Chapter 20 - Betrayal

Captain Roger was fighting the ape that had entered the formation. While the captain was stronger, he could not get rid of the beast in a short period of time and during this time, it was very likely that the rest of the guards would be outnumbered by the remaining Shadow Macaques. At this point, Lord Menke knew that if he did not act quickly the guards would lose their lives. Although he was worried about the Young Lady, and had an inkling that something bad was about to happen, the urgency of the moment compelled him to do something to save the guards.

Joining hands, the natural energy of heaven and earth began to move turbulently. A faint halo of bluish colour spread out from Menke and surrounded the entire guard formation.

"Χειμερινό φράγμα" - /Cheimerinó frágma/*.

At that moment the halo turned into an icy squall that covered the guards. Four Shadow Macaques who failed to stop in time were hit by the squall and were immediately turned into ice statues, all semblance of life gone.

Menke turned pale and began to breathe with some difficulty. The Winter Barrier he had created used a great deal of Mana and mental energy, and although the barrier was very strong, it was immobile and would be of little use if the apes simply waited for the technique to disperse. Perhaps it could keep the apes from attacking them for a period of time, but if they didn't do something soon, the situation would get much worse.

Dennis approached the ape being held by Captain Roger, and together they were able to cut off his head in a short period of time. The guards took advantage of this moment to reorganise and put their frayed nerves to rest.

Menke stood up and addressed Captain Roger, who had approached the two guards who had previously dropped the bombs. He seemed to want to say something to them when he was interrupted by Mr. Menke, who started to say, "I want an explanation and I want it now Roger. Why did you send the Miss away from me with Mariuz? You know very well that I can't stay away from the Miss as long as she is away from the mansion. Apart from that, instead of leading the Apes in another direction, you led them to us. It would not be too difficult for you and Mariuz to escape the Shadow Macaques, yet you have put our whole party and even worse, Miss Julieth, in great danger. When we get out of here, I hope you are prepared to face the consequences."

Menke had not even used the term Captain when he addressed Roger, which indicated his great anger at Roger's previous performance and attitude. In his mind, various actions and mistakes of Mariuz and the Captain began to cross his mind, and an inconceivable idea had formed in his head. However, he had no time to question Roger further, when the latter suddenly turned and before anyone could react struck him with a Qi-charged fist, which sent Menke several metres into the air, falling to the ground with a crash. He was vomiting blood and had multiple fractures to his ribcage.

All the guards were stunned to see their captain attacking the steward Menke, and Dennis was the first to react and took his weapon to attack Roger and defend the steward, but before he could do anything, the two guards who were close to Roger approached him from behind and attacked him with all their power, seriously wounding and incapacitating him.

If before, the guards did not understand what was happening, at this moment they fully understood that Captain Roger and the other two guards had betrayed them.

"Why? Do you know what Master Corena will do to you when he finds out?" Menke said breathlessly.

"Do you really think he will find out what happened here? Please, Mr Menke, the moment Mariuz took the young lady away, the fate of all of you was sealed. Now all that is left is to get out of this barrier and escape. When the barrier ends, you will be devoured by the Macaques, and all traces of us will disappear. Old man Corena will think that we all perished among the beasts, including the young lady. Does he really think he can take revenge on a dead man? Hahahahahahahaha!" Roger laughed.

"You... Traitor. You are nothing but a shameless scum. I already thought it strange that Mariuz insisted that we come with the Lady to fetch the flower without telling anyone so that it would be a supposed surprise for the master. But don't think you'll get away with it. You'd be surprised at the power the Family possesses. They will find out what you have done sooner or later, mark my words. It's not too late for you to back out. Quickly save the Miss and help us escape. We can pretend none of this happened," Menke said, trying to convince Roger.

The Captain tensed slightly at Menke's curses but did not fret. Then he smirked macabrely, as he said, "Perhaps if I were more naive I would have switched sides again. But I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, Mr Menke, the people who want the lady dead have enough power, even in House Corena. They're powerful enough for this to be investigated as shoddily as possible. Besides, the money they have paid us is more than enough for me to go into hiding and live like a king on the other side of the continent. I'd like to see how they're going to find us over there. In itself, the only reason you all are still alive is because in the investigation I don't want to leave any trace that it was my Qi that killed you. Even if the beasts were to eat you all afterwards, I'd rather not stain my hands any more than necessary."

The eyes of the rest of the guards went into despair. None of them was as strong as the Captain, and both Sub-Captain Dennis and Steward Menke were incapacitated. Menke hardened his gaze and ordered the guards: "Do not let the traitor escape. Even if you have to use your mana bombs, I want Roger eliminated."

One of the guards pulled out one of the bombs and was about to throw it at Captain Roger when Roger quickly reacted and threw a Qi Wave with his sword that cut the guard's arm off at the root. The guard began to scream in pain as he tried to cover the stump left on his shoulder with his other hand so as not to bleed to death.

Roger looked at the rest of the guards menacingly, but none of them dared move again, let alone use the mana bombs. The truth was that with the betrayal of the captain and several of their comrades, as well as the attack on Menke and Dennis that had rendered them out of action, their spirits had been broken and they were becoming desperate. Before anyone could act again, the captain and the two traitorous guards went to the rear of the combat area, and the captain used all his strength to open a small breach in the barrier, through which they could quickly exit. The Winter Barrier was a magical barrier capable of defending against attacks and enemies coming from outside it, but from its inception, it was never designed to defend against attacks from within. While the breach closed quickly after Roger and the other two guards left, clearly the barrier was weakened and within minutes it would disappear and they would be overwhelmed by the Shadow Macaques.

Roger and the other two guards found a pair of Apes blocking the way, which was starting to surround the guards, but they quickly got rid of them and escaped from the combat area.

....

Mariuz had taken Julieth by the hand and ran away at full speed. They went on and on for several kilometres, and Julieth kept saying "Mariuz stop. You're hurting me, stop."

When Mariuz sensed that the coast was clear he stopped abruptly, whereupon Julieth fell to the ground flat on her face and scratched her head. She rolled over with a small tear from the pain in her eyes as she stared at Mariuz in disbelief. She had never been treated so disrespectfully. Mariuz looked around cautiously and finally rested his sinister eyes on Julieth.

"Mariuz, what do you think you are doing? How could you abandon the other guards and Uncle Menke? If you were acting together, I'm confident you could have gotten rid of the Magical Beasts. Besides, you are being very rough with me, and I can forgive you, but we must return at once," said Julieth.

Mariuz began to look at Julieth with derision, and slowly approached the girl, as he said sardonically, "Have you really not realised what is happening? Dear Miss Julieth of House Corena, you are about to be killed by yours truly".

Julieth heard Mariuz's words and stood still, staring at him in disbelief. She never thought that one of the bodyguards assigned to her by her father would try to kill her. Mariuz smiled mischievously as he approached the young lady and began to caress her face while looking at her in a disturbing manner. Julieth's hair stood on end as she felt Mariuz's hand and instinctively used her arms to pull Mariuz's hand away. He was angered by Julieth's reluctance and gaze, and slapped her hard across the face, knocking her to the ground.

"It seems, Miss, that you have not realised the situation you are in. You see, I have been paid well enough to get rid of you, but I feel it would be a waste to kill such a beautiful girl, so I was considering whether to at least let you enjoy yourself a little before you went to the other world. So don't test me again, or I assure you I can make this time so horrifying, that death will be a relief in comparison." Mariuz said menacingly, as he approached the lady again.

Julieth turned pale at Mariuz's words and began to tremble with fear. Her thoughts began to turn desperate. She realised that she was about to die, and even worse that she was about to be molested before she perished. She began to cry out in desperation: "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"Hahahahahahahaha. We are in the middle of a forest. Who will hear your screams? Maybe some beast, which will make it easier for me to get rid of your corpse later," said Mariuz. Captain Roger had ordered him to kill the young lady cleanly and flee quickly to the rendezvous point, but the truth was that he enjoyed playing with his prey. The psychological torture he was inflicting on the Miss was turning him on and he wanted to have fun with her before he killed her. But he was still in the middle of the forest, and it was certain that if Julieth kept screaming he might attract some high-ranking Beast, so without further ado, he covered her mouth with his hand and with the other he had his blade, and began to cut the young lady's dress. She was in tears but felt absolutely powerless to change her fate.

When all of a sudden, just at that moment from the high branches of a nearby tree a short person jumped several metres towards them at great speed. Mariuz was concentrating on the young lady and did not notice until the person was on top of him and kicked him ferociously in the face, throwing him several metres to the ground. Mariuz spat out an arrow of blood and a tooth from the blow, as he stared in disbelief at the person in front of him.

A rag-clothed boy, with a clear and deep gaze, little more than 5-6 years old, stood in front of him as he helped Julieth up from the ground. The person who attacked Mariuz by surprise was precisely Nerun.

"Are you alright ugly girl? I knew, that this languorous creep with pervert's eyes had nothing good in mind. But don't worry, I told you I would protect you, and my words are worth gold, hehehehehe". Nerun said trying to calm Juieth, who was looking at him in astonishment. She never imagined that in her moment of greatest despair, this young lad would be the one to come to her rescue.

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* Cheimerinó frágma: Winter Barrier