expression. He wouldn't be getting up for a while after the internal injury he had sustained.

Leylin's full strength was at least 1.5 and wasn't very different from Ourin's. Furthermore, the place that he had hit was also a weak spot; it was unprotected by any muscle and close to his lung.

Ourin was left out of combat, his eyes filling with tears as he growled: "You're dead for sure! My House Dorlan will not let you off! And we're a House of Counts!"

Leylin remained indifferent towards Ourin's threat, and even gave the redhead another full-force kick in the same area where his fist had struck.

Ourin curled himself up like a prawn, coughing some blood. Tears began streaming down his face nonstop.

Leylin squatted down and stared at Ourin wearing an ear-to-ear smile: "It was you who drew first blood in this petty feud of ours. Not to mention, you just tried to extort and assassinate me, unprovoked..."

"Therefore, I believe I have the right to demand reimbursement, according to the noble's code of conduct... Am I correct, little Ourin?"

At that moment, Leylin's sneer looked like an endless well of suffering and despair. If one were to fall onto it, there would be no salvation.

Suddenly, Ourin felt as though he was being observed by the eyes of a devil.

"Yes yes yes, my Lord Leylin! Please have mercy on this poor noble!" -Ourin heeded the killing intent in Leylin's words.

The anger that was formerly surging in his head had completely vanished, having been replaced with tremendous fear. Bloodthirst was replaced by survival instincts.

"And what price, do pray tell, would you put on your life?" -Leylin grabbed Ourin's right hand with both of his.

"Huh?! I-I mean... I would give you half of my magic crystals!" -Ourin tried his best to get out of this with minimum losses.

"Are you trying to bargain with me, little Ourin?" -Leylin kept a friendly and soft tone in his voice, as he took Ourin's thumb and bent it backward gradually in a horrendous crack.

"AAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!" -Ourin's cries of pain echoed across the nearby land, despite it being nothing more than desert and bushes.

"I can see you need a bigger incentive." -Leylin took the other four fingers and passed the same treatment as the thumb. One by one in quick succession.

*Crack!*

*Crack!*

*Crack!*

*Crack!*

"AAAAAAAAHH NOOO!!! I BEG YOU!!! STOP!!!" -Ourin kept his desperate shrieks for commiseration.

Meanwhile, his lackeys stood frozen in place. None dared to act or even speak against such cruelty being inflicted on their supposed leader.

"One hand left..." -Leylin retained his honeyed tone and lively grin.

"NO! I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING! MY CRYSTALS, YOU CAN HAVE THEM! ALL OF THEM! " -Ourin finally played his last card.

"That's more like it." -Leylin released the other hand and stood up.

After a few moments, Ourin managed to recover some sense of composure. Probably thanks to his preparatory Knight status only.

"I-I will give you my magic crystals! B-But I left them in the carriage... You can follow me back to get them..." -Ourin said in resignation.

*Sigh* "Maybe I was going too easy on you because you were a Count's son? It's fine, that can be remedied." -Leylin dropped his smile and took a tiny flask out of his satchel.

"W-What do you mean?! Please, no more!" -Ourin felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"You really like to play dumb, don't you? You 'left your magic crystals in the carriage'? Do you perhaps assume I am stupid?" -Leylin's tone was no longer sweet, but it remained calm nonetheless.

For such a valuable and scarce commodity as magic crystals were, to leave them in the unsafe confinement of a shared carriage; this notion was too ludicrous.

"No! I was-- !" -Ourin wanted to explain himself, but a strange blue liquid was already being poured on top of his crotch area.

The liquid almost instantly made contact with his skin through the layers of fabric that covered it.

"This is something your Goddess Bessita gifted me for the troubles she caused me. She said to use it only on the lowest of existences, considering its effect was very powerful... Tell me Ourin, how does it feel to have your cock burning as if it were on fire?" -Leylin once again lied shamelessly, and his gentle yet wicked laugh from before the fight had returned.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" -At this point, the hapless redhead couldn't even articulate anything that was not a piercing scream.

Ourin continued like this for several minutes, twisting and turning in the ground helplessly; until his voice finally broke and every tear on his body had dried up. He ended up fainting with a look etched on his face that resembled a victim of the Medusa.

As for Ourin's lackeys, they were the same as before, except some of them had already wet their own pants from horror.

Releasing a contented breath, Leylin crouched down once again next to Ourin.

'Aralis, can you tell me where the crystals are?'

[Yeah, they're in a bag hidden under his shirt... These things emit a small amount of radiation, comparable to an X-ray gen... Must be some kind of energy source...]

'Radiation? We must get back to this topic later...'

Not wasting any more time, Leylin searched the now-unconscious redhead and forthwith took out a golden-colored pouch from under his bosom.

Leylin gave it a calculating inspection.

This was a palm-sized pouch made with gold and silver threads. In the center of it was a picture of an eagle and a shield, surrounded by many plants. It appeared to be the Dorlan family symbol.

Leylin opened the pouch carefully and found a dozen of purplish-black crystals that glowed faintly.

"I'll go ahead and claim these as my compensation for past offenses. I trust that no one here has any objections?" -Leylin peered around the area, and directly at the members of Ourin's gang. None dared to even look him in the eye.

"Great! Then there's only you guys left..." -Leylin smirked once more.

At his words, the rest of Ourin's flunkies shot up their heads and began trembling. It was their turn.

Leylin studied the nobles' reactions. They all had their hands tightly clenched into fists. Some were still having sphincter problems, and others appeared close to losing consciousness.

Seeing this, Leylin couldn't help but lightly shake his head in an amused way.

"Rest assured, friends! I won't inflict any harm upon you. I won't take any of your magic crystals either." -Leylin raised his hand in an appeasing gesture.

"Thank you, my Lord Leylin! Your compassion knows no bounds!" -Hearing Leylin's assurance, the noble youths all felt relieved and immediately kneeled in one leg.

"However! I ask for another form of payment..." -Leylin looked at the first youth to have bowed to him.

"That cross blade on your waist is acceptable, for instance." -Leylin got closer to the teen, who looked frightened out of his wits.

Leylin then subtly pointed with his head to the cross blade at the youth's waist.

Having understood the hint, the youth hastily replied: "My Lord Leylin, you can have it! It's yours!"

"Haha, I won't hold back then." -Leylin took the cross blade from the youth. After gauging its weight, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

As a high noble's sword, the craftsmanship of this weapon was impeccable.

The hilt of the sword was decorated with beautiful flower patterns to prevent it from slipping from the hand. The scabbard was made from the skin of sharks, giving it a luxurious feeling.

Soon enough, Leylin once again stood in front of the scared nobles after taking loot from each and all of them. Mostly small trinkets and some gold coins.

"It has been an unpleasant day for us all, believe it or not... I didn't want this to happen, but alas, little Ourin couldn't tell right from wrong... Consequently, this honorable son of House Farlier had no choice but to teach him a hard lesson. Hopefully, the same lesson won't have to be reissued?" -Leylin raised a brow.

"You have taught us all a lesson of humility and honor! We shall never forget it, my Lord!" -One teen exclaimed hurriedly.

"Certainly, we wouldn't betray your goodwill by performing evil acts again!" -Another boy yelled, thinking that he was lucky not to have suffered the same fate as his former hero.

"Good to know. I'll be off, then..." -And with that, Leylin turned to leave while holding his newly acquired items close to his chest and some inside his satchel.

His easygoing attitude made it look as if Leylin was coming back from a picnic.