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1046 Words
With a flick, the ruined table had an image flicker over it. There were images of the torture that Duke Cumulus had performed on her and her neighbor. Their faces were blurred out when they were visible.
Camilla didn’t want or need to watch. She had lived through this once, after all.
A different man didn’t want to back down and said, “This could all be a fabrication…”
He did not get any more out, as the duke slashed out in the middle of his sentence. A crescent of water flew out and cut the man in half.
Duke Waters gestured and brought the man forward and clutched his head. “Worry not Duke Osculation, I’ll be checking your island next. I wonder what we will find.”
The upper half of Duke Osculation disappeared, and Duke Waters looked around with eyes that screamed to Camilla of a tidal wave that could wash away any cities along the rift-free coast of even the strongest planet.
He was an unstoppable force of nature.
She saw the fear in all of the remaining faces, and she wanted that power. If she could do this, she would never have to worry about someone snatching her off the street again.
His voice crashed out, and imprinted images of a tide breaking down cliffs. “I’ll be inspecting everyone’s islands before we leave. And I’ll ensure that the Emperor does a thorough check of your holdings.”
With the gesture of a single finger, her two tormentors, who were still gasping in the air, were brought over to stand in front of her.
A second later, the other four were there as well, with matching masks of dark water.
Duke Waters turned to the five of them. “I leave it up to you. Their crimes constitute death a million times over, but we can cripple their cultivation instead. We’ll force them to break down and recreate asteroids for the next few million years, if that’s what any of you wish.”
The other girls just cowered, and all the eyes came to rest on Camilla, who was the only one not trying to hide.
Before she could do more than open her mouth Duke Cumulus said, “You enj…”
Before he could finish the statement, she was sure would haunt her dreams, Duke Water’s large hand lashed out and hit the man so hard, his jaw flew off and hit the wall. Clearly, he had watched the first part of her recording.
Camilla smiled for the first time in years.
“I’d love to have them suffer, but I don’t trust them to not escape or something. Kill them.” She looked to her savior, “Can you make it hurt?”
Where she expected a cruel smile to match her own, she saw just calm eyes, like a pond waiting for someone to jump in and enjoy a nice spring day.
Would he deny her request?
Then, the choking started to increase in sound, and Camilla watched the two drown in the air. For all the power they tormented her with the floundered like fish and not the Tier 35s they were.
It was everything she had ever dreamed of.
She looked to her savior. She wanted to be like him.
Camilla needed power.
A cut through her leg brought her attention back to the fight, and a shard of ice took out a golem that was trying to flank her. She made a note that she owed the little fox a tub of ice cream, once they got off this forsaken planet.
Aster seemed to have an innate sense of her mood, and more often than not, would curl up in her lap when she was lost in her thoughts and darkest memories.
Aidan and her therapist had talked about getting a mundane animal. They thought raising one would help her, but she resisted the idea at first. After spending time with the ball of fluff, it didn’t seem so bad anymore.
But the old and new anger made her blood pump with power. Rage wasn’t a good thing, but it could make her strong and she wrapped herself up with it like a cloak.
Flaring [Cracked Healing Touch], she healed the gash in her flesh and threw herself into the mass of golems.
Aidan had spent a fortune on the skill, simply to complement her Talent enforced fighting style. The skill was a good c***k, as it was a self-cast healing skill. It sacrificed healing others and bones for incredibly cheap and efficient healing of flesh. It still built-up stress on her healing that she needed to manage, but it was less so than a normal spell.
She owed him so much and let the shame of relying on someone else guide her recently upgraded whip. She still was shocked that the ruin had the materials she needed. It was an amazing find, and it kept her competitive with the human wrecking ball that was Matt.
The man in question threw himself into the thickest fighting, with no regard for his safety. Despite being only Tier 5, he was the tip of the spear, and was leading the charge.
It had taken months to actually trust the man who looked so much like her tormentor, but she had come to realize that he was a good person. Matt was far more naïve than she expected, especially for someone who grew up in an orphanage. He always saw the positive side of things, and the good in people. She had had that removed by life early on, somehow, he kept a positive outlook.
She could now see the difference between him and her nightmare. Matt might superficially resemble him. But they were so different in temperament. She understood why Liz locked him down early. She wanted to find a woman who would look at her like he did with the blood mage.
A blood golem smashing a pair of monsters next to her brought Camilla’s thoughts to the blood mage in the sky for a moment. But quickly, three attacking golems forced her to concentrate on the battle again. During her fight, she was once again distracted by a flash of mana from Matt’s blade.
- Writer
