Ch 53 – One's Redemption

"Let's go! It's time to hunt that bitch down."

'IT'S TIME!' He thought. His eyes widened as his face contorted into a wicked smile. Garth pulled his sword out of his scabbard as he ran behind Gahan. His sword screeched as it was forcefully pulled from it, disregarding the metal railings on top. Yet the bearer indulged in the agonizing sound. As he reached the room, almost a hundred goblins awaited him and his commander.

His lips contorted as his sword drew and arc upwards, splatting blood in the air in front of him. His once wicked smile morphed into something even more outrageous as his body swayed side to side on its own, severing corpses.

"DIE, DIE, DIE!" He yelled as his arms became covered in blood that constantly dripped down from the pummel of his sword. He knew how not to, but he didn't care. Not anymore.

'KILL THEM ALL! KI-L, L IiIiTtt A.L-L!' His mind began collapsing as his thoughts became unraveled.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!" A hysterical laugh escaped his lips as a goblin stabbed his arm with a dagger, piercing through his armor. He swung his arm around with inhumane force, ripping the dagger out with sheer momentum as the goblin who yielded it flew into another. blood dripped from the cut in his armor, that now went from slightly under his shoulder all the way to his elbow. Yet he seemed unfazed. Blood now covered his face as he beheaded a pair of goblins ahead of him. His vision painted red as the blood seeped into his eyes.

"DIE-AHAAHDIEAHA!" Words became incomprehensible as they merged with his crazed laughter. Ten, twenty, thirty, he did not know how many he'd already killed. Yet, it didn't matter. He trampled the head of the goblin who stabbed his leg with his bare and injured foot, making brain-matter fly all over the floor.

His vision painted completely red. He couldn't see anymore, yet he continued to brandish his sword feasting on the sound of flesh being ripped apart and the sensation of blood falling over him.

' - - - - - ' He could no longer even think.

Garth, now turned berserk, flew into the crowd of Goblins. His sword cutting through them like grass. Yet, the dying goblins wouldn't simply die. Their arms turned impossible directions, piercing his armor. Hundreds of stabs. Yet he wouldn't stop killing.

"Wha-" His consciousness came back, almost like a mirage, as he stumbled backwards in insurmountable pain.

"GHAAAAA!" He screamed in pain as a blade stabbed him in the spine, paralyzing him for a split second.

"GARTH!?"

"GHUG! GLUG!" Gahan's call was the last thing he heard, but only wet gurgling came out from his mouth. His now corpse, jugulated by the blades of two goblins, falling down to the floor.

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*klink* * klack*

"GET OUT! NOW! HURRY!"

"Huh?!" The surprised women stared blankly at Kyle as the cage opened in the middle of the night.

"I SAID GET OUT! DO YOU WANNA DIE?"

The women hurried out of the cage, the sounds of metal clashing could be heard in the distance. The last one to come out was Haya, dragging Koan by the arm, who walked behind her with a blank stare, almost like a living corpse.

"Come! Run!" Kyle didn't waste a single second, running the opposite way the fight was taking place. Followed closely by the prisoners.

"Thank you." Haya said, as she ran behind him.

"Don't thank me. Thank them!" He said, pointing back towards the darkness. "They are gonna die so we can live." A pair of tears flowed out from his eyes as he swallowed the bitter meaning of the words he just said.

"..." Haya had no words to answer this, and they silently ran away, guided only by the light of the moon.

"We, should stop to rest, now." After almost a full hour running, Kyle finally collapsed on the ground.

Behind him, all four women also dropped to the floor, exhausted. The fifth was still as expressionless as ever, despite breathing heavily, and only sat when pulled by the arm by Haya. After grabbing her breath for a pair of minutes, Haya was the first to speak.

"What happened? Why did you release us?"

"Goblins."

"Goblins? The weak monster?"

"You don't get it! Hundreds! Thousands of them!"

"Are you not just giving a pretense to then sell us?"

"I wouldn't do that... Not after what I just saw." Kyle braced himself shivering, as he recalled the words from his colleagues. "They are going the way the rest went... They won't last long if the goblins find them anyways. I'm better off getting your help and bringing you to safety somehow... At least I hope I can do it."

"Are you fucking kidding?! How the fuck can you say that to us after all you guys made us go through!"

"Silence, Lea!" Haya's order silenced the woman immediately. "I don't know what happened and why you were forced to do what you did, but if you say we can trust you from now on you have to give me some proof, else we might as well kill you right now." With her words, two of the maids restrained his arms while Lea slid his arms over his head, the chains between her hands pressing on his neck.

Yet, he did not resist. Haya waved her hand, making the maids let go of him. Kyle prostrated himself on the ground, his knees folded and his head touching the floor in dogeza.

"I apologize, My Queen. This humble servant was unable to prevent any of those things."

"Huh... So you know who I am."

"Yes, My Queen. I'm from Kaimon as well." He raised his body, going back to Seiza. "All I can offer you are these." From under his armor, Kyle pulled four small scabbards. In each, there was an iron dagger, the proof of his intention. He'd rushed to grab those as soon as he was woken up by Barkus. 'Barkus... Thank you for saving my ass...' He thanked his now dead friend as he handed the daggers to the Queen.

"It seems you do intend to help. I'll trust you for now."

"Thank you... We should get going soon, the Goblins may sense our smell."

"Sure thing."