Chapter 2: A Ruined Life

Heal.

In that instant, I channeled all My Qi into my healing aura. My body got coated with a red aura, and my flesh began to regenerate at a ridiculously fast rate, far surpassing the speed at which the monster was eating me.

I cut off the arm it was biting onto with my knife and regenerated it just as fast.

HELL, that hurt!

"Huh?" 

The bright glows caught the attention of Yanson, who quickly turned back to me in a panic.

Immediately I got on my feet and rushed forward with all my might.

He was capable of easily stabbing me and outpacing me, which meant he was at least double my level or had better gear to boost his physicals.

"How… How are you alive?!" He roared as he readied his sword, thrusting forward with pure rage.

Tch!

I didn't attempt to evade the strike. With his speed, he could quickly change his mind and probably aimed at my skull this time.

I embraced the sword that pierced through my chest with a cough of blood.

It was a bit annoying as hell how he made the leather I wore seem like it was made out of grass.

Without delay, I stretched my left hand toward his face, which scared him so badly that he screamed as he leaped back.

He definitely knew the effects it had on people who weren't monsters… or me.

But what I did was a red herring. I instantly moved my left hand behind me.

The crab monster who was only an inch away from my neck was caught completely off guard as a bolt of black energy struck it and transformed into a heavily shelled bull-horse-like monster before headbutting it.

With blood flowing down my mouth, I ripped the sword out of me and shouted, "Kill it now!"

My monster, Rorsan blew air out of its nose and raised its front legs to the air, which had raw cracked rocks generating up around it to stomp down on the crab monster.

Heal.

My sword wound was recovered instantly. I exhaled deeply as I affirmed my grip on his sword.

[+ 6% to strength & speed]

Nice.

The man rushed at me, or so he tried to make it seem. I could see at the edge of his eyes that he was concerned for his crab monster.

It was evading Rorsan attack, but for how long?

It didn't matter, I got what I wanted.

I thrust the sword forward at him. He leaped back, and was about to stick his tongue out to summon another monster, as if I was going to allow that!

I threw my knife at him, which caused him to raise his arm to block my strike which barely dented his arm armor.

Using that diversion, I cut the distance between us and used his sword to slice down on his face.

He pulled his head back with all his speed; once again evading my attack.

At that same moment, he drew a knife and moved too fast for me to get out of his range.

He stabbed me in the head… but, I already knew he was going to try to scramble my brain, so I used all my force to tilt my head upwards, which caused the knife to penetrate my cheekbone, just at the same height level as my nose.

He grumbled as he fell back and once again rushed towards his monster.

I suppressed all my pain and swung my hand backward, which nearly touched his head.

Scared, he skidded and fell to the ground. He was so terrified of getting touched by my hands that he went into a panic anytime it came near him.

I pulled the knife off my head healed instantly.

"What… are you?" He muttered in disbelief.

I quickly fixed my left hand in his direction. He knew what it meant and using another knife, he threw it at me. 

Heal.

I tried to dodge, but I failed and it impaled my skull, getting my brain.

Ugh…

I dropped to my knees, as the blood dripped down.

"Finally…" He got on his knees and once again tried to rush to his monster.

Ha…

 I ripped the knife out. I had focused my healing aura in my brain before it got penetrated to gamble with the chance of recovering as soon as I ripped the knife out.

I didn't want to take a chance with not being able to focus well enough to use healing because of a damaged brain.

 Immediately, I sent out a massive green snake monster which instantly wrapped around him and squeezed him with all of its might.

He grunted in frustration and bewilderment, thinking he had killed me. As he was about to open his mouth, he suddenly screamed in pain while coughing up blood.

My monster didn't apply any more pressure on him.

There was a reason why he was so hyper-focused on helping that crab monster of his.

And I had diverted enough of his attention for the reason to be revealed.

I looked at his crab monster which got its shoulder broken by my monster. 

That crab garbage for sure had greater levels than Rorsan, but it seemed it had great agility and speed but weak defense.

When we capture monsters, we basically become one with them on some level… forming a link with our health and mind.

To someone like me, that was a massive advantage. Damage my monster, I heal myself, thus healing it also.

Harm me in the attempt to easily kill my monster? I am basically immortal.

He tried to stick his tongue again to send out more monsters, but I didn't allow that!

Snaren, my snake monster applied instant pressure, getting another scream from him.

I walked towards him as I wiped blood that made its way to my eyes.

With my seal facing his crab monster, I sent out my two other monsters: a blackbird, similar to the one I killed earlier but twice the size of a man and with a far more monstrous look. And lastly, a meter-wide massive blob of darkness.

My head glowed red as I stood in front of the man before crouching low. "This didn't play out the way you expected, did it?"

He glared at me. 

I continued, "Don't worry, you can talk now… My monsters have yours surrounded and very damaged. The moment your seal on your tongue glows white, I will give the mental order to kill it, which would effectively kill you."

"What… would I have to say to you?" He spat out. 

"A lot actually. You said, 'I was only told to kill her.' Who told you to kill me? I assume it's a noble? Or some other big shot? Give me the names, I will spare your life if you do?"

Slowly, veins popped on his forehead. "You… why would I negotiate with evil?! You are just another disgusting fucking Darsean cultist! I know what you plan to do! Everyone knows! You may have that fool of a man under your fingers, but everyone else isn't so foolish. We… I… will not allow you to destroy my country, my home, my friends, and my family like your kind have done to us centuries ago and are currently doing to others."

It was pointless to explain I had no dealings with them; the seal was enough justification in their eyes.

"And this plan? What is it, make the Darsean emperor come back to this world?"

"You already know it. You plan to use this city as a sacrifice or some bullshit like that!!"

"But I don't have anything with–"

"Kill yourself then."

"I am being honest."

"Then honestly, die."

 They all thought I was involved in some demon king-like Emperor from another dimension, which I had nothing to do with that.

"Whatever, think what you want, but you are going to give me an answer or I will make sure you regret not telling me."

He glared at me and then looked at the other two who were too scared to do anything.

He shook his head and said, "Haha… You truly have no idea what's coming for you."

Suddenly, his gaze shot behind me. I quickly turned towards it out of pure instinct. But… there was nothing— Diversion.

I turned back at him and said, "Kill him—"

His crab monster launched one of its legs at Snaren like a missile.

It pierced deep into Snaren and sent it hurling behind me, hitting the woman in the process, and sending her flying towards a boulder with a loud thud.

Shit! He took advantage of my split focus since I was commanding four monsters!

The man on the ground then whipped his tongue out which radiated white energy, but I moved quickly. 

Fortunately, Snaren harming him rendered him too weak to move.

I managed to close in on him before the energy was ejected forward and a monster could take form.

Quickly, I grabbed his jaw and the top of his head.

His eyes widened as I closed his mouth shut!

He didn't even have time to muffle before his head exploded. The explosion sent me flying back, tumbling to the ground.

His corpse was sent flying before hitting the ground, releasing pools of blood. His death also caused his crab monster and the other monster that blew up in his mouth to die.

Damn… he should have taken my offer.

I got off the ground and healed myself, which healed my monsters too.

Then suddenly I dropped to my knees, panting and heaving. 

Shit… I overdid it today… My Qi was extremely low. Using such quick regenerations really did take a lot from me, especially the brain stab and the nigh instant regeneration when I tried to get the jump on him.

There was a headache hammering intensely, but I had to try to shrug it off.

I caused my monsters to return back to my seal. Using multiple ones at the same time placed so much mental strain on me that it basically would have caused me to go brain-dead if I wasn't running my healing aura on my brain constantly while I was interrogating him.

It was like trying to do algebra, writing an essay on gene therapy, and solving two other complex maths problems at the same time, with only two eyes.

And I didn't mean hopping from paper to paper. I quite literally meant having all four papers on those topics in your vision and working on them at the same time.

 Hell, I could barely even command them because of the strain. They were just there to look threatening.

But that…

I vomited. 

But it was so painful and straining… 

My hands trembled. My body was reacting very badly with everything. Was I near Qi exhaustion? No… if I was, I would have fainted and be near death already.

I was close to it, that was all…

I forced myself up, then remembered, I wasn't the only one there. The woman was knocked out cold, blood flowing down the back of her head.

But she was breathing. The piece of shit… he wasn't there…

I looked around, maybe he had just run away…? Then out of nowhere, I spot a shadow moving towards me.

Instead of turning back to look at it, I forced myself to jump out of the direction of the shadow.

"Shit!" a man screamed in frustration.

The heinous man with a knife looked at me while sweating heavily. In his other hand was a mark-stone, the tablet-like device.

"You… recorded it…?" I asked.

He stepped back, anxious then ran towards the direction of the capital!

No no! I have to stop him!

My legs trembled as I forced them up; suppressing the extreme exhaustion and mental pain, I dashed towards him.

Someone on my level should have out-sprinted him in an instant, but I was so tired that my muscles were barely listening to my commands. Not to mention the intense headache.

Yet I was closing up on him.

If I sent out a monster, even the slight mental focus it took would send me into an extreme brain ache because of the already existing strain.

"Stop chasing me!" he screamed as he ran out of the wall of Qi; the exit/entrance of the monster zone.

"Give me that device and I will stop!" That was an obvious lie. I couldn't allow him to live, not after he saw that.

I was responsible for snapping his wrist, which he most likely healed with a healing elixir(how could he afford so many?).

 Either way, I knew he didn't simply want revenge for that. He most definitely wanted some kind of honor for the one being responsible for showing my 'true colors'. There was no doubt that he was going to leave out the fact that it was self-defense.

"Like hell!" he shouted.

He opened his inventory, a water-like eclipse in the air, and grabbed a black metal ball before sending it at me.

… Huh?

A… Qi bomb? But… those things are expensive. How did he—

Bang!

A massive explosion of blue energy rushed towards me before I could blink, scorching the ground in the process.

The force sent me flying back and tumbling. I got some burns but… nothing extreme.

Despite that, I forced myself up again.

I couldn't let him escape! If he did, everything will go to shit! Everything! My life, is gone! Golbon and those I called a sibling will surely be persecuted.

Everything will be gone…

From the dust and debris, I saw the man hop on the giant lizard and use it to rush toward the direction of the city.

I had to stop him…

I lifted my arm in his direction. It wobbled intensely, but I endured the pain.

"Chase him down… Rorsan."

With a glow of black, an insanely fast bolt of black shot 12 meters ahead before taking on the material form of my bull-horse-like monster.

But… as soon as it took on form, the mental link that form created hell in my brain.

A chaotic scream was wretched from my mouth as it felt like I was hit in the brain with multiple sled hammers.

I dropped to the ground, unable to move. Little by little, the darkness on the edge of my vision grew.

I couldn't… fall asleep.

I have to get up… but it hurts… it hurts.

My thoughts felt more and more distant until I heard nothing.

***

POV: 'Henious man'

What the hell is that?! 

A bull-horse monster with shells over it chased after me like a maniac!

Why the hell did she have such monsters?! Shit shit shit! I just had to get involved in something this crazy!

But then I noticed, that the monster slowly stopped charging after me as if it lost… its goal?

The girl must have called off the attack or lost consciousness.

Thank the glorious Balash… Perhaps I will visit the temple to give praise once I get back to the adventurers guild to report this bullshit.

I looked at my mark-stone, replaying her fight with Yanson and she killing him.

That bitch was freaking immortal. A damn monster.

It boggles my mind they really allowed something like this to live among us for so long. So what if her father's father was some big shot?!

This freak was for sure part of the Darsean cult! I always hoped I wouldn't have to deal with those freaks who served that evil being… but bloody hell.

After a while, I reached the city gates.

The guards looked at me strangely, noticing I didn't come back with my party.

I hopped off it in a panic. "That evil child! Vernisha…? Yes her! Sh-she killed our teammates!"

The guards reacted quickly, "All of them?! Even Yanson?!"

"Yeah… she kept healing from her attacks and then blew his head off… I need to report it to the adventurers guild."

They quickly opened the gate for me. "Hurry up!"

"I k-know!" I said as I ran into the city, bolting towards the adventurer's guild.

Haha…

If you weren't such a bitch then maybe I wouldn't have chosen to destroy your life. You have no one to blame but yourself!

As I ran in the street, many looked at me confused.

After a short while I entered the guild while panting. Everyone there looked at me strangely.

"You guys came across a powerful monster and everyone but you got wiped?" One asked nonchalantly like it was common.

I shook my head. I tossed my mark-stone on the ground and caused it to project the recording.

Everyone who was minding their business or not paying much attention instantly stopped to look.

One by one… their expressions changed to horror as they saw the evil child remove a knife from her head and heal. 

They looked intently as her snake monster strangled Yanson and she threatened to kill him…

And then when she closed his mouth to cause his head to explode.

I cleared my throat and said, "I tried to save the other woman… but… I was too weak. So… I recorded it all and ran here as soon as possible! We have to stop her now!"

They nodded.

"So she was the brat with the mask…"

"Damn it. Everyone, get your gear ready!"

One of them asked, "Don't the guild need permission from national security, the king, or the minister of defense to kill another citizen without suffering repercussions?

A man dressed in black pants, a white shit, and a black jacket said, "Those that serve evil beings are not seen as humans and by law should be killed on the spot."

He was tall and majestic-like. Jameran, he was the chief questmaster of the guild. 

"A wanted poster of her, please," he said, looking at the receptionist whose entire face was covered in sweat.

She quickly ran to another room and then rushed back with a poster with the girl's face on it.

He walked towards the quest board and nailed the poster on it. He took out a pen and wrote on the poster, 'Bring the head of Vernisha Starworth to us.'