Ch. 67: Outsider

(Third Person POV)

Suddenly it started raining. As if the world was mourning them.

The drizzle began to wet the forest, creating the distinct scent of damp earth.

Charles stood upright with his sword gripped, staring at the two corpses lying at his feet.

His expression was cold and emotionless, in contrast with his battered and bruised face from the intense battle just fought.

In the distance, Furina stood frozen, witnessing that horrific scene.

Her lips were half open, as if wanting to scream but her voice was caught in her throat. Her eyes were wide with horror, looking at the three lifeless figures lying stiff on the muddy ground.

Charles turned towards Furina.

His gaze was intense and cold, without a shred of emotion, only hollowness and feral arrogance emanating. His humanity had partly vanished!

"Let's go home, Lady Furina," he said flatly, almost without inflection.

At this point, his fists clenched tightly by his sides, restraining the urge to throw a hard punch right at the girl's face!

It was clear that Charles was forcefully restraining himself from attacking Furina!

Furina was still frozen, her body nearly paralyzed by dread and utter fear.

Her eyes glanced briefly at the three corpses again before returning to look at Charles with an expression mixed with confusion and extreme fear.

Slowly, she stepped closer to Charles. Her body was trembling, her arms hugging herself tightly.

Her disguise clothes fluttered faintly, blown by the rumbling wind.

Furina drew nearer, but kept a safe distance from Charles.

***

In the room. Only Charles sat brooding on his bed. The inn looked deserted and silent.

His body hunched slightly, with elbows propped on his knees. His bruised face still bore traces of the intense battle he had just experienced.

His mind wandered, trying to unravel William's final words before taking his last breath. "Stay away from that girl..." Charles murmured softly while tilting his head.

His mind immediately pictured Amelia's face. Was she the girl William meant?

Only that girl seemed suspicious to him!

Moreover, the one closest to William was clearly only Amelia!

Not long after, his focus quickly shifted to the Throbbing Fiend skill used in the previous battle. His brow furrowed, his jaw hardened.

"This skill is dangerous..." he hissed warily.

Charles began recalling his memory from before being shot right in the head.

The image of himself turning into an uncontrolled monster flashed by. How his humanity vanished instantly. How his cruel side emerged and took over all his actions.

He shook his head hard, trying to dispel those bad memories from his mind.

He still had remnants of humanity!

At least he could still restrain his cruel and wicked side from surfacing and taking control of him.

But if he used Throbbing Fiend again... he would surely lose control and truly become a cold-blooded human. More like a monster!

His mind wandered back to that accursed skill.

After the previous battle, he made an assumption based on his experience: it turned out, Throbbing Fiend could drain the life energy of anyone around him.

He didn't need to focus his gaze on a specific target. Just by their presence around him, their life energy would be drained and become his own life energy.

This was the same as illegally prolonging his lifespan!

In a short time, the victims around him would die without any clear cause. When in fact their lives had been forcibly taken by that horrific skill. And the victims just didn't know it.

Their life energy flow would be diverted to become his own, as additional power as well as extraordinary self-healing abilities.

Truly an overpowered skill! Of course with the premise of having no side effects.

Regarding the "temporarily enhancing combat abilities" capability, Charles disregarded its effect.

Wasn't it completely useless if the enemy was already bone-dry because their life energy was drained away?

Suddenly Charles startled out of his reverie.

Furina!

She was near him at that time!

With a panicked click of his tongue, Charles immediately strode quickly to the room's door, hoping Furina was still okay and not affected by Throbbing Fiend.

The hurried footsteps echoed down the inn's corridor.

Charles rushed towards the next room occupied by Furina.

Upon arriving, without hesitation he knocked on the wooden door with a slightly trembling fist.

"Wait," Furina replied faintly, followed by weak coughing.

The door then slowly opened, revealing Furina's figure. Her face was deathly pale, with beads of cold sweat glistening on her brow and temples. Her eyes were slightly sunken, her lips dry and slightly parted to draw breath. She looked unwell.

Furina was slightly startled to see Charles standing at the threshold. Briefly, fear flashed in her narrowed, wary eyes.

This was definitely caused by Throbbing Fiend! Charles muttered.

His eyes gazed at Furina with a worried look.

Without a word, Charles stepped forward and pressed his palm to Furina's forehead. Hot, like burning embers from within.

Now guilt struck Charles. He felt responsible for Furina's worsening condition!

Gently, Charles supported Furina and brought her to sit on the bed. He arranged pillows behind Furina's back, making her lean comfortably.

"Sleep, and cover yourself well," Charles said in a commanding tone made as softly as possible.

After ensuring Furina was wrapped in a blanket, Charles hurried off to the kitchen to cook warm porridge. A bowl of soft porridge with a little hot broth, a good healing food.

While Charles was busy cooking, Furina lay in bed with her eyes tightly closed but not truly asleep.

Her mind kept replaying the horrific scene in the forest earlier. Three lives lost and she almost lost her own. Her body trembled remembering it all.

However, Charles's presence by her side made her heart a little calmer. Though on the other hand, her cheeks flushed red imagining Charles pampering her like this. She felt a little ashamed and unworthy of such treatment.

But why did she feel embarrassed just by being treated like this? When he was just a coarse stranger!

Not long after, Charles returned with a steaming hot bowl of porridge in his hands.

He placed it on the bedside table, then began storytelling.

Recounting an old tale he remembered from his previous world, obviously to distract Furina from the fear still haunting her.

Though Charles didn't actually know that Furina couldn't sleep.

"Why do I keep becoming a storyteller... When I'm not skilled in storytelling," Charles muttered in the middle of his tale, making Furina giggle in amusement.

Before she knew it, Furina's eyelids grew heavier and she finally fell into a deep sleep, so comfortable listening to Charles's voice.

Slowly, Charles pulled the blanket up to Furina's chin, ensuring the girl stayed warm.

Then, he left the room without looking back again.

Behind the closed bedroom door, Charles paused for a moment. His body trembled, while biting his lip hard. His head kept buzzing and never stopped arguing.

He was restraining himself from choking Furina's neck!

***

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