Bitter end

After taking care of the criminals, ensuring they could not pose a threat or contact anyone, Cain and Levi removed several metallic containers from the truck's trailer.

Levi scanned the barcodes and confirmed that those were the ones stolen from Rouk City. A smile appeared on the duo's faces once they confirmed that.

Now that Cain and Levi had apprehended the criminals and recovered the stolen goods, their mission was over. They needed to return to the Lightning Imperial Fort and reclaim their reward.

"It will take some time for the military truck to reach this place, and they will not go anywhere. We should check the cave where they came from."

Cain could see the greedy light in Levi's eyes, and the same thing appeared in his. The criminals were in a hurry to escape and might have left something valuable hidden inside the cave.

Although neither Cain nor Levi dared to think of taking something from the containers, the possessions of these criminals were entirely different. Levi's space ring already contained the staff and sword from the Level 3 Essence Wave Warriors.

Levi and Cain had large smiles as they flashed toward the cave. Even if the chances were small, the idea of great wealth enticed the youths.

However, the moment they entered the cave, the smiles of Cain and Levi were replaced by utter shock.

The cave was mostly empty, except for two bodies. The criminals had thoroughly burned them, leaving nothing but their bones.

Cain and Levi had seen their fair share of death, so it was odd for some corpses to affect them that way. Their minds froze because those bodies were small, really small.

Cain took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself as he used the [Pseudo-Cellular Analysis] tool on the corpses. Just as the information was about to reach him, he heard Apex's voice in his mind.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Apex's words only made Cain's suspicions grow, and a sharp light appeared in his eyes as he nodded.

After obtaining the confirmation, the System Spirit no longer interfered.

[Scan of targets completed.

---

Both corpses belong to female humans. The bone analysis puts one's age at ten years and the other at eleven.

Severe damage to the pelvic bones on both bodies. Most likely the result of ra...]

'Enough!' Cain shouted in his mind, not letting the Absolute Life Forms System continue. His heart beat faster and faster as a sense of absolute bloodlust invaded his mind.

Cain was trying to control himself as the desire to kill burned in his veins. Yet, when he detected a scent in the bodies, his emotions went out of control, clouding his mind.

Bloodlust overflowed his eyes as he flashed out of the cave. He reached the criminals very fast and immediately detected the one whose scent had impregnated those bodies.

Cain appeared next to the unconscious middle-aged Level 3 Essence Wave Warrior and stomped his head.

"Crack!" The sound of bones shattering echoed through the forest. The man was still alive, but his face was completely deformed.

Nevertheless, that was far from enough to calm Cain, who raised his leg again, intending to shatter the middle-aged man's skull with the next stomp.

Just as Cain was about to kill the criminal, someone grabbed his shoulder and threw him back.

Cain regained control over his body immediately. The bloodlust in his eyes exploded as he saw Levi standing in his way.

Levi's eyes narrowed as he saw Cain's killing intent. The feeling he now got from the blue-eyed youth was that of a feral beast.

Deep down, Cain did not want to contain that rage. That is why his emotional outburst was so strong as to be willing to go through Levi to kill the middle-aged man.

Levi frowned as he saw where things were going. He could win against Cain since he still had around twenty percent of his Astral Wave left. However, the battle would not be easy, and he was certainly not willing to risk it for someone that disgusted him.

"Death is too easy. Remember the price people like this garbage pays once convicted."

Cain's eyes widened as he heard Levi's words, and a cold smile slowly emerged on his face as the bloodlust in his eyes vanished.

The Godslayer Humankind Empire was a well-developed civilization, and different crimes carried different sentences. Theft and the likes where no one perished would only give you a few years of prison and forced labor.

As for things like what the middle-aged man did to those children, the price for that was something that the Old World would punish with death or at least a life sentence.

The Godslayer Humaking Empire would not waste resources incarcerating garbage until they died of old age. However, they would neither kill them. Their fate was much, much worse.

Cain had forgotten that fact due to the rage that clouded his mind, but once Levi mentioned it, he calmed himself. The desire to kill was still there, but it could not overcome his willpower.

Clarity returned to Cain's eyes after a few seconds, and he sighed.

"Ah, I am sorry for that. I could not..." At that point, Cain made a slight pause, and resolution appeared in his eyes as he corrected himself. "I did not want to hold back."

Cain knew he had made a mistake by not resisting the emotional outburst but would not use excuses. He would learn from his mistake and accept the consequences.

Levi stood silent for a moment before also sighing and shaking his head.

"I understand where that came from, so let us pretend nothing happened. After all, I would have done the same if I thought this garbage would not regret being alive."

Levi did not criticize Cain. The duo then returned to the cave, took out the corpses, and dug a grave for them near a large tree.

In the Godslayer Humankind Empire, being buried in the forest where your body would return to the world was considered a good final rest.

The military truck reached their location an hour later, and the duo loaded the container along with the criminals before getting in the cabin and setting off.

Cain and Levi remained silent the entire way back into the Lightning Imperial Fort. The excitement they felt after completing their first mission was over. The only thing either could think about were those two small bodies.