Chapter 31: Torture and souls
Drip
The red liquid continued to touch the ground, drop by drop. But the trickling sound was replaced by the screams of the person whose hood still covered his eyes.
Aaaarrghhhh
Brightly shining, the blue blade was tainted with red as it passed through the man's stomach. Claire was standing further from the spot while covering the eyes of the little girl who had led them there.
Jaden twisted and turned the sword while stuffing the man's mouth with a bunch of healing potions. Aliana, who watched that happen, seemed scary to Claire, who had given them the potions.
'How... long...'
The pain was too intense for the man to think straight. With all the pain he had been feeling for a while, he had lost his sense of time.
"Tsk..."
Jaden clicked his tongue as he swiftly pulled out the sword, making blood splatter on the ground. The red marks on the sword decreased as blood continued to slide down it.
"Are you stopping already?"
Aliana had tried to use healing magic to treat the heretic's wounds, but it wasn't very effective. Since then, she has been standing at her spot, witnessing everything silently.
Jaden didn't look at her, nor did he answer her. He simply stared at the face reflecting on the blade, tightening his grip on the hilt.
'I almost killed him...'
Snap
He thought to himself while having the sword disappear into thin air. Even though he was brutally torturing the man a while ago, he never intended to kill him.
Even when they had killed other members of the Demon God worshippers, Jaden simply played the role of distracting them. Claire and Aliana landed the final hits.
His gaze shifted towards the man, whose wounds were slowly disappearing because of the effects of the potions forced into his mouth. Jaden stared at him for a while before moving close to him.
"What was your main goal behind everything?"
Hearing Jaden's question, the man had a smile on his lips. Jaden flinched as the sudden sound of the man laughing fell on his ears.
Ptooo
He spat blood at Jaden's feet as he was sitting on the ground. As everyone froze at their place, the man spoke.
"How naive."
A bright light shone from beneath where the man was sitting with his hands tied. The smirk on his face became visible as he began vanishing before they realised it.
"Next time we meet, things will be different."
Assuming that the man had given up trying to escape, they had let their guard down. Taking it easy in front of their enemy was their greatest mistake.
Jaden could tell that letting him escape like that was a bad thing. But Aliana looked as if she wasn't bothered by it.
She had more concerning matters to tend to. Ricky was still lying unconscious on the ground beside Claire.
Aliana tried to use her mana to check what was wrong with his body, which got rejected completely. They tried everything they could to wake him up, but nothing was working.
"Stop doing that."
A familiar voice was heard from behind Jaden. He turned around reflexively to find Ricky standing at a distance.
Claire's awkward expression was clearly visible to Aliana. It was as if Claire had seen a ghost. But Aliana had something else on her mind.
Why was it that only Jaden and Claire were able to interact with Ricky's soul? What was the difference between them and others?
'Oh. So that's how it is.'
Aliana's thoughts had reached a conclusion within two minutes. There was something Claire and Jaden had in common.
Jaden wasn't a person from that world, while Claire had another soul from a different world co-existing within her body. Ricky's soul, which was separated from his body, was simply existing in a totally different dimension that was visible to people not bound to the world.
The mana that was being rejected just a while ago was now enveloping Ricky's body gradually. Ricky's body and soul both began glowing the very next moment. Jaden turned towards Aliana, who was holding a thread of light tied to the two figures.
"Ah..."
His lips were left gaping as he realised who Aliana exactly was. There was no way a normal person would've tried to put the soul back into the body by using magic. He could see the lines from his novel floating above Aliana as if it were some illusion.
-Beauty, talent, and wealth. She had it all.
The villainess was the only unique character that all the readers actually liked. Aside from protagonists who blindly justified their actions, the villainess of his novel was someone who accepted her actions rather than trying to justify them.
It was a pure coincidence that Jaden had developed her into such a character, but thanks to her, the readers never felt bored. A villainess who would execute her plans with pin-point accuracy.
The soul standing nearby slowly disappeared, and Ricky's eyes showed some movements. Aliana had succeeded in saving Ricky within the time of the bet. A smile glowed on her face.
"What?"
Jaden, who had completely forgotten about his bet with her, could feel chills run down his spine. They had already been busy rescuing and killing people earlier, so even Claire had forgotten about it.
"It's nothing."
Aliana moved further away from Jaden as her expression became serious. They had taken care of almost everything. But something was still left to be taken care of.
Snap
Claire and two kids were about to speak when the sound fell on their ears. Before they knew it, Claire, the kids, and Jaden were standing outside the cave. The wall of the mountain became visible under the dim light of the moon.
As they were trying to look around for Aliana, the ground started to shake violently. Cracks began forming on the wall of the mountain. The molten magma flowed out of it.
BAMMMMM
The sound reverberated throughout the village and places near it. It wasn't only one sound that came from the direction of the two caves. Another sound was heard from behind Jaden and Claire.
BAMMMMM
They were aware that Aliana was destroying the caves, but what about the opposite direction? The birds flew away from the forest that lay visible in front of Jaden. He gulped down saliva nervously.
"Just what is going on...?"
-------------------------
-Few moments ago-
Huff
The sweat blurred his vision as it flowed into his eyes. Even after teleporting out of the cave, there was a chance that the man's enemies would've still followed him. Hence, he began running with all of his might.
'Everything is messed up thanks to those two monsters.'
His plans were ruined thanks to Aliana and Jaden. If they hadn't interfered, he would've already been offering every remaining person within the cave as a sacrifice.
But luck was still in his favour. The healing potions had helped him regain his strength after undergoing a traumatising experience.
If Jaden had kept on stabbing and healing him for another few dozens of minutes, there was a doubt that the man would've been left sane. He bit his lips, trying to forget what he went through.
Blerghh
As his knees suddenly touched the ground, the man began throwing up. But he didn't waste time there. The very next moment, he found himself sprinting again.
This time, something was different. The direction he was heading in wasn't the deeper parts of the forest, but the village near it.
Shink
He could hear a vibration ringing in his ears as his chest throbbed with pain. Something was heading from the front towards him.
The moonlight passing through the canopies of the forest made a black figure approaching him visible. But that was only for a second. In the next second, he was already seeing white.
BAMMMMM
Someone was grabbing his face again, making the pain running throughout his body even greater than earlier. His eyes didn't open either.
The birds in the trees nearby flew away. Even the monsters in the vicinity were running away from the being that was releasing intense bloodlust.
'Just what... in the...'
As he tried to perceive who the person slamming him into the ground this time was, the man saw a figure wrapped in darkness. There was no telling what their gender was.
The person in front of him murmured something for a while. His eardrums were still not functioning properly, so he wasn't able to hear the voice properly.
"You can't hear me, I guess? Then just die."
Shink
The throbbing pain he was feeling in his chest a while ago began fading away. But why was it that he was seeing things upside-down?
'Ah...'
His body, without a head, came into his field of vision before it was engulfed by darkness. The voice didn't come out of his throat since he had already died.
"These bugs keep forgetting that I exist."
The soft voice echoed throughout the surroundings, while some black figures rose from the ground. The hands wiggled as they moved towards the body.
"I can't let you trouble Young Lord."
Rudia had never returned to the inn. She took it upon herself to scout the surrounding area just to make sure that no enemies escaped.
The blood on her black clothes glistened under the moonlight. The hands finally pulled the separated head into the shadow.
The light laughter faded away, along with the hands made up of shadows that devoured the lifeless figure on the ground. The person covered in darkness had become one with it.
What was left behind now was the silent forest, and on the opposite side, three people were heading back to the village along with the two little survivors. Jaden was holding Ricky on his back since he didn't have any strength to walk.
"What is it now?"
Aliana asked Jaden as she noticed him glaring at her. He flinched at her sudden question and shook his head sideways.
He was simply staring at her because she had scared him by popping out of nowhere beside him just a while ago. That happened thanks to the loud sound from the forest.
The night hadn't passed yet. The darkness was filled with tinkling tiny spots and a huge yellow ball of light. Jaden gazed at them, breathing lightly.
'I wish every time it were this peaceful...'
He could feel the gentle breeze brushing past his cheeks. Three days had passed since he woke in that familiar yet unknown world, but not a single day was as peaceful as the moment he was having at that point.
'With this, we've solved everything.'
Claire thought to herself as she walked, holding the hand of the little girl they had found in the cave. Her thoughts sounded correct, but someone wasn't thinking the same.
The voice in her mind interrupted Claire before she could think of anything else. Claire's eyebrows frowned as she listened to the usual cautious dialogue.
-[It isn't over yet. It won't hurt to stay on guard.]
Claire let out a sigh as she tried to ignore the words. She was aware of what they should've been worrying about. The man who had barely escaped their clutches.
There was a possibility that he would come back in the near future for revenge. But that was only from their perspective.
Little did they know that Rudia had already killed the man who had fled like a coward. Sadly, no one will ever find even traces of that man.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AbyssKun00
AbyssKun00 I'm late. Anyway! Enjoy~
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